+1 Well said Sir. I like a Cigar and own a pipe. Last time I smoked (1 pipe bowl full) was a bike club thing last November. I don't want to live for ever if that means drinking luke warm water, eating green-grey mushy stuff, spending every free moment sweating on some torture machine and generally not enjoying all the other occasonal things that are bad for me.

I of course wish Hi-Ho Silver the best of luck and hope he can make a difference without some of the awful preaching the world seems to be full of. Motorcycles are of course a guilty pleasure in themselves, sensible, green, live-'till-they're-105 people take the bus to the gym not some noisy, low MPG, likely to result in death two wheeler.

Who said "Moderation in all things" ?

Andy

Greetigns from Cambodia,

we are on the road now for 5 Month. Wend through NZ and now Thailand and the Goldan Triangle. Here the initiative is Opium flowers for tabacco. So we say "to cast out devils by Beelzebub". In SEA a lot of NGO´s are doing this in order to bring down the opium production. I think they started this in the early 80ies and now there is tabacco here everywhere and no more opium... so hard to somthing like this here...

I guess the pro cancer research thing is an better option like mentionened in the other posts....

cheers, going for a cig now....doh

whish I wouldnt had started smoking at all.. in NZ was 54 NZD for a pack of tabacco.... thats good to stop people from smoking!

But in the end of the day I live like Hunter S. Thompson said:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
— Hunter S. Thompson

Hmmm... Me and Hunter are from the same town. That would be Louisville, KY. Both of us GONZO too!!

Kent

I've read before that the real addicts smoke heavily as teenagers

Yes that could very well be true. I fit that category.

If you really want to make a difference then you'll get involved in political action first and also high quality education. But that isn't so much fun.

The bike ride is - a bike ride.

....and Hunter blew his brains out with a shotgun.

Realities of Charity Rides
 

It's a fine idea to raise money for any charity as a part of a long-distance trip, and to engage in some awareness-building as well.

First, you need to get permission from a charity to fundraise on their behalf, and you need a way that people donate directly to that charity - they shouldn't do it through you (as in, they donate money to you and you promise to pass it on). What you want is for people to click on a link and donate, and it not only goes directly to the charity, but also, the charity knows that the donation is coming because of your efforts. The charity may even have a system for this to happen already.

Secondly, in the course of those conversations with a charity, you need to talk about what kind of messaging you should and shouldn't deliver as you travel. Public health awareness campaigns are tricky, even for seasoned professionals. A good idea is to start educating yourself on what's being said in various communities and cultures regarding the dangers of tobacco. A good place to start is with the World Health Organization's anti-tobacco campaigns.

This kind of fundraising was recently the subject of a thread on TechSoup, a nonprofit organization that helps other nonprofits re: tech use. Have a look for even more info.