Free Republic

1915: Anti-Smoking Sign, Zion, Illinois

Perfectly illustrates liberal fascism ...

Anti-smoking campaigners are rallying against Johnny Depp's animated movie "Rango," branding the film a health hazard for depicting smoking on screen. The movie, which features the voices of Depp, Isla Fisher and Bill Nighy, follows a group of chameleons searching for water that has been stolen from a town called Dirt. Throughout the film "at least 60 instances of characters smoking" have been counted, according to Kori Titus, CEO of the nonprofit organization Breathe California.

Five years after Washington residents voted to ban smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes in public places, King County wants to add one more thing to the list: Electronic cigarettes.The 2006 state law banned smoking in bars and restaurants on the basis that second-hand smoke causes cancer and other diseases. King County's rationale for adding e-cigarettes, also known as battery-powered nicotine-delivery devices, to the list of forbidden acts is a little different. The fake cigs, from which users inhale vaporized nicotine, don't emit smoke. Rather, they produce a less-smelly, combustion-free mist.But public health officials say they're so similar to the real...

<p>The French aren't exactly squeamish when it comes to sex. Nor do they typically bat an eye when it comes to racy content in advertising. Now, however, a controversy has erupted over an ad that some feel has gone a step too far: it doesn't just evoke oral sex but actually seems to depict it. Worse still, the salacious images are targeting young people in what would otherwise be a laudable campaign — trying to stop them from smoking.</p>

Senate moves forward with government tobacco takeover By Michelle Malkin  •  June 11, 2009 05:33 PM Photoshop credit: Mike On June 2, I called attention to the Democrats’ plans to complete a government tobacco takeover.The next step took place today while America slept. Another day, another industry grab: Congress struck the government’s strongest anti-smoking blow in decades Thursday with a Senate vote to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in cigarettes, drastically curtail ads and ban candied tobacco products aimed at young people.Cigarette foes say the changes could cut into the 400,000 deaths every year caused by smoking and reduce the...

Take someone with too much time on their hands and a ridiculously moralistic and self-righteous worldview, combine that with activist government and what do you get? A city that bans smoking in your own home, that's what. One California town has taken misguided activist government to a new place - private residences...

Distinctive packaging for cigarettes may be replaced by plain black and white lettering under Government plans to reduce smoking, it has been announced. The Government has plans to ban brightly coloured packets, remove cigarettes from display and stop the cheap option of a pack of 10 A red packet of Marlboro or a gold Benson and Hedges wrapping could become a thing of the past after research showed children easily identify brands and link smoking to being "cool". Along with putting cigarettes under the counter in shops, banning packs of 10 and restricting vending machines, it is one of the...

Do you smoke? Well, you better be careful where. I don't smoke, and I don't like the smell, but what some people are doing to smokers makes me say give me a break. For the last 12 years, Galila Huff has owned Caffé la Fenicé, a restaurant serving Italian food on the Upper West Side of New York City. Smoking there is forbidden. New York state bans it in all restaurants and bars. Huff's apartment is a few blocks away at The Ansonia, an ornate turn-of-the-century building that both Babe Ruth and Arturo Toscanini once called home. Huff lives there...

FDA: Connection between Chantix, psychiatric problems ‘increasingly likely’The Associated Press updated 1:33 p.m. PT, Fri., Feb. 1, 2008WASHINGTON - Government regulators said Friday the connection between Pfizer's anti-smoking drug Chantix and serious psychiatric problems is "increasingly likely."The Food and Drug Administration began in November investigating reports of depression, agitation and suicidal behavior in patients taking the popular twice-daily pill.The agency's announcement comes two weeks after Pfizer added stronger warnings to the drug. In doing so, the company stressed that a direct link between Chantix and the reported psychiatric problems has not been established, but could not be ruled out.In a...

Poll: Two-thirds of Wyoming voters support statewide smoking ban CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A statewide poll shows that two-thirds of Wyoming voters support a ban on smoking in public places, including restaurants and bars. The poll, commissioned by the American Cancer Society in Wyoming and other health organizations, also found that 74 percent of registered voters believe the right of customers and employees to breathe clean air outweighs smokers' right to light up indoors. "It shows that the people of Wyoming would absolutely support a smoke-free Wyoming," said Loretta Wolf, spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society in Wyoming. The American Cancer...

Two cities in California are now considering unprecedented legislation that would ban smoking inside apartments and condos. We're talking private property and the right to legislate what goes on behind closed doors, in your own, private home. The City of Belmont, CA won initial approval last week to ban smoking in your home, if you live in an apartment or condo. The measure could trigger fines and actual eviction. The same measure is being considered in the city of Calabasas. In Bangor, Maine, a city councilman, oops, coulcilperson, Patricia Blanchette has submitted preliminary legislation to make Maine one of the...

A British millionaire who has reportedly hired outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife, Cherie, to fight the New Labour Government's ban on smoking, described Tony Blair as an "a***hole" on peak-time radio on Sunday. Sixty-three-year-old Dave West, a lapdance boss, resorted to the use of unparliamentary language after claiming that human rights lawyer Cherie Blair, 52, thought his club should be exempted from new cigarette laws. Interviewed onj BBC Radio Five, West was quoted by The Sun a saying that Tony Blair was an a***hole for introducing the smoking ban. When Nicky Campbell, the show's host, said that there was...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Mayor Bloomberg is decrying the state of the 2008 presidential race, faulting the major party candidates for offering shallow, simplistic prescriptions, and scolding the press for failing to demand more from those seeking the White House. During an appearance at Google's headquarters in Silicon Valley yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg said the televised debates among the presidential candidates have been, in essence, a waste of time. "They have absolutely nothing to do with the job and the qualifications. And they don't tell you anything about whether or not any of those candidates would be good or bad presidents....

Pub patio heaters for smokers will produce 'as much pollution as a small city'By DAVID DERBYSHIRE - More by this author » Last updated at 22:00pm on 10th June 2007  Pubs are installing patio heaters in outdoor smoking areas Patio heaters installed by pubs to keep smokers warm on chilly nights could soon produce as much carbon dioxide as a small city, it has been claimed. Next month's smoking ban has triggered huge demand for the gas-fired heaters from pubs, restaurants and clubs creating legal outdoor smoking areas. But according to experts, a single heater releases more carbon dioxide...

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Thirty years after it began as just another quirky movement in Berkeley, Calif., the push to ban smoking in restaurants, bars and other public places has reached a national milestone. For the first time in the nation's history, more than half of Americans live in a city or state with laws mandating that workplaces, restaurants or bars be smoke-free, according to Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. ''The movement for smoke-free air has gone from being a California oddity to the nationwide norm,'' said Bronson Frick, the group's associate director. ''We think 100 percent of Americans will live...

New Self-Snuffing Cigarettes To Prevent Fires Six States Requiring Safer SmokesUPDATED: 2:42 pm EST January 4, 2007 STOCKTON, Calif. -- Many smokers are willing to walk a mile for a Camel, but will they be willing to puff a little harder? A new California state law that took effect this week requires stores to sell cigarettes that are designed to go out if the smoker stops puffing or drops the cigarette. Six states have adopted legislation requiring the self-snuffing smokes in an effort to prevent fires. The new cigarettes have tiny paper bands through which flame is not supposed to...

See for example this thread first. Hawaii has said it, no joke In public places, you can't smoke Have they slit their wrists with regard to tourists Will this stunt help to drive the state broke?

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: Board votes to ban smoking in many public, unincorporated areas -- No one in unincorporated areas of Contra Costa County will be able to smoke in neighborhood parks, on restaurant patios or along public trails after the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed outdoor smoking restrictions Tuesday that it hopes other cities in the region will copy. Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier of Concord proposed the idea last year, saying the increased incidence of heart disease and other illnesses linked to smoking cost the county $228 million per year.The new law, which takes effect Nov. 17, will ban smoking in...

LISBON - A judge’s directive giving custody of a child to a father instead of his smoking ex-wife is consistent with court rulings that smoking may be used in making such decisions, an appeals court said. The 7th Ohio District Court of Appeals, in a ruling last week, upheld the decision by the Columbiana County Common Pleas Court in favor of Joel Pierce of nearby Leetonia over his ex-wife, Tammy Pierce of Sanford, Fla. “The Ohio Supreme Court has catalogued the risks of secondhand smoke to children and courts have used the fact that a parent smokes as a factor...