Tid Bits

USA Today Says Baylor Health Care Has Gone ‘Down a Dangerous Road’ With Tobacco Ban | FrontBurner

“Is that legal?” I ask him, only half-serious.

“We would not do anything that would be considered illegal,” he says, completely serious. “We’re in the healthcare business, so we want people to practice good health.”

OPINION: Lighting up

When considering the cost smokers impose on the campus it could be more costly to enforce a ban.

Campus police have better things to do than wag their fingers at smokers, and hiring more officers to hand out tickets would likely exceed any savings.

As a practical matter, it won't stop people from smoking either. They might smoke at different places where butts get disposed, pile up and then blow away to litter the campus.

While it is always tempting to pretend that banning something will create a utopian effect, the unintended consequences can often be worse than the original problem.

We all have things we don't like, but sometimes we need to live and let live. When you start trying to ban anything you don't like, you give up liberty inch by inch. The next ban may be something you enjoy, something like polka dotted pink rain boots.

Non-smoking, non-drinking transplant patients more likely to develop head and neck cancer

Transplant patients who develop head and neck cancer are more likely to be non-smokers and non-drinkers, and less likely than their non-transplant counterparts to survive past one year of diagnosis, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

As part of a 20-year review, Henry Ford researchers found cancers of the throat, tonsils and mouth may be more aggressive in transplant recipients as the result of long-term immunosuppressive therapy required to prevent solid organ rejection.

Transplant patients in the study who developed skin cancer in the head and neck region were more likely to have multiple lesions, compared to the general public. In all, 2.6% of transplant patients in the study developed some form of head and neck cancer.

Va. lawmaker proposes selling marijuana in liquor stores

Englin (D-Alexandria) has introduced a billthis legislative session that would create a group to figure out how much money the state could reap if it legalized marijuana and sold it in more than 300 Virginia liquor stores.

“All of the respectable people in our community who are secretly toking on the side are giving their money to criminals,’’ Englin said. “Over the years, a surprising number of constituents have said, ‘Hey, David, instead of raising taxes if we need more revenue, why don’t we legalize marijuana and sell it in the ABC?’ I figure. . . I would at least start the conversation.’’

Police Charge Canadian Blogger With Criminal Libel...for Criticizing the Police

Leblanc has been an activist that calls out government on what he thinks is wrong. His comments are colorful and in some cases kooky, but they never incite harm....Leblanc has frustrated a lot of people, but I believe in his sincere goal: he wants tomorrow's government to be better than today's, which according to his plan, should be better than yesterday's. Prior to this whole fiasco, he referred to the police as being fascist and operating like the KGB. It sounds crazy coming from him on his bright picket signs, but now it's less funny....Whether it was intended or not, the City of Fredericton is sending a message that nuisances will be silenced, and that people should think twice about taking on the state....I find this type of behavior to be morally reprehensible and a giant step back for political discourse in Fredericton. We're all fools if we don’t think the next journalist to call out the police isn’t going to be looking over their shoulder.

Non-smoker opposes campus-wide smoking ban

Non-smoker opposes campus-wide smoking ban | Daily Sundial

However, this zeal to clear our air favors one bad habit over another. Why is it that alcohol, a substance that can physically and mentally alter a person’s actions, something that can be much more dangerously abused, is allowed on campus? The Pub doesn’t serve hard liquor, but a beer can lead to another one and can lead to much worse than a cigarette.

No one on campus is telling the drinkers whether or not they can get inebriated, so why should someone tell the smokers how much they can smoke?

Truthfully not the nicest post I have ever read.

It says something I believe when even a die hard non smoker thinks banning smoking everywhere has gone too far.

NHS lottery if you're fat or smoke

NHS lottery if you're fat or smoke - Telegraph:

But under these guidelines, they don’t even get to clap eyes on the patient, let alone assess them. What is really worrying is that this is contrary to National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) guidelines on treating, for example, arthritis. It clearly states that obesity should not be a barrier to referral for joint replacement surgery, and yet the CCG is doing precisely that.

You know Pat Nurse posted something not too long ago that fits right in with what I'm thinking right now .

And although I'm not in love with the addiction angle he paints a very different picture than the one the NHS is painting.

I love it when a doctor shows compassion and care for the people he treats.

Bhutan New tobacco Act will benefit 19

kuenselonline » Blog Archive » New tobacco Act will benefit 19:

Judges throw more light into retrospective active application of the law
While the amended Tobacco Control Act might have come in a bit too late for 63 people already sentenced under the previous one, it stands to benefit 19 others.

Judges have further clarified that the amended law will apply ex post facto or retrospectively for those whose cases remain undecided.

Of the 84 people who fell prey to the previous Act between 2010 and 2011, five have appealed to higher courts following judgments from the lower ones and 14 cases are still under trial .

“Cases still under trial and pending will benefit from the amended tobacco Act,” a judge said.

For the rest, judges said since their cases have already been decided, there was no appeal and no retrospective application of the new law.

Their only appeal, judges said, was to the King who had the authority to grant amnesty, pardon and reduction of sentences.

New law can’t be applied retroactively 

 Some lawyers said retroactive application of law could not be entertained in the country just as it was considered unacceptable internationally.

As many as 25 nations across the globe including Australia,  Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom and the US have prohibited to apply laws retrospectively, most of them by the Constitution.

“It’s illegal,” a lawyer said. “Just as you can’t have the penalty increased or made more severe as the law changes, you can’t reduce it or have it made milder.”

National Council’s Kuenlay Tshering said there was no question of the new Act being applicable retroactively when it, like any other statutes, was adopted after the Parliament’s passing of it.

“Anyone, or criminals serving prison term can’t have their prison term shortened following amendments in a law,” he said.

A former judge who today runs Sayang Law Chambers, a private legal firm, Shera Lhundup said while the judiciary had no authority to decide whether to apply the new law retroactively, it should have been the Parliament that should have made it clear if the new Act should be applied  so.

Another legal expert agreed the courts generally did not give a statute retroactive application unless it was intended by the legislature and its intent expressed clearly in the law.

:(

I feel sickened by the idea that this was a long hard fight for the people of Bhutan and that it makes no difference to all the people who have already been sentenced under the tobacco control act.

And so many people only get information thirdhand,me included.

I wonder if the King will be inclined to show these poor people mercy.

What Can £10 Buy

It can help pay for someone not to go to jail for trying to find the truth.

Smoker Rekindles Legal Challenge

He launched his challenge after he was ordered to pay £1,250 in fines and costs for lighting up at the Bangor Castle HQ of North Down Borough Council in 2007.

His application for leave to seek a judicial review was adjourned on Monday after the court heard that all the necessary legal documents were not yet ready for the case.

Mr Carter wants the judicial review on the basis that the information which led to the introduction of the smoking ban was incorrect.

Smoker's Supreme Court bid is rejected

The 57-year-old has been involved in a four-year legal battle to quash his conviction for lighting up at the front of Bangor Town Hall in October 2007.

He was prosecuted under the Smoking (NI) Order 2006 because it was a no-smoking area. A fine and costs of £1,250 in total were imposed on him at the time.

Mr Carter represented himself in an attempt to judicially review the legislation. He claimed his rights to privacy and freedom from torture and discrimination were breached. A panel of judges dismissed his case last year.

He then applied yesterday to have his case reopened. Failing that, he also sought leave to apply to the Supreme Court.

However, Lord Justice Girvan dismissed his request and ruled that no certifiable point of public importance had been identified to warrant taking the case to the Supreme Court.

But what you don't know and what I am a bad enough writer not to explain to you is contained in these blogs 

http://patnurseblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-law-for-all-another-for-smokers.html

http://captainranty.blogspot.com/2012/01/help-wanted.html

http://underdogsbiteupwards.blogspot.com/2012/01/smoke-war-another-in-need-of-help.html

http://f2cscotland.blogspot.com/2012/01/bid-for-court-hearing-on-smoking-ban.html

Please donate,I did.
It's quick and easy and can be done here through Paypal.
It was quick and easy and it makes me feel better knowing I supported someone who I will never meet or ever know.

http://smokersjustice.co.uk/

Further restrictions on smoking

Further restrictions on smoking | Breaking News:

 

An expert said yesterday Sri Lanka had the potential to introduce legislation calling for the total ban on tobacco consumption by those born after 2000.
 
Singapore National University Professor A.J. Berrick told a seminar on tobacco consumption that academics had submitted a research paper on the possibility of stopping tobacco consumption altogether by restricting the access to tobacco by individuals born after 2000.

Deputy Solicitor General Vijitha Malalgoda said there were practical difficulties in introducing such legislation but said it was a step in the right direction as it could make a significant impact on the reduction of tobacco consumption in the country.
 


Here we go again.

Let elderly smoke inside

Let elderly smoke inside:

Alberta's smoke-free legislation exempts in-patients or residents of group living facilities and permits designated smoking rooms.

If there aren't any accommodations, it is not because of the anti-tobacco legislation, it is because these old-age homes are making decisions that make the lives of their staff easier while torturing old people by kicking them outside to smoke.

There is nothing wrong with a dedicated smoking room well in sight of staff who can monitor potential problems.

That letter is in relation to this letter.

Truthfully I don't have much to say except again how grateful I am that both my elderly smoking parents live with me and not in some home where they would be forced out doors to smoke.

Senator looks to clear air in bars, restaurants, public places

Senator looks to clear air in bars, restaurants, public places | The Crimson White:

State Sen. Vivian Davis Figures said Tuesday, Jan. 10, she will introduce legislation and a constitutional amendment to ban smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants but not private clubs, according to a Tuscaloosa News article.

Figures, D-Mobile, has proposed various anti-smoking legislation in her 13 years in the State Senate. Now she wants to introduce a constitutional amendment to curtail exposure to secondhand smoke.

The state of Alabama does not have a statewide smoking ban. Instead, the Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act, passed in 2003 with the help of Figures, generally forbids smoking in public places and public meetings unless they are designated as smoking areas, enclosed and well-ventilated. The Act bans smoking in locations such as hospitals, schools, most retail establishments, elevators, buses, taxis, restrooms and polling places.

It's discouraging knowing how property rights keep getting trampled,year after year.
A constitutional amendment eh?
She hasn't been too sucessful in the past with this sort of thing.

Smoking areas needed

Smoking areas needed:

I recently had the opportunity to stay with my parents in a seniors home in Edmonton.

I smoke, so I would join the smokers out-side.

I was appalled that these senior citizens do not have a shelter to smoke in. I am talking about seniors in wheelchairs and walkers.

They pay enough money to be afforded a shelter. Most of these seniors are unable to quit smoking at this time in their lives. It is one of the few enjoyments they have left.

I can understand that they are not allowed to have a cigarette in their suite; it would be far too difficult to evacuate all those seniors should there be a fire.

As it got colder and windier, there were fewer people smoking and I heard rumours that they were smoking in their rooms.

I never know exactly what to write about these things,I read them and I'm sickened and disgusted at how we treat our elderly.
In so many ways I am glad my elderly parents who both smoke live with me.
I hate the idea of them being treated like unwanted,unliked people because they choose to smoke.

Public quizzes lawmakers about smoking law

Public quizzes lawmakers about smoking law » Local News » Goshen News, Goshen, IN:

A woman in the audience reminded the lawmakers that many view the ban as a workplace issue.

“It’s tough for me to have government tell me what I can and cannot do when it’s a legal substance,” Yoder said.

At the same time, Yoder said he’s not a fan of local ordinances that ban smoking because it gives businesses just outside a city’s limits an unfair advantage.

Property rights vs the rights of smokers.
I wonder who's going to win this one?
Some part of me wonders when people will take a good long look at the way the economy has tanked everywhere since indoor smoking bans have been implemented.
Take this as an example or even this .
I know these are old,but they show the numbers and count the losses better than I ever can.
This is only from one place.
I shudder to think of the losses on a global scale.
The last link is more recent,but it too only focuses on a few places.

Bhutan Discussions to continue next week

kuenselonline » Blog Archive » Discussions to continue next week:

NC’s legislative committee chairperson, Kinley Tshering, said that, although they did not receive NA’s amended permissible quantity, they doubled the permissible quantity of tobacco to 400 cigarettes, 60 cigars and 300 grams of chewing tobacco. “We did it after deliberation.”

While the council has agreed to about 22 amendments proposed by the assembly, the council will deliberate on section 11, 51A and 51B on Monday.

Thimphu councillor Sangay Zam said that it’s important to balance the principle of proportionality of crime and penalty with spiritual and cultural interest.

In the afternoon, NC members queried the health minister on whether the amendment of rules will curb tobacco smuggling, and whether the amended law will apply retrospectively.

Haa councillor Tshering Dorji said curbing corruption should be more serious than tobacco.  He also said that, while some people serve prison terms for the crime, some still continue to smuggle in tobacco.

Lyonpo Zangley Dukpa said it was up to the judiciary to apply the law retrospectively.  He said that people are taking the Act seriously, as people were still apprehended in December.

I need to link to the Dragon Tales Blog as they cover the Bhutan tobacco prohibition thing better than I am,I just want everything I can find in one place.

I know people wonder why I still care,it isn't just an example of injustice or what could happen to me at some point in the future,I'm upset and scared because I'm Buddhist by choice.

I wasn't born into the region and I have no ties to the people from Bhutan,but I have a kinship of sorts and it makes this feel personal to me in more ways than one.

Smoking ban in Corbin is not fair to smokers

Smoking ban in Corbin is not fair to smokers » Letters » TheTimesTribune.com, Corbin, KY:

 After this law comes into effect, the smokers will no longer have the rights that non-smokers have been given. They will not be able to enjoy a cigarette while waiting on their food. Many restaurants already didn’t allow smoking, so was it truly necessary for government to enforce that all restaurants ban smoking to all citizens in Corbin?

Also, not only is this law not completely fair to smokers, it also might cause restaurants to lose money. Some smokers only go to restaurants that allow them to enjoy cigarettes throughout their meal; therefore, some smokers might decide not to eat in Corbin, which may cost the town and restaurants money.

In conclusion, I enjoy going to restaurants and not sitting in the smoking area. However, I also believe that everyone deserves to have the same equal rights, which in this ease isn’t equal. They do not get the choice to smoke in public anymore, but yet non-smokers lose no rights in this act by government. So really, is this new law that our city has passed truly lawful and fair to all citizens?

Just something I enjoyed reading.

I like reading things that make me feel good.

With the stuff I usually read gems like this are rare.

Smoke-free laws do not hurt business | The Star Press | thestarpress.com

Smoke-free laws do not hurt business | The Star Press | thestarpress.com:

It is a misconception that smoke-free laws hurt business in rural areas like Delaware County. Bullshit
In a recently published study in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, we looked at the economic impact of smoke-free laws in rural and urban communities in Kentucky and Ohio from 2001 to 2009. Like other economic studies, we found no evidence that either rural or urban counties experienced a loss of economic activity following smoke-free legislation whether at the local or state level.
Liars

Is Bhutan the happiest place in the world? - Healthy Living - Health & Families - The Independent

Is Bhutan the happiest place in the world? - Healthy Living - Health & Families - The Independent:

Bhutan sends people to prison - even Buddhist monks - for smoking tobacco.  Tobacco use (except in one's home) is banned on religious grounds.  Tobacco cannot be legally grown, although one can import a small amount if a heavy tax is paid.  I find it interesting that all theocratic (or God-inspired) States - even Buddhist - make the obliteration of personal pleasure their number one priority.  Whether they ban alcohol, tobacco, music, "pornography", consensual adult sexual relations or drugs, the principle is the same: the subordination of personal happiness to the whims of the theocratic elite.

Linked to for the comment at the bottom.

Thank you Michael Stamper.

The article itself is like most of what I expect to read when mainstream journalists cover it.

Smokers should quit, but they also need to work

Inquirer Editorial: Smokers should quit, but they also need to work | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/14/2012:

So what led so many people and corporations to the erroneous conclusion that nicotine addicts should be deprived of something as basic to their survival as employment? Perhaps this country's largely defensible assault on a serious public-health problem has in some instances escalated into a counterproductive and moralistic war on the people we're supposedly trying to help.

Banning smoking from restaurants for the sake of workers and other customers, as well as the possibility that more smokers will think about quitting, makes sense. But denying smokers basic rights and freedoms is too reminiscent of this country's horribly failed attempts to address other drug problems through mass imprisonment. Sure, hate the smoking. But let's love the smokers.

Amazing how many of these editorials I read lately seem to jump to the defense of the poor beleaguered smoker.

It might have been nice if we hadn't been set on a course of hatred and denormalization for so many years.
It might have been easier if labels hadn't been slapped on people so that the world could see people as belonging to differing groups and see people who happen to do different things as different from each other.

There is a part of me that wonders when all the junk studies and manipulations we know to be true come to light if smokers,drinkers,what the world calls obese people will ever feel as if they are a part of the society we used to know or if we will all have made our own places in the world.

It's sad but every single day I feel myself moving further away from the people and the world I used to live in.

But I wonder if I feel different and far away from everything how in the world must these people feel?

Minister: Smokers' treatment costs one tenth of taxes

Minister: Smokers' treatment costs one tenth of taxes | Prague Monitor:

An analysis the Czech Health Ministry has made shows that Czech smokers pay in consumer taxes and VAT dozens of billions of crowns more than what their treatment costs, the Czech Television (CT) public broadcaster Sunday quoted Health Minister Leos Heger (TOP 09) as saying.

Heger said public finances would lose minimally 50 billion crowns without smokers.

He said recently he would like a part of the collected tax to go to his sector.

"About six billion crowns is spent on the treatment of smokers' diseases in the system of public health insurance annually while the tax on tobacco products brings in the state budget about 60 billion," Heger said.

CT said that according to the analysis, the state collects 44 billion crowns in consumer tax on tobacco annually and another 16 billion crowns are paid by smokers in VAT.

The treatment of cancer, heart attack and other tobacco-related diseases, however, costs the insurance companies only six billion, CT said referring to the analysis.

Right,so let's wipe out smoking and take the economy down at the same time.

Brilliant!

The Tyee – Nicotine Patches a Waste of Public Money: Harvard Report

The Tyee – Nicotine Patches a Waste of Public Money: Harvard Report:

The main study to support the decision was from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, Jabs said. That study, Pharmacologic-based Strategies for Smoking Cessation, reviewed some 500 studies and reports related to smoking and quitting, he said.

That 548-page report did find that NRTs and the pharmaceuticals all helped people quit smoking, The Tyee reported in June 2011.

However, it also cast doubt on whether it was wise to spend public money on them, finding it was actually cheaper to treat smoking-related illnesses in the few who develop them compared to widely providing smoking cessation products. The health benefits were relatively small considering the expense, they found.

This whole charade is sickening.

University Of California Announces Blanket Smoking Ban

University Of California Announces Blanket Smoking Ban:

Whilst no one can argue that it is a bad idea to encourage smoking in places where young people are finding their feet and developing habits that might last them a lifetime, a problem that is due to hit home in another decade or so, is when the cancer rates fail to drop and the spotlight turns to the myriad of toxic chemicals, insecticides, air-born contaminants, plastics, glues, paints and even cosmetic and food additives that are known to be highly carcinogenic. There should be plenty of interesting lawsuits - the question is whether these companies can survive, once public enemy number one is out of the picture.

The usual propaganda,but the conclusion at the end of the article isn't one I usually see.

When I see something like this I have to wonder if these people know cancer rates are affected by things that aren't smoking how come no one ever says anything about them?

Smokers need not apply, but the stupid should feel free

Smokers need not apply, but the stupid should feel free:

Seems discrimination and prejudice are alive and well in America. According to some health care companies, smokers need not apply for work because they won't get hired.

"Geisinger Health System, based in Danville, joined two other Pennsylvania health systems that won't hire tobacco users. The company said it would begin testing new hires for use of cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, snuff, nicotine patches and gum as part of its pre-employment physical process on Feb. 1."

At the same time, however, the government is making sure that the stupid can get a job as long as they claim a disability. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is deciding whether employers should be allowed to list a high school diploma as a requirement for employment because it might violate the Americans with Diasbilities act. Lawyers advising employers are warning that the government might decide to come after companies requiring a high school diploma. "Employers are wise to evaluate whether a high school diploma really is necessary to perform the essential functions of any job for which it is being required,” the Employer Law Report advised in a blog post by Lisa Whittaker, a lawyer with the Porter Wright firm, which has represented business clients for more than 150 years. “Even in those situations where the high school diploma requirement can be justified, employers will still need to consider” whether a “reasonable accommodation” could be provided to allow a disabled person without a diploma to perform a given job."

Sometimes I just link to stuff that makes me shake my head.
This is one of those times.

Controling tobacco control - Tshering Tobgay’s Blog (Bhutan)

Controling tobacco control - Tshering Tobgay’s Blog:

If the amendment sounds better than the current draconian Act, it is. Yet I didn’t I support it. Here’s why:

First, the amendment, like the existing Act, continues to allow people to legally import tobacco. Travelers, and those fortunate to live in bordering towns, can continue to legally import tobacco up to the “permissible quantity”. The way I see it, if we’re going to allow some people to purchase and consume tobacco legally, we should allow other people to do so too.

Second, the amendment, like the existing Act, does not recognize the simple fact that prohibition has never worked and will not work. That’s why a black market quickly (and effectively) established itself in spite of the draconian provisions of the existing Act. That’s why, in the year since the Tobacco Control Act came into effect, many people took their chances despite the stiff sentences in it. Of the many, 84 people got caught. And of them, 39 people have already been sent to jail.

If the amendment goes through, a minority of us will continue to be able to procure and consume tobacco legally. But for the most of us, if we consume tobacco, we will continue to be doing so illegally. That would make us criminals. And because the penalties have now been staggered, expect a bigger black market; expect many more criminals.

I hate this.

I hate reading about it,being driven to know about it,putting it up here and trying to figure out why in an insane world this is allowed.

Why are people put in jail for this?

Why are we demonized,hated,lied about,fed poison pills?

Is it this simple?

The thing that scares me most though is wondering is this our future?

What can we do to stop this forced march ?

1909 Chicago: The 'L' smoking war

1909 Chicago: The 'L' smoking war | WBEZ:

There was no trouble at first. The smokers simply went on smoking. A few conductors tried to enforce the new rule, but gave up in the face of the mass civil disobedience.

On November 5 the excrement hit the fan. That day "L" security guards removed two smokers from a train at the 44th Avenue (Kostner) station. Other passengers tried to stop the guards, and a near-riot ensued.

Three days later a grass-roots gathering of smokers held a protest rally in Oak Park. A crowd of over 500 people jammed a local hall and spilled into the street. A citizens' committee was organized to carry on the fight. They declared their purpose in populist rhetoric--"Neither Knight nor any other monopoly can deny the workingman his morning smoke."

The "Smoking War" became front-page news. All through November, newspapers detailed the actions of the pro-tobacco-choice forces, and the options they were weighing.

Times have changed so much.

This is the first I ever read about this.

Not that their protest changed anything,but it still makes my heart glad to know people stood up for themselves about this.

Study: Nicotine Replacement Therapies May Not Be Effective in Helping People Quit Smoking

Study: Nicotine Replacement Therapies May Not Be Effective in Helping People Quit Smoking - University of Massachusetts Boston:

In the prospective cohort study the researchers, including lead author Hillel Alpert, research scientist at HSPH, and co-author Lois Biener of UMass Boston’s Center for Survey Research, followed 787 adult smokers in Massachusetts who had recently quit smoking. The participants were surveyed over three time periods: 2001-2002, 2003-2004, and 2005-2006. Participants were asked whether they had used a nicotine replacement therapy in the form of the nicotine patch (placed on the skin), nicotine gum, nicotine inhaler, or nasal spray to help them quit, and if so, what was the longest period of time they had used the product continuously. They also were asked if they had joined a quit-smoking program or received help from a doctor, counselor, or other professional.

The results showed that, for each time period, almost one-third of recent quitters reported to have relapsed. The researchers found no difference in relapse rate among those who used NRT for more than six weeks, with or without professional counseling. No difference in quitting success with use of NRT was found for either heavy or light smokers.

Why wait over 5 years to write and publish this study?

Oh right of course there's your larger demographic.

No need to worry if someone still buys the product,because it doesn't matter what you sell it for.

Am I the only one who finds it odd that these studies came out so close to each other?

Employers hope to curb health costs with nicotine tests

Employers hope to curb health costs with nicotine tests - San Francisco Luxury Living | San Francisco Luxury Living:

Employers as varied as Michigan-based benefits manager Weyco and Humana Inc. in Arizona to the Union Pacific Railroad and Alaska Airlines have followed the same path, although the policies have come under fire from civil libertarians and privacy advocates who contend companies are trying to ban workers’ use of a product in their private lives that is legal to use. About 20 percent of American adults are smokers, government surveys show.

Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania will begin nicotine tests for job applicants in February and also will implement higher insurance premiums in 2012.

“This is just the next step in creating a tobacco-free environment and it’s just an effort to focus on the well-being of our employees,” said Geisinger spokeswoman Marcy Marshall. All Geisinger facilities have been tobacco-free since 2007.

Critics argue that bans on tobacco could easily be followed by prohibitions on alcohol, cheeseburgers or high-risk sports off duty, all of which can also impact health costs. In fact, nearly 30 states have laws protecting smokers or users of “lawful products” from employer discrimination to at least some degree.

Not like I couldn't see this coming from a mile away.

I have been watching the bashing of large people for awhile now and truth be told if you really look not all of these people are so large.

If you want to see what these global health initiative types call obese you should look  here.

Many of these people look just like I do and my friends do.

It all goes to show you,you can't trust anyone about your health when there is money involved.

Is smoking your pipe important to you?

Is smoking your pipe important to you? - Neill's Blog - Pipe Blog:

The anti-smoking movement is large, well-funded, politically connected, effectively coordinated, and – most disturbing to me – ruthless in that they are willing to bend or twist the truth to achieve their aim: to end the use of tobacco in all forms in the United States, if not the world.

These people are not evil. They are your family. Your friends. Your teachers, students, colleagues, neighbors, employees, employers, doctors, accountants, and team mates. You go out with them, play cards with them, celebrate holidays together, work on charity drives with them, and sit next to them at church. In short, they are everywhere. And they see themselves cloaked in compassion, virtue, duty, and responsibility. They love us. They want to save us from ourselves, and they will not be dissuaded from their drive to do so.

Herein lies the problem. Self-righteousness and love can – and often do – combine to taint the actions of otherwise good people.

People who believe profoundly in their cause – like the anti-smoking movement does – will go to any lengths to achieve their aims. Because they believe smoking kills, they see it as evil. When it comes to stamping out evil, the end justifies the means.

Interesting reading.
I'm not so sure I ascribe as many nice attributes to the anti-smoking movement.

Bhutan Proposal to lighten penalties

kuenselonline » Blog Archive » Proposal to lighten penalties:

Highlights of the proposal

- Offence will be rated as misdemeanor and not felony

- Section 52 and 54 will be removed

- The word ‘smuggling’ will be removed

- Two clauses to be added in section 11

- The Parliament is to determine the quantity and type of tobacco products for 

personal consumption

- Dzongkhag, gewog and thromde tshogdes shall provide support and cooperation 

for co-ordination and conduct awareness programs on tobacco control

From the Readers Tobacco Amendment – too little too late

I had hopes that amending the tobacco control act would be something more spectacular than this.

Guess I was wrong.

Proposed Mobile smoking ban would allow bars to opt out

Proposed Mobile smoking ban would allow bars to opt out | al.com:

An ordinance soon to be considered by the Mobile City Council would bar smoking in virtually all public spaces and places of employment in the city. 

The most notable exception to the ban would be bars serving patrons age 21 or older. 

Bar owners could choose for themselves whether to allow smoking. Signs indicating whether smoking is OK would be required near the entrances. 

Smoking at restaurants would be permitted in outdoor spaces, provided that the outdoor space is 25 feet from the entrance. 

The ordinance is expected to appear on the council’s Jan. 10 agenda, but may not come to a vote until Jan. 17. 

Councilman William Carroll is sponsoring the ordinance, a draft of which was provided to the Press-Register. "Hardly anybody wants to eat their food around someone who is smoking anymore," he said. "Practically the whole country is trying to go smoke free." 

Carroll said that the ordinance is fair to smokers because it allows them a social outlet where they can smoke. 

Interesting and unusual.
I suspect many bars would choose to opt out since they make a great deal of money from smoking patrons.

I don't like smoking bans,I never have they started a society where rules and laws are made by the association or the agency that yells the loudest.

It is never made by taking the people who smoke into any kind of consideration at all.

Bits And Pieces

Things I found interesting today.

Shopkeeper hits out at cigarette plain packaging plan:

"The whole thing is ridiculous. It applies to tobacco as well and almost all my pipe smokers are over 50.

"The government is trying to denormalise something which is perfectly legal and age restricted.

"If you are over 18 and decide to smoke you should be entitled to go into a shop and buy cigarettes just like anything else.

"Where will all this end? Why can’t people be allowed to make up their minds? It is just a step too far."

Researchers create a healthier cigarette

Scientists have tried to make safer cigarettes in the past. Haemoglobin (which transports oxygen in red blood cells) and activated carbon have been shown to reduce free-radicals in cancer smoke by up to 90 percent, but because of the cost, the combination has not been successfully introduced to the market.

JoVE Content Director, Dr. Aaron Kolski-Andreaco, is very excited to be publishing this article as the journal's landmark 1500th article.

"Practically, this research could lead to an alternative type of cigarette filter with a free radical scavenging additive," said Kolski-Andreaco. "It could lead to a less harmful cigarette."

BBC Four The Smoking Years

Timeshift reveals the story of the creature that is 'the smoker'. How did this species arrive on our shores? Why did it become so sexy - and so dominant in our lives? Was there really a time when everywhere people could be found shrouded in a thick blue cloud?

Enlisting the help of Barry Cryer, Stuart Maconie and others, The Smoking Years tells the unnatural history of a quite remarkable - and now threatened - creature. 

SAVVY SMOKERS FIND WAY TO SNEAK AROUND SIN TAX…BY ROLLING THEIR OWN CIGARETTES

Regardless of which strategy Massachusetts legislators choose to employ, one thing seems clear: the matter is less about the health risks involved in smoking (remember, Massachusetts has long bee been a fierce champion of personal “choice”) than it is about holding on to million of dollars in tax revenue.

More Kansas businesses use "tobacco shop" exception

His building has been split in half.  On one side you’ll find Mike’s Steakhouse and on the other you’ll find Mike’s Smoke Shop.

“This is a separate address, it has a separate corporation, separate shareholders and ventilation system,” says owner Craig Gabel.

The law says it has to be separate and 65 percent of the gross profits have to come from tobacco sales.

Book Project Needs Your Support - Cigarettiquette

Finally a book to give a voice to the people who are passionate about breathing smoke!

Sandy Lynn Riefberg, 27, has written a book which explores cigarettes and smoking from the point of view of a smoker. She delves into all the benefits smokers gain from smoking as well as their feelings about smoking and the segregation of smokers in today's world.

Compensate people & businesses damaged by special interest lobbying (Petition)

Clearing The Air: Anybody who's lost a hospitality business or job in the last 10 yrs should sign this petition to force lobbyists (RWJF) who profited from smoking bans:

The special interest laws enacted around the globe are funded by RWJF on behalf of their partner J & J, for profit and market share amounts to rent seeking legislation. Though the average person may appreciate the end result laws, the fact is that hundreds of thousands of people in the hospitality industry lose jobs and homes as a result

Nice :)

Only has 56 signatures so far.

Seems like it should have many,many more than that.

THE WAY FORWARD (Tobacco Control in Industrialized Nations: The Limits of Public Health Achievement)

PDF

http://www.publichealthreviews.eu/upload/pdf_files/10/00_Bayer.pdf

THE WAY FORWARD
The current state of affairs with regard to adult smoking in developed nations
that have already adopted muscular tobacco control programs poses a
difficult ethical and policy challenge. In the US, smoking among adults
stabilized between 2006 and 2008. In Europe, EU observers stated that
“overall prevalence has reached a level from which it will be difficult to show
further decline unless substantially stronger measures are implemented”.
18
For some, the data suggested that there was no alternative but to further
tighten the public health vise. The goal of limiting tobacco-related morbidity
and mortality provided ample warrant for pressing on. Others were less
certain. Rabin whose concerns about the potentially prohibitionist goals of
ever higher taxes were noted earlier,
23(p.1754)
 has thus noted: “It is important to 
retain perspective on the fact that for some smoking is a pleasurable and/or

psychologically rewarding experience. And correlatively, we should not lose 
perspective on the question of how restrictive a society we want to create—
that is, how-far we want to go in reducing individual autonomy, including 
what can be perceived as self-destructive behavior.” The issues are especially 
complex because significant decreases in the prevalence of smoking at the 
population level can only be achieved if measures are targeted at those at the 
lower end of the social gradient. To the extent that such individuals will bear 
the burden of increasingly restrictive interventions, questions of equity are 
bound to emerge."

The PDF is nauseating.

The part I copied and underlined was the best part and it was the final passage in the last two pages of the report.

What Vietnam Taught Us About Breaking Bad Habits

What Vietnam Taught Us About Breaking Bad Habits : Shots - Health Blog : NPR:

"The research was very much focused on trying to understand how to change people's attitudes," Wood says, "with the assumption that behavior change would just follow."

So researchers studied how to organize public health campaigns, or how to use social pressure to change attitudes. And, says David Neal, another psychologist who looks at behavior change, these strategies did work.

Mostly.

"They do work for a certain subset of behaviors," Neal says. "They work for behaviors that people don't perform too frequently."

If you want, for example, to increase the number of people who donate blood, a public campaign can work well. But if you want them to quit smoking, campaigns intended to change attitudes are often less effective.

There it is in black and white.

Sadly the rest of the article isn't quite as enlightening.

Relevant things can be found in almost all stories of this type,too bad I'm not a good writer or I'd have run with this one already.