A goal of the World Health Organization's Tobacco Control Framework
is to totally eradicate tobacco use (1). The underlying theory is that
anyone who exerts enough will power can overcome addition to nicotine. The
situation may not be as simple as they would like to believe.
The Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians found
that the development of nicotine addiction includes changes in brain
st...
A goal of the World Health Organization's Tobacco Control Framework
is to totally eradicate tobacco use (1). The underlying theory is that
anyone who exerts enough will power can overcome addition to nicotine. The
situation may not be as simple as they would like to believe.
The Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians found
that the development of nicotine addiction includes changes in brain
structure and function that impair the ability to achieve and sustain
abstinence. They note that some of these changes may not be entirely
reversible; consequently some smokers may never be able to quit all
nicotine use (2).
Sweden has one of the lowest rates of smoking and lowest lung cancer
rates in the world; however this is not due to the eradication of tobacco
use. It is most likely due to the high percentage of smokers who switched
to low-nitrosamine Swedish snus (3).
Thus it is troubling that Etter, et al, discuss concerns about
electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) that are more appropriate for a
medication. This focus ignores the primary purpose for the invention of
the e-cigarette: To allow smokers to save their health and their lives by
switching to a safer alternative source of nicotine (4).
One of the reasons that more smokers have not switched to the
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products is that the dosages are kept
low because of concerns about "abuse potential" (5). These doses are
inadequate replacement for many smokers.
In a national survey, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) found that
9% of UK smokers had tried e-cigarettes and 3% were still using them. This
amounts to 300,000 people who have achieved smoking abstinence thanks to
these products. In a focus group, those who had not tried e-cigarettes
pictured a device that looks and performs much like a real cigarette.
Those who had tried e-cigarettes put greater importance on an "authentic
smoking experience" and strength of nicotine (6).
So when the Research Agenda suggests "a standard dosing regimen" be
developed for e-cigarettes, we consumers cringe. In all the years that we
were smokers, we self-regulated our nicotine intake. We smoked more often
or inhaled more deeply in times of high stress or when we had the need to
remain alert. We smoked less often when we were relaxed and ready to go to
sleep.
In addition, our overall intake varied widely across individuals.
Most smokers averaged a pack a day; but many got along just fine on 5 or
10 cigarettes a day, and some required several packs per day. These
varying needs are reflected in the range of nicotine strengths and
quantity of liquid used per day by e-cigarette consumers (7). Regulating
the products to the point where dosages are kept low for fear of abuse
potential most likely would make the products just as ineffective an
alternative as pharmaceutical NRTs.
It is unquestionably in the best interests of public health to help
as many smokers as possible make the switch as soon as possible to safer
alternatives. If "continued marketing constitutes an uncontrolled
experiment," so what? Continued smoking guarantees irreversible damage to
the lungs, cardiovascular systems, and DNA of smokers who can't quit
during the years that the researchers are satisfying themselves that e-
cigarettes are "safe."
E-cigarettes don't need to be safe in any absolute sense. They only
need to be safer than continued smoking. If they were more harmful than
smoking, we would know that by now.
(1) World Health Organization. Tobacco Cessation: A Manual for
Nurses, Health Workers, and Other Health Professionals. ISBN 978-92-9022-
384-9
http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Tobacco_Free_Initiative_manual-hsw.pdf
(Accessed May 2011).
(2) Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians. Harm
reduction in nicotine addiction: Helping people who can't quit. October
2007. Royal College of Physicians.
http://www.tobaccoprogram.org/pdf/4fc74817-64c5-4105-951e-38239b09c5db.pdf
(Accessed May 2011).
(3) Ferberg (2005). Is Swedish snus associated with smoking
initiation or smoking cessation? Tobacco Control 2005;14:422???424.
http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/14/6/422.abstract (Accessed May
2011).
(4) Demick B. A high tech approach to getting a nicotine fix. Los
Angeles Times. April 25, 2009.
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/apr/25/world/fg-china-cigarettes25
(Accessed May 2011).
(5) McNeill A, Foulds J, Bates C. Regulateion of nicotine replacement
therapies (NRT): a critique of current practice. Addiction (2001) 965,
1757-1768. http://www.tobaccoprogram.org/pdf/nrtcritique.pdf (Accessed May
2011).
(6) Dockrell M, Indu SD, Lashkari HG, McNeill A. "It sounds like the
replacement I need to help me stop smoking": Use and acceptability of "e-
cigarettes" among UK smokers. 12th annual meeting of the Society for
Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Europe. Bath, UK, 2010.
(7) Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association.
Survey Results.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=HrpzL8PN5cP366RWhWvCTjggiZM_2b8yQJHfwE9UXRNhE_3d
(Accessed May 2011).
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I am surprised that AIDS has not been blamed on passive smoking yet,
if you excuse my irony.
Quite frankly this obsession with SHS being the cause of SIDS is
quite depressing as an eager public lap up any chance to demonise smokers.
Looking at the empirical evidence it does not back up the hypothesis.
As remarked here by UK journalist Charlie Booker in a piece entitled
"Fiddling those s...
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I am surprised that AIDS has not been blamed on passive smoking yet,
if you excuse my irony.
Quite frankly this obsession with SHS being the cause of SIDS is
quite depressing as an eager public lap up any chance to demonise smokers.
Looking at the empirical evidence it does not back up the hypothesis.
As remarked here by UK journalist Charlie Booker in a piece entitled
"Fiddling those smoking figures again." (1) "The only snag was that the
years between 1970 and 1988, when cot deaths shot up by 500 per cent,
coincided with the very time when the number of adults who smoked in
Britain was falling most sharply, from 45 to 30 per cent. To anyone but a
fanatical anti-smoking campaigner, this might have suggested that
"environmental tobacco smoke" was unlikely to be the chief cause of cot
deaths."
If look at the figures supplied by the UK's government's Office of
National Statistics and look at Figure 2 graph Mr Booker is entirely
correct. (2)
My smoking statistics are supplied by Action on Smoking and Health
(3) and indeed confirm Booker's claims for a reduction in that time.
Also if you look at data on smoking rates smoking is often a sign of
poverty, twice as many poorer people smoke than affluent people 30% vs 15%
typically. Poverty often means you live in less hygienic housing and
surrounds, rubbish, excrement and hypodermic needles etc. Greater
densities of people to pass on virus and bacteria, closer proximities to
industrial and car pollution. All these are confounders with smoking just
a marker that you are poor. As this paper articulates (4)
This paper written by (5) Neuropathologist Hannah Kinney, MD,
neuroscientist David Paterson, PhD, "and colleagues examined brainstem
tissue from 31 infants who died from SIDS and 10 who had died from other
causes. They documented the most comprehensive set of defects known to
date: deficiencies in the serotonin receptor 5HT1A, an abnormally high
number of neurons that make and release serotonin; a preponderance of
immature serotonergic neurons; and insufficient amounts of the serotonin
transporter protein, which "recycles" serotonin so neurons can reuse it.
Male SIDS infants had significantly fewer 5-HT1A receptors than females,
offering a possible explanation why boys succumb to SIDS twice as often as
girls."
To be fair it does go on to say speculatively that "Although more
research is needed, Kinney, Paterson and colleagues believe that factors
such as maternal smoking and alcohol use during early fetal development
may derail development of the brainstem serotonin system."
This paper certainly concludes that smoking is irrelevant. (6)
This paper also explores the much higher death rates among lower
socio-economic groups (7)
In conclusion "Fiddling those smoking figures again" may have struck
again.
7th April 2011 speaker at the "Tobacco dependence should be recognised by the state as a medical condition, not a lifestyle choice." My travel expenses were met by Pfizer.
It is my hypothesis of 1994 that increased testosterone increases
breast cancer, as well as other cancers, (International Journal of Cancer
2005; 115: 497). Some report that "testosterone might be more strongly
associated with [breast cancer] risk than estradiol." (Journal of the
National Cancer Institute (U.S.A.) 2002; 94: 606-616). Smoking increases
testosterone in women of childbearing age (Am. J...
It is my hypothesis of 1994 that increased testosterone increases
breast cancer, as well as other cancers, (International Journal of Cancer
2005; 115: 497). Some report that "testosterone might be more strongly
associated with [breast cancer] risk than estradiol." (Journal of the
National Cancer Institute (U.S.A.) 2002; 94: 606-616). Smoking increases
testosterone in women of childbearing age (Am. J. Epidemiol. (2001) 153
(3): 256-264).
I suggest the findings of Johnson, et al., may be explained by
increased testosterone in women who smoke and women exposed to secondhand
smoke.
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I refer to the paper entitled, "Regional disparities in compliance
with tobacco control policy in Japan: an ecological analysis "by
Takashi Yorifuji et al in Tob Control doi:10.1136/tc.2010.0414. I agree
with them regarding uneven implementation of legislation for tobacco
control, which has an influence on consumption, and that reflects the
consequences of health and environment directly. In 1995, I was...
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I refer to the paper entitled, "Regional disparities in compliance
with tobacco control policy in Japan: an ecological analysis "by
Takashi Yorifuji et al in Tob Control doi:10.1136/tc.2010.0414. I agree
with them regarding uneven implementation of legislation for tobacco
control, which has an influence on consumption, and that reflects the
consequences of health and environment directly. In 1995, I was a
collaborator in anti- tobacco research at Okayama University supported by the
Japan Society of Promotion of Science, and that time I had an observation:
There was a marked difference of the rate of consumption among different
professionals/occupational groups at Okayama prefecture. Even if
the legislation is well regulated, the disparity will also depend on
the category of professionals consuming tobacco. Of course, this paper did
not investigate that issue. Nevertheless, the scale of disparity
needs to be investigated in different occupations/professions, even in a
prefecture where the anti-tobacco legislation is implemented properly.
I need also to mention how the current trend of tobacco practice and
devices may affect the disparity. Japan Tobacco (JT)
has introduced the "Zero-style-mint," a kind of smokeless tobacco (ST), and
that is an enormous threat to the Japanese people, because you cannot
control ST as you can smoking. Producers are advising to the customers to use this ST in
public places, because there is no issue of second-hand smoke. They are
even propagating this item for use on flights, long-haul trains, including within the no-smoking cars
of the Sinkansen (Bullet Train), when smoking has been banned in both settings long ago. Effective tobacco control in terms of
implementable legislation may be different and difficult for ST,
and that may affect human health differently. Therefore the issue of
disparity of implementation of anti-tobacco legislation may need a review in relation to this issue. Use of smokeless tobacco (ST) with
the gimmicky name of "Zero-style-mint" is shooting up quickly in the
Japanese tobacco market.
In this regard, I feel it is important to add that, in our experience in India, and the SE Asian population living in the
UK, I find it difficult to stop Smokeless Tobacco (ST), such as Paan and
Gutkha products (Quid sachets). These are other forms of ST. Even if you implement the legislation complying with the WHO
framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) 1 it does not help.
Therefore, reinforcing the legislation to control ST and its
health consequences will require extra efforts. Concerning the issue,
this year on 15th February, we had an International Experts' Working-Group
Meeting (vide Proceeding 2) in India. We came up with a
recommendation/declaration to the SE-Asian Governments/policy makers and
the WHO FCTC on how to control ST use in public places, and also a way
to reduce the constraints and disparities in implementing anti-tobacco
legislation on ST. We
are also working as one of the stakeholders of the National Institute of
Clinical Excellence (NICE, UK)3 in order to control ST and reduce
ST related health hazards in the UK.
Anti-tobacco legislation in Japan needs to address ST (eg Zero-style-Mint) in order to reduce the morbidity
and mortality due to current trends of tobacco consumption. Certainly
the disparity of implementation of legislation will influence the
inequalities of tobacco related health and diseases in Japan and it will
worsen the situation if ST is overlooked, and will set back
progress in tackling the legislative disparity in Japan, which has been discussed
in the paper nicely.
References
1. WHO FCTC: World Health Organization. Framework Convention for
Tobacco Control: Guidelines for implementation of Article 5.3. Guidelines
on the protection of public health policies with respect to tobacco
control from commercial and other vested interests.
http://www.who.int/fctc/guidelines/article_5_3/en/index.html
2. Proceedings: International Experts' Working group meeting & Seminar
-workshop on Oral Sub-mucus-Fibrosis(OSF). Centre for Oral Disease
Prevention & Control, Department of Oral Biology & Genomic
Studies, Nitte University, Mangalore, India. Published on 15th February
2011. (Editor: Professor Chitta Ranjan Chowdhury)
3. National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE , UK): Public Health
Intervention Guidance on Tobacco: helping people of South Asian origin to
stop using smokeless tobacco. Smokeless tobacco: South Asians - draft
scope consultation.
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PHG/Wave23/20/ScopeConsultation
Professor & Director, International Centre for Tropical Oral
Health, PHT NHS Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Longfleet Road,
Poole, Dorset BH15 2JB, England.
Consultant GCDHTF, King's College London, London. England, UK
President, Institute of Health Promotion & Education (IHPE), UK
Indian office: Nitte University AB Shetty Memorial Institute of
Dental Sciences, Department of Oral Biology & Genomic Studies, Centre
for Oral Disease Prevention & Control, Mangalore-575 018, India.
cr_choudhury@yahoo.co.uk
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I use an ecigarette filled with vegetable glycerin and flavorings, food items found in any grocery. I do not add nicotine. Aren't the concerns raised by the UCR study nullified for non-nicotine ecigarette users such as myself?
A post-date to this article would mention that on 12/7/2010 the US Supreme court decided ecigarettes are not a 'nicotine delivery system'.
The future regulation of nicotine is the real...
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I use an ecigarette filled with vegetable glycerin and flavorings, food items found in any grocery. I do not add nicotine. Aren't the concerns raised by the UCR study nullified for non-nicotine ecigarette users such as myself?
A post-date to this article would mention that on 12/7/2010 the US Supreme court decided ecigarettes are not a 'nicotine delivery system'.
The future regulation of nicotine is the real issue here. It's an issue that generates much tax revenue and research funding.
As cigarettes become more unpopular worldwide, expect negative ecigarette propaganda to shape future regulations, and thereby shut out foreign comptetitors from the American tobacco market.
Once tough regulations are in place, look for the tobacco industry to jump on the ecigarette band wagon and fund studies that prove how much safer they are than smoking. Why?
Nicotine extraction is cheaper than production, storage and distribution of current products. The result is greater profits and an improved image for tobacco farmers. With increased quality control regulations will come the higher prices needed to comply.
In a nutshell: ecigarettes are just a stage prop without nicotine. Users appear to be quitting smoking in large numbers, yet ecigarettes are banned and cigarettes are not.
Something doesn't smell right here. Ecigarette hatred is contrived to prepare for the re-tooling of the tobacco industry!
Conflict of Interest:
I publish an ecigarette information website, for which I've received no compensation as of the date of this submission.
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It is my hypothesis that testosterone is increasing in our population
and that this increase is the cause of the "secular trend," the increase
in size and earlier puberty in our children. Therefore, as the continuum
progresses, phenomena will increase if caused by increased testosterone,
and possibly decrease if other phenomena are increased which counteract
the earlier phenomena. This sounds really co...
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It is my hypothesis that testosterone is increasing in our population
and that this increase is the cause of the "secular trend," the increase
in size and earlier puberty in our children. Therefore, as the continuum
progresses, phenomena will increase if caused by increased testosterone,
and possibly decrease if other phenomena are increased which counteract
the earlier phenomena. This sounds really contradictory but it may
explain the earlier increase in childhood ear infections and the current
decline.
Testosterone decreases the immune system. Blacks produce more
testosterone than whites and blacks exhibit more infections, bacterial and
viral, than whites. Therefore, based on the explanation in the paragraph
above, ear infections should increase.
As testosterone levels increase, I suggest this produces earlier
changes in the growth of the head which might increase development of the
eustachian tubes. It is known that the incidence of childhood ear
infections decline upon achievement of a certain level of development in
young children, that is, the eustachian tubes reach a level of growth
which allows drainage of the ear and this reduces infections.
It is known that black children, at 2-3 years, exhibit increased head
circumference growth compared to White and Asian children in a study of
growth after birth (Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2000 Jan;14(1):4-13).
Head circumference growth may include development of the eustachian tubes.
Therefore, one might predict that Black children will exhibit fewer ear
infections than whites; this is the case (Laryngoscope. 2010
Aug;120(8):1667-70).
Now, I suggest that as the increase in testosterone progresses the
increase in ear infections as a result of the adverse effect of
testosterone of the past are counteracted by the increase in growth of the
eustachian tubes, the incidence of ear infections will decrease. I
suggest this may explain the current decrease in childhood ear infections
as secular trend has been ongoing for a much longer time than the current
decline in smoking.
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The authors of the paper "Contribution of smoking-related and alcohol-related deaths to the gender gap in mortality: evidence from 30 European countries" use the WHO indicators of alcohol-related and smoking-related causes of deaths and state that this even underestimates the scope of influence of alcohol and tobacco use on mortality. In fact, however, it is an enormous overestimate. In case of Ukraine, to consid...
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The authors of the paper "Contribution of smoking-related and alcohol-related deaths to the gender gap in mortality: evidence from 30 European countries" use the WHO indicators of alcohol-related and smoking-related causes of deaths and state that this even underestimates the scope of influence of alcohol and tobacco use on mortality. In fact, however, it is an enormous overestimate. In case of Ukraine, to consider just one example, the WHO HFA database shows that in 2004 male "smoking-related mortality" was 1081 per 100,000 population. However, all-cause male mortality for the same year was 1920. So 56% of all deaths were to be considered smoking-related deaths. The respective figures for women were the following: 586, 978, and 60%. Even if we ignore the fact that female smoking prevalence in Ukraine was about four times lower than among males, it is obvious that smoking could not cause so many deaths even for men. The WHO HFA definition of "selected smoking-related causes" stresses that it is NOT the estimate of tobacco-attributable mortality. Actually "selected smoking-related causes" include 100% ischaemic heart disease mortality + 100% cerebrovascular diseases mortality + 100% chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality + 100% some cancers mortality. Such approach gives fantastic results: according to the WHO HFA database, in Uzbekistan, where female daily smoking rate is just 1%, "smoking related mortality" is three times higher than in Austria, where this rate is 41%.
In the Discussion, the authors compare the 'WHO definitions' to 'Peto's method' while these two are not measuring same things. So-called 'WHO smoking-related mortality' may be even not associated to the smoking-attributable mortality when the latter is estimated thoroughly. I have already asked the WHO officials to delete "selected smoking-related causes" indicator from the WHO HFA database because it is very misleading. Using such a misleading indicator to estimate the tobacco contribution into the gender gap in mortality could not provide realistic estimates. Tobacco control should be evidence-based and overestimating number of smoking-related deaths does more harm than good for tobacco control efforts.
Konstantin Krasovsky,
Head of Tobacco Control Unit
Ukrainian Institute of Strategic Research of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine
krasovskyk@gmail.com
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Please can I make a few points in response.
First, in the UK at least, the individual commenters and blog writers
who criticise the anti tobacco movement do not, in general, receive money
or favours from, or have any connection with the Tobacco Industry. FOREST
does receive money from the tobacco industry and doesn't hide the fact.
The anti tobacco movement receives money and favours (sponsored...
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Please can I make a few points in response.
First, in the UK at least, the individual commenters and blog writers
who criticise the anti tobacco movement do not, in general, receive money
or favours from, or have any connection with the Tobacco Industry. FOREST
does receive money from the tobacco industry and doesn't hide the fact.
The anti tobacco movement receives money and favours (sponsored
conferences, for example), from the drug companies which benefit from
smoking bans, by increased sales of their alternative nicotine delivery
systems.
Second, your have distorted the facts regarding smoking bans. The
English smoking ban covers all non-residential buildings - public and
private - and secure mental hospitals. It was ostensibly brought in to
protect employees: not to prevent customers "smelling like an ashtray".
That may be their choice. The English ban covers private clubs staffed by
volunteers. This clearly goes beyond protecting workers, or even keeping
the clothes of the public sweet-smelling. That the ban covers secure
mental hospitals, which are the homes of the most vulnerable members of
society is a national disgrace.
Third, The evidence that second hand smoke causes significant harm is
controversial. Members of the anti tobacco movement have admitted as much
- that any kind of statistical fraud is justified. Those on the more
scholarly wing of the movement, such as Sir Richard Peto and the late Sir
Richard Doll, have publicly stated that any harm is small or negligible
and impossible to measure.
Finally, you receive hate mail because many people perceive you as
having ruined their lives. They no longer go out and meet other people.
They no longer go for a relaxing drink after work. And, to rub it in,
their taxes are used to support anti tobacco groups; and they fund one
tenth of the NHS, 10 billion pounds, through tax applied to tobacco.
You and your readers may be interested in the article linked to
below, which also criticises your lack of support for snus, an oral
tobacco product which is responsible for Sweden having both the lowest
male smoking prevalence and the lowest male lung cancer incidence in the
developed world.
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Perhaps inflaming social confrontation has become so common that
people no longer care what they say to each other any longer. Many feel
it is all temporary posturing in order to stake out a claim in the
impersonal electronic landscape. It is a reflection of unbridled identity
rather than thought. In the electronic communications environment,
opinionated commentators have started to believe they are...
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Perhaps inflaming social confrontation has become so common that
people no longer care what they say to each other any longer. Many feel
it is all temporary posturing in order to stake out a claim in the
impersonal electronic landscape. It is a reflection of unbridled identity
rather than thought. In the electronic communications environment,
opinionated commentators have started to believe they are speaking truths
to the uninitiated. Thus, social change is not difficult; it is just
continuing to live out perceptions of self. It takes only being, not
commitment, courage or camaraderie.
In contrast, there are those who take hatred personally. Given that
the tobacco industry has proven itself untruthful, unethical and criminal,
one would hope that some would want to do their personal utmost to rid the
earth of the corrupting influence of tobacco and those who represent it.
As reflected in the recent financial prognosis by Citigroup (See News
Analysis, March 2011), I see it is a social change that even economists
don't feel improbable. I urge countering hatred with mindful action.
Even now, the cacophony of controversy subsides.
Tobacco control has instigated a level of prejudice against an
identifiable group of people that if we were a minority or gay would be
quite rightly simply unacceptable. We have to put up with outrageous
language too and have a database where we keep the best examples.
"Smoke in your own home. Get cancer. Die. Just keep it away from me,
that's all I ask.
Tobacco control has instigated a level of prejudice against an
identifiable group of people that if we were a minority or gay would be
quite rightly simply unacceptable. We have to put up with outrageous
language too and have a database where we keep the best examples.
"Smoke in your own home. Get cancer. Die. Just keep it away from me,
that's all I ask.
"..let's have free loaded pistols for use by these smokers there too
so that they can end their pathetic lives in a dignified way and save us
and our already burdened health systems a lot of problems."
We save them for posterity. In the 3rd link below is a UK government
survey of trends on happiness and I can only concur.
"We use three waves of the British Household Panel Survey to examine
whether changes in smoking behaviour are correlated with life satisfaction
and whether the recent ban on smoking in public places in England, Wales
and Northern Ireland has affected this relationship. We find that smokers
who reduced their daily consumption of cigarettes after the ban report
significantly lower levels of life satisfaction compared to those who did
not change their smoking habits, with heavy smokers particularly affected.
No such finding is reported for previous years."
I feel sorry mostly for the old people who smoke. They lived through
wars, only to have their freedom to smoke in a bar taken away from them.
Loneliness is a killer.
Perhaps what really sticks in my throat is that the anti tobacco
movement is based on the entirely false premise that second hand smoke is
harmful. To pervert a true science for funding, personal prejudice and
power just makes me very angry. You have no idea how I resent not being
able to smoke inside anymore. You have no idea how you have compromised my
life. Tobacco control has also set an awful president for state control of
private property which I believe is an appalling situation to have.
A goal of the World Health Organization's Tobacco Control Framework is to totally eradicate tobacco use (1). The underlying theory is that anyone who exerts enough will power can overcome addition to nicotine. The situation may not be as simple as they would like to believe.
The Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians found that the development of nicotine addiction includes changes in brain st...
NOT PEER REVIEWED I am surprised that AIDS has not been blamed on passive smoking yet, if you excuse my irony.
Quite frankly this obsession with SHS being the cause of SIDS is quite depressing as an eager public lap up any chance to demonise smokers.
Looking at the empirical evidence it does not back up the hypothesis. As remarked here by UK journalist Charlie Booker in a piece entitled "Fiddling those s...
It is my hypothesis of 1994 that increased testosterone increases breast cancer, as well as other cancers, (International Journal of Cancer 2005; 115: 497). Some report that "testosterone might be more strongly associated with [breast cancer] risk than estradiol." (Journal of the National Cancer Institute (U.S.A.) 2002; 94: 606-616). Smoking increases testosterone in women of childbearing age (Am. J...
NOT PEER REVIEWED I refer to the paper entitled, "Regional disparities in compliance with tobacco control policy in Japan: an ecological analysis "by Takashi Yorifuji et al in Tob Control doi:10.1136/tc.2010.0414. I agree with them regarding uneven implementation of legislation for tobacco control, which has an influence on consumption, and that reflects the consequences of health and environment directly. In 1995, I was...
NOT PEER REVIEWED It is my hypothesis that testosterone is increasing in our population and that this increase is the cause of the "secular trend," the increase in size and earlier puberty in our children. Therefore, as the continuum progresses, phenomena will increase if caused by increased testosterone, and possibly decrease if other phenomena are increased which counteract the earlier phenomena. This sounds really co...
NOT PEER REVIEWED Please can I make a few points in response.
First, in the UK at least, the individual commenters and blog writers who criticise the anti tobacco movement do not, in general, receive money or favours from, or have any connection with the Tobacco Industry. FOREST does receive money from the tobacco industry and doesn't hide the fact. The anti tobacco movement receives money and favours (sponsored...
NOT PEER REVIEWED Perhaps inflaming social confrontation has become so common that people no longer care what they say to each other any longer. Many feel it is all temporary posturing in order to stake out a claim in the impersonal electronic landscape. It is a reflection of unbridled identity rather than thought. In the electronic communications environment, opinionated commentators have started to believe they are...
NOT PEER REVIEWED
Tobacco control has instigated a level of prejudice against an identifiable group of people that if we were a minority or gay would be quite rightly simply unacceptable. We have to put up with outrageous language too and have a database where we keep the best examples.
"Smoke in your own home. Get cancer. Die. Just keep it away from me, that's all I ask.
"..let's have free l...
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