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According to three doctors at the KS Hegde Medical Academy in Mangalore, India, writing in the journal Medical Hypotheses, giving up smoking can kill you. Arunachalam Kumar, Kasaragod Mallya, and Jairaj Kumar were "struck by the more than casual relationship between the appearance of lung cancer and an abrupt and recent cessation of the smoking habit in many, if not most, cases." In 182 of the 312 cases they had treated, an habitual smoker of at least a pack a day, for at least a quarter-century, had developed lung cancer shortly after he gave up smoking. They surmised a biological...

How would you feel about a $9.589 billion tax increase? Wait. It’s a cigarette tax increase. Oh. Well, you say. That’s different. That’s what the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate are counting on you to think. Not all Americans are reflexively opposed to tax increases, but among those who are, opposition tends to be far less ferocious when you are convinced you will not be the one paying.

A seed was planted in Patrick Reynolds' life the day his tobacco magnate father, R.J. Reynolds, died from cigarette-induced emphysema. "We often find our greatest calling where we've been wounded most," he said. Years after his father's death, Reynolds turned his back on the family business -- Big Tobacco -- and now travels the country delivering his anti-tobacco message. "There was R.J. Reynolds, dying from the product that made our family rich and powerful. I was angry," Reynolds said Wednesday in Tulsa at the second annual Prevention Health Conference. His older brother also died from smoking, along with other family...

Odor of Cigarette Smoke Causes School Employee to Lose Job Last Edited: Friday, 14 Sep 2007, 9:53 AM CDT Created: Friday, 14 Sep 2007, 9:36 AM CDT Suzanne Lidster lost her job at a Denton elementary school because she smelled like cigarette smoke. The Denton Independent School District has removed an employee from her position because she smells like cigarette smoke. Suzanne Lidster was thrilled when she was recently hired to assist a student with disabilities at L.A. Nelson Elementary. "It's something that God sent me here to do with this child," Lidster told FOX 4.  "It's like OK,...

Keef escapes fine for lighting up, but Stones will keep puffing on stage   (MMP Cambridge) Keith Richards enjoys a cigarette during the Rolling Stones gig at the O2 arena in London last night  Jonathan Richards Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood will continue to smoke on stage during Rolling Stones gigs in the UK despite reminders from authorities that it is now illegal. Band insiders were responding to warnings from Greenwich Council that the two guitarists could face fines if they persist in lighting up on stage, as happened during a gig at the O2 arena last night. Richards...

Statewide smoking ban has support Poll shows public also OK with higher cigarette taxes.By Sarah Kessinger kessinger@dailynews.net TOPEKA - Results from a poll of Kansas voters released Thursday show broad support for a statewide smoking ban in workplaces and other public settings. The survey also found a majority of respondents willing to back a higher state tobacco tax. The Topeka-based Sunflower Foundation, which promotes health in the state, commissioned Public Opinion Strategies, a national political and public affairs research firm, to query 700 registered voters in February. The results will be shared with state officials as they prepare for the...

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...

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is trying to bring what he calls a social revolution to his country. One of his most far-reaching experiments toward that goal is the institution of community councils, which could reshape the way government operates in Venezuela. Thousands of the councils have been formed nationwide, and they have made decisions on everything from trash collection to school construction. Chavez calls the councils the fifth engine in his campaign to transform the world's seventh-biggest oil exporter into a socialist state. At first glance, they may appear like neighborhood watch groups. But the councils have government funding, thanks...

<p>The wonder drug could be prescribed in time for the nationwide smoking ban from July 1.</p> <p>Champix — developed by Pfizer which makes anti-impotence drug Viagra — blocks cravings, lessens withdrawal symptoms and even reduces the pleasure from ciggies.</p> <p>In trials nearly half of smokers — 44 per cent — kicked the habit after a 12-week course as opposed to 30 per cent using other NHS anti-smoking medication.</p>

As if it weren't enough that the price of cigarettes has skyrocketed, some 4,329 Pennsylvanians who purchased cigarettes over the Internet or from out-of-state mail order companies will soon receive a letter from the state Department of Revenue asking them to pay state taxes on their purchases. Under the federal Jenkins Act, vendors that ship cigarettes into another state are required to release information about the purchases to state taxing authorities, according to the statement. "Unfortunately, many Web sites falsely advertise that cigarettes can be purchased tax-free," said Thomas W. Wolf, Pennsylvania's acting secretary of revenue. "In fact, in Pennsylvania...

After winning the award for Best Documentary Feature at this year’s Oscars for his film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ about global warming, former American Vice-President Al Gore has been confronted by a campaign of skepticism that casts doubts about his environmental credibility. This came about after a small local group affiliated to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research in Nashville, Tennessee where Al Gore lives, gained access to the energy bills for his home only to discover that the losing candidate in 2000’s US elections is not practicing what he preaches when it comes to the environment. The group obtained the...

In a 28-page report, Sen. Jeff Klein, a Democrat from Westchester, said the state cigarette tax increased 39 cents to $1.50 a pack in 2002, but tax receipts have declined from $1.12 billion in 2003 to $979 million in 2005 SOURCE: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--indiancigarettes0304mar04,0,3136719.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork  

PROPOSITION: Municipality denies claims that it's trying to influence April vote. A group that wants to stop the new smoking ban in bars, bingo halls and other public places filed a lawsuit Monday, saying the Anchorage city government is illegally campaigning on the issue. Last year, the Assembly voted to expand the city smoking ban to almost everywhere people still smoke in public. But a group calling itself Stomp the Ban said the new rules go too far. It has collected thousands of signatures to wipe out the changes before the new law kicks in July 1. That petition drive...

Tom Daschle, who endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president, said he would consider being Obama's running mate if asked. The Democrat and former South Dakota senator said he had not been contacted by any of the Democrats seeking their party's presidential nomination, and that his endorsement of the Illinois senator doesn't mean he's looking for a spot on the Democratic ticket. "Theres not been any talk about it at all," he said Friday. "I have to say thats not something you can campaign for and its not something that you can plan or expect." Daschle, who explored...

Six months from now, most Charleston businesses will go smoke-free. In a vote of 9 to 4, the Charleston City Council and Mayor Joe Riley passed a ban on smoking in work places. Councilman James Lewis voted against the smoking ban. “This ordinance is one of the stupidest things I think we've wrote in a long time,” Lewis said. Councilman Robert Mitchell, a smoker, also voted against the ordinance. “This is just another form of slavery to me,” Mitchell said. The reality of a city-wide smoking ordinance is both frustrating and maddening for many bar owners. “The council members aren't...

No smoking would be allowed inside public buildings in Texas — including restaurants, bars and workplaces — if a legislative proposal is approved to make the Lone Star State one of 18 states with sweeping bans on smoking. "It is a public health crisis and a very expensive one," said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, who is spearheading the proposal. He said he plans to file a bill at the end of the month and that he will be joined at that time by a coalition of anti-smoking groups as he unveils details. The proposal is sure to trigger a...

Last year a primary care trust announced it would take smokers off waiting lists for surgery in an attempt to contain costs. In this week's British Medical Journal, two experts go head to head over whether smokers should be refused surgery. Denying operations is justified for specific conditions, argues Professor Matthew Peters from the Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Australia. Professor Peters says that smoking up to the time of any surgery increases cardiac and pulmonary complications, impairs tissue healing, and is associated with more infections. These effects increase the costs of care and also mean less opportunity to treat...

A proposed smoking ban on the Kirkwood ballot on Tuesday is setting a fire under the electorate, business groups and politicians. The Kirkwood Smoke-free Workplace Initiative would eliminate smoking in all indoor public places, including bars and restaurants and places of employment. The measure would allow smoking in private homes, private vehicles and outdoor areas away from enclosed or semi-enclosed structures.

There's a new front in America's smoking wars, and Arizona is one of two key battlegrounds. Here and in Ohio, tobacco interests are spending millions of dollars on alternatives to anti-smoking measures rather than fighting them head-on. The strategy has created lively if confusing campaigns as voters try to sort out which smoking ban does what. "It's never been done before," said Joel Spivak, media relations director for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, which is supporting the broader smoking bans being pushed in Arizona and Ohio. Accustomed to being the guys in the white hats who square off against...

TUESDAY, Oct. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds that at least 1 in every 4 smokers will develop progressive and incurable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a much higher risk than previously believed. COPD is a respiratory disease that results in blocked air flow to the lungs and grows progressively worse. For this study, published online in the journal Thorax, researchers at Hvidovre Hospital analyzed data on 8,000 men and women, ages 30 to 60. All were monitored for 25 years as part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study. At the start of the study, all the participants'...