So the same woman's voice who, on behalf of Ontario doctors, kept asserting that she wasn't an activist but the government wasn't being fair to the already-affluent doctors who already got a state-subsidized education in a lucrative field, is now telling us contraband tobacco is funding criminal enterprises right here in Ontario.

I should pause here and say that I'm against contraband tobacco and crime, too, but hearing these ridiculously histrionic, over-acted, clumsily constructed radio ads makes me want to head downtown and, even though I haven't smoked since the nineties,buy a full carton of whatever from the back of a truck just to piss these people off because their radio ads are so stupid and fear-mongering.

Seriously, I know it's a problem, but you would think a coalition with deep pockets behind it would turn out messaging that actually got the point across without sounding freaking ridiculous. And the guns! guns! guns! bit is just playing on Canadian anti-American stereotypes about gun violence. I'm sure there is gun problem here in Ontario, but in terms of the size of the problem, it's relatively minor compared to some other jurisdictions outside of Canada.

Replacing rational, thoughtful advocacy advertising with laughably silly fear-mongering radio ads doesn't exactly sound like their money has been well-spent.

But then again, what do you expect from an industry who's business model is based on addicting, poisoning, and killing their clientele?