The purposes of the Bloomberg Birthday Initiative are:

1) To wish Michael Bloomberg a very happy 80th birthday, on February 14th, 2022.

2) To congratulate him on his business and political successes and praise him for his generosity to many good causes

3) To ask him to have Bloomberg Philanthropies consider changing its policy on less harmful nicotine products from prohibition to acceptance and support.

Bloomberg Philanthropies prides itself on “Data-driven Philanthropy”, However, it supports organizations that work to oppose allowing people who smoke access to safer substitutes for burning tobacco, such as vape (“e-cigarettes”) and snus.

These products supply people who have smoked with the nicotine that they often need, but without the lethal tar produced by burning tobacco leaves. As a matter of human rights, adult smokers should have the freedom to choose less harmful alternatives to tobacco.

Cigarettes kill eight million people every year because they involve burning tobacco and inhaling the smoke. Tobacco smoke contains many toxic chemicals that can cause cancer, lung disease and heart attacks and strokes. Nicotine makes cigarettes addictive, but is about as harmful as caffeine and much less harmful than cannabis or alcohol.

Many cigarette smokers want to quit but are unable to because their bodies have adapted to require nicotine. When they try to stop smoking, they start to crave nicotine. They would be much healthier if they could get the nicotine they need from something other than a cigarette. Unfortunately, medical nicotine patches, gum and inhalers do not give smokers enough nicotine, making them fairly ineffective as smoking cessation aids. However, there are two consumer products that do provide enough nicotine and are very much safer substitutes for cigarettes.

Snus – A type of oral tobacco originating in Sweden. It is a nicotine-containing tobacco product that is not burnt or inhaled, making it a much less toxic alternative to combustible tobacco.	A vape or “e-cigarette”, with charging cable, spare pod and e-juice refill. It is tobacco-free but usually contains nicotine. It is heated but not burned, and is 20x less toxic than smoking.

View Dr. Oyston’s Birthday Message to Mr. Bloomberg on YouTube.

We like to believe that we live in a democracy. One person, one vote. All citizens have an equal voice. We are all entitled to our own opinions and to make our own choices.

But what happens when someone gets seriously rich? Like 13 homes, six private planes and two helicopters rich? If that person is smart and had strong beliefs, can he use his money to control not only the charities he donates to, like “The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids” but also federal organizations like the Centre for Disease Control or even international organizations such as the World Health Organization? Can he get those organizations to lie about the risk of vaping and deny the benefits of smokers switching to less harmful nicotine products?

Bloomberg thinks that nicotine is a dangerous poison. He does not think that adult smokers should have easy access to nicotine-containing e-cigarettes (also known as vapes), even though Public Health England has stated that vaping is 20x safer than smoking. He supports a ban on flavours in vape that would make vaping a much less palatable alternative to smoking and lead to an increase in cigarette use

He supports the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which claims that vaping has undone decades of progress on tobacco control, when in fact in the USA teenage smoking is the lowest for 39 years and is declining more rapidly since vaping became popular around 2013.

He supports the Centre for Disease Control, which labelled a disease “E-cigarette and Vaping Associated Lung Injury” (EVALI) when it was in fact caused by contaminated black market cannabis products. This false name scared thousands of vapers back into smoking, but the CDC has refused to recognize their error and change the name.

Most of all, Bloomberg supports the World Health Organization’s tobacco control program, to which he has donated one billion dollars. The WHO, in turn, commended India for a national ban on e-cigarettes and vaping. This ban meant that India’s 120 million adult smokers have been deprived of their right to switch to a less harmful product.

Is it right that one man has so much power in our world, just because he is rich?

So, who is Michael Bloomberg? How did he get rich and what has he done with his wealth?

Michael Bloomberg was born middle-class. He had a good education, with a degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard. He got an entry-level job with Salomon Brothers, a Wall Street investment company, and rose to become a partner. When they were bought out he was awarded a $10 million settlement, that he used to found Bloomberg LP. The company sold “Bloomberg Terminals”, special computers designed to give instant financial data to investors. It made him a fortune, and he created his own media empire. Then, looking for a new challenge, he decided to use his skills for public good as a politician. He served three terms as Mayor of New York City, and most people felt that he did a good job. He also made an unsuccessful attempt to be the Democratic nominee for US President.

He has now turned to a third career, as a philanthropist. He has signed the “Giving Pledge” and promised to donate over half of his net worth to charities. He prides himself on using data to drive his philanthropic actions and has already given away at least five billion dollars to many worthwhile causes including gun control, education and climate change.

On the whole, he is a very admirable person, a true example of the “American Dream”. He has been recognized with many awards and honorary degrees. Her Majesty the Queen knighted him with a KBE and the WHO made him their global ambassador.

However, not even the smartest person does so many things without occasional missteps. For example, as mayor, he supported a racist “stop and frisk” policy for NYC police. He has since admitted that this was a mistake and apologized.

Bloomberg himself said: “Organizations resist innovation -and those that do inevitably fail – because people are more comfortable with what they know than with what they don’t”. Could we persuade him that this applies equally to Bloomberg Philanthropies? Could we get him to change his position on safer nicotine products from prohibition to supporting their use as an alternative to combustible tobacco? What might such a transformation achieve:

A study has suggested that 6.6 million American lives could be saved if Americans switching from smoking to vaping

In the UK, vaping helps over 50, 000 extra people to quit smoking every year. There are now 2 million people who have switched from smoking to vaping.

In Sweden, snus has almost eliminated smoking. Sweden has fewer smokers than any other European country.

IIf we could persuade Bloomberg Philanthropies to take a second look at the data on less harmful nicotine products such as vape and snus, and begin supporting the right of people who smoke to use safer substitutes for combustible tobacco, this could save literally millions of lives.

Bloomberg has a net worth of about 70 billion dollars and intends to give away at least half of this amount in his lifetime. He is already a strong advocate for public health in general and tobacco control in particular. Imagine what could be achieved if even a small fraction of this amount was spent on vaping research and education!

If you want to take part in the Bloomberg Birthday Initiative and try to persuade him to change his mind, please send him your own birthday card and message by regular mail, email or by posting on his social media.

HOW TO TAKE PART

The more people try to contact Mr. Bloomberg, and the more avenues they use, the more likely he is to take notice. Please send him your own birthday card and message. A sample card and text, and a list of contact information, are AVAILABLE HERE.

Questions? Email oyston@BloombergBirthday.info