TCDD

Is it the Nicotine? Hsu Researching Bone Healing in Smokers

Although TCDD is present in small amounts in the environment, it exists at high levels in cigarette smoke. Elevated TCDD levels in the body have never been linked to anything other than cigarette smoke and the military compound Agent Orange. Hsu remains encouraged by his research, with some in vitro studies suggesting that the toxin down-regulates certain genes that are important for osteogenesis, or bone healing. 

As long as the predominant theory is that nicotine is the main cause in the disruption of bone healing, many surgeons will continue to advise that even supplements like a nicotine patch can’t be used after surgery. Without such aids, no-smoking compliance rates decrease as smokers are forced to give up the habit cold-turkey. Hsu believes that if his research establishes TCDD as the root cause, nicotine supplements would be OK for patients to use, likely increasing no-smoking compliance rates and outcomes in the process.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037842741200063X


Hmm

I'm reserving judgement,but..........

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs225/en/

Raese's Nazi-smoking analogy criticized

http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201204190202

Raese told the Gazette he believes the video was a work of a "tracker" retained by Manchin's re-election campaign to record his speeches and public comments.


Raese said he stands by his statements in the video.

"If they're going to be taking personal freedoms, personal choices from us, I'll be happy to stand up and speak out," he said.

He said that during the same speech, he also equated the mandated "smoke-free" signs with signs featuring a blue eagle that U.S. businesses participating in the National Recovery Act in the 1930s were required to display. Raese said that went unmentioned in the media coverage.

Raese said he also discussed the historical context of anti-smoking regulations in Nazi Germany, but said those comments were not included in the video.

He said he was surprised by all the uproar.

"When I think of all the issues that affect West Virginia, I don't understand how this gets on the Richter scale," he said.


Nothing to add.

Things That Enrage Me Cause Others Despair

http://blogg.aftonbladet.se/schulman/2012/04/de-vill-ta-bort-min-lyckligaste-stund


I have no idea if this will post correctly here since I took it directly from Rupini Bergstrom on twitter,but I have hope.

It's not in English so if that's what you read you will need to translate it somehow.

No Snus Allowed in Sweden? EU Moves Against Snus.

No Snus Allowed in Sweden? EU Moves Against Snus.

For the last 15+ years, Swedish politicians and their EU representatives have been working for a lifting of the EU snus ban as it unfairly restricts Sweden's right to free trade within the EU.  As the new EU TPD is expected to come up for a vote in the 4thquarter of 2012, the stakes and the arguments have risen.

The argument by Sweden to remove the EU snus ban from the TPD was set on its side by this latest development of banning tobacco flavorings.  Effectively, the EU is breaking it's original agreement with Sweden by not actually banning snus, but banning all the flavoring ingredients required to produce snus.  These flavoring ingredients, like Swedish snus itself, have been regulated as food products since 1970 by the Swedish National Food Administration (Sweden's version of FDA).

These bastards aren't keeping their word?

That's a shock.

Federal Tax Hike Drives Roll-Your-Own Smokers To Pipe Tobacco

Federal Tax Hike Drives Roll-Your-Own Smokers To Pipe Tobacco

So how much has this tax-avoidance-by-substitution cost Uncle Sam? The GAO estimated that the shift to pipe tobacco and big cigars means the fed has realized somewhere  between $615 million and $1.1 billion less in taxes than if the product mix hadn’t changed.


Funny that.
The law of unintended consequences strikes again.

Hitler Controversy Over Comparing Smoking Regulations To Nazi Policy Is 'Bull****'

John Raese: Hitler Controversy Over Comparing Smoking Regulations To Nazi Policy Is 'Bull****'

During an April 12 dinner, Raese called a smoking ban government overreach and said, "But in Monongalia County now, I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke-free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. Okay?" he remarked. "Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody’s lapel, remember that? Same thing."

Not something I ever thought I'd read in Huffington Post that's for sure.

Should Local Laws Limit Tobacco Displays? [POLL]

http://nyack.patch.com/articles/should-laws-limit-tobacco-diplays-poll

Now, the Village of Haverstraw has passed a local law that restricts tobacco product displays in businesses that are open to children. The legislation aims to reduce the number of youngsters who pick up the habit, officials said, and shops that do not obey can face a $500 fine.

"We know that the more often our kids are exposed to tobacco products the more likely they are to smoke," said Jeff Seyler, President and CEO of the American Lung Association of the Northeast. "In passing this forward- thinking law, the Village of Haverstraw has taken a step forward toward preventing the next generation of youth from becoming addicted to a product that leads to disease and premature death."

Ahh the ALA ,last bastions of reasonable protection and legislation. *rolls eyes*
The ALA you can trust us.

Anti-Smoking Campaign: Good Public Policy Or Heavy Handed Propaganda?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/04/13/150491917/anti-smoking-campaign-good-public-policy-or-heavy-handed-propaganda?ft=1&f=1057

Should the government be in the propaganda business? Should we, as a people, seek to use fear and sensational images to dictate behavior? How about only when it's for a good cause and backed by sound science? Maybe.

Does the government have the right to compel companies to carry out propaganda campaigns for the government? Maybe.

Reasonable people will differ on how to answer these questions. And constitutional law scholars will have something to say.

But what concerns me is the general tendency — nicely on display in The New York Times editorial — to obscure the difference between propaganda — speech that aims to further an end — and other forms of informed and informative speech.

Umm wow,just wow.

Nice read NPR.

Harsher smoking ban hits Ottawa Monday

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/harsher-smoking-ban-hits-ottawa-today-104942105.html

As of July 2, bylaw officers will have the authority to issue provincial offence notices that carry fines up to $300.

Greg Smith laughed about the changes.

"I'll take my car and go out in a field about 10 km out of town and have a smoke," he said, "because that's where we're heading."

Can you still buy cigarettes?

Of course the government needs the revenue........

But where the hell can you smoke the damn things now?

Texas hospital bans obese employees

http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/Texas-hospital-bans-obese-employees-146294695.html

VICTORIA, Texas -- A Texas hospital is banning the hire of job applicants that are too overweight.

Citizens Medical Center requires potential employees have a body mass index of less than 35. 

The hospital says it wants employees' appearances to be free from distraction for hospital patients. They believe patients have expectations that should not be ignored.

The ban is not illegal.

Weren't they supposed to wait a few years before trying this?

Bastards

Reporting tobacco use by ballplayers is now just an easy online form away

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/reporting-tobacco-ballplayers-now-just-easy-online-form-181244662.html

And lest you think that policing over 700 ballplayers a day in 15 different cities is an impossible challenge, Hardball Talk writes about a group that's planning to remain vigilant in pressuring Major League Baseball to enforce its own rules.

Yup, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kidshopes that fans clicking turnstiles and watching from home will report any violations they see during the season. They've even created a handy-dandy online form that includes fields for the player's name, the game they attended or watch and even a place to submit pictures or screenshots of the tobacco use.

Oh For God's sake.

Too upset to even waste my time with sarcasm.

The Philibuster: Culture of cigarette acceptance different

http://www.lsureveille.com/opinion/the-philibuster-culture-of-cigarette-acceptance-different-1.2723796#.T3uDjKum_E0

And to do so is, quite plainly, an affront to Americans’ freedom of choice.

Americans have been educated. Americans have been informed. Butt out, in other words. Let Americans choose for themselves.

Whereas the decades-long decline in American tobacco consumption has leveled since 2007, the percentage of University undergraduate smokers has actually increased, according to Sylvester.

Given Americans’ — and Louisianians’ — notorious aversion to arm-twisting and coercion, anti-smoking zealotry might thus be the problem, not the solution.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Hmm,tobacco control surely hasn't failed in their ever so far reaching goals have they?
Because every ban protects someone so surely people must be quitting smoking if it is banned.

Right?

Criminologist: Crime will flow from tobacco rules

http://www.euractiv.com/health/criminologist-crime-flow-tobacco-rules-interview-511919

"The crime proofing exercise we have conducted has shown that some of the policy options envisaged by the European Commission carry significant risks of creating unintended opportunities for the illicit trade in tobacco products.  In particular, there is a high risk that a measure such as generic packaging may increase the counterfeiting of tobacco products and make it difficult for consumers to distinguish legitimate products from illegitimate ones," said the report's author, Professor Ernesto Savona.

Available information on the currently on-going impact assessment for the revision of the TPD indicates that the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection (DG SANCO) paid almost no attention to the potential impacts on the illegal trade in tobacco products.

"Contrary to their own guidelines, European policymakers rarely consider the crime risk implications when drafting new legislation and the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive by DG SANCO seems to confirm this," continued Professor Savona.

Surely that's not possible,since every single thing they do is for our own good?

Makes me wonder if they truly have any sort of grasp on what could happen if they go ahead with their plan.