TB Adopts No Smoking By-Law Well -ON, CA
Tb News Source 9/27/2004 3:52:27 PM
It appears the City of Thunder Bay has bought into the new No-Smoking By-Law. That's according to Manager of Licensing and Enforcement Ron Bourret.

The ban on public smoking officially went into effect on July 1st and Bourret says people have generally responded well to the change. Since the bans' inception, their have been 35 smoking related complaints with by-law officers attending each. Bourret says no fines or charges have been issued because, for the first 6 months, the city is conducting an education and awareness program. But after that, repeat offenders will be fined.

Fines for breaking the By-Law will range from 75 dollars for individuals up to 5000 dollars for repeat offences by business owners.

http://www.tbsource.com/Localnews/index.asp?cid=70166

 

First Nation targets bingo-loving smokers -MB,CA
WINNIPEG - The Roseau River First Nation says it will let patrons "smoke to their heart's content" at a new gaming centre it is building 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg.

Chief Terrance Nelson says the band hopes to lure in patrons shut out by a province-wide smoking ban that takes effect Oct. 1.

The ban forbids smoking in bars, casinos, restaurants and other public areas, but does not apply to native reserves.

Nelson says the native gaming centre will provide bus rides to and from Winnipeg, and will target people who want to smoke while gambling.

The facility will feature a bingo hall and up to 60 video lottery terminals. It's set to open in January 2005.

http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=mb_smoking20040927

 

U.S. Trial Raises History of Smoking-Cancer Link

Mon Sep 27, 2004 06:09 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Allan Brandt, an expert testifying on behalf of the Justice Department, acknowledged that some prominent researchers were still reluctant to pinpoint smoking as a definite culprit in causing cancer, even after a 1959 Surgeon General report said it had been "implicated" in the disease.

"There was a group of skeptics," Brandt said.

The government charges cigarette makers lied and tried to confuse the public about the dangers of smoking as part of a 50-year industry conspiracy.

In pre-written testimony, Brandt said the world medical profession had reached a concensus by the 1950s that smoking caused lung cancer.

Under cross-examination on Monday, Brandt admitted that even though epidemiological studies linked smoking and cancer in the 1950s, some scientists still wanted further evidence from laboratory experiments.

Bernick also cited articles Brandt had written referring to cigarette makers as a "deviant" and "rogue" industry, in an effort to portray him as a biased, anti-smoking advocate.

Brandt was unapologetic.

"I would use those terms to describe the behavior of the industry," he said.

A federal appeals court heard arguments from lawyers for the Justice Department and subsidiaries of British American Tobacco over whether BAT should be forced to turn over a key, potentially incriminating document that the Justice Department has long sought.

The document, a 1990 memorandum written by an outside lawyer named Andrew Foyle advised a BAT subsidiary in Australia on its document retention policy. The company has argued the memo is a protected attorney-client communication.

In June, Kessler ordered BAT to provide the memo, saying the company had engaged in "inexcusable conduct" in its two- year struggle to withhold the memo.

Justice Department lawyers contend that it shows BAT efforts to destroy documents that could be used to incriminate the company in smoker lawsuits.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdge&storyID=6346635

 

Officer fatally shoots smoking refugee outside San Jose Starbucks -CA

Associated Press Posted on Mon, Sep. 27, 2004

SAN JOSE, Calif. - An officer who fatally shot a Bosnian refugee who was smoking a cigarette outside a Starbucks coffee shop acted in self-defense after the man attacked him with a chair and his fists, police said.

Officer Donald Guess was having a coffee break Sunday inside the cafe when an employee complained about the behavior of a customer who was smoking outside, police said.

The man - identified by friends and relatives as Zaim Bojcic, 40, who moved to the United States 10 years ago from Bosnia - was sitting with three other men. When Guess approached, Bojcic allegedly became confrontational and threw a patio chair, hitting the officer.

The officer reported that he fired his taser, which had little effect on Bojcic, who allegedly began punching and kicking.

The officer then "pulled out his gun while being beaten and fired several shots," said San Jose Police Sgt. Steve Dixon. Bojcic was taken by ambulance to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Guess, a nine-year veteran, received treatment at an area hospital for facial cuts and a possible concussion. He will be on paid administrative leave during an investigation by the San Jose Police Department's homicide unit, the Santa Clara County's district attorney's office and the Independent Police Auditor.

Relatives and friends of Bojcic described him as a quiet but increasingly troubled survivor of a Croat-run concentration camp in Dretelj.

Several Starbucks customers said that Bojcic was a regular. They also said the store's new management had recently been cracking down on smoking around the cafe.

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/9776189.htm

 

Governor Signs Bill Banning Prison Smoking -CA
Associated Press  September 28, 2004, 6:58 AM PDT
SACRAMENTO -- California's prisons are going smokeless - almost.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Monday that will ban tobacco use by both inmates and staff at the state's adult and youth correctional facilities, starting July 1, 2005, except in staff housing when prisoners are not present and at Indian religious ceremonies.  The ban covers smoking, snuff and chewing tobacco.

* this is the place where  they can’t control heroine, or crack use.  This is how to incarcerate someone for 3 years longer for having a cigarette.   Make them a career criminal within the system.

http://fox40.trb.com/news/ktxl-092704prisonsmoke,0,6017726.story?coll=ktxl-news-3

 

Memo argued in tobacco case

Industry lawyers ask court to suppress evidence, which is tied to document destruction

The Associated Press Sep 28, 2004

WASHINGTON Tobacco-industry lawyers asked an appeals court yesterday to keep a potentially damaging memo out of the federal government's ongoing racketeering trial against cigarette makers.

Justice Department lawyers have been seeking the 1990 memo for two years, believing it could strengthen their argument that tobacco companies committed fraud by lying about the dangers of smoking and hiding that information from the public.

The memo by London-based lawyer Andrew Foyle advises an Australian subsidiary of British American Tobacco Co., PLC., on whether the company should keep or destroy internal paperwork in light of increasing litigation.

government wants memo

 

Legal arguments to be made Tuesday over smoking ban

(Hartford-AP, Sept. 27, 2004 9:45 PM) _ A challenge to the state's smoking ban is going to court.

   Bar owners say they're losing business because their patrons are going to private clubs and casinos, which are exempted from the ban.

   Busloads of bar owners and patrons are driving to Hartford tomorrow morning for the court hearing. A group of bar owners has sued, claiming the law is unconstitutional.

   Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says he plans to tell the judge that the legislature is legally allowed to make exemptions when writing laws.

   A survey conducted by Mobilize Against Tobacco for Children's Health says 84 percent of state residents strongly or somewhat support the ban on smoking in workplaces, including restaurants and bars. 

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=2356201&nav=3YeXRNGE

 

Smoke gets in your eyes -UK

One issue likely to be the subject of heated debate in the near future is the proposal to ban smoking in pubs, clubs and restaurants.

And so it is that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has organised a fringe meeting on that very topic tomorrow.

"There's been a lot of noise on the issue of public smoking bans and the meeting will give a good feel of opinion," states an e-mail from the organiser.

A good feel, maybe, but possibly not the widest range of opinion. All three speakers at the event favour a ban, as does the meeting's chairman, Barry Sheerman MP.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/28/nlab728.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/09/28/ixnewstop.html

 

Reducing Your Risk for Bladder Cancer
(Sept. 27) -- Some 60,000 Americans will be diagnosed with new cases of bladder cancer this year. For some, smoking and genetics may be to blame, but you may be able to reduce your risk by introducing two nutrients to your diet.

Now, a new study shows vitamin E may have helped prevent the cancer. Basically, the results show that individuals with a higher intake of vitamin E showed a 42-percent reduced risk in bladder cancer. But beware, not all vitamin E is the same.

Doctor Xifeng Wu says foods containing high levels of the alpha-tocopherol form of vitamin E offer better protection. Those foods include red and green bell peppers, spinach, mustard greens, almonds, sunflower seeds, and vegetable oils.

"The vitamin E is an antioxidant that can reduce DNA damage." Doctor Wu says 15 milligrams a day is all you need. "It's definitely attainable if someone eats 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day."

Walnuts, pecans, and garbanzo beans contain a different form of vitamin E and don't offer the same protection against bladder cancer. Another natural helper is folate, which studies show can cut the risk of bladder cancer nearly in half.

Researchers say folate found in fruits and veggies is crucial for DNA repair.

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2355904&nav=168XRN4u

 

Questions After Teen Anti-Smoking Rally Turns Into Riot -NV

September 27th, 2004

It was a big party for teenagers that ended in chaos, and it was sponsored by the Clark County Health District. Paramedics, HAZ-MAT and Metro were all called in after things got out of hand at an anti smoking "Kick Ash" party. Now the health district is facing tough questions. News 3's Kori Chambers reports some say the county should have seen these problems coming, it’s in it 4th year."2004 Kick Ash Party" were told that something like this might happen.

"There were concerns and we saw those concerns and we expressed our concerns, and those were not followed through with." The party was is sponsored by the Clark County Health District, and Metro wishes that someone had taken up their offer to hire overtime officers to staff the event.

Instead, officers were called in after the fact, along with fire and paramedics. Chaos spilled through in a crowd of more than 25 hundred kidsThey also tell us they had 30 security guards on scene, not just the five counted by Metro.

Either way, it clearly wasn't enough to handle the crowd of more 25 hundred people. http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=52470

 

Teen Suspended for Smoke Smell –SC

Last Modified: 9/27/2004 9:34:50 PM

A Rockdale County father is fuming over his daughter’s in-school suspension. He said the teen’s only crime was simply smelling like smoke. Salem High School said it was standing by its strict no-smoking policy.
Carlton Bates said his 17-year-old daughter, Amanda, went to the office at Salem and told an assistant principal she had an upset stomach.
The administrator there “grabbed her shirt, smelled it, started smelling her hair and said, ‘You’ve been smoking,’ and my daughter replied, ‘I haven’t been smoking, I don’t smoke,’” Bates said.
“She was not caught smoking, she was accused of smelling like smoke and put on five days’ suspension for that reason,” he added.
Salem’s principal Robert Cresswell stood by the school’s policy.
“Basically the girl smelled very strongly of smoke and we handled it as consistently and fair as we normally handle things,” he said.
Cresswell said the rules were no smoking or possession of smoking paraphernalia on campus. Smelling like smoke is not a violation but “we assume if you smell strongly of smoke, you’ve been smoking,” he said.
The girl’s father said he does not condone kids’ smoking, but he believes Amanda may have just been around friends who smoked off campus before school.
“She’s never been in trouble with that school system. We’ve talked to her teachers, they love the kid. She’s been a good daughter to us and I believe her,” Bates said. “If she says she’s not smoking, she’s not smoking.”
Bates has written the Rockdale County School Board asking for an apology and his daughter’s record to be cleared.
Amanda’s suspension is effective immediately. Principal Cresswell said the in-school suspension will not be a permanent entry on Amanda’s school transcripts.

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=52470

 

Smoking ban nears but not for pubs
John Carvel and Felicity Lawrence
 The Guardian Tuesday September 28, 2004
The government is preparing selective restrictions on smoking in public places that are likely to disappoint the medical profession and public health campaigners by failing to stop people lighting up in pubs and clubs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1314213,00.html

 

Condo neighbor wins lawsuit filed by nonsmoker - OH

AKRON, Ohio -- A jury sided with a smoker Monday in a lawsuit filed by a nonsmoking condominium neighbor who asked for $50,000 in damages.

A Summit County Common Pleas jury of eight nonsmokers deliberated about one hour before ruling in favor of Nicole Kuder, 28, in the lawsuit filed by Robert Zangrando, 72, of suburban Stow.

Zangrando, a retired University of Akron professor who said he suffers from emphysema and allergies, claimed Kuder's smoking on their shared porch was a nuisance and aggravated his health problems.

Kuder, who moved out of her condominium during the summer, said it cost her $20,000 to defend herself against the lawsuit.

Zangrando's attorney, Ed Gilbert, said the jury may have felt Kuder's move elsewhere resolved the dispute. Gilbert said he had recommended to Zangrando that the verdict be appealed, but no decision had been made.

The condominium association's management company felt the second-hand smoker matter was between two neighbors and didn't want to get involved, according to trial testimony by Jenny Archer, representing the management of Huntington Park condominiums.

http://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=2355045

 

Cigarette Smoking Ban -NB, CA

By Marlene Thornton Sept. 27, 2004
 Does banning cigarette smoke mean the same as banning alcohol? One would have to look over the if's, and but's. In Fredericton NB Canada, October 1st 2004, they think they are going to fine anyone seen smoking in public. You won't even be able to smoke in your own car. I say take it off the shelves, then. Cause, I do smoke.
I don't drink, though. More people die from drinking then smoking. My brother for one, and many Uncles to go with him. Cause, drinking kills people's liver. So does that mean they better take all the alcohol off, also?
Some people that smoke don't have the gas to go out into the country to smoke. It would be a long twenty mile walk for a cigarette.
If I can't smoke in my own home, wouldn't that be non freedom? I say so, but the ban they say is coming. And I for one am not happy.
I think banning cigarettes would mean banning alcohol. Especially when alcohol kills. In which, it is, also, not labels that it does. I hope I am not banned from reading or listening to music. Being taken under control is no fun.
It seems stupid to me to think they can fine people for smoking anywhere. But, I can watch some one get drunk and beat people up, bash each others heads in, even, murder. A cigarette doesn't do that. Not everything kills or does it. So, why make us do something you started. Some of us don't want to quit smoking. No matter how much you make us pay for it.
In Fredericton NB Canada we pay 50.00 for three times less of tobacco. Then I can buy the same amount in Chicago for 5.00. But the tobacco in Chicago comes from my country. Almost, makes me think it's worth the gas. The gas price these days, today it was 96.9 cents a liter. Cigarettes are any where from 7.00 to 10.00, and more a package.
I am not one to be controlled. So, I guess I might get a lot of fines for smoking soon. Living in the year 2004 is not what it was cut out to be in some ways. Cause, they got me addicted. Now, they want to tease me by selling them in front of me. But, don't want to let me smoke. And, then fine me for doing it. I am glad I don't drink coffee. They say the prices in coffee rises when gas or cigarettes does. Maybe, they should put a label on the cigarettes. Buyer beware. If found smoking in city limits. 50000.00 fine. Fredericton. You will be banned.

http://www.useless-knowledge.com/articles/apr/sept358.html

Residents fear environmental pollutants causing cancer

By: Martha Bryson Hodel December 08, 2003

Associated Press

CHAUNCEY, W.Va. (AP) Tankers on local property. Ferrell recalls that 1987 incident now with something more than idle curiosity. Last year, her next-door neighbor, Carlene Mowery, started counting the numbers of Chauncey residents who had died of cancer.  They added up to 180 cases.  PCB’s found from tankers that may have dropped it off, in 1987.

"It's been a variety of cancers affecting people of all ages,'' she said. "We've seen pancreatic cancer, cancer of the liver, the eye, breast, colon, prostate, and ovaries.''

"We've got to stand up and fight back, or we're all going to die,'' Mowery said

pcb's found years after trespassing

 

Defying the years

BY AMY ELLIS NUTT Monday, December 02, 2002
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

OAKLAND, Calif. "In 6 million years of evolution, we've gone from a short-life creature to a long-life creature," says Ames, "and age-specific cancers have gone up. Thinking about that said to me: A lot of cancer is just about getting old. And that got me interested in aging."

Two odd events kept jangling about in Ames' head: the rise in cancer and the increase in free radicals with age. Free radicals are molecular miscreants, compound substances that create havoc inside cells by stripping other molecules of their electrons. Was there a direct link between free radicals and aging? Was it possible that free radicals actually contributed to aging?

Too many free radicals create a kind of cellular pollution that stiffens cell membranes and wears down enzymes. Too much damaged DNA results in cell mutations (which can cause cancer). Both are signs of aging.

There are scores of different theories about aging, but all of them can be broken down into two broad camps: theories that regard aging as the result of normal wear and tear from environmental insults and metabolic processes; and theories that regard aging as the result of a pre-programmed genetic plan, a process that begins at birth, or even at conception, and continues until our "biological clock" runs down.

http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/index.ssf?/specialprojects/seekers/seekers2.html

 

 

Canadian Cancer Society position

We believe that governments must ensure that appropriate regulation and legislation is in place to protect workers. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that their employees are not exposed to known or probable cancer-causing agents during the course of their work. Employers must inform their workers about the name, chemical composition and potential toxicities of all substances they work with and provide personal protective equipment where indicated. Work environments must be designed to prevent any exposure to toxic substances.

• It’s proven that chlorine causes cancer, no just linked.  Why aren’t they advocating different, or trying to innovate ways to reduce chlorine risk from pools, and city water?  I can answer that by saying that it isn’t promoted by the money of the pharmaceutical groups (woods Johnson pharmaceutical). Why because they get profit from nicotine cessation products.  Only 4% quit using their product, totally sane people who use antipsychotic, have committed suicide while using product.  Isn’t one death too many when it compares to smoking danger? 

 

Response of Canadian Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute of Canada

to the Proposals of the Discussion Paper Entitled

"Helping Canadians Help Canadians:

Improving Governance and Accountability in The Voluntary Sector"

* They say charities can’t be involved with politics.  Yet How come they have their fingers in the legislation put out for anti smoking?  Yet they say they are now above effecting the laws.   If link doesn’t work, Ill put it onto my file section, giving new link.  Just tell me in the comments section.

http://www.vsr-trsb.net/pagvs/canadian_cancer_society.htm

 

Financial reports

http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_15052__langId-en,00.html 

---

 

Pubs’ profits go up in smoke –RI, USA

JOHN LARRABEE , Staff Writer09/26/2004

BELLINGHAM -- Customers are still coming to Pete’s Bluebird for the great char-broiled steaks, but these days many are bypassing the bar.
Owner Bill Coniaris says the cocktail crowd disappeared July 5, the day a state law that bans barroom smoking went into effect. Those who light up face a $100 fine for each violation, and businesses that allow smoking face fines of $300.

"The regulars still come in, but they don’t stay as long as they used to, even when there’s a ballgame on TV," he says. "The customers who come in to eat -- they finish their meal and they’re out the door. They don’t hang around for drinks."
Coniaris is just one of many local restaurateurs who’s been feeling squeezed since bar patrons were ordered to snuff their butts.

He points out he has already installed a four-unit ventilation system. He’s also willing to add signs that notify patrons there is smoking in the bar. Employees could be asked to sign waivers, stating they are aware of the risks.
"We’re gonna keep pushing the politicians," he says. "We want them know what this is doing to us."

Business doesn't see income benefit

 

Legislature to Consider Smoking Ban –ND, USA

(AP) _ A North Dakota legislative committee is supporting a proposal to restrict indoor smoking.  The Legislature's interim Criminal Justice Committee voted to send the proposal to the full Legislature. The next session starts in January of 2005.
The bill bans indoor smoking in most buildings that have access to the public. Bars, private clubs and motel rooms are exempted from the ban.
Devils Lake Senator Jack Traynor says the Legislature has debated similar proposals before. They've been defeated.
Residents of Fargo and West Fargo are voting this fall on local proposals to restrict or ban indoor smoking.
Traynor says lawmakers will be interested to see how those results come out -- when they debate the smoking issue themselves next year.

http://www.kxmc.com/news/local.asp?ID=3598

 

Pub backs smokers -UK

September 26, 2004 18:16

A SUFFOLK pub has bucked the growing the anti-smoking trend by actively promoting the right to light-up on its premises.
Karen Jackson, manageress at the Angel Inn, Sudbury, says the habit of smoking while enjoying a pint should not be turned into a crime.
The pub has now signed up to a campaign launched by the www.Freedom2choose.org.uk website, which is urging the Government not to introduce a blanket ban on smoking in pubs.
In direct opposition to a number of pubs across the region which have decided to ban smoking, Ms Jackson says customers should be allowed to retain freedom of choice.
"To introduce a blanket ban on smoking in pubs would be yet another infringement on human rights. People have to suffer so many rules and regulations regarding smoking in the work place, but in their own leisure time they should be allowed to do what they want," she said.
"If you ban smoking in pubs all it will do is encourage more people to smoke at home, so I don't see the benefit in that."
 "I don't think people who want to enjoy a cigarette with a pint should be made to feel like criminals, it is down to personal choice, and traditionally the two go hand in hand," said Ms Jackson.
Ms Jackson said she supports publicans who wanted to ban smoking, but such bans should not be enforced on all drinking establishments.
"We are lucky here because we are big enough to have a non-smoking area, but many smaller establishments would be killed off by a smoking ban."
Ms Jackson said it would also be unfair on staff in pubs if a total smoking ban becomes legislation.
"Working in the pub trade is different to other occupations, it is about socialising and the workers should be allowed to smoke alongside customers if they want. Most pub staff know about the risks of passive smoking so it should be their choice if they want to work in that type of environment."
She added: "We welcome anybody who wants to smoke in this pub and we don't think they should feel guilty about it. A total ban would be very unfair, it is all down to human rights and personal choice."
This week the Beehive pub in Horringer become the latest in a growing number of pubs across East Anglia to introduce a smoking ban.

pub takes stand on issue

 

Man Uses His Own Lungs To Teach The Dangers Of Smoking -MN
Sep 26, 2004 11:40 am US/Central
Longville, Minn. (AP) If you're a smoker or potential smoker, John Weber wants to show you his lungs.
Weber has spent a year using his body as evidence it's wise to kick the habit. He has put scans of his chest, including his large, cancerous tumor, on T-shirts and billboards in central Minnesota.
Weber says he's talked to more than 1,600 students in the past year and thousands more have seen his billboards. He pays for much of the campaign out of his own pocket.
Although he's seen a few students sheepishly light up minutes after his presentation, Weber hopes a few of them take his message to heart.

*How much is much 10% or 50? 
 http://wcco.com/localnews/local_story_270124224.html

 

Blair Seeks to Lift Iraq Shadow from Conference -UK

By James Lyons, Political Correspondent, PA News

Tony Blair tried to lift the shadow of Iraq from Labour’s conference today as he signalled a string of new policies for a third term in power.
Hunt supporters will take to the streets when Mr Blair delivers his key-note address on Tuesday. “I hope that there’s no confrontation between people because the law should be upheld,” he said.
“It was an issue that’s got to be decided. Obviously there are lots more important issues to take on but we did promise that we were going to resolve it.”
With a General Election expected next May, Mr Blair preferred to focus on the “very strong” domestic agenda being set out at the conference.
He pledged to “eradicate” youth unemployment, extend vocation training for youngsters and help first time buyers as well as signalling some form of smoking ban and increased child care.
“We have got a strong economy. We have got massive investment going into our public services but there is still a massive amount to do.”
Labour’s programme will deliver “excellent public services not just the basics”, he added.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3549216

 

Health Secretary drops smoking hint -UK

Sep 26 2004

New restrictions on smoking in public places are to be announced soon, Health Secretary John Reid has indicated.

But Mr Reid hinted the changes might stop short of the blanket ban on smoking in pubs, bars and restaurants seen in Ireland.

The Health Secretary insisted he would announce the details of his proposals to Parliament first.

But he told BBC1's The Politics Show: "I think we have to find a balance which says the majority in this country want to be able to have their leisure time without smoke polluting everything that they do or eat.

"On the other hand, we are British and we have to find our own way of saying how do we do that, while saying: 'While it is still legal, if you are a smoker, although we will try to protect the majority against the effects of your smoke, you will still have the right to smoke while at leisure'.

"It is not an easy one but I will try to find a compromise in the British way, which protects the rights of both."

health-secretary-drops-smoking-hint

 

*ok the only people I see asked is 1,200, how do they know 7000 quit?

Thousands Quit Smoking Habit -Ireland
By Michael Brennan, PA News

Thousands of Irish smokers have successfully quit the habit since the smoking ban in pubs was introduced, according to a survey today.
A study of callers to the Government smoking quitline, which was set up to coincide with the ban, found 7,000 people had successfully given up.
Around 39% of the smokers said the ban had a “significant or important bearing” on their decision to quit and 55% said it had helped them to stay off cigarettes.
The Irish Health Minister Michael Martin, who implemented the ban in the face of strong opposition from publicans, said he was heartened by the findings.
“Smoking is addictive and a health hazard and giving up is the single most important thing a smoker can do for their health,” he said.
According to the quitline survey, nearly half of the smokers who successfully gave up did so through willpower alone. Around 41% used nicotine replacement therapy to reduce their cravings.
Around 9,500 smokers managed to give up but returned to the habit again, usually within seven weeks.
Mr Martin said: “Quitting smoking is not easy and for some people, relapsing is part of the quitting process, but the support systems are there to help you at both national level and at local level through the local Health Board services.”
The telephone survey of 1,200 quitline users was carried out in July and August by the market research company, Behaviour & Attitudes.
In March this year, Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in pubs and all other workplaces.
It resulted in a drop of 7.5% in the level of cigarette consumption, according to Gallaher, the country’s largest cigarette manufacturer. Irish smokers will buy 500 million fewer cigarettes this year. Publicans have claimed the ban has reduced their sales by 15% to 25%.
However, their warnings that the ban would be unenforceable proved to be unfounded.
A survey by the Irish Office of Tobacco Control found 97% of premises inspected were compliant with the smoking ban.
With similar bans now in place in Norway, the Scottish First Minister Jack McConell is considering following suit.
The British Medical Association has given British Prime Minister Tony Blair a petition signed by thousands of doctors in favour of a smoking ban in the workplace.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3548639

 

Smoking show aims to shock young -UK

Sep 26 2004

Shock tactics to discourage youngsters from smoking are being used in an exhibition featuring dead human bodies.  Teenagers are being allowed in free to the Bodies Revealed exhibition displaying the diseased lungs of dead smokers.

Bosses of the show, at Blackpool Winter Gardens' decided to waive the fee for youngsters after a disturbing new survey showed the high number of youngsters in the UK still taking up smoking.

Dr Roy Glover, the American medical expert behind the show, which includes preserved full human bodies, said: "One of the most powerful messages in our exhibition is witnessing with your own eyes what smoking does to our bodies.

"We encourage parents to bring their kids to the exhibit. Many of the kids leave saying I'll never smoke!"

scaring kids show

 

Nazi medical ethos resonates as doctors face today's choices-TN, USA

German researchers were among the first to connect tobacco smoking with cancer, for example.

Alongside innovative public health policies for some Germans emerged the more sinister medical practices of forced sterilization and eugenics — deciding who should or shouldn't procreate in order to create genetically superior children — as doctors and politicians decided who was healthy and who was not.

People deemed unhealthy were at first those with mental or physical disabilities, such as Down syndrome or blindness, who were sterilized or killed. Later, ''racial hygiene'' meant that Jews and minorities were considered unhealthy for the country as a whole.

At first, ''physicians didn't know where it all was leading,'' said Stuart Finder, director of the Center for Clinical and Research Ethics at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Eventually, however, ''they got caught up in it.''

The lesson for today is that ''it's very easy today for the medical community to get caught up in political agendas and become unwitting pawns. If we do get used, then the results can be something we never intended and can cause great harm,'' he said.

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/09/58428360.shtml?Element_ID=58428360

 

Indian Sales of Tobacco Face New Pressure - USA

By EDUARDO PORTER New York Times
IRVING, N.Y. - Many people would love to put Larry Ballagh out of business. All antismoking groups, for instance. The National Association of Convenience Stores, too.
New York lawmakers would happily close him down. So would the attorneys general of most states.
The reason for all this animosity is that Mr. Ballagh, a hefty 65-year-old of half-Irish, half-Seneca American Indian stock, sells cigarettes nationwide over the Internet, free of state excise and sales taxes that can add as much $3 a pack to the cost of smoking.
The bustle in his offices on the Cattaraugus territory of the Seneca reservation here attests to the brisk growth of his business. There's the new extension to the warehouse, the high stacks of cigarette cartons, the huge piles of empty "Priority Mail" boxes waiting to be loaded and dispatched.
But as his venture has grown, so has the opposition to his trade. Fast-growing online sales of untaxed cigarettes - available for less than $25 a carton over the Internet compared with about $65 in New York City - are provoking a stampede of protests from a disparate collection of antitobacco groups, cash-strapped state governments and local retailers. These groups are hard at work in the courts, legislatures and in Washington to try to end the practice.
 tobacco sales fight

 

* This could be classed as a smoking related cancer according to some studies.

Sawmiller fights 11 years for compensation -NZ
By NICOLA BOYES 27.09.2004
A former sawmill worker with nasal cancer is still fighting ACC for compensation, 11 years after an expert panel said his disease was caused by chemical exposure at work.

The man's battle has been highlighted as the Government announces another study into the health of former timber workers.

The $520,000 project headed by Massey University's Professor Neil Pearce and administered by the Health Research Council, will survey health problems from a random sample of former workers.

It will include taking blood samples to test for chemical exposure.

Bob Dargaville, a sawmill worker for 28 years, handled dangerous chemicals nearly every day.

They made him dizzy, he suffered nose bleeds and he coughed blood.

In 1992, doctors diagnosed nasal cancer.

A year later, an Occupational Safety and Health chemical panel said Mr Dargaville's cancer was caused by exposure to chemicals at work. But the 63-year-old is still fighting ACC for compensation.

He is on an invalid's benefit. The tumour that grew behind his nose and spread to the lymph nodes in his throat has been treated and he is in remission.

Mr Dargaville has applied three times for ACC cover, but even with the minutes from the 1993 meeting of the panel and a letter saying his cancer was a result of exposure to chromate copper arsenate - a wood preservative - in his workplace, he was turned down.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?reportID=16&storyID=3595035

 

Premiers reminded of suicide epidemic Canada

GRAHAM FRASER Sep. 26, 2004. 01:00 AM
OTTAWA—The first ministers meeting on health care two weeks ago created waves that are still roiling the capital. Liberal skeptics complain about asymmetry; fiscal conservatives worry about a punctured piggybank.

Premier after premier congratulated himself on what he was doing to reduce smoking, cut down on obesity and encourage healthy living. It was one of the conference's few random collisions with actual health; one premier actually talked about the importance of drinking 10 glasses of water a day.

Then Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik raised a different kind of public health crisis. The suicide rate among aboriginal people is between three and six times higher than the rate in the rest of Canada. It was a stunning glimpse of disaster — so shocking that concern about smoking and obesity seemed trivial and self-indulgent.

For there is a suicide epidemic among Canada's native people.

The statistics are terrifying, particularly among the youth in Canada's First Nations and Inuit communities. In 1995, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples found that suicide occurs roughly five to six times more often among First Nations youth than among non-aboriginal youth.

In 2000, a study by the Canadian Institute of Child Health found the suicide rate among First Nations men between 15 and 24 was 126 per 100,000. In contrast, the rate for non-aboriginal Canadian men of the same age was 24 per 100,000. And between 1986 and 1995, the suicide rate among Nishnawbe-Aski youth in northern Ontario increased 400 per cent.

And yet, it is not uniform, across the board. British Columbia academics Michael Chandler and Chris Lalonde found that there were some native communities in their province where the suicide rate was negligible.

is it tobacco or suicide that’s important

 

 

Manitoba and New Brunswick smokers brace for provincewide bans

Michelle Macafee Sunday, September 26, 2004

HEADINGLEY, Man. (CP) - For much of the last year, Jonathon Barkley has fled Winnipeg's municipal smoking bylaw by driving a few minutes west to a bar in Headingley to enjoy a cigarette with his lunch.

But the 19-year-old construction worker's happy ritual will come to an abrupt end Friday when his refuge is brought under a provincewide smoking ban.

A similar ban takes effect in New Brunswick the same day.

"It's a nice place to come and have a smoke, good food  . . and relax," Barkley said as he played a VLT after finishing up a cigarette.

"I won't quit smoking. I'll just have to stand outside. I guess that's the only option."

Manitoba and New Brunswick are taking the lead in Canada with the first provincewide bans that prohibit smoking in almost all indoor public places and workplaces. A similar law in Saskatchewan takes effect in January, while several other provinces already have partial bans that only allow smoking in specially ventilated rooms.

Anti-smoking advocates see the laws as a giant step forward for the rights of non-smokers. But opponents argue it will be impossible to properly enforce the laws and the financial costs - especially for bars, pubs and nightclubs - are too high.

"My hope is this will be the end of second-hand smoke as a workplace issue across the country quite soon," said Francis Thompson, a policy analyst with the Non-Smokers' Rights Association in Ottawa.

"We don't accept all sorts of other workplace contaminants. Why should we accept second-hand smoke?"

"What we don't want to have is people going out as the smoking police," said Rondeau.

"I think what will happen is most people will understand the reason for the ban and most people will not subject their employees to second-hand smoke."

native tobacco under microscope

 

*what is happening at already effected communities?  The “plain clothes police” are going into places and if they smell smoke, they report it to snitch line.  It brings distrust, and anger against the nonsmokers of the patrolled communities, because not all snitches are correct. 

---

Emotions flare on ‘front line’ of smoking war
By TOM TROY
Toledo (OH) Blade
September 28, 2003
 "All these claims of economic chaos, that’s just standard stuff out of the industry playbook," Dr. Glantz said. "What these restaurant and bar owners have had pounded into their heads for over a decade is, ‘If these laws pass, you’ll go broke.’"

Connie Heck, the owner of Connie’s, a bar and restaurant on Central Avenue near Ottawa Hills, said she does not have a playbook, and she doesn’t know any tobacco lobbyists. All she knows for certain about the city’s smoking ban is that her bar patrons have fled.

"The clientele we’re gaining in the dining room are the nonsmokers. But I’m not getting the drinkers who stay until midnight," Ms. Heck said.

As if on cue, a potential patron walked into Connie’s, stood for a moment, and then said, "This is a nonsmoking bar?" Sheepishly, he turned and walked out, saying he would look for another bar where he could enjoy a glass of wine and a cigarette.

Other bar and grill owners around Toledo tell similar stories.

Bar owners in Toledo say they hope city council will act to repeal the restriction on bars, while leaving it in place on restaurants. If not, they intend to put the issue before voters.

"People don’t seem to understand that we’re just concentrating on restaurants," said Bill Delaney, owner of Delaney’s Lounge on Alexis Road and treasurer of Citizens for Common Sense. "The people tell us they’re not concerned about bars, bingo halls, and bowling alleys."

Ms. Heck said one loyal customer named Larry was a regular at the bar, racking up $60 bar tabs a night.

She has heard he is now drinking at Arnie’s in Westgate, where smoking is still allowed during the 120-day exemption period.

Ms. Heck recalled that before he last left, Larry said to her: "My dear, I love you, but I have to say goodbye."

http://www.cmh.pitt.edu/tobacco/news/Newsemotions_092803.htm

The truth found, Glantz lies http://forces.org/infamy/files/humber1.htm

Stars oppose public smoking ban -UK

A group of celebrities has written to The Times newspaper opposing a smoking ban in public places.

Actor Stephen Fry, television presenter Chris Tarrant, artist David Hockney, Tory MP Boris Johnson and Bob Geldof were among those who signed the letter.

"Dangers of smoking and passive smoking are currently being exaggerated to the point of hysteria," the letter claims.

But the Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) campaign group said public smoking "limits other people's rights".

Other stars who signed the letter included pop music mogul Simon Cowell, singer Joe Jackson, chef Anthony Worrall Thompson, publisher Felix Dennis, inventor Trevor Baylis.

'Individual choice'

The letter, also signed by musicians Joe Jackson and Lisa Stansfield, argues that New York and the Irish Republic have both suffered since introducing a smoking ban.

The letter states: "The risks of passive smoke have never been proven beyond meaningless levels in a small minority of studies.

"To smoke, to associate with smokers, or to operate a venue in which smoking is allowed should all be matters for individual choice.

"Smoking is legal and in pubs and clubs it's fanatical smoke-haters who are the minority."

The letter concludes by asking politicians and the media to "de-escalate the tension" surrounding smoking and "let common sense and the free market decide the future of British social life".

'Wildly misrepresented'

Pro-smoking campaign group Forest welcomed the letter, saying it showed how strongly people feel about the issue.

Simon Clark, director of Forest, said: "We urge the government not to be bullied by the antics of the anti-smoking lobby."

He said anti-smokers have "wildly misrepresented the dangers of passive smoking" and claimed the silent majority "want choice, not a total ban".

Deborah Arnott, director of Ash, said: "Clearly smokers have the right to smoke, but this is about where they smoke.

"Other people smoking in public places means asthma sufferers, for example, are restricted in where they go because people smoking can bring on asthma attacks."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3689466.stm

 

Weekly laurels and laments -WI

From the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Sept. 24, 2004

As choked as city streets may be with auto fumes during rush hour, the pollutants are 50 times worse in smoky bars and casinos, reports a new study by biophysicist James Repace, a secondhand-smoke consultant. He tested air in a casino, a pool hall and six taverns in Delaware before and after a smoking ban took effect. He initially found high levels of cancer-causing pollutants, which ventilation systems failed to clear out fast enough. After the ban went into effect, the pollutants dropped by 90% indoors - to about the same level as outdoors. His study vindicates city leaders in Madison and Wauwatosa - both of which have passed smoking bans for indoor public places, though they have not yet taken effect - and gives powerful ammunition to advocates of such bans elsewhere.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/sep04/261470.asp

EVALUTION by FORCES http://www.forces.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=750

 

Now the fug of smoke has lifted, all eyes are on Dublin - Ireland
Health officials from Manchester visit the Irish capital to see the effects of the smoking ban
Helen Carter
Saturday September 25, 2004
The Guardian
Midnight in Dublin on the north side of the river Liffey. Busty Lycra, a drag queen at the Guru club, and her friend Miss Misdemeanour huddle together for warmth as they shift from foot to foot and inhale deeply on their cigarettes. Their elaborate wigs and the white tassels of Miss Misdemeanour's red cowboy jacket flap in the chill wind.

Later on stage, Busty asks clubbers for their opinion. "What do you think of the smoking ban?" As she turns her microphone in the direction of the audience, there is a loud roar - broadly of approval, but tinged with the occasional boo. "What do you think? Yes? No? Fuck off?". She laughs.

As the evening wears on, more people head outside for cigarette breaks. They are laughing and joking as they collectively light up and attempt to shield themselves from the cool September air.

"I think it is a lot better, I like the clean air," says Laura Eustace, 35, as she takes a drag of her cigarette. "I must admit when I first heard about it, I was absolutely horrified. But I have never spoken to so many people as I now have outside bars - it has a very sociable aspect to it."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1312383,00.html

 

 

Smoking ban revised - GA

By Jay Jones9/24/2004
jay.jones@rockdalecitizen.com

CONYERS — Revisions made to the proposed countywide no-smoking ordinance changed two contentious requirements leading up to a second reading next week by the Rockdale County Board of Commissioners (BOC).
The revised ordinance is expected to be discussed by the BOC during a work session this morning, with possible adoption of the new law set for Oct. 1.
*That’s it people change the rules! What a surprise, NOT.

http://www.rockdalecitizen.net/archive/2004/1634.htm

 

Budget pits prevention against treatment - GA

By Dave Williams
dave.williams@rockdalecitizen.com

ATLANTA — When health-care dollars are scarce, treatment gets the nod over prevention.
That was the message from the state Board of Human Resources, which voted this week to shift up to $4.4 million from disease-prevention programs operated by the Division of Public Health to save two programs for Georgians with developmental disabilities.
“Prevention is important,’’ said board member Dr. Lawrence Cooper of Atlanta. “It’s just a place where we’ve got more flexibility.’’
The proposed shift is just a small part of plans to cut up to $40.8 million next year from a $1.36 billion Department of Human Resources budget, the agency’s share of a new round of across-the-board spending reductions ordered by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Under a proposal presented by the DHR’s staff, the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases would take the largest hit, with $17.9 million in cuts.
But board members balked at eliminating a program that provides day care for developmentally disabled Georgians with the most severe disabilities and discontinuing state support for the Marcus Institute, an agency near Emory University that serves children with severe disabilities and chronic health-care needs.
Cook argued that none of the organizations involved in the prevention efforts the state funds, including anti-smoking ads, can prove statistically that their programs are working.
“They’re well-intentioned ideas,’’ he said. “(But) we do not have a single prevention program with measurable results.’’
Deen insisted that the smoking prevention program is working and that its results can be measured.
  The DHR budget recommendations now go to Perdue’s Office of Management and Budget. Eventually, it will be up to the governor and General Assembly to decide how to balance spending priorities.

http://www.rockdalecitizen.net/search/archiveSearch.html

 

Warning on flood of smoking claims -AU
By State Political Reporter GREG KELTON
September 25, 2004
PRESSURE continues to mount on the State Government to toughen its proposed smoking bans, with WorkCover warning of huge passive smoking claims.
WorkCover chairman Bruce Carter has warned of the consequences in evidence to a parliamentary committee into the insurance provider.

Mr Carter also is president of the National Heart Foundation of SA, one of four major anti-smoking groups which have withdrawn support for the Government's legislation.

Along with the Cancer Council, the Asthma Foundation and the Australian Medical Association, the Heart Foundation has been critical of the 2007 deadline for banning smoking in pubs and clubs and a Government decision to water down restrictions on point-of-sale outlets.

The groups are expected to mount an intensive lobbying campaign over the next month as the Legislative Council begins debating the Bill.

Tasmania announced this week it would ban indoor smoking in gaming and cabaret venues from January next year and in pubs and clubs from January, 2006.

Queensland is proposing a total smoking ban in hotels and clubs, even on public beaches, from 2006.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10873227%255E910,00.html

 

I have a response to the scare mongering appearing in the news.  I suggest you get 3 cases that have proven (death certificate) that smoking caused them to get the disease.  The statements that so many people will die from cancer each year is based on a computer program called SEMMAC.  They use the EPA risk factors, and then calulate that.  I would suggest that the government do less fear mongering, and more investigative journalism.  I would also suggest that you get your information from more then one source (not the cancer society).  In Canada there is controversy going on because there are charges that societies are affecting elections.  Charities are suupose to be advocates, not legislators. 

 

How Prison Helped Me Kick My Smoking Habit- TN, USA

Pacific News Service, Commentary,
Dannie Martin, Sep 20, 2004

MASON, TENNESSEE - I thought stopping a 50-year smoking habit was impossible. A pack a day of non-filter Camel cigarettes for five decades is hard to quit. Even after a doctor told me that on a chest X-ray my lungs looked like two dried prunes.
I tried everything to stop: nicotine patches, Nicorette gum, hypnotism, monster willpower, you name it, I tried it, to no avail. The camel kept his nose in the tent.
Then I was charged with violating parole and found out that the first jail I went to was a no-smoking facility. I stayed there a week without a cigarette. I was going nuts, but by the sixth and seventh day I had calmed down some. By then I would pass two or three hours without thinking about a smoke.
 Despite the high price, the demand always outstrips the supply. Someone's always looking to buy a cigarette. There aren't any matches in here but there are transistor radio batteries. The spark is made by applying steel wool and toilet paper to the radio battery.
One convict told me he buys a pack of cigarettes for fifty dollars and smokes them all himself. He said it lasts him five or six days.
"Quite a few of us do that," he told me. "It cuts down the chance of getting told on, and most of the men who sell smokes do get told on eventually."
If a con is caught with tobacco, he goes straight to isolation. It's usually fifteen days for the first offense and thirty for the second. Ironically, sometimes a man is put in isolation for smoking by the guard who sold him the cigarettes.
There was some excitement in the cellblock here a few nights ago when the police ran in and grabbed a guy accused of selling tobacco. They also detained an officer who was accused of bringing in the contraband and escorted him off the premises. We know the inmate is in isolation. We don't know the fate of the guard.
I never thought jail would do anything positive for me, but there's a no-smoking program here that works. I wouldn't advise it, though, until you've tried everything else.
smoking banned, still smoking

 

Cigar gifts rolling in for 108-year-old aficionado -OH

By ERIC NEWHOUSE
Tribune Projects Editor

Cigar smokers around the world are responding to the plight of Walter Breuning, who reluctantly gave up smoking at age 99.

"Good cigars got so expensive I couldn't afford them," Breuning told the Tribune on his 108th birthday Tuesday.

"But I sure loved those cigars," he said.

Within a couple of days, Breuning received two Havana cigars from an online reader in London.

And, after nine years of good living, how did that first cigar taste?

"It was good," he said. "Oh man, it tasted good."

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040925/localnews/1302607.html

 

Smoked _THE PROPOGANDA campaign *= MY COMMENTS

Greg Hartley / Franklin Park / The Writer Is A Board Member Of SmokeFree Pennsylvania Pittsburgh (PA) Tribune-Review.
Sunday, November 30, 2003

In Walter Williams' column ("Harm's two-way street," Nov. 20/21), he attempts to make a case against smoke-free workplace legislation by using outdated talking points from the tobacco industry.
For example, he claims that the only people harmed by secondhand smoke are those "allergic to tobacco or ... find its odor unpleasant." This is contrary to reports by the U.S. Surgeon General and others, which attribute approximately 50,000 annual deaths to secondhand smoke.  * using a a computer program, no death certificates. Not a program based on inflated risk assessment.

Williams contends that he is harmed by the "denial of pleasure" caused by the prohibition of smoking in someone else's presence. It's difficult to respond to such a trivial claim other than advising him that his right to smoke stops where my lungs start. * Free will and money talk volumes in a free market society.   Let your money talk not your views.

Concerning his argument that private property rights give restaurant and bar owners license to allow smoking in their establishments, we remind him that these establishments are, by definition, public places. *The business owner no longer has right to choose customer

Smokers are welcome in any public place, but they don't have the right to cause a harmful working environment or public health problem. Similarly, a duck hunter is welcome in a restaurant, but he can't bring along his golden retriever (even though he is denied the pleasure of the dog's company). *smoke in bars can’t be regulated by OSHA, how come?  Because there is no consistency, most bars pose no more danger.

We offer a list of completely smoke-free restaurants and bars at: www.NoSmokeDining.org.

http://www.cmh.pitt.edu/tobacco/news/Newssmoked_113003.htm

 

Homeless man helps nab purse snatcher -PA

The Associated Press

UPPER DARBY, Pa. — A homeless man is being hailed as a hero after chasing down an alleged purse snatcher, tackling him and holding him down until police arrived.
Loretta Ferraro, 68, was in the Chef’s Spot restaurant waiting for a friend when she said a man tried to grab the handbag out of her lap. The two engaged in a tug-of-war, but the man prevailed and bolted out the door.
 smoker stops purse nabber

---

 

Research shows there's more to women's health than female anatomy
LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer

Beyond the tired cliches and sperm-and-egg basics taught in grade school science class, researchers are discovering that men and women are even more different than anyone realized.

It turns out that major illnesses like heart disease and lung cancer are influenced by gender and that perhaps treatments for women ought to be slightly different from the approach used for men.

These discoveries are part of a quiet but revolutionary change infiltrating U.S. medicine as a growing number of scientists realize there's more to women's health than just the anatomy that makes them female, and that the same diseases often affect men and women in different ways.

"Women are different than men, not only psychologically (but) physiologically, and I think we need to understand those differences," says Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

However, recent discoveries suggest that genes, hormones and lifestyle may be behind many of the differences. For example:

* Heart attacks in women frequently don't involve chest pain and may involve more vague, flu-like symptoms.

* Women who don't smoke appear to be more susceptible to lung cancer than nonsmoking men. Women also tend to get lung cancer at younger ages than men, and they appear to metabolize cancer-causing substances differently than men.

* Women are less likely than men to get oral cancer.

* Women are more prone to autoimmune diseases, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, in which disease-fighting mechanisms mistakenly attack the body's own tissues.

* Some AIDS-fighting medicines appear to metabolize more quickly in men than in women, who may require gender-specific doses.

* Women's symptoms for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease -- debilitating intestinal diseases that affect men and women -- vary considerably each month, requiring frequent medication adjustments.

Inflammatory bowel disease, which encompasses both Crohn's and colitis, is a specialty of Dr. Sunanda Kane, a University of Chicago researcher who is studying why the problem seems to be on the rise among young women.

Both diseases damage the digestive tract and in severe cases, doctors remove part of the colon and patients must wear colostomy bags.

women differnt then men in disease

 

Mediterranean Diet And Healthy Lifestyle Associated With Significant Reduction In Death Rate

Individuals 70 to 90 years old who adhered to a Mediterranean-type diet and several healthy lifestyle habits had a more than 50 percent lower death rate than those who did not, according to a study in the September 22/29 issue of JAMA.

Because of the cumulative effect of adverse factors throughout life, it is particularly important for older persons to adopt diet and lifestyle practices that minimize their risk of death from illness and maximize their prospects for healthful aging, according to background information in the article. Dietary patterns and lifestyle factors are associated with death from all causes, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, but few studies have investigated these factors in combination.

Kim Knoops, M.Sc., of Wageningen University, the Netherlands and colleagues investigated the single and combined effect of a Mediterranean diet (rich in plant foods and fish, low in meat and dairy products, and with a high ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids to polyunsaturated fatty acids), being physically active (approximately 30 minutes of activity per day or more), moderate alcohol use, and nonsmoking on all-cause and cause-specific death in European elderly individuals.

*could this be why Greeks have the highest smoking rate, yet lowest cancer?

http://www.thematuremarket.com/SeniorStrategic/dossier.php?numtxt=3001&idrb=5

 

Teenage gang blackmailed girl smoker
24/09/2004 - 15:46:59
A Croatian girl who paid off three older teenagers so they would not tell her parents she smoked soon found herself in even worse trouble.
The teenagers threatened to kill her father if they didn’t receive more money, police said.
The three suspects, aged 15, 16 and 17 were arrested after the girl had told her parents she had paid them €23,500 in bribes since March, Zagreb police spokeswoman Gordana http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=50747476&p=5x747778

 

Heart Attack Survivor Will Walk for Awareness

By Robin Williams Adams
The Ledger robin.adams@theledger.com
LAKELAND
Vicky Henry, a radiologic technologist turned auditor, didn't fit the stereotypical picture of someone at risk of a heart attack when she suffered one almost two years ago.
Besides being female, she was 46, a non-smoker, at an acceptable weight, busy with her job and active in keeping up with two children. Although her blood pressure was a little high and her cholesterol of 225 above the ideal, her doctors didn't consider either bad enough for medication.
 She realized the fatigue and run-down feeling she'd had for a couple of months may have stemmed from the increased blockage in her heart arteries.
She remembered that her father, who died of cancer, had a non-fatal heart attack at age 51. Her doctors think a genetic factor inherited from her father causes the lining of her heart arteries to overreact in building scar tissue, Henry said.
Her older brother and her two children, 15-year-old Breanna and 13-year-old Blake, now know they have a risk factor they hadn't realized.
But a deeper message, the one she wants to convey in her role as ambassador, is this:
Her experience isn't unique. Anyone is potentially at risk.
"Anybody who would listen, I would tell them," she said. "Not for them to be shocked and worried, but for them to be aware that (a heart attack) could happen."

nonsmoker, perfect health gets heart attack

 

Thieves ambush driver in smokes heist  -NS

By JOHN GILLIS / Staff Reporter- Sept 25, 2004

Three masked men smashed a window, pointed a gun at the driver, forced him to open the back and made off with an undisclosed quantity of cigarettes before dawn Friday in Dartmouth.

Police are investigating whether the robbery in Burnside Park is related to a series of similar heists in the last two months.

At Province House on Friday, Finance Minister Peter Christie said the province is concerned about the incidents of crimes involving tobacco.

But he defended his government's decision to hike tobacco taxes over the past few years, saying the higher prices deter young people from ever starting to smoke.

CRIME SPREE

July 30: A group of masked robbers with guns bound and gagged more than 30 Costco employees as they arrived for work at the Chain Lake Drive store in Halifax's Bayers Lake Business Park. The thieves loaded a large quantity of cigarettes into a long cube van and drove away.

Sept. 12: Three masked men armed with two handguns stole money from Chrissy's Trading Post on Hammonds Plains Road. As they fled, the robbers forced two people out of a GMC Tracker at gunpoint, forced them to the ground and tied their hands behind their backs.

Sept. 16: In Bridgewater, three armed men held the owner of Crouse & Choat Wholesale Ltd., his wife and another woman at gunpoint for nearly two hours in another attempt at cigarette theft. The robbers drove their captives to the company's warehouse but fled, leaving the hostages behind, when police arrived.

Sept. 22: Two masked men, one carrying a handgun, tied up three employees of the Braemar Drive Superstore in Dartmouth and assaulted two others in a robbery attempt. The thieves followed an employee through a staff entrance at about 6 a.m. The robbers were after cash and tried to get staff to open a safe. They fled without getting any money.

http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2004/09/25/f226.raw.html

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Smoking Dopes -NY
Daniel Fisher, 09.22.04, 10:34 AM ET
NEW YORK - Say the U.S. government wins its $280 billion lawsuit against the tobacco industry. Then what?
Even a clean sweep in court wouldn't make much of a dent in the $7.4 trillion U.S. debt, however. The tobacco earnings of Philip Morris and Reynolds American, representing about three-quarters of the U.S. cigarette market, together equaled $10 billion last year, a little more than a day's worth of federal tax revenue.
With the government in charge of the tobacco industry, one thing is certain: Prices would go up and consumption would fall. There's plenty of practical experience backing this, from government control of liquor sales in Canadian provinces to the longtime monopoly certain European countries had over cigarettes.
"If you assume smoking is bad and you must deter smoking, that is great," says Pierre LeMieux, an economist at the University of Quebec at Outaouais and a vocal critic of smoking regulations. "If you believe in consumer sovereignty, that's bad, no better than a monopoly in hula hoops or wine."
The scenario isn't so troublesome to Richard Daynard, head of the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law. Daynard says that "we saw some reasonably substantial drops" in smoking by teens and children after manufacturers raised prices to pay for the state settlements of tobacco litigation in 1998. Cigarette prices have climbed more than 90% since 1997, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the median state and federal taxes on a pack of smokes approaching $1, and some states, such as New Jersey, charging more than $2.
"If we're stuck with one major strategy" to reduce smoking, Daynard says, "a price increase would be it."  But there comes a point when price increases backfire and consumers either quit smoking or turn to smugglers and other alternatives to retail cigarettes. The U.K. learned this the hard way after doubling taxes on cigarettes in the 1990s. Smuggling increased, and a 1999 estimate by the admittedly biased Tobacco Manufacturers' Association pegged tax losses at £3 billion ($5.4 billion at current exchange rates) a year. In the U.S., meanwhile, rising prices helped trim sales to 371 billion cigarettes last year, down 5.1% from 2002 and 19% since 1998. Smuggling has increased, according to the Government Accountability Office, as the profit from a smuggled carton of cigarette can range as high as $13.
So the government would inherit a shrinking, albeit extremely profitable, business facing serious competition from illegal distribution channels. There is hope: Altria's Philip Morris unit reported domestic operating earnings of $6.1 billion last year on sales of $17 billion. As part of a government-controlled monopoly, Philip Morris presumably could trim the $12 billion it spends on marketing and administration, potentially doubling profit. How much does it cost to promote an addictive product?
The real jewel for the government would be Philip Morris' international business, however. Sales rose 17% to $33.4 billion, and earnings jumped 11% to $6.2 billion, as the Marlboro Man grabbed market share in Asia and Europe. Already the tobacco companies are subsidizing U.S. anti-smoking programs through contributions to funds established in the 1998 tobacco settlement. Perhaps Washington bureaucrats could turn this into a growth industry by exploiting the growing earnings of their overseas cigarette operations to wean every American off nicotine.

http://www.forbes.com/home/manufacturing/2004/09/22/cz_df_0922tobacco.html

 

Schwarzenegger smoking tent led to flooding in California Capitol

(09-22) 09:20 PDT SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) --

A tent constructed so Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could smoke his cigars at the state Capitol contributed to some of the water damage suffered during a sudden rainstorm Sunday, state officials said Tuesday.

The artificial turf still remains in the Capitol courtyard, but has been moved away from the drains, Edelen said.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2004/09/22/state1220EDT7381.DTL

 

 

Smoking bans milestone
By ELLEN WHINNETTSeptember 23, 2004
TASMANIA will become the first state in Australia to outlaw smoking in pubs and clubs.
Premier Paul Lennon yesterday introduced legislation to restrict smoking in hospitality venues by January 1 next year, and completely ban it by January 1, 2006.

Health groups were disappointed by the 15-month delay to the total ban, but praised the Government for making the commitment.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10848684%255E3462,00.html

 

Reid hints of smoking ban -UK

Sep 23 2004The Government will take action to tackle smoking in public places, Health Secretary John Reid has indicated.

Reid hints of smoking ban

 

"I Think a Lot of Guys will Break Down in Iraq"

Destroying the National Guard

By WILLIAM S. LIND September 24, 2004

The unit knew it would soon be shipped to the front. Some soldiers responded by deserting. Others got drunk and fought. In response, officers locked the unit in its barracks, allowing the troops out only to drill, not even to smoke a cigarette, until it could be put on the transport that would take it into combat.

It sounds as if I am describing some third echelon Soviet infantry regiment in, say, 1942. In fact, I am talking about the 1st Battalion of the 178th Field Artillery Regiment, South Carolina National Guard, in September 2004. According to a front-page story in the September 19 Washington Post, the unit was disintegrating even before it was deployed to Iraq. One shudders to think what will happen once it gets there and finds itself under daily attack from skilled enemies it cannot identify.

http://www.counterpunch.org/lind09242004.html

 

Mugger broke cyclist's arms -AU
By REBECCA HEWETT
September 25, 2004
A cyclist walking his dogs was pushed off his bike and stabbed in the leg with a kitchen fork, Darwin Magistrates court heard yesterday.

Northern Territory News

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10870531%255E13569,00.html

 

I Propose A New Amendment To The Constitution -US

By Brooks A. Mick
Sept. 24, 2004
As Mel Gibson said as they disemboweled him in "Braveheart:" FREEEEEEDDOMMMMMMMMM!
One of Mick's Postulates, I forget exactly which number it is, says that "No matter what group you are in, it is usually trying to destroy someone's freedom somewhere, someway, somehow.
Please remember: THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
Unfortunately, many people, including whatever your pet social or political group is, even if it claims to want freedom and individual liberty, seem to have forgotten this. We are not living in a totalitarian state where the government, no matter how well-meaning, should be able to tell citizens how to run their private lives. (Are we?)
This includes smoking, the constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms, the use of trampolines, and other activities which are none of your neighbor's business and none of the government's business.
It amazes me how many of the liberal apologists for President Clinton's tasteless and illegal activities nevertheless want to poke their long blue noses into the private cigarette packs, gun cabinets, and back yards of law-abiding Americans.
Pediatricians want to ban guns, emergency room doctors want to ban trampolines, and Playboy magazine thinks it is perfectly fine for Rep. Pete Stark, the national Medicare nanny, to formulate a law saying it is illegal to discuss fees with a naked patient. Isn't this getting a little silly? Isn't it? Aw, come on, admit it!
I propose a new Amendment to the Constitution:
"Congress shall pass no law any funnier than the average Polish joke." (Of course one would have to establish just how funny the average Polish joke is, but that shouldn't be too hard. Get an old laugh meter from a canceled TV game show, assemble a statistically representational crowd, get someone with no sense of humor to read a large sample of Polish jokes, and measure the average laugh decibel. Then read the new laws proposed by Congress to the same group, and see how big a laugh the law gets and compare it. Simple.)
This would stop much of this garbage. In the meantime, never cheer when somebody else's taxes are raised, because they will be into your pocket next. And never yell "right on" when someone else's freedoms are trashed, because you are tacitly agreeing that the government can trample your freedoms next.
Are you sure you want the government telling you you can't yell at your kid to turn down the volume on that rap music? That may be next. Watch out or your kid could file a complaint and you'll end up in jail.
Not only is the camel's nose in your tent, he's in up to his belly button ring! Let's all resolve to support each other's pet freedoms so our own won't be trashed. How about it, folks?
Where do we live anyway? Let's hear it! THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
------------
About the author Brooks A. Mick: 63-yr-old physician, still practicing medicine but retired from the US Army. Write just for the fun of it, but working on novel in the vein of Tom Clancy's politico-military genre.
http://www.useless-knowledge.com/articles/apr/sept319.html

 

Breathing life into fight for lung operation By Jen Bishop -UK

A SHIRLEY couple are desperately trying to help raise £200,000 to send the best man at their wedding to America for a life-saving lung transplant.

"He's never had a cigarette past his lips in his entire life, yet he has a really rare lung disease like this.

"He was diagnosed with it when he was 40, but in the last two years things have really gone downhill for him.

"Apparently, some people can live quite normal lives with it under control, but David's got so bad he is now in a wheelchair and on oxygen 24 hours a day.

lung transplant needed by nonsmoker

 

Tobacco class action thrown out -AU
24sep04

AUSTRALIAN tobacco companies were breathing a "multi-billion dollar sigh of relief" after a New South Wales court today ruled out a class action by smokers seeking compensation.
NSW Supreme Court Justice Virginia Bell found smoker and cancer sufferer Myriam Cauvin could not bring an action on behalf of other smokers.

Ms Cauvin, from Blaxland in Sydney's west, had sued cigarette giants Philip Morris and British American Tobacco and retailers for the return of more than $200 million of invalidly-collected excise tax.

She had sought to have the taxes transferred to a fund to compensate smokers for the costs of quitting, and for associated health problems.

Justice Bell, in handing down her final judgment, found Ms Cauvin was able to lay an individual claim but ordered references to unidentified "other persons" be struck out.

Lawyer Neil Francey said the decision, which effectively spells the end of any class action by smokers, was hugely disappointing.

"We've put everything into this case, me personally for the last two-and-a-half-years," Mr Francey said outside the court.

"We've agitated with governments at a state and federal level from both sides of politics wanting support for the case (but) we've heard a deafening silence."

He said the decision would encourage a "log jam" of individual claims.

It also makes class actions in other areas, such as asbestos, mobile phone and yet to be discovered diseases, very difficult.

"The technique of suing on behalf of other people in this way is being denied," Mr Francey said.

"I imagine (tobacco companies) will be breathing a multi-billion dollar sigh of relief."

Mr Francey said a court appeal would be fruitless without more government support.

Ms Cauvin took up smoking at age 10, was addicted by the age of 15, developed breathlessness in her 20s and was diagnosed with emphysema at the age of 30.

She had a life-saving lung transplant on September 11, 2001, but suffered a stroke in May this year.

Mr Francey said the 40-year-old had wanted to help other victims of cigarettes and was deeply disappointed by the outcome.

However, she would proceed with an amended, individual claim in the Supreme Court on October 8.

Her landmark case on behalf of Australian smokers follows a High Court decision in August 1997 and subsequent government legislation which made invalid excise collected by the tobacco companies between July 1, 1997, and August 5, 1997.

Ms Cauvin had claimed that the invalid tax was included in the price of cigarettes sold to smokers and should be returned for the benefit of consumers.

http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page

 

Spiked cigarette theory unconfirmed  -Wales

Sep 24 2004Tryst Williams, The Western Mail

SOUTH Wales Police last night stressed that the possible use of a spiked cigarette was just one line of inquiry being pursued in the investigation into the alleged rape of a 30-year-old woman in Swansea.

The incident is reported to have occurred at a city guest house during the early hours of last Saturday.

A 39-year-old man from Ebbw Vale was arrested on Sunday evening and has since been released on bail, pending further inquiries.

spiked cigarette one theory

 

Jail made me inhale says dope-test prisoner  -NZ
By LOUISA CLEAVE 25.09.2004

A prison inmate is suing the Government for compensation after returning a positive drug test he claims was the result of passive smoking.

huddle to keep warm gets man into trouble

 

Meningococcal case diagnosed in Lincoln City

Lincoln County Health and Human Services Public Health received a report on Sunday of a presumed positive case of meningococcal disease diagnosed in a 6-year-old child from Lincoln City, who has been hospitalized and is expected to make a full recovery.
Meningococcal disease is caused by a bacteria. This bacteria is not spread by casual contact like the flu, chicken pox, or measles - it is spread by close contact over a long period of time with the sick person's saliva or by the sick person coughing or sneezing. People exposed in this way are prescribed a special antibiotic to prevent them from becoming ill with the disease.
Cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke are associated with an increased risk of becoming ill with meningococcal disease - especially in children.
Symptoms of the disease include a rapid onset (over a few hours) of chills, high fever (102 degrees plus), severe headaches and stiff neck, and a rash or bluish-purple blotches. Nausea and vomiting may accompany these symptoms.
These symptoms require immediate medical attention, either by a doctor's office or hospital emergency room. Left untreated, meningococcal disease can be fatal.

http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2004/09/24/news/news21.txt

*smoking is banned in varying degrees of province

Crack smoking room needed, says mayor - BC

WebPosted Sep 22 2004 06:43 PM PDT

VANCOUVER - Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell says the city is ready to make an application to Health Canada for a "safe inhalation" facility for crack-cocaine smokers.

http://vancouver.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=bc_inhale20040922

 

No smoking rules confuse bar owners -NB
WebPosted Sep 24 2004 01:52 PM EDT
FREDERICTON  —  The New Brunswick Health Department is trying to clear the air about the province's new smoking ban as the countdown begins for public places to go smoke free.

Even the province's chief medical officer Wayne McDonald had a tough time explaining who is supposed to enforce the ban. "[Bar owners] are going to be a key part in applying the law. So it's up to each bar owner or the manager of the day, if they see somebody who's violating it, like anything else that would take place in a bar that they would not see as something that needs to take place or should take place, then they would have to apply the legislation in that way. They are not enforcing it. We are enforcing it through our inspectors. I just wanted to clarify that," he says.

The province will keep trying to clarify the smoking ban through a publicity campaign.

http://nb.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=nb_smokingban20040924

 

N.B. to ban smoking in all public places, despite calls -Canada
September 23, 2004

 FREDERICTON -- The New Brunswick government is going ahead with a ban on smoking in all public places, despite calls from bar and restaurant owners for a delay.

Health Minister Elvy Robichaud says the regulations are clear and will take effect October 1st.

But Kim Hunter of the New Brunswick Licensees Association says the final regulations were only issued today, and lack sufficient enforcement.

She says unless there is strict enforcement, bars and restaurants will lose customers to establishments who ignore the new law.

Federally regulated places, including CFB Gagetown, are exempt from the ban.

First Nations communities can also apply to the federal government for exemption.

Statistics Canada figures released in June showed New Brunswick had the highest rate of smokers in the country.

http://www.canada.com/maritimes/news/story.html?id=beac1f5a-059b-4645-8256-a59af6fde9a9

 

Family questions medical care –Calgary, AB

CFCN.ca POSTED AT 4:35 PM Friday, September 24

A Calgary family says two walk-in clinics didn't take their son's complaints seriously enough. Two weeks later, 36 year old Tim Stuart died. The 36-year-old Calgary man was a stand up comedian and a single father. He was young; his family says he was in good health. When he suddenly fell ill, Tim went to a walk-in clinic for help.

"He was given a prescription, and told to lose 100 pounds and quit smoking and our son was not overly obese, he was not a heavy smoker, he was an occasional smoker,” said his mother, Myrna Stuart.

A few days later Tim still wasn't getting any better. His dad took him to another walk-in Calgary man dies

 

Don't Get Burned By Heartburn
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2004 (CBS)

 Heartburn affects about 20 percent of all American adults at least once a month, advises The Early Show's Dr. Mallika Marshall.
Someone with heartburn will experience a feeling of burning warmth or heat or other discomfort that begins in the upper abdomen just below the lower breastbone. The pain often spreads up to the throat, and sufferers may have a sour taste in their mouths. Heartburn happens when the contents of the stomach backs up into the esophagus, which leads to irritation. Everyone has a valve called a lower esophageal sphincter. It is supposed to stop stomach contents from backing up. But this valve doesn't work properly if you experience heartburn. 
 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/24/earlyshow/saturday/main645541.shtml

 
Ireland may tax chewing gum   Saturday 25th September, 2004

Big News Network.com     Saturday 25th September, 2004  The Irish government may impose a 10 percent tax on chewing gum to help pay for rising street-cleaning costs, Sky News reported.
A gum tax is among several proposed ways to improve the quality of life in Ireland, most notably banning smoking in pubs, restricting pub-opening times and outlawing drinking in the streets.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=2d03195ea60a4b61

 

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