John Luik

John Luik

John Luik is a senior fellow of the Democracy Institute. Luik is a tobacco industry consultant who advised American and Canadian tobacco companies on passive smoking. Luik has written numerous articles on the over-exaggeration of the health effects of second-hand smoke, has spoken at tobacco company conferences and workshops, has been employed as a anti-smoke-free spokesperson, is a featured columnist on the smokers rights website FORCES. Luik co-authored a book with Gio Gori, published by British Columbia's Fraser Institute, called "Passive Smoke: The EPA's Betrayal of Science and Policy" in which they blame the EPA for producing "junk science". Luik lobbied on behalf of restraunts in 1999 during Toronto's smoke-free bylaw campaign in 1999, criticising a report by Toronto's Medical Officer of Health that linked lung cancer and passive smoking. Although he has referred to himself as Dr. Luik, he is not a scientist: his doctorate is in philosophy.

Academic Credentials

According to The Montreal Gazette:

(Luik) taught philosophy at the Canadian Nazarene College in Winnipeg from 1977 to 1985, when he was dismissed from the college for lying on his resume. He claimed to have a doctorate from Oxford University. He eventually received his doctorate from Oxford but not until 1986.

He applied in 1985 to Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., and was accepted as an assistant professor in the philosophy department, where he taught applied and professional ethics. Brock knew about his misrepresentation at the Nazarene College but chose to give him another chance, believing that one mistake should not destroy a man's career. But, in 1990, Brock discovered that Luik's one mistake had turned into a flood as he continued to misrepresent his academic qualifications.

"It is not any single misrepresentation ... so much as the apparently uniform pattern of misrepresentations engaged in since 1977 that suggests that Professor Luik is not capable of fulfilling his duties and responsibilities as an assistant professor at Brock University," a 17-page faculty report says.

The report further states that Professor Luik showed "no particular signs of contrition or even embarrassment on being confronted with his misrepresentation. ... This suggested that what was involved was indeed faulty moral judgment."

Luik claimed on his resumes to have held a full-time position at the University of Manitoba and to have taught three graduate courses at the University of Winnipeg. He lied on all counts. He never held a full-time job at the University of Manitoba and the graduate course he claimed to have taught at Winnipeg didn't even exist, according to university spokesman Catherine Unruh. She said the university has never offered graduate courses in philosophy.

A CBC Television report in June 2001 showed that Luik has made false statements about his academic credentials. The report showed that during Luik's professorship at Brock University, the Dean of Humanities, Cecil Abrahams, discovered that Luik had lied about visiting professorships at other academic institutions and had added books or articles to his list of publications that did not exist. Abrahams (who is now Vice-Cancellor at West Cape University in South Africa) made the following statement about Luik during an interview for the CBC investigative report:

I certainly would not trust anything John Luik says because he must be the worst case of fraud that I have come across and I've been an administrator at universities for a long period of time, both in North America and in Africa, and I think he's by far the worst case of fraudulent behaviour.

Tobacco Industry Connections

In 1999, the World Health Organization brought together experts from around the world to examine the effects of second-hand smoke on children's health. The experts agreed exposure to second-hand smoke caused a wide variety of adverse health effects in children, including lower respiratory-tract infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis. Other ill effects included reduced birth weight and decreased lung function. Ultimately, experts concluded, second-hand smoke caused death and suffering.

John Luik became a tobacco industry lobbyist who lent his "sometimes invented" credentials to the task of discrediting sound science. A doctor of philosophy, Mr. Luik refashioned himself as an expert on tobacco, publishing in an alumni magazine an article that had been edited and vetted and funded by the tobacco industry.

Luik has also made his work-in-progress available to tobacco companies and organizations prior to publication. For example, in 1993 Luik was in correspondence with The Confederation of European Community Cigarettes Manufacturers Limited regarding the publication of his paper, "Pandora's Box - The Dangers of Politically Corrupted Science for Democratic Public Policy", informing the Confederation that his article had been submitted for publication to Philosophy and Public Affairs Journal. In an internal Confederation memo dated September 9, 1993 , the author of the memo instructs the tobacco company representatives that "until it [Luik's paper] is formally received, members should NOT [emphasis theirs] make use of the article for external lobbying purposes.".

In a subsequent memo to the Confederation, dated November 9, 1993 , the author informs the Confederation members of Luik's concerns over proposed changes to his paper by the Philosophy and Public Affairs Journal, and relates Luik's request for input on how to proceed.

Obesity Views

Obesity

According to the Western Mail, John Luik and Patrick Basham of the Democracy Institute argue that:

There is no evidence to support claims that children are getting fatter or that they will suffer long-term health problems as a result of their weight; Such a public fixation with weight and food could exacerbate the problem of eating disorders and people's obsession with their own weight.

Dr Luik told the Western Mail,

In the US about 25% of adolescent girls are dieting constantly and 5% have anorexia or bulimia. But this fixation [with food and body image] is not just for girls, but women under 45. The message people are getting is one about an obsession with their bodies - 20 years ago feminists would never have allowed such a public discourse about women's weight. And yet it seems that the health establishment think because it is done under the cover of talking about people's health, it is all right.

Dr Luik added:

The people who live the longest in both the UK and the US are the pleasantly plump - the people who are most likely to die from a weight-related disorder are those who are either too thin or at a normal body mass index. People who are between a BMI of 26 and 32 are those who are living the longest, yet according to the obesity debate, those are the people who should be dying in the greatest numbers.

Resources

John Luik Interview, Interview Transcript, C.B.C. Television, 21-June-2001

Affiliations

Democracy Institute | Spiked | Fraser Institute | FORCES | Niagra Institute | Janus Global Consulting| The American Spectator | Janus Centre