If There Weren’t Enough Reasons to Stop Smoking…

You’re probably more up to date on news and views than I am, seeing as I’m in Azerbaijan.  So you might have come across this neat little discovery already.  Unfortunately, I don’t think Azerbaijan is going to get the message.   I’ve covered smoking in Azerbaijan a bit already here and here.  From the article:

“I think that there would be some particularly devout groups who would find the idea that there were pig products in cigarettes to be very offensive,” Prof Chapman said today.

And we all know those groups to at least include Jews, Muslims, and vegetarians.  There’s a group there that is particularly affected here in Azerbaijan.  The question then becomes how devout are Muslims here in Azerbaijan?  The Haraam designation certainly didn’t work for alcohol.  Will they honor the designation given to any products associated with pork?  And even before we get there, we have to wonder if Azerbaijanis will ever even get this information.  I have a feeling this won’t reduce consumption of cigarettes.