Mixed reviews for smoking ban
By Abigail Cukier News Staff Nov. 12/04
Provincial ban a breath of fresh air to some local Legion members
While some members will be upset by a smoking ban in the local Royal Canadian Legion hall, the spokesperson for the Battlefield branch, believes many others would be pleased by the change.
"A lot of people coming into the office have been telling me they're not going because of the smoking. They'll come to the fish fry and come to pay their dues, but don't come to the Legion because of the smoking," said Bob Brown.
He said some members have health concerns, including one man with a lung condition, who can't handle the smoke.
The local Legion has about 810 members, and while Mr. Brown said a smoking ban might keep some members away at first, he believes they would return. He also thinks a smoking ban may bring back members who are staying away because of smoke.
Earlier this month, Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman announced a province-wide smoking ban to be presented to the legislature later this year, which would include private clubs whose premises are open to the public.
In addition to providing veterans the opportunity for comradeship and social activities, the Royal Canadian Legion contributes hundreds of thousands of hours of volunteer time, assisting veterans, running youth and athletic programs and sponsoring seniors' housing projects. But legion membership is declining. To replenish their ranks, the legion opened membership in 2000 to Canadians not associated with the military. Some feel current and proposed smoking bans will drive members away.
In Hamilton, since June 1, smoking has been prohibited in bars, nightclubs, billiard and bingo halls, slot machine facilities and gaming centres, except in designated smoking rooms. All public places and workplaces in Hamilton will become smoke free by June 1, 2008, and designated smoking rooms will no longer be permitted. Private clubs have not been included in any proposed provincial legislation - until now.
A bartender at the Legion's Westborough branch in Ottawa, said she notices a strong decrease in bar sales. That municipality has been smoke-free in private clubs since June 1. While a few non-smokers have returned, business is down about $300 day, she said.
Mike Wood, an employee at the Battlefield Branch, is not worried about a possible smoking ban. Looking around the branch's club room at 2:30 in the afternoon Tuesday, Mr. Wood saw about five smokers out of 50 patrons. He also pointed out the branch already has a non-smoking upstairs room.
City councillor threatens veterans
by Arthur Weinreb, November 10, 2004
Toronto City Council has been providing tax breaks to branches of the Royal Canadian Legion. Under the provisions, veterans’ clubs in Toronto receive a 100 per cent property tax rebate, which this year amounted to over a quarter of a million dollars. Councillor Howard Moscoe is planning to introduce a motion before council to revoke this tax break if the vets continue to allow smoking on the premises of their clubs.
Moscoe’s supposed reason for trying to force the clubs to become smoke free is that they are allowing non-members to drink and smoke in their premises. Out of necessity, veterans do allow non-members into their clubs. After all, the vets are a dying breed in Canada--literally. The older members are dying off and since the once proud Canada doesn’t do wars anymore, they are not being replaced. But the purpose of the clubs is to benefit those who risked their lives so that people like Howard Moscoe can be free to shoot off their big mouths. And for that service, Moscoe feels no compunction about kicking them in the teeth.
Supposedly Moscoe decided to go after those who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice when a business owner in his riding was losing business. Apparently some patrons were leaving his establishment to drink at a legion where they can light up. Losing business? That can’t be right. After all it was Moscoe and his left wing council associates that have been telling the unwashed masses that banning smoking would increase business in restaurants and bars because all the non smokers would come out. Howard probably forgot to tell his constituent that his business was actually increasing because he was in too much of a hurry to run off to bully the vets.
What adds to this absurdity is that Moscoe is trying to sound pro business. This is the guy whose last big hurrah was to try and force the city’s taxi drivers to buy new cars instead of used ones when they need replacement vehicles. Moscoe couldn’t have cared less if some taxi drivers, mostly new arrivals to this country, lost their livelihoods. Heads filled with more grey matter than the Toronto councillor have prevailed and Moscoe’s plan to force some cabbies out of business didn’t pass. But now suddenly, he would have us believe he’s a champion of small business. The truth is that his contempt for business is obviously less than his contempt for those who spent months and years fighting for Canada and freedom.
What Moscoe has done is far worse than what Bloc Quebecois MP Andre Bellavance did last week. The rookie separatist MP refused to provide a Canadian flag to a veterans’ club because, as a separatist, he doesn’t hand out Canadian flags. At least Bellavance showed the veterans a modicum of respect by providing them with a number that they could call to obtain a flag. Moscoe’s advice to the aging war veterans was that if they want to smoke they can stand outside in the cold like everyone else does.
Howard Moscoe is a bully. Pushing around a group of elderly and disabled war veterans makes him feel good. If he actually had any guts, he would run over to Afghanistan and force our current troops to butt out. But Afghanistan is dangerous and you pretty well need a weapon over there. Unfortunately, the only thing that Howard can shoot off is his oversized mouth.
To threaten those who risked their lives and who have served this country so well is bad enough, but to do it the week before Remembrance Day is absolutely disgusting. The timing of Moscoe’s threat clearly shows what a poor excuse for a human being he actually is. His sarcastic quip that veterans cannot be allowed to smoke because they are elderly and dying anyway shows a degree of sensitivity usually only found in serial killers. To Howard Moscoe, these veterans are nothing more than props--to be used so that the little councillor can show what a big man he is. In a council of anti-war leftists, who are on a never ending quest to control every aspect of peoples’ lives, Howard Moscoe stands out.
As with his indifference to hard working taxi drivers, hopefully cooler and more compassionate heads will prevail.
http://www.torontofreepress.com/2004/toronto111004.htm
Smoking ban vote delayed two weeks
By Jeanne BeneteauStaff Writer Nov 11, 2004
PORT HOPE - The public will have one final opportunity to make a pitch either for or against a smoking ban in Port Hope workplaces.
At Tuesday's meeting, council delayed final passage of the proposed smoke-free bylaw until the Nov. 23 meeting to allow residents a chance to review and comment on the document. In addition, a request for $5,000 to cover signs for municipal buildings has been forwarded to the budget committee. If passed, all work places in Port Hope will become smoke free as of June 1, 2005.
At the meeting, Carol Kirton, president of the United Steelworkers of America Local 889 representing 800 workers at the Port Hope Collins and Aikman plant told council the enactment of the bylaw to cover all workplaces does not take into consideration manufacturers or businesses who have been proactive in implementing smoking policies.
Ms. Kirton explained the Port Hope facility already has programs and policies in place that protects the health and safety of all employees. She noted 55 per cent of the employees smoke and added an earlier total ban of smoking at the plant did not work.
"It took me back to the high school days, with people smoking in broom closets," she says.
The plant now has separate lunch rooms and patio areas to meet the needs of both smokers and non-smokers.
"As long as cigarettes are for sale at convenience stores, a ban like this violates freedom of choice," she adds.
Under the proposed ban, both the Port Hope Police Service and the Northumberland Ontario Provincial Police have agreed to enforce the bylaw when there is a complaint. Non-compliance will result in a set fine of $105. Outdoor patios and home occupation businesses are exempt from the ban. In addition, the bylaw includes a smoking ban within 10 metres from the door or window of any building owned or leased by the municipality with a set fine of $25.
http://www.durhamregion.com/dr/nn/news/story/2337233p-2706932c.html
A smoking ban's forgotten victims -ON
The following article appeared in the National Post on Nov. 11, 2004.
By Douglas Needham
TORONTO - Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman's vow to introduce a "100% smoking ban" in all public places and workplaces is causing indigestion among many of the province's hospitality operators, two-thirds of which are small, independent businesses. It doesn't have to be this way.
Ontario's hospitality industry has struggled for the past three years. The impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks still lingers, and business has not yet returned to the levels of mid-2001. The industry has been hit hard by a series of other shocks, too, including SARS, erratic weather, the 2003 power blackout, the rising Canadian dollar, BSE (mad cow disease) and a precipitous 34% decline in visitors from outside Canada to the province.
On the other side of the ledger, operators are wrestling with skyrocketing costs for such essentials as business insurance, energy and food and beverage products.
Now, the threat of a complete ban on smoking in Ontario hospitality establishments has some proprietors wondering if this will be the "last call" for their businesses.
The hospitality industry supports consistent, province-wide smoking legislation to replace the confusing array of municipal bylaws. But, as with any issue, the law ought to strike a reasonable balance among various interests; in this case, between the need to improve public health and the economic well-being of a $21-billion industry and its 491,000 employees.
Health activists are pushing for an outright ban, citing studies that conclude that smoking bans won't hurt the hospitality industry. Unfortunately, these studies fail to isolate the effect of smoking bans on establishments such as bars, pubs, taverns, lounges, legions and nightclubs, where the predominant activity is drinking and socializing.
Last year, for example, the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit (OTRU) studied Ottawa's restaurant and bar industry in the eight months following that city's Aug. 1, 2001 smoking ban. Analyzing taxable sales data from the Ontario Ministry of Finance, the OTRU study concluded that there was no evidence that the smoking ban had harmed bar and restaurant sales. But when the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association examined the same data and isolated sales of drinking establishments, it found quite a different result -- sales at Ottawa bars, taverns and nightclubs were actually 10% lower than they would have been without the smoking ban.
A more recent study that restricted its analysis to drinking establishments was undertaken among Dublin pubs in July, 2004, by Behaviour and Attitudes, a marketing research company. Two months into Ireland's smoking ban, the study found that pub sales were down 16% on average while pub employment was off by 14%.
The loss of sales is not the only concern for hospitality operators about a smoking ban. Many of them have made capital investments to build designated smoking rooms (DSRs) to comply with municipal smoking bylaws. More than 500 operators have constructed DSRs in their establishments across Ontario. They made these investments relying in good faith on bylaws that did not carry expiry dates, and thus counting on a long-term payback from these considerable capital expenditures of $15,000 to $300,000.
Now they're in the untenable position of having made an investment to comply with one level of government and suffering financially to comply with another.
The economic impact, however, is only one aspect of Ontario's smoking debate. The other is the health of employees who are exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace environment. The province of British Columbia has addressed this issue directly with objective, science-driven legislation administered by its Workers' Compensation Board (WCB).
British Columbia tried a province-wide smoking ban in 2000 but in the end replaced it with WCB regulations that set a provincial standard for the construction and operation of DSRs. These rooms are separate from the rest of the facility and must meet a ventilation standard set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Customers outside the designated smoking room are protected from exposure to tobacco smoke. Employees have the right to refuse to work in the designated smoking room and those that choose to do so must limit their time there to no more than 20% of their shift.
B.C.'s legislation proved to be a major step toward making the province's hospitality operations smoke-free, since 92% of establishments chose not to make capital investments in DSRs. The vast majority of businesses that did install DSRs are pubs, bars, taverns, legions, bingo halls and nightclubs: adult-oriented establishments that tend to have a significant smoking clientele.
This is the model Ontario ought to follow -- a science-based solution that protects the health of hospitality employees. Ontario should establish air quality standards and occupational exposure limits for tobacco smoke in designated smoking rooms, while giving business owners the option of either meeting these standards or banning smoking in their establishments.
Douglas Needham is the president of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association.
http://www.crfa.ca/issues/bytopic/smokingregulations_forgottenvictims.asp
Competition Bureau has yet to rule on cigarette labelling allegations
After 17 months, health experts await answer
By GLORIA GALLOWAY Friday, November 12, 2004 - Page A4
A high-profile complaint lodged 17 months ago with the federal Competition Bureau that alleges deceptive practices on the part of tobacco manufacturers has yet to be resolved, and the complainants want an explanation for the delay.
The Competition Bureau's service standards dictate that anyone making a complaint, even a complex one, should receive a written response within 10 weeks. Most complaints are turned around in six weeks. So the medical officers of health from across Canada and other health experts who initiated the action are concerned that the allegations contained in their submission have been deemed too sensitive to handle.
The complaint, alleging that the words "light" and "mild" on cigarette packaging are misleading because light cigarettes are just as dangerous as the regular brands, was announced with much fanfare in June, 2003. But the 11 signatories have heard almost nothing from the bureau in the interim.
"I'm incensed," said Rob Cushman, chief medical officer of health for Ottawa, who is among those who signed the letter of complaint.
It has taken "far too long" to get a response from the Competition Bureau, Dr. Cushman said, adding that the time taken to handle the complaint apparently has far exceeded normal practice. "This is a public-health issue that's leading to sickness and death every day that it continues."
In March, Dr. Cushman and Mary Jane Ashley, a professor of public health at the University of Toronto, wrote to Competition commissioner Sheridan Scott asking what progress had been made.
"We are writing to you to draw your attention to the gravity of harm to the public health that attends delays in addressing the deception that our complaint reveals," they said in their letter.
The bureau responded with a two-paragraph reply saying that the inquiry is continuing and that bureau officials met with several parties and obtained a significant volume of information.
But 10 months later, the complainants said, they have had no further response, despite guidelines from the bureau that say complex complaints will be handled within 10 weeks or the parties will be provided, in writing, with an explanation and an estimated date of completion.
When asked to offer reasons for the delay, Maureen McGrath, a bureau spokeswoman, said "we are still reviewing the matter." She refused to speculate on the holdup.
"I'm concerned that the Competition Bureau may, in fact, have been told that other parts of government may be planning to do something to address this issue," said Garfield Mahood, executive director of the Non-Smokers' Rights Association and a signatory to the complaint.
But that is a problem for two reasons, he said. First, since former federal health minister Allan Rock tried to tackle the light and mild cigarette issue in 2001, the federal government has taken little action on the file. Second, the Competition Bureau is supposed to be independent of the political process.
"The political process has clearly shown to be negligent, to be failing," Mr. Mahood said. "If this body is attempting to shirk its responsibilities because of the possibility the government might act, that would be another example of negligence."
Tobacco on trial, blogging USA VS. phillip Morris inc. et al.
http://www.tobacco-on-trial.com/
Posted on Sun, Nov. 14, 2004
Secondhand smoke dispute big issue in government's tobacco trial
NANCY ZUCKERBROD Associated Press
WASHINGTON -Secondhand smoke can cause cancer. It's what the surgeon general says. So too the Environmental Protection Agency. And the World Health Organization.
To the tobacco industry, however, the link is not clear.
This dispute is a crucial issue in the government's trial against the nation's largest tobacco companies. The $280 billion sought is the most ever in a civil racketeering case.
The trial, which comes six years after the states reached settlements worth $246 billion with the industry to recoup the cost of treating sick smokers, is in its third month in U.S. District Court in Washington and probably will continue for several more. Testimony was to resume Monday.
The Justice Department alleges the industry engaged in a five-decade conspiracy to deceive the public about the health hazards of cigarettes. To win, the government must show the industry still is acting fraudulently or is likely to do so in the future.
Proving that the industry is misleading the public about secondhand smoke could be an essential element.
"It's probably the best evidence available that the tobacco industry hasn't truly, fundamentally reformed," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Government lawyers say the industry's denials about secondhand smoke are reminiscent of the companies' decades-old assertion that smoking did not cause cancer. That stand was dropped only in the past five years, against overwhelming evidence.
Cigarette makers say evidence tying secondhand smoke to lung cancer is much weaker.
"We think there's a legitimate reason to believe that this is not a done deal scientifically. It is not a closed case by any means," said Seth Moskowitz, a spokesman for Reynolds American Inc., the No. 2 cigarette maker.
Government lawyers, who refused to speak publicly about the case outside of court, have argued in filings and before Judge Gladys Kessler that the industry has tried to create a controversy about secondhand smoke where none exists.
Tobacco company lawyers disagree.
"Statistically, the evidence isn't strong enough," said Dan Webb, a lawyer for the leading cigarette manufacturer, Philip Morris USA.
Numerous studies in the United States and elsewhere show that nonsmokers who are married to smokers, or who work with them, have about a 20 percent to 30 percent greater chance than other nonsmokers of contracting lung cancer. By comparison, smokers are about 20 times more likely to get lung cancer than nonsmokers.
The government estimates secondhand smoke causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in nonsmokers in the United States.
The industry says the elevated risk seen in the secondhand smoke studies is too small to be statistically significant.
"To tease out that kind of excess risk is really very difficult," said lawyer David Bernick, who represents Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.
Bernick and industry officials say factors such as diet and lifestyle also could be responsible.
Some tobacco company representatives even suggest people mislead investigators by saying they do not smoke when they really do. They say that would particularly skews studies from countries where women are reluctant to admit to lighting up.
Scientists have considered those arguments in their studies and still found the evidence conclusive that secondhand smoke leads to lung cancer for some people, said Terry Pechacek, the associate director for science at the Centers for Disease Control's Office of Smoking and Health.
"The simple fact is that this is no longer an issue of debate within the scientific community," Pechacek said.
The first surgeon general's report stating that secondhand smoke can lead to cancer was published in 1986.
Webb attacked that report's credibility in court by producing a letter written by then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop 11 months before the report was released, saying the evidence was not firm enough to call secondhand smoke a health hazard.
The government has produced its own documents to try to demonstrate the industry has engaged in a public relations campaign to play down worries about secondhand smoke, known within the industry as "environmental tobacco smoke," or ETS.
One document from a 1986 Philip Morris meeting includes a heading that reads, "How to alter public perception that ETS is damaging."
Government lawyers have focused on an industry-created organization that financed research into secondhand smoke in the 1990s. They produced an industry memo that said tobacco company officials must play an active role in the organization for it to be of value to cigarette-makers.
Another memo stated that a 1989 industry-backed conference on secondhand smoke was designed to "neutralize" reports scheduled for release on the topic.
Industry scientist Sharon Blackie testified she believed the purpose of the meeting had been "to shed light on the science and to point out flaws in the science."
Bernick said that does not prove the industry was lying or trying to deceive the public.
"The idea that we really knew the jig was up; it's just not there," Bernick said. "This is not fraud. This is a disagreement about a technical scientific matter."
ON THE NET
Justice Department: http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/tobacco2
Reynolds American: http://www.reynoldsamerican.com/
Philip Morris: http://www.pmusa.com/home.asp
Brown and Williamson: http://www.bw.com/home.html
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/state/10181830.htm
Scientists question claims that environmental tobacco smoke is harmful
November, 05 2004
Participants at a seminar on the science of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS, so-called “passive smoking”) today heard a series of speakers review evidence for claims that ETS is harmful. The seminar, organized by the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA), took place at the Royal Institution. The TMA reported that anti-smoking lobby groups had boycotted the seminar and other organizations had refused invitations to their scientific experts to speak.
A common theme amongst several of the speakers was that the published science on ETS has been interpreted over-zealously as providing support for claims that ETS causes serious diseases among non-smokers, whereas the evidence is insufficient to support these claims.
Peter Lee, an independent expert in epidemiology, had reviewed some 60 studies that had looked at the risk of lung cancer among non-smokers exposed to smokers either at home, at work or in social situations. He concluded: “It is inherently impossible to prove the safety of ETS and my colleagues and I would not want to claim this. However, the evidence taken as a whole does not actually demonstrate any true lung cancer risk from exposure to ETS at all.
Lee’s views were endorsed by Dr. Ken Denson of the Thame Thrombosis and Haemostasis Research Foundation. He said: “The medical evidence for any deleterious effect of passive smoking is so tenuous that similar evidence would not be seriously considered, let alone published, in any other medical discipline.”
Speaking on the subject of ventilation in enclosed public places, Dr. Andrew Geens of the University of Glamorgan presented a variety of real life case studies that had measured the effect of a range of modern ventilation systems on removing ETS particles and gases from the air in pubs and bars. These demonstrated that even low-cost ventilation reduces ETS dramatically, keeping particles and gases well within occupational exposure limits even at peak times.
Oliver Griffiths reported on the results of the Air Improves Results Initiative (AIR), which was helping the hospitality sector to increase the number of non-smoking facilities in pubs and the adoption of better ventilation systems. As a result of these efforts, the hospitality sector had exceeded all significant targets and was continuing to make improvements in line with consumer demand. The number of pubs with non-smoking areas had increased from 23% to 56% since 1997 and research showed that three quarters of the public had noticed the improvements. Griffiths said: “The hospitality sector continues to work hard to implement smoking restrictions. We’ve shown that with simple ventilation technology, environmental tobacco smoke can be cleared. We believe that, with continued effort and goodwill, the ETS issue can be resolved.”
The TMA remains committed to holding a seminar at which all sides of scientific opinion is debated and is considering holding another seminar next Spring, organized through an independent third party. Chris Ogden, the TMA’s director of trade and industry affairs, commented “We want to give experts in the field time to reconsider their position because the subject is too important to allow anti-smoking groups and others to stifle open and rational debate between scientists who have different interpretations of the evidence.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. This press release represents the views of our principal members who are Imperial Tobacco, Gallaher Tobacco and British American Tobacco.
2. General conclusions from Science and ETS seminar
· The findings of individual studies on the health effects of ETS are inconsistent and inconclusive. Few of the studies have produced results that fulfil conventional statistical tests for significance. Where a positive effect has been found, the relative risk has been so low that it is beyond the limits of reliable epidemiological inference.
· The concepts of relative and absolute risk have frequently been confused in the ETS debate. Associations between exposure and consequences have been overstated and causal relationships have been claimed where none have been shown to exist.
· Reviews of the ETS literature using meta-analysis of the published data are unreliable because of the wide disparity of experimental designs and methodologies used in the studies brought together using this technique.
· A number of studies have projected the number of deaths claimed to be “caused by ETS” or that “would be saved” by banning smoking in public places. These are simply arithmetical exercises and have no real-world relevance. This is because they are founded on a disregard for fundamental epidemiological and statistical methods.
3. Relative Risk
· Small increases in relative risk are sometimes reported in percentage terms. For example, a relative risk of 1.2 is often popularised as a 20% increase in risk, giving an impression that if 100 people were exposed to the risk, 20 of them would contract the disease. This is highly misleading.
· A relative risk of 1.2 for a disease for which the incidence is 10 per 100,000 per year in a non-exposed population implies that the incidence is 12 per 100,000 per year in an exposed population. Thus, among 100,000 exposed individuals, two additional cases could occur each year.
4. More details of the TMA’s position on ETS can be found in the following publications which are available from the TMA’s website www.the-tma.org.
· Environmental Tobacco - Facts and Opinions
· Smoking in Public Places: The response of the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association to the Scottish Executive’s consultation paper
http://tma.pr24x7.com/index.php?MRM_pmid=292
Chemical quagmire - Dover woman says controversial disease has taken hold of her life - NH
By Nancy Eichhorn features@seacoastonline.com
It’s hard for me to explain what it’s like to have MCS because it affects everything I eat and drink, everything I breathe, and every activity that I do throughout each day," says April Carlise. "Before I started having MCS symptoms, I was unaware of all the chemicals that we are exposed to throughout the day. But now that I have MCS, I’m aware of almost every chemical that I see, smell, touch or taste, although some chemicals are odorless, tasteless and invisible."
Carlise says her symptoms vary from overwhelming fatigue, to not thinking clearly, to not feeling emotionally strong. Her reactions may last hours or days. Not always knowing what caused a reaction, Carlise spends most of her time trying to avoid as many chemicals as she can, trying to reduce the strength of chemicals to which she is exposed, and trying to neutralize her reactions.
"When I looked into my eyes, I looked like I was slowly dying," says Carlise, who says she noted toxic-looking rings around her pupils eight years ago. "The blue parts of my eyes were a murkier blue. I didn’t know it then, but those rings indicated my body was toxic."
From that point, her symptoms worsened. Passing by someone wearing perfume, passing by scented candles, the aroma of laundry detergents or fabric softeners caused reactions. She immediately left the area seeking a clean space to breathe in what she hoped was clean air, thus lessening the reaction. She says she read extensively and experimented to find things that helped prevent the constant reactions and even neutralize them. Unfortunately, there wasn’t always fresh air.
Items in the mail, magazines, books, clothes, even plastic shopping bags trigger reactions. Cigarette smoke from another tenant smoking on his balcony, or wood smoke from a next-door neighbor, or smoke from a nearby fire, affects Carlise. Bad-air pollution, strong smells of laundry detergent from one of the other tenants or the Laundromat nearby cause reactions. At some point, Carlise says she also started getting sick from pesticides and herbicides in the foods she ate.
"I’d be really sick, and basically bedridden for days afterward," she says.
About five years ago, pollen allergies added to Carlise’s difficulties. Breathing fresh air to neutralize chemical reactions was no longer an option. From April to November, she had to avoid riding the bus into town and taking daily short walks around the apartment complex or on the trails into the woods next to her apartment. She had to keep her apartment windows and balcony doors closed, which kept odors inside. Running the air conditioning with a special filter minimizes some odors when people enter her home to do repairs or stay for a short visit.
The most common odors that people bring in with them and that linger after they leave are different fragrances like perfumes, colognes, and fabric softeners on their clothes, hair shampoo and hand lotion. Not only do the odors linger in the air, they cling to anything the person touched or sat on and may cling to Carlise’s hair and clothes.
"That’s why I almost never have company over or go to people’s homes," she says.
Over the years, her symptoms progressed from "very mild to very severe." The severity fluctuated depending on her overall health and the exposure.
"I have spent years trying to get better. Every time I work hard to get better, I’m exposed to more chemicals, and my overall health worsens," Carlise says. "There are chemicals everywhere, and more and more chemicals are being added all the time. I feel like I’m like the canary in the goldmine.
"I was dealt a double whammy. I live with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and MCS. In l980, when I was 36, I had two severe reactions to Flagyl, a prescription medication, plus a bad case of the flu, all within one month. I felt my life energy drain out of me. I was bedridden and exhausted. When I stopped taking the medication, I was left with a severe case of CFS, digestive problems (which I’d never had before) and a mild case of MCS," she says.
An internist diagnosed Carlise with "post viral illness." Carlise disagreed, believing her illness was caused by the medication. She later learned that "post viral illness" was another term for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
"CFS may be caused by a virus that the body can’t get rid of, so maybe my severe reaction to medication, combined with the viral flu, pushed me over the edge," she says.
Carlise says she never recovered from that catastrophic month. A 1962 graduate from the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy, Carlise successfully completed her three required internships in a general hospital setting, a psychiatric hospital and a rehabilitation center and then passed the national OTR test in 1967. She began a new life, a new career. All that changed with CFS. Unable to handle a stressful job as an occupational therapist, she worked as a store clerk, a secretary and attempted part-time temp jobs.
"I’ve gotten better, then relapsed, gotten better again, then relapsed again. My current relapse started in February l99l, when I came down with the flu after a period of declining health, and has lasted 13 years," Carlise says who now survives on disability support. "Since my illnesses began, I’ve seen numerous medical doctors and alternative practitioners - including acupuncturists, homeopathic physicians, reiki practitioners, holistic doctors and nutritionists. Years ago, I told Dr. Graciano, a Dover internist, that I believed I had CFS."
According to Carlise, the three basic criteria for a diagnosis of CFS are fatigue that lasts for six months or more; diminished capacities, by at least 50 percent, to perform daily functions; and the absence of other illnesses to explain the fatigue. She met all the criteria. Furthermore, she had lost a lot of weight, her skin was yellow, and because her digestive problems were so severe, she says she looked like she was about to die.
"Dr. Graciano agreed with my diagnosis and admitted there were no available treatments at that time," Carlise says. (Calls to Dr. Graciano’s office were not returned.) "I still see Dr. Graciano and his nurse practitioner. They’ve written letters for me, regarding my chemical sensitivities, for rental assistance, etc., although they have never mentioned the diagnosis of MCS. They just say that I have a ‘complicated medical history, which includes various chemical sensitivities,’ and that my health is fragile."
While Carlise says many people with CFS also have fibromyalgia (FM), she adds that symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome - the result of exposure to different biological and chemical substances in Iraq in 1991 - the "Agent Orange" health problems some Vietnam veterans suffered, the illnesses people suffer who live near oil, chemical and mining areas, the black lung disease coal miners get, the lung damage done to those exposed to asbestos, and even the possible fallout from Sept. 11, 2001, as workers and residents inhaling toxins from the aftermath are developing debilitating health problems, overlap with those of CFS, FM and MCS.
"I realize that my MCS is a part of the CF syndrome, and can’t be separated from it. Some people have CFS for six months; some for three years; and some, like myself, for 24 or more years," she says. "I believe CFS is caused by the body collapsing under the weight of several traumas and the difference in whether a person gets CFS for six months, or three years, or many years, depends on the number of layers of traumas to the person’s body. "People who are the weakest, in certain ways, develop MCS first," she continues. "On a physical level, MCS is caused by a person’s body becoming ‘toxic,’ which means their body is overwhelmed by waste products of one kind or another. In a healthy person, the liver detoxifies any incoming toxins very quickly, but in a person with allergies and chemical sensitivities, the body is so overwhelmed with toxins, that they build up in the body, and begin to make the person ill."
Moving to the Dover area 10 years ago, Carlise planned to live in a rented apartment for one year. She says she’s never felt well enough to leave. Almost every time the landlord makes significant property improvements, Carlise says her health suffers. The chemical fumes from new hallway carpeting installed two years ago caused Carlise to be bedridden almost every day for about six months, until the carpet out gassed enough, and the pollen season ended, so she could open the windows daily to air out the apartment.
Then came new windows and balcony doors. Carlise says she hasn’t felt as energetic or as well ever since they were installed.
"My worst days are when it’s hot and humid, which causes a significant increase in the out gassing of chemicals from different things in my apartment," she says. "Although the apartment managers have been very kind to me and have been as understanding as they know how to be, I constantly research how to protect myself.
"I’ve read that many people have health problems that they aren’t even aware can be traced back to the chemicals in the food they eat, the beverages they drink, the air they breathe, and every activity they do throughout the day. I feel that everyone, whether they have MCS or not, can benefit from becoming more aware of how bombarded we are everyday with chemicals. Most of us just aren’t aware of it. I used to be oblivious to it, too."
Many factors affect this illness - mental, emotional, spiritual and physical. Carlise says she believes the MCS is a reflection of how out of balance her life was and how out of balance humans are with the natural world.
"I think it was Chief Seattle who predicted that Americans would drown in their own waste/pollution and it’s everywhere and getting worse all the time. More and more children and adults are developing allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivities, etc., and much of it is related to the amount of pollution that’s in our food, our water, and the air we breathe and within our mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. So, to me, it’s a combination of the individual (myself) being "toxic" on a physical level, and unable to cope with the chemicals out there, and our culture, which promotes and uses these chemicals," she says.
There is hope. A few years ago, with the help of a homeopathic remedy and nutritional supplements, Carlise says she started to feel better. Her symptoms have slowly become less severe and don’t last as long. She’s still careful to avoid chemical exposures.
"I’ve heard of a few people who have gotten significantly better, and I hope to be one of those people," she says
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/11142004/accent/48488.htm
Second ‘cigarette’ burglary takes place at Rochester gas station -NH
By JASON HOWE
Democrat Staff Writer
ROCHESTER — Police are investigating what could be the sixth burglary in a string of five city gas-station "cigarette heists" since Oct. 8.
Burglary alarms for the Route 11 Getty Station, located at the Cardinal Plaza, were triggered just after 3 a.m. Saturday after a front window was smashed.
Police responded within a minute of the call, but discovered no one on the scene, said Sgt. Stephen Burke. Nothing was stolen, he added.
"We have been very proactive about keeping an eye on these businesses, considering the criminal activity lately in these areas. We’ve passed this case over to the detectives bureau to handle the investigation," Burke said.
The burglary marks the second break-in at the location, which no longer keeps cigarettes or money on site overnight.
The first burglary occurred on Oct. 16 and resulted in the loss of 28 cartons, valued at $738. It was the second in a string of what appears to now be six such "cigarette burglaries," including Saturday’s break-in, according to police records.
A total of more than $5,000 in cigarettes has been stolen from city gas stations since Oct. 8, when the station on Hancock Street was burglarized at 3:21 a.m. for 43 cartons of cigarettes worth $1,999, according to police records.
Police agencies from across the New Hampshire Seacoast and southern Maine met on Oct. 26 to share information and release a photograph from a store-security camera of the suspect.
The picture released by police Wednesday came from the burglary of the Route 202 Shell Station on Oct. 25 at 12:57 a.m., which was the most recent until yesterday.
Police investigators believe that the burglaries were likely perpetrated by the same group, or individual, including the Oct. 17 break-in at the Hanover Street Getty at 4:32 a.m., and the Oct. 21 entry of the Getty Station on Ten Rod Road at just before 1 a.m.
Cameras at each location captured the image of a man described as a white male between 20 and 30 years old.
He stands between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 9 inches with a thin build, brown hair and either sideburns or facial hair.
Police detectives could not provide specific figures for losses during the most recent burglaries, but confirmed the total likely exceeded $5,000.
Detectives have been investigating the incidents as "related" since Oct. 18.
Lt. Anne Gould said the tactics used to burglarize the stores, while uncreative, were very similar.
"In each case, the suspect used a rock to smash a window, then enter the stations and steal numerous cartons of cigarettes," Gould said after the second incident.
http://www.fosters.com/november_2004/11.14.04/news/ro_11.14.04b.asp
Smoking out truth over passive health
Kate Jackson, Wales on Sunday Nov 14 2004
PASSIVE smoking in pubs may not be as harmful as we think, according to the results of an exclusive Wales on Sunday investigation.
In a three-hour period in a smoky bar, non-smokers were found to have inhaled the same amount of nicotine contained in less than one twentieth of a cigarette.
Even the highest reading found in our experiment would add up to just 19 cigarettes a year - and that's only if a person was to spend 20 hours in the pub every week.
Now pro-smoking group Forest has lashed out at the Government and the National Assembly, saying they are the "willing victims" of a "bullying campaign" to bring in a complete ban on smoking in public places.
We sent our non-smoking testers to five different pubs across Wales to measure just how much cigarette smoke entered their systems within a three-hour period.
Our reporters' saliva was tested before and after the three-hour period for the chemical cotinine - which is made by the body from nicotine.
While cotinine is not harmful in itself, scientists say it is the most effective way of measuring how much nicotine has been ingested. And nicotine is just one of 50 carcinogenic chemicals contained in tobacco smoke.
A person in the open air should have a reading of zero cotinine in their system.
Our results were processed and supervised by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London.
The highest reading showed that in Copa bar, Cardiff, our tester smoked the equivalent of one twentieth of a cigarette in three hours. If taken over the year, spending 20 hours a week in the pub - not unusual for pub staff - this would equate to 19.4 cigarettes a year.
Two readings showed the same results - The Godfrey Morgan pub in Newport, and The Bryncoch in Neath - where our testers 'smoked' the equivalent of one sixtieth of a cigarette each. This equates to just over five cigarettes a year.
The tester at The Godfrey Morgan was sitting in a no-smoking area, although he had to walk through the smoking area and was sat just a few feet away from smokers.
The final two pubs, Revolution in Swansea and The Wynnstay Arms, Llanbrynmair, recorded negligible results, and both our testers found the places were well air-conditioned.
Recent research published by Professor Konrad Jamrozik of Imperial College, London, stated that up to 700 people a year die of cancer caused by secondhand smoke. He estimates that one person in the hospitality industry a week was being killed by heart disease or cancer caused by passive smoking.
And this week Scotland moved towards banning smoking in public places by 2006.
But Simon Clark, director of Forest - Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco - said our results showed good ventilation in pubs proves there is no need for a complete ban on smoking in public places.
He said: "Good ventilation can remove up to 90 per cent of chemicals in cigarette smoke. We've always said you have to be a real fanatic to be unhappy with that.
"We would be happy for the Government to say if you want to have smoking on your premises, you have to have good ventilation.
"I think the majority of people would find that a reasonable compromise, where pubs and restaurants can accommodate smokers as well as non-smokers.
"You can't have one rule that covers every single pub and restaurant in Britain."
The Assembly has consistently voted in favour of a ban but so far has no power to implement one and this year asked Westminster to legislate on its behalf.
A special committee is due to report its findings by May next year.
But Mr Clark argues that politicians are being pressured into a ban on smoking that is, according to him, based on very little evidence.
He said: "There is a systematic campaign deliberately designed to bully politicians into banning smoking in the UK.
"The Assembly and the Scottish Parliament seem to be willing victims.
"These results don't prove anything at all. Inevitably, if you are in a smoking pub you will have a higher reading of cotinine in your saliva.
"But the point is that nicotine and cotinine aren't in themselves harmful - yes, the results prove you have been in a smoky atmosphere but you can't prove there is a higher risk of getting ill as a result.
"There's no conclusive evidence that passive smoking is harming people."
Dr Ken Denson, who runs the Thames Thrombosis and Haemostasis Foundation, also argues there is little evidence to prove passive smoking is harmful.
He said: "I'm not surprised the results are so low.
"In America, in a study of 10,000 non-smokers, the average cotinine was similarly low and that was done on serum samples which is more accurate.
"It showed they had taken in about 1/500th of the nicotine that an average smoker takes in - about the equivalent of 10 cigarettes a year.
"It makes a nonsense of all the claims about passive smoking.
"There would be no point in having a complete ban on smoking. The medical profession has become so anti-smoking, it has become irrational."
But anti-smoking campaigners hit back, arguing any amount of cigarette smoke poses a danger.
Professor Robert West, of the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Unit at the University College London, said our results were low but still lent weight to the campaign to ban smoking in public places.
He said: "It looks like the Wales on Sunday testers are taking in very little smoke. When the test was carried out in Scotland, the average cotinine taken in was 4mg per millilitre of saliva, but here the highest is 0.7mg.
"These results are pretty insignificant.
"Cotinine is a chemical that the body creates from nicotine, but lasts much longer in the tissues than nicotine.
"This test gives an accurate indication of nicotine and, therefore, overall smoke intake.
"It can be measured extremely accurately, so much so that in children it can distinguish between the mother and father smoking.
"The risk of passive smoking is related to the amount of smoke taken in, so cotinine can be used as a reliable index of risk.
"But I believe a ban on smoking in public places would save 5,000 lives a year in the UK, from passive smokers to people who would give up as a result of the ban.
"It is only because we have got used to the fact there is smoking in these areas that we accept it."
The British Heart Foundation last week approached the Assembly, saying a ban on smoking in public places is the "only reasonable option".
In its paper, the BHF said: "We believe the raft of evidence supporting a ban is compelling, and that the Assembly should prioritise moves to introducing legislation to protect non-smokers from this unnecessary risk.
"There can be no doubt that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke causes significant health risks.
"Figures from a study in the US suggest that more than 377 people will die in Wales each year as a result of coronary heart disease caused by exposure to secondhand smoke."
Responding to the pro-smoking lobby's criticisms, Wales Health Minister Jane Hutt said: "Smoking is the largest single cause of preventable disease and early death.
"This is why it is one of the key action areas for Health Challenge Wales, the new national focus for efforts to improve health in Wales.
"Countless studies have shown that there are clear health risks to non-smokers to exposure to the carcinogens and other toxic compounds in second-hand smoke.
"The Welsh Assembly Government is committed in principle to seeking powers to ban smoking in public places in Wales."
Welsh secretary for the British Medical Association, Dr Richard Lewis, said any amount of tobacco smoke is dangerous, no matter how small.
He said: "There's plenty of evidence to show tobacco smoke contains chemicals
Smoking not glamourous -PA
By Karla Browne, November 14, 2004
David Goerlitz had face recognition for years as the "Winston man," appearing in 42 ads in the 1980s promoting the cigarette brand.
The model and actor's name recognition came after his decision in 1988 to participate in the Great American Smokeout and denounce the tobacco industry. And his notoriety increased after his 1989 testimony before a congressional committee drew a lawsuit from his former employer, R.J. Reynolds.
Since then he has used that notoriety to carry the anti-smoking message to more than 5 million students and adults across the United States and around the world with school presentations, public service announcements and videos.
This week, Goerlitz, 54, brings that message to students in three Perry County school districts in a series of seven assemblies sponsored by Perry Human Services.
Three-fold message
"It's a three-fold message," Goerlitz says in a telephone intervi