Free Republic

New data from the U.S. government shows just 14 percent of adults overall in smoke cigarettes, but experts say there is still much more work to do to bring the number lower.

There had also been an eye-opening moment on the streets of Cleveland during the Republican National Convention, when [Johnson and I had] been walking behind a cigarette-wielding Ohioan. As the smoker’s exhaust wafted in our faces, I remarked offhand that—with the advent of e-cigarettes—I thought there was a good libertarian case for banning regular cigarettes. “I do too,” replied the health-obsessed triathlete, recounting his support for anti-smoking efforts in New Mexico.

Former President Barack Obama got California Democrats fired up at an Anaheim rally today, and he opened with a pretty crazy anecdote about the time he was booted from Disneyland. Yes, you’re reading that correctly. Obama talked up some candidates running for office and told the crowd in two months they can help bring some “sanity” back into politics, but not before sharing a fun story with everyone. He briefly talked about the first time he went to Disneyland when he was 11––”I went and did all the ‘Bare Necessity’ thing and, you know, Small World, the Matterhorn, I mean,...

"As we're coming in, there are these two very large Disneyland police officers and they say 'Sir, can you come with us?' and they escorted us out of Disneyland. "This is a true story everybody. I was booted out of the Magic Kingdom." Despite Mr Obama's bad behaviour, Disneyland has said he is welcome to return. Robert Iger, chairman and chief executive of The Walt Disney Company, tweeted: "Barack Obama just opened his speech in Anaheim with a story from his college years about getting kicked out of Disneyland for smoking cigarettes on a ride.

Smokers can no longer light up in or near public housing facilities in the U.S. due to a new rule that went into effect July 31. The nationwide ban on smoking in public housing was implemented nearly two years after the rule was passed by the Obama administration in 2016. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) now prohibits the use of cigarettes, cigars and pipes in all public housing units and common areas, as well as any outdoor areas up to 25 feet from public housing and administrative office buildings. The ban does not apply to e-cigarettes, snuff...

One in Four Americans Support Total Smoking Ban by Justin McCarthy Story Highlights 25% of U.S. adults support an outright smoking ban Support remains much higher for a ban on smoking in public places (59%) Public smoking ban popular among all groups WASHINGTON, D.C. -- One in four U.S. adults say that smoking should be made totally illegal in the U.S. -- https://news.gallup.com/poll/237767/one-four-americans-support-total-smoking-ban.aspx?version=print

<p>About 14 percent of U.S adults were smokers last year, down from about 16 percent the year before, government figures show.</p> <p>There hadn't been much change the previous two years, but it's been clear there's been a general decline and the new figures show it's continuing, said K. Michael Cummings of the tobacco research program at Medical University of South Carolina.</p>

LUMBERTON — A quarter century after tobacco was the money crop in Robeson County, bringing in hundreds of millions a year to farmers and those who provide support services, the amount of tobacco grown here is a fraction of what it was then. But the number of Robeson County residents who smoke remains strong, the highest percentage in the state, causing a financial drain in a poor county and hurting its collective health. North Carolina produced and sold more than $647 million worth of tobacco in 2016, putting it among the country’s leaders in flue-cured tobacco production, but Robeson’s once-booming...

So far, Springer and his colleagues have published research demonstrating that just this one minute of exposure to secondhand smoke makes it harder for the rats' arteries to expand and allow a healthy flow of blood." With tobacco products, this effect lasts about 30 minutes, and then the arteries recover their normal function. But if it happens over and over — as when a person is smoking cigarette after cigarette, for example — the arterial walls can become permanently damaged, and that damage can cause blood clots, heart attack or stroke. Springer demonstrated that, at least in rats, the same...

Two new studies report an increased risk of psychosis among smokers of not only marijuana, but tobacco, too. The tobacco study has now been published in the journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, and the marijuana study — which was conducted by the same team — has now been published in The British Journal of Psychiatry. Research has found links between psychosis and both tobacco and marijuana smoking — particularly in regard to schizophrenia-related psychosis. However, the precise reasons why people who experience psychosis are more likely to smoke are not clear. Some scientists think that smoking might act as a kind...

Southwest Airlines says it all started with a cigarette. A passenger was smoking in the bathroom somewhere between Portland and Sacramento on Saturday, according to the airline, and had gone so far as to tamper with the smoke detector.

Former President Barack Obama’s oldest daughter, Malia, was accepted to Harvard last spring. According to reports, Melia has taken well to the campus in recent months. The 19-year-old has used the time to settle in to campus after a gap year filled with interesting news stories. Malia was filmed in a series of interesting circumstances at the music festival Lollapalooza in April. Her 2016 internship for now infamous sexual predator Harvey Weinstein’s company also made headlines in the midst of the movie mogul’s downfall. In recent days, the tabloids have reported on Malia allegedly smoking and making out with a...

Did you ever resent your colleagues for the countless number of times they stepped out for cigarette breaks? Finally, there is hope that you will be rewarded. A Japanese company is granting non-smoking employees extra six days of paid holidays a year. The decision at a Tokyo-based marketing firm, Piala Inc, came after someone from a non-smoker staff put a message in its suggestion box complaining that they were working more than their colleagues, who took regular cigarette breaks. Piala Inc’s chief executive Takao Asuka, a non-smoker, decided to take the suggestion and compensate his employees. “I hope to encourage...

Older smokers are usually more set in their ways, but a dollar increase in cigarette prices makes them 20 percent more likely to quit, a new Drexel University study found. The study, published in Epidemiology, used 10 years of neighborhood-level price data to determine how it affected nearby smokers, focusing on those who skewed older. “Older adult smokers have been smoking for a long time and tend to have lower rates of smoking cessation compared to younger populations, suggesting deeply entrenched behavior that is difficult to change,” said Stephanie Mayne, PhD, the lead author of the study who is a...

Government cracks down on tobacco but there is better way to cut health-care costs The federal government has announced plans to reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes in a completely untested attempt to reduce smoking, but this approach will take many years to even be put into effect, and such an approach ignores many other proven techniques which will work more quickly, and could slash health-care costs now, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf. Banzhaf has been called “The Man Behind the Ban on Cigarette Commercials,” “The Law Professor Who Masterminded Litigation Against the Tobacco Industry,” and “a...

Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed a law Friday making New Jersey the third state to raise its smoking age to 21. Christie cited the strain on the health care system caused by tobacco-related illnesses. He also noted his mother died from the effects of smoking. "By raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21, we are giving young people more time to develop a maturity and better understanding of how dangerous smoking can be and that it is better to not start smoking in the first place," Christie wrote.

More than half of smokers in the United States believe they are discriminated against, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. Of those who feel discriminated against, 13 percent of smokers say they feel this way every day and 8 percent feel it every week. Fourteen percent of smokers feel discriminated against less than once a year, and 44 percent of smokers do not feel discriminated against at all. The poll is the first time Gallup has asked smokers about perceived discrimination in this format. Alleged discrimination against smokers can take place in many forms, such as smoking bans at...

" ... The national smoking rate has fallen to historic lows, with just 15 percent of adults still smoking. But the socioeconomic gap has never been bigger. ..." "... Among the nation’s less-educated people — those with a high-school-equivalency diploma — the smoking rate remains more than 40 percent ..."

Back in December we looked at one of the final “midnight regulations” handed down from the Obama administration which sought to ban smoking tobacco products in government housing units. That was a complicated case to be sure, but Susan Shapiro brings up an even stranger story at the Washington Post this week. Shapiro is a former smoker herself (who is to be congratulated for having kicked the habit fifteen years ago) and lives in a privately owned co-op which is considering banning smokers and even giving the boot to people who already own a unit there if they smoke. The...

HARARE — Zimbabwe has opened its 2017 tobacco-selling season with hopes the “golden leaf” will change the economic fortunes of the southern African nation. Officials say the tobacco yield has been increasing after a downward turn in 2000 when the government chased white commercial farmers off their land. Zimbabwean farmers applauded after the 2017 tobacco selling season began Wednesday in Harare at the country’s biggest auction floor. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya saluted the farmers. “Producers of tobacco are indeed our heroes. You are important to this economy. The foreign currency you produce is above $800 million a...