Ban smoking at the Caldwell Events Center

The city of Caldwell is looking to ban smoking at the Caldwell Events Center and surrounding areas with violations punishable by a $100 fine.

The potential ordinance would prohibit the use of tobacco or electronic cigarettes within the gated areas of Simplot Stadium, Wolfe Field Baseball Stadium, O’Connor Field House and Gabiola Field.

The move is, in part, to protect the more than $1 million in upgrades to Simplot Stadium made by the College of Idaho, including the new turf installed for college football, which is making its return to Caldwell after 37 years.

“We’re looking at that obviously to protect the investments the college has made with AstroTurf,” Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas said, adding smoking and synthetic grass don’t mix well together.

College of Idaho spokesman Jordan Rodriguez said, like any synthetic surface, the turf could be damaged by contact with cigarette butts or ash. He also stated the college will follow the lead of the Caldwell mayor and supports the proposal.

The actual boundaries will depend if all parties, including the Canyon County Fair and the Caldwell Night Rodeo, are on board with the ordinance.

Canyon County Commissioners signed a resolution June 5 in support of a smoking ban at the county-owned Gabiola Field, located next to Simplot Stadium.

“It’s in-sync with the rest of the smoking restrictions in Simplot Stadium,” Canyon County Commissioner Steve Rule said during the signing.

One of the tenants at the events center, the Canyon County Fair, already discourages smoking during the fair. Fair Administrator Rosalie Cope said an ordinance will help Caldwell police officers enforce that rule.

An ordinance to ban smoking will still have to go before the Caldwell City Council before a decision is made.

Tobacco company fights anti-smoking laws by importing cheap cigarettes

The Australian government’s active efforts to induce a cross-country reduction in smoking by causing a hike in taxes and plain packaging rates in smoking rates are being undercut by tobacco companies. The tobacco giant British American Tobacco Australia (BATA) has introduced a $13 pack of 25 cigarettes into the Australian market.
These ‘cut-price’ line of cigarettes, known by their shelf name of Rothmans, claim to be the cheapest on the market and are enticing more people to smoke due to their inexpensive price tag. Despite infuriating anti-smoking lobbying campaigns, BATA hinted at the possibility of lowering cigarette prices even further to cater to the new demands of the cut-price line of cigarettes.
It is a  well-known fact that high cigarette prices are major deterrents for smokers, cigarette suppliers are justifying selling cut-price line cigarettes as strategic motions to retain market shares in an industry that is facing tough government opposition.
The government implemented cigarette taxes last December that saw a 12.5 percent tobacco excise each year over a four year period, increasing the average price of a pack of cigarettes to between $20 and $25 while simultaneously raising approximately $5 billion in government revenue.
On the contrary, BATA spokesperson Scott McIntyre made claims that the increase in cigarette taxes has driven consumers, especially between the ages of 18 years and 30 years, to search for cheaper options. According to BATA, the cheap cigarette sector saw a 66 percent increase in the past five years, with more than 42 percent of all cigarettes being priced under $15 per pack.
Health campaigners have called for even stronger government actions to curb the trend of increasing smoking rates as a result of cut-price line cigarettes. Anti-smoking campaigns are pushing for an absolute minimum price for cigarettes across the board and the subsidization of nicotine patches to encourage smokers to quit rather than take up smoking

The smoking gun

On Wednesday, ABC News reported “a gun-control organization led by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband…outlined plans Tuesday to support candidates in at least 11 congressional races this year who have backed efforts in Congress to enact stricter gun control laws.”
There are topics that are a constant source of high-intensity angst no matter what is going on in the world. It takes something as catastrophic as 9/11 to distract us from almost daily arguments about abortion, taxes and of course guns.
Since the Colorado theater and Sandy Hook shootings in 2012 the debate about guns has been more intense than ever, with those favoring more gun control highlighting every gun crime that can make it onto a meme and the guns rights advocates parading a host of staunch supporters who almost dare anyone to attempt to take their weapons.
To be certain, gun advocates have their share of caustic orators, the most recent of which appears to be Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher aka Joe the Plumber, who made a number of very important and salient points about the right to own and use firearms but unfortunately started his piece with “your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights.”
While it’s true that they don’t, such an insensitive and poorly-worded comment isn’t likely to open up any hearts and minds to consider the rest of what you have to say, Joe.
And unfortunately Joe isn’t alone. From videos made of guys feeling the need to mock gun control advocates by carrying rifles around while shopping to the Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association, the country’s most prominent pro-gun advocacy group, who manages to make statements that are blatantly false half the time he opens his mouth, it's apparent that gun rights advocates sometimes shoot first and ask questions later...figuratively speaking.
Their opponents typically say this is part and parcel of anything the right supports, and yet, a little intellectual curiosity is in order when examining issues where we are so deeply divided with each side sometimes unwavering. Is there a reason gun advocates sometimes go a little too far or use extreme rhetoric in defending what they perceive to be their rights?
The 2nd Amendment does indeed state “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” and anti-gun advocates argue that there was never any intent to bear arms other than for such a militia. However, in D.C. vs. Heller, the Supreme Court attempted to put the right to bear arms in a modern-day perspective. Aware that the Founders could not have envisioned the power of weapons we have today, they ruled “Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose." However, they also affirmed “the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. "
But for anti-gun advocates to be so active in their strong desire for more gun control, surely there must be a compelling reason, and they would argue what seems to be a reasonable point. Between 1980 and 2006, an average of 32,300 people lost their lives annually due to gun violence, predominantly homicide or suicide, and compared to other industrialized countries, violence and firearm death rates in the United States are disproportionately high. These facts and the lives lost shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Of course there is a great deal of disagreement about how to address it. The left seems to be concerned about these deaths and as a result, has consistently pushed for greater gun control. While more thorough background checks certainly seem to be a no-brainer and in some cases Republicans have opposed them, there seems to be little acknowledgement that any laws attempting to infringe on the legal use of guns are not only often unconstitutional, but they also aren’t likely to be effective. Criminals, after all, do not obey the laws to begin with so they are not going to be affected by more laws that infringe of the rights of law-abiding citizens and in fact, such laws can potentially give criminals a competitive advantage. Meanwhile there are other areas that need to be addressed such as our inadequate mental health treatment system, harsher penalties for gun crimes and addressing the illegal gun trade that would have a greater effect on reducing gun crime without infringing on constitutional rights.
What is more puzzling, however, is the amount of attention paid to an issue that seems very serious in and of itself but in fact, pales in comparison to other toxic activities we engage in. Cigarette smoking, for example, is the major cause of a whopping 480,000 deaths per year in the U.S. nearly sixteen times the number of gun-related deaths. Even if you add in non-fatal gun injuries the total is nearly five times as high.

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Billionaire Singer’s Smoking Gun Sparks Default-Risk Jump

The upfront cost of protecting $10 million of the nation’s debt against non-payment for three months has almost doubled to $734,046 since May 27, when the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled a conference this month to decide whether to hear Argentina’s appeal of an order to repay creditors. Newspaper Clarin reported on May 28 that Argentina’s lawyer recommended in a memo that the nation default if the petition is denied.
With interest payments on $13 billion of bonds at risk June 30 if the U.S. court rejects Argentina, the nation’s debt securities are the most expensive in the world to protect using default swaps. A lawyer for hedge fund Elliott Management Corp., one of the creditors from Argentina’s default in 2001 holding out for better terms, told a judge on May 30 the leaked memo may be “the smoking gun” showing Argentina plans to defy U.S. courts and default.
“People had become a little too comfortable,” Ray Zucaro, who helps manage $390 million at SW Asset Management LLC, said by telephone from Newport Beach, California. “Once people saw Argentina’s thought process in black and white, it brought it to the forefront of people’s minds.”

Swap Volatility

A rejection of Argentina’s appeal would leave intact a 2012 ruling requiring the country pay holders of debt left over from its 2001 default in full when it pays restructured notes.
Jesica Rey, a spokeswoman for the Economy Ministry, didn’t reply to an e-mail seeking comment on the memo or plans to default.

E-smoking: Cure or gateway?

New studies indicate electronic cigarettes might be slightly more effective than nicotine patches in helping people quit smoking, which is good news.
However, the bad news is another new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests more children and teens are trying them.
Either way, electronic cigarettes have been getting a lot of attention lately. While e-cigarettes may be helping some smokers quit, they also may be acting as a “gateway drug” for smoking which was not intended by the inventor.
The e-cigarette was developed in China by Pharmacist Hon Lik. Lik was a three-pack-a-day smoker whose father died of lung cancer. Lik decided he had to come up with an alternative that wouldn’t kill him.
Some scientists believe nicotine itself is not what causes cancer for smokers, but rather the toxic chemicals which are created when tobacco and filler products burn that are dangerous.
So Lik developed an e-cigarette. It is a device which uses a small battery to atomize a pure liquid solution of nicotine and a little flavoring added for taste. The person using it inhales a kind of vapor which looks like fog from a fog machine.
A recent review of all the scientific research done on e-cigarettes by Drexel University professor Igor Burstyn concluded electronic cigarettes are relatively harmless.
Smoking is still the leading cause of avoidable death in the United States. E-cigarettes are not FDA-approved to help people quit, but many people are using them this way. Critics note e-cigarettes come in not-so-adult flavors such as gummy bear, atomic fireball candy and cookies and cream. They worry e-cigarettes will become a gateway to encourage kids to develop a lifelong nicotine addiction.
“While e-cigarettes can be a valuable tool for smoking cessation, the use of e-cigarettes containing nicotine as a safe alternative to cigarettes has not been established,” Illinois Valley Community Hospital certified respiration therapist Connie Tunget said. “Nicotine is a highly addictive substance that should be regulated as a tobacco-based product.  The marketing of this product to the youth population, in my opinion, should be dealt with in the same way as other tobacco products.”
Thirty-three states — including Illinois — specifically forbid the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

Young Children Are Getting Sick Working on U.S. Tobacco Farms

A new Human Rights Watch report finds that child laborers, some as young as 7 years old, who work on tobacco farms in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, "get so sick that they throw up, get covered by pesticides and have no real protective gear"

Children as young as 7 years old are suffering serious health problem from toiling long hours in tobacco fields to harvest pesticide-laced leaves for major cigarette brands, according to a report released Wednesday.
New York City–based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) interviewed more than 140 youngsters working on tobacco farms in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, where most American tobacco is sourced.
They reported nausea, vomiting, headaches and other health problems associated with nicotine poisoning, known colloquially as green tobacco sickness, which is common among agricultural workers who absorb the toxic substance through their skin.
“The U.S. has failed America’s families by not meaningfully protecting child farmworkers from dangers to their health and safety, including on tobacco farms,” said Margaret Wurth, HRW children’s-rights researcher and co-author of the report.
“Farming is hard work anyway, but children working on tobacco farms get so sick that they throw up, get covered by pesticides and have no real protective gear.”
Much of what HRW documented remains legal. While strict provisions govern child labor in industrial environments, U.S. agriculture labor laws are much looser, allowing 12-year-olds to labor for unlimited hours outside of school on any size of farm. On small farms, there is no minimum age set for child workers.
HRW called on tobacco giants to ensure safe working practices and source responsibly. The global tobacco industry generates annual revenues of around $500 billion, but some 6 million people die each year from smoking-related diseases.

Smoking, obesity top health issues

Jefferson County remains in the bottom half of Tennessee counties in the latest health rankings from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin.
The adult smoking and obesity rates have dropped slightly within the county, but still remain near or above the state average. The county ranked 53rd in the state in total health outcomes, a drop from last year’s 41st ranking.

The “County Health Rankings and Roadmaps,” released annually, measure health outcomes (premature death and morbidity), as well as health factors such as behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment. Release of the statistics is timed to coincide with National Public Health Week April 7-11.

Twenty-six percent of Jefferson County residents smoke (as compared with 30 percent in last year’s survey), and 28 percent are obese, according to the statistics. The obesity rate is lower than the state average of 32 percent, and the smoking rate is greater than the state average of 23 percent. Only 28 percent of Jefferson County residents reported that they feel they have adequate access to exercise opportunities, far below the state average of 60 percent.

Instances of premature death (before age 75) have increased only slightly during the past three years in Jefferson County, but residents’ opinions of their own physical and mental health continue to deteriorate. Twenty-six percent of Jefferson County residents surveyed report they are in “poor or fair” health, more than the state average of 19 percent.

Asked by the survey to think of the last 30 days, respondents reported feeling mentally unhealthy an average of 6.4 days of that period. The state average was 3.4 days. Respondents reported feeling physically unhealthy an average of 4.7 days, above the state average of 4.3

The premature death rate in Jefferson County is figured at 9,453 per 100,000 in population, above the state rate of 8,790, but down from last year.

“These health rankings are a valuable source of data,” said Sherry Montgomery, Director of the Jefferson County Health Department. “They don’t give the total picture, but they give a good overview of actual health in the county.”

Keith and Debra Shultz, who operate the local substance abuse prevention group Rescue 180, believe total tobacco use is actually closer to 40 percent locally. Keith Shultz is the East Tennessee advocate for Middle Tennessee State University’s Anti-Tobacco Initiative.

“Jefferson County is very high in under age use of tobacco,” Debra Shults said. “It appears to start around age 11.”

Keith Shults travels to health fairs, seminars, schools, and other places with an anti-tobacco use message.

The health department promotes annual “Kick Butts Day,” held last month, and directs tobacco-users to the “Quit Now” line (1-800-784-8669), which helps tobacco users kick the habit by assigning a “coach” to them.

Smoking isn’t the only factor negatively affecting health in Jefferson County, according to the survey. Physical inactivity is also slightly above the state average, and environmental factors (air pollution ozone days, access to recreational facilities, limited access to health foods, and prevalence of fast food restaurants) are also slightly higher here than across the state.

Regarding healthy foods, the Jefferson County Health Council has been working on an initiative to teach residents how to build their own raised bed gardens.

The rankings show Jefferson County improved overall in health behaviors, moving from 40th to 12th. Sexually transmitted disease instances were less than half the state average.

Access to clinical care in the county fell from a ranking of 26th to 42nd.

Social and economic factors, such as education, unemployment, children in poverty, single parent households, and violent crime rate, also dropped from a ranking of 35th to 38th. The violent crime rate here is less than half the state average.

Liver damage form passive smoking

Although regular smokers rationalize their habit by saying, "It only hurts me”, scientists insist that second-hand smoke exhaled by smokers is hazardous, posing a major threat to people who are around them. Now, in a new study, scientists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have linked exposure to second hand tobacco smoke with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

NAFLD can lead to chronic liver injury wherein fat builds up in the liver of people who abstain or drink little alcohol. At its severest form, it can lead to liver failure. Manuela Martins-Green, a professor of cell biology, who led the study stated, “Until our study, second hand smoking had not been linked to NAFLD development.”

Two key regulators of fat the focus of study
The focus of the study was how second-hand smoke affects two key regulators of fat synthesis on the molecular level. These are SREBP (sterol regulatory element-binding protein) that stimulates synthesis of fatty acids in the liver and AMPK (adenosine monophosphate kinase) that turns SREBP on and off. These two essential regulators of lipid (fat) metabolism are found in many human cells.

The researchers conducted an experiment on mice and exposed them to second-hand cigarette smoke in a lab. After a year, the scientists examined the fat build-up in the liver cells of the rodents exposed to passive smoke, a sign of NAFLD that causes liver dysfunction.

Observations by researchers
The researchers found that mice exposed to second-hand smoke amassed excess fat in their liver cells as opposed to the rodents exposed to smoke-free air.

The researchers state that NAFLD is generated by second-hand smoke. Manuela Martins-Green said, "Our study provides compelling experimental evidence in support of tobacco smoke exposure playing a major role in NAFLD development."

The researchers concluded that smoke exposure inhibits the activity of AMPK, which in turn prompts the activity of SREBP to stimulate synthesis of fatty acids in the liver.

Martins-Green further added, "Our work points to SREBP and AMPK as new molecular targets for drug therapy that can reverse NAFLD development resulting from second-hand smoke. Drugs could now be developed that stimulate AMPK activity, and thereby inhibit SREBP, leading to reduced fatty acid production in the liver."

Passive smoking and its effects on human health
Passive smoking is secondhand smoking which entails inhaling the smoke of the cigarette without actually smoking it.

Some immediate health problems associated with passive smoking are eye irritation, headache, sore throat, dizziness and nausea. Everybody who is in the vicinity of a smoker stands a chance of inhaling both the "side stream" and "mainstream" smoke, which means a person is breathing in what the smoker is exhaling out, and what is burning off the cigarette.

Just try and pay more attention to your lifestyle.

Careless smoking’ leaves two families displaced in westside fire

A house fire that could have been prevented, leaves two families displaced overnight.
Wayne Township Firefighters say “careless smoking” sparked the flames. Someone discarded a cigarette without properly putting it out.
It happened at a duplex in the  3200 block of Tansel Road in the Cleremont area, around 1:15 Saturday morning.
All four adults and four children made it out safely, alerted by smoke detectors. Not all the families’ pets were rescued, though. Two cats died in the fire, while two other cats and a dog escaped.
The fire began in the garage and was largely contained to that area, but firefightesr say it still did about $150,000 in damage.
Wayne Township Victims Assistance is helping the families with a place to stay.
Pike Townhsip, Speedway Fire and Brownsburg Fire all assisted in fighting the blaze.

Los Angeles city panel asks FDA to regulate e-cigarettes

In its continuing fight against e-cigarettes, a Los Angeles city panel Friday urged the Food and Drug Administration to oversee the product in an effort to ban its use in the same locations cigarettes are prohibited.
The City Council’s Rules and Elections Committee urged the full council to back its proposal, saying the e-cigarettes contain ingredients harmful to the public.
The action is the latest by the council to try to regulate e-cigarettes, which have gained in popularity in recent years. Last year, the council voted to limit their sales to minors, and it is looking at extending its ban on where the devices can be used.
Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said L.A. needs to act because of the need for “controls to the many unknowns of this product.
“The city must join with the rising chorus of voices that call for sensible regulations of this product, including the Association of Attorney Generals and the American Lung Association,” O’Farrell said.
Jason Healy, president of blu eCigs, was surprised by the council action. “The FDA has already said it plans to oversee e-cigarettes, they just need to develop the regulations,” Healy said.
He questioned the council’s efforts to ban the product before they fully know its impact. “I can see where banning e-cigarettes could lead to an increase in smoking regular cigarettes,” Healy said.
“I think some of their actions could force a relapse for people who are trying to quit smoking.”
Manufacturers of the e-cigarettes have argued their product is an alternative to traditional cigarettes designed to help adult smokers looking to quit tobacco use.
Several of the companies have urged the city to do more study on the product before taking steps to ban it.

Passive smoking causes irreversible damage to kids’ arteries

Exposure to second-hand smoke in childhood causes irreversible damage to children's arteries—increasing their risk of heart attacks or strokes when they grow up, according to a large international study published on Wednesday. Parliament Reserve  cigarettes

The research, which lends weight to campaigns for smoking to be banned in private cars and homes, found passive smoking leads to a thickening of children's artery walls, adding some 3.3 years to the age of blood vessels by adulthood.
 

"Exposure to passive smoke in childhood causes direct and irreversible damage to the structure of the arteries," said Seana Gall, a researcher in cardiovascular epidemiology who led the study at the University of Tasmania.
 

She said parents, or even those thinking about becoming parents, should quit smoking—both to aid their own health and protect the future health of their children.
 

Smoking causes lung cancer, which is often fatal, and is the world's biggest cause of premature death from chronic conditions like heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.
 

On top of the 6 million people a year killed by their own smoking, the World Health Organization(WHO) says another 600,000 die a year as a result of exposure to other peoples' smoke—so-called second-hand or passive smoking.
 

Of the more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer, the WHO says—and creating 100 percent smoke-free environments is the only way to protect people fully.
 

About 40 percent of all children are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke at home, and almost a third of the deaths attributable to second-hand smoke are in children.
 

Artery walls
 

This latest study, published in the European Heart Journal, was the first to follow children through to adulthood to look at links between exposure to parents' smoking and thickness of the innermost two layers of the arterial wall, known as carotid intima-media thickness (IMT).
 

Researchers from Finland and Australia looked at data from 2,401 people in Finland 1,375 people in Australia who were asked about their parents' smoking habits. The scientists used ultrasound to measure the thickness of the children's artery walls once they had reached adulthood.
 

The results showed that carotid IMT in adulthood was 0.015 millimetres thicker in those exposed to both parents smoking than in those whose parents did not smoke.
 

Gall said that while this was a "modest" increase, it was nonetheless an important extra and irreversible risk for suffering heart attacks or strokes later in life.
 

Since children of parents who smoke are also more likely to grow up to be smokers themselves, and more likely to be overweight, their heart health risks are often already raised, she said, and the second-hand smoke adds yet more risk.
 

The researchers said the findings showed reducing children's exposure to smoke is a public health priority.
 

"Legislation can reduce passive smoke exposure, with restriction of smoking in public places reducing hospitalizations for cardiovascular and respiratory disease," they wrote, adding that banning smoking in cars with children in them would also have a significant positive effect.

D.C. Council OKs dropping fine for pot possession to $25

Which offense is likely to carry a bigger fine soon in Washington, D.C.?
a) Parking near a fire hydrant.
b) Possessing pot.
If you answered “a,” you are correct: Possession of less than an ounce of marijuana would be a civil infraction with a $25 fine under a plan that won easy approval from the District of Columbia City Council on Tuesday.
Backers called it one of the most lenient decriminalization laws in the nation and said the next step would be to make marijuana fully legal in the nation’s capital, as Colorado and Washington state did in 2012.
The bill passed on a 10-1 vote. Once it’s signed by Mayor Vincent Gray, Congress will have 30 working days to review the new law, which means it might not take effect until summer. Congress has the authority to overturn any laws the council passes.
Congress put D.C.’s medical marijuana plan on ice after it passed in 1998, but no one’s expecting a peep of opposition on Capitol Hill this time, another sign of the drug’s surging public acceptance, as reflected by public opinion polls.
“This is just not on their radar,” said Dan Riffle, the director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “The story is just how much things have changed. Congress just doesn’t care because they’ve got the message this is really popular.”
D.C. council members who backed the change argued that the current penalty _ a fine of up to $1,000 and a possible six-month prison sentence for possessing any amount _ hit minorities disproportionately hard. Studies show the District of Columbia has a higher marijuana arrest rate than any state, with blacks accounting for 90 percent of the arrests.
“One drug charge can change a life forever,” said council member Tommy Wells, the bill’s chief sponsor, who called Tuesday’s decision a “historic vote.”
Critics said the measure didn’t go far enough, still allowing police to issue citations but not permitting D.C. to collect tax revenue from legal marijuana sales.
“Decriminalization is missing out on the tax base, and it’s treating the user still like a second-class citizen,” said Adam Eidinger, the chairman of the D.C. Cannabis Campaign.
He was upset that the council decided to amend the legislation to add a $500 fine and a possible 60-day jail sentence for smoking marijuana in public, keeping it a criminal offense: “If you can smoke a cigarette on the sidewalk, you should be able to smoke a joint on a sidewalk. There really is no difference.”
Things could get a little confusing, with marijuana possession on federal property remaining a federal crime, punishable by a fine of $1,000 and jail time. The federal government owns nearly 22 percent of the land in the federal capital.
“A map of D.C. will be needed, as there will a hodgepodge of laws and enforcement based on where one is standing at any given moment,” said Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Riffle said most people who violated the law on federal property were fined from $100 to $200. He’s expecting the disparity to continue.
“It’s just part of the cluster that is D.C. law,” Riffle said. “I can tell you, as a D.C. resident myself, there’s a lot of things that don’t make sense about the way D.C. is treated.”
Council member Yvette Alexander, who cast the only dissenting vote, said it made no sense to have a law that decriminalized possession of marijuana while its sale and consumption in public remained criminal offenses. Lucky Strike Click&Roll
“There will still be arrests when someone is smoking marijuana on the corner or when someone is selling marijuana on the corner,” she said, urging the council to take a comprehensive look at the issue. “You can’t deal with little sections of this bill.”
Eidinger said he backed decriminalization only as a way of “breaking the ice” while legalization backers in D.C. remain focused on getting the issue on the November ballot.
If that happens, D.C. will join two states that are set to vote on pot initiatives this year: In August, Alaskans will decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, while Floridians will vote in November on whether to allow it for medical uses.
The issue has won broad backing from D.C. residents.
A Washington Post poll in January found that 63 percent of the city’s citizens now support legalization, with residents of every age, race and ethnicity showing double-digit increases in the past four years. Of those who opposed legalization, nearly half said marijuana should be decriminalized.
Only a handful of residents registered complaints with the council at a public hearing in October: Yvonne Williams, the chairwoman of the board of trustees of Bible Way Church, worried that pot affects the user’s developing brain cells and would lead to a “marijuana industrial complex,” while LaDaveon Butler, a member of the church’s youth ministry, expressed concern about marijuana smoke near his apartment building and said pot made people lazy and unproductive.
But opponents of legalization claimed a victory of sorts in Tuesday’s vote, too.
Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy adviser for President Barack Obama who’s now the director of the anti-legalization group Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), said Congress would be unlikely to interfere because D.C. police weren’t targeting low-level pot users now and that the law “will simply catch up to the reality.”
But he said it was significant that the council opted to approve decriminalization instead of legalization.
“Legalization groups failed to get their true objective voted on because D.C. residents do not want the mass normalization and commercialization of another legal drug,” Sabet said. “I think we can all say that the district is having a difficult time enough dealing with the effects of liquor stores, especially on low-income communities. They don’t want to add another headache.”
D.C. would join 17 states that have either decriminalized marijuana or legalized possession of small amounts, with Vermont the latest to eliminate criminal penalties, last year.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/03/04/3305143/dc-council-oks-dropping-fine-for.html#storylink=cpy

Carelessly discarded cigarette to blame for apartment fire

A fire in a Penn Street fourplex that injured four people, displaced 19 and caused about $550,000 damage was caused by careless smoking, a Fire Department spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The blaze was reported just after 2 a.m. Monday at 277 Penn St., a two-story fourplex.
“The cause of the fire  ... (was) determined to be careless discarded smoking material onto an older couch positioned on an exterior balcony,” said Lisa Derderian of the Pasadena Fire Department. “How long it had be smoldering to cause the fire remains undetermined.”
Four people suffered minor injuries jumping from a second-floor unit of the building and were taken to a hospital for treatment, Derderian said.
“They could not exit (via) the stairwell due to heavy smoke and flames,” Derderian said.
Residents said they had to throw their children out of the window first to open-armed neighbors below to catch them.
Firefighters from Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale and South Pasadena assisted on the scene, where crews spent about fire hours, according to the incident report.
Nineteen residents — including two infants — were displaced and receiving assistance from the American Red Cross, Derderian said.
Damage was estimated at $400,000 to the structure and $150,000 to the contents, she said.

Geneva II: does 'smoking gun' threaten Syria peace talks?

The peace conference set to begin on Wednesday will include the first talks between President Bashar al-Assad and his opponents.

But hopes of a breakthrough are negligible at a time when fighting has escalated and neither side shows any sign of retreating from its demands or being able to end the war with a victory.
One western diplomat said: "At best, Geneva II will reconfirm agreements made during the first Geneva conference, call for ceasefires, maybe prisoners swap and so on.
"At the same time, those taking part in the talks are de facto giving legitimisation to Damascus. They are talking to Assad's government on the other side of the table. And so the show would go on while Assad stays in power."

Humanitarian consequences

Around a third of Syria's 22 million people have been driven from their homes, many to refugee camps abroad. Half are in desperate need of international aid.

The country at the heart of the Middle East has been carved up on ethnic and sectarian lines, with neighbours and distant powers lining up to arm and fund rival factions.
The bleak humanitarian consequences of the war were illustrated starkly in photographs of the emaciated and abused bodies of detainees, released in a report by London law firm Carter Ruck, hired by Qatar - made available to the Guardian and CNN.
Top prosecutors and forensic experts said that the photos smuggled out of Syria were "clear evidence" of mass killing and torture.
Tens of thousands of photos, taken by a photographer who has now defected, appear to show emaciated, bloodstained corpses bearing signs of torture.
Some had no eyes, while others showed signs of strangulation or electrocution.
The military police photographer's job was to record the deaths of those in custody from March 2011 until August 2013.

Thirdhand Smoke Leads To Organ Damage, Hyperactivity In Mice

Thirdhand smoke, the secondhand smoke that sticks to surfaces, causes health problems in mice, a new study reveals.
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, found that thirdhand smoke leads to damage to organs in mice, as well as increased wound healing time.
"There is still much to learn about the specific mechanisms by which cigarette smoke residues harm nonsmokers, but that there is such an effect is now clear," study researcher Manuela Martins-Green, a professor of cell biology at the university, said in a statement. "Children in environments where smoking is, or has been allowed, are at significant risk for suffering from multiple short-term and longer health problems, many of which may not manifest fully until later in life."
The new study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, involved exposing mice to thirdhand smoke in a lab setting. The researchers found that the thirdhand smoke spurred increased lipid levels and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the mice, as well as increased inflammation in their lungs. The mice also had poor healing of wounds -- similar, researchers noted, to that observed in smokers post-surgery.
The mice exhibited signs of hyperactivity, as well. This specific finding, "combined with emerging associated behavioral problems in children exposed to second- and third-hand smoke suggests that with prolonged exposure, they may be at significant risk for developing more severe neurological disorders," Martins-Green said in the statement.
Last year, a lab-based study published in the journal Mutagenesis showed that thirdhand smoke leads to oxidative DNA damage. Plus, the harm that the thirdhand smoke can do only gets worse as time goes on.
"Tobacco-specific nitrosamines, some of the chemical compounds in thirdhand smoke, are among the most potent carcinogens there are," the researcher of that study, Lara Gundel, of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said in a statement. "They stay on surfaces, and when those surfaces are clothing or carpets, the danger to children is especially serious."

Business offers safe alternative to smoking

With locations in Branson and Branson West, Puff Smart is offering what they call a “safer, cleaner and cheaper choice to cigarettes” and much more.
The family owned and operated business specializes in electronic cigarettes, or “puffys” as they call them, and a wide variety juices for the devices. They also offer a complete flavor station so people can try a flavor before buying.
Electronic cigarettes, or puffys, are considered an alternative method of consuming nicotine, the addictive chemical found in cigarettes. Puff Smart also offers a large selection of flavored juices without nicotine. With puffys, there are no ashes, fire or smoke smell, according to Puff Smart General Manager Kim Oliver.
“It is not smoking, it is vaping,” Oliver said.
Manufacturers call electronic cigarettes, or puffys, a healthier alternative to tobacco cigarettes, and customers have claimed using the devices have helped reduce smoker’s cough, sharpened the senses of taste and smell and even improved their sleep, Oliver reported.
Owner Ginney Johnson said she has a very friendly, knowledgeable staff to help anyone who is looking to cut back on nicotine, quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, take vitamins easier or even improve their singing voice.
“It is cleaner, safer and there is no secondhand smoke,” Johnson said. “It is the same as a vaporizer.”
Oliver said the best part about her job is getting to help people get healthy, whether they smoke cigarettes or not. Pall Mall Blue Slims
“We do have a lot of people who don’t smoke who do vape (use puffys),” Oliver said. “I do have a lot of people who do it for weight loss.”
Oliver said vaping has helped her lose weight.
“I feel better, I sleep better, I breathe better and I think things taste different,” she said.
Johnson said they even have customers who use puffys to consume vitamins and singers who recognize that vaping improves their voices.
Both Puff Smart locations offer large flavor bars, where people are invited to take their time and try flavors before they buy.
“We want to make sure it is satisfying to them, or they get discouraged,” Oliver said.
Puff Smart also offers a wide variety of puffys, to fit just about anyone’s style.
For about $25, people can walk out with a complete puffy and juice.

T.J. Samson enforces thirdhand smoke policy

T.J. Samson Community Hospital in Glasgow has a thirdhand smoke policy for all employees, including those who are under contract.
“Thirdhand smoke is smoke that is on a person’s body, on their clothing, on their hair,” said Laura Belcher, chief of planning and business development for the hospital. “Just like excessive perfumes and colognes may be difficult for people with breathing conditions to be around, now we’ve added tobacco as well.”

 

To help make the transition easier for employees, T.J. Samson has offered smoking cessations classes to help them get the resources they need. About 35 people have gone though the program, Belcher said“We gave them six to eight weeks (to let them know) that this was going into effect Jan. 1. We don’t want to infringe on anyone’s rights, but this is just important to us,” she said. “We heard a few grumblings, but people are adhering to the policy.”
While employees are not expected to wash or change clothes before entering the hospital, the employees are responsible for maintaining good body odor, Belcher said.
“They have to maintain a dress code, and that includes smoke residue. If they cannot do that during their work time or break time, their option is to keep from smoking,” she said. “If you (or a patient) smell it on that person, you’re supposed to address them.”
Action will be taken against those who fail to adhere to the policy, starting with a verbal warning and continuing through the chain of discipline, Belcher said. Employees could be fired if they do not comply.
“By no means do we want that to happen, but we want to provide a safe environment for our patients and our employees,” she said.
The policy does not apply to visitors. “There’s no way for us to enforce that,” Belcher said.
Several years ago, T.J Samson became a tobacco-free campus, not allowing people to smoke around the building. People did, however, leave the campus and used tobacco products during breaks and lunches, Belcher said. Golden Gate Blue
“As a health care provider, we see firsthand how third-hand exposure affects individuals. Exposure to those residues has a negative impact on a person’s health. It can be very irritating,” she said. “This doesn’t only affect patients, but also coworkers. When you bring coats back in the building and store them together, it can be overwhelming.”
Thirdhand smoke is dangerous, said Carol Douglas, health educator at the Barren River District Health Department. She has been reading the University of Kentucky College of Nursing’s Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy at www.kcsp.uky.edu, which has information about thirdhand smoke.
“It has cancer-causing agents and can cause respiratory issues just like smoking and secondhand smoke,” she said.”
It’s not limited to just the body, Douglas said.
“It’s any of the particles that would be on surfaces long after the smoke is gone. It can react with other chemicals to create pollution,” she said.
This means that cleaning or painting places such as rental property, hotel and motel rooms or vehicles where smoking has occurred does not get rid of the danger of thirdhand smoke, Douglas said.
“Cleaning can stir it up. Once smoking has occurred in those areas, it’s going to persist. No one is going to be able to get it out of everything, especially porous surfaces like carpeting and upholstery,” she said. “It’s basically impossible to get out all of the stuff once that occurs, but some say it can be gotten out of hard surfaces by using acidic solutions like vinegar.”

Smoking ban? Florida playgrounds could be smoke-free under bill

The bill (SB 342) is narrow in scope and aimed at protecting children from second-hand smoke at parks, and it grants counties and cities more local control.
The bill would not allow local governments to regulate smoking on private property.
Right now the Florida Legislature pre-empts local governments from banning smoking on their property, so the bill, if passed, would grant more authority to the state's cities and counties.
"What this bill would do would give local governments the ability to regulate smoking in playgrounds," said state Sen. Rob Bradley, the bill's sponsor. Chesterfield Red cigarettes.
Titled the "Florida Clean Indoor Air Act," the bill has the support of the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties.
Tickets would not be issued immediately. First, law enforcement would be required to ask the smokers to put out the cigarette and notify them of the penalties. If that's ignored, the officer would ask the smoker to leave. If that's refused, the officer could issue a civil citation of no more than $100 for the first offense and no more than $500 for a second offense.
"The restricted area would be clearly marked by a no-smoking sign," said Bradley, R-Fleming Island.
Though the bill passed the panel unanimously, some senators had concerns. State Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, said some cities have banned all outdoor smoking within their limits and worried if that's Florida's future.
"Is this the first step on the road to no smoking outdoors anywhere ever'" Detert said.
Bradley assured her that was not his goal but said he couldn't "speak to others' intentions."
He said the legislation wouldn't apply to "just an open field." But, though not clearly stated in the bill, he believed it would allow counties and cities to ban smoking on its open properties that are contiguous to a playground.
The legislation defines a playground as a place "designed solely for children" and which has "one or more playground structures." By the definition, a public area with only one swing or slide would be considered a playground, Bradley said.
State Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, had concerns about those loose definitions, and Bradley said he would be open to improving them as the bill moves forward in the committee process. Regulated Industries was the bill's first of three committee stops in the Senate.
"Ithink it's a fair, common-sense approach to the issue," Bradley said.

More women in India smoke now than 30 years ago: Study

Female smokers in India has gone up in the last 30 years but the number of men who puff daily dipped in the country where more people are smoking today, say researchers.

Smoking among Indian men fell from 33.8 per cent in 1980 to 23 per cent in 2012 while female smoking in 2012 was 3.2 per cent, almost the same as in 1980 (3 per cent), says a new study on global smoking prevalence published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the year 2012 a total of 12.1 million women smoked in India, compared to 5.3 million female smokers in 1980 while the prevalence of male smokers was estimated to be 98 million in the same year. Smokers in India also consumed an average of 8.2 cigarettes per day said the report. Kiss Superslims Dream

United States had 14.3 per cent women smokers followed by Russia and Nepal (both 16.9 per cent), Brazil (11 per cent) Pakistan (5.4 per cent) Indonesia (3.6 per cent) India (3.2 per cent) China (2.1 per cent) Bangladesh (1.8 per cent) and Sri Lanka (1 per cent).

The study, titled "Smoking Prevalence and Cigarette Consumption in 187 Countries, 1980-2012," by Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)referred to in-country surveys, government statistics and data by the World Health Organisation.

Also India gained 35 million smokers totalling to 110 million despite a fall in the smoking rate from 19 per cent to 13 per cent of the population, said the study published in the in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The report found that global smoking rate among men was 41 per cent in 1980, but declined to an average of 31 per cent. Among women, the estimated prevalence of daily tobacco smoking was 10.6 per cent in 1980 and by 2012 that had fallen to 6.2 per cent.

"India is currently in the phase 2 of the tobacco epidemic, which follows a cyclical pattern. While there are male smokers, women smokers follow the trend in this phase," points out Dr Monika Arora, Senior Director, HRIDAY, a voluntary organisation working in the field of health promotion among adolescents in India.

She says the number of women smoking in urban areas has increased. "We did a survey of schools in Chennai and Delhi and found that the there is a very narrow gender gap among adolescents who are smoking. Plus studies have put the And the prevalence of overall tobacco use among men as 47 per cent and women 21 per cent in the country," says Monika.

China Bans Government Officials From Smoking In Public

Chinese officials have been told to refrain from smoking in public places in an effort to set an example for the rest of the country, the Associated Press reported.
Government officials in China were asked to "take the lead" in adhering to a smoking ban in public spaces including schools, hospitals, and sport venues, reported the Xinhua News Agency citing a circular from the Community Party of China Central Committee and the State Council."Smoking remains a relatively universal phenomenon in public venues. Some officials smoke in public places, which does not only jeopardized the environment and public health, but tarnished the image of Party and government offices and leaders and has a negative influence," the circular read, according to Xinhua.
Officials are also prohibited from smoking or offering cigarettes when performing official duties and from using public funds to buy them.

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In addition to the ban, advertisements and the sale of tobacco products will no longer be allowed in Party and government offices and "prominent notices" of smoking bans must be displayed in reception offices, passageways, cafeterias and rest rooms, Xinhua reported.
According to the AP, there is no nationwide law banning smoking from indoor public places, but the Chinese government has tried to ban the practice in the past.
The Health Ministry issued guidelines in 2011 banning smoking in venues including hotels and restaurants. However,  experts say they were not strictly enforced because huge revenues from the state-owned tobacco monopoly hindered anti-smoking measures, the AP reported.
China is the world's largest cigarette producer and it has the largest number of smokers. The number of smokers in the nation exceeds 300 million, with at least 740 million nonsmokers regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.

China bans officials from smoking in public to set example in country where lighting up common

China is asking its officials to take the lead to adhering to a ban on smoking in public places.
The official Xinhua News Agency says officials are not allowed to smoke in schools, hospitals, sports venues or on public transport, or to smoke or offer cigarettes when performing official duties.
Xinhua said Sunday the new rules were contained in a circular from the Communist Party's central committee and the State Council, or China's Cabinet.
China has more than 300 million smokers.
In 2011, China's Health Ministry issued guidelines banning smoking in indoor public places, including hotels and restaurants, but they are not strictly enforced.

Smoke tax hike would prevent deaths: study

Tripling cigarette taxes would prevent tens of millions of smokingrelated deaths worldwide over the next few decades, and about 200 million premature deaths over the remainder of the century as a whole, a Canadian-led review concludes.
If current smoking trends hold, tobacco will kill about one billion people this century, Prabhat Jha, director of the Centre for Global Health Research at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto writes in this week's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
In Canada, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable deaths. More than 40,000 Canadians die each year from lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Many are killed in middle age: Studies in the U.K. the U.S., Japan and India show that smokers are two to three times more likely to die between the ages of 30 and 69 than non-smokers, according to Jha and his co-author, Sir Richard Peto of the University of Oxford.
"Some of those killed in middle age might have died soon anyway, but others might have lived on for decades," they write.
On average, smoking costs people a full decade of life, Jha said.
But his own research published this past year shows that smokers who quit before age 40 avoid 90 per cent of that excess risk, "meaning you get back nine of the 10 years you would have lost if you had continued to smoke." Even those who quit at age 50 gain back six years of life expectancy.
"The risks are big, and the benefits of quitting are huge," Jha said. "This prompted us to ask, what would it take to really knock down consumption?"
Doubling the inflation-adjusted price of cigarettes should cut consumption by about a third worldwide, Jha and Peto conclude. In low-and middle-income countries, that would mean tripling inflationadjusted specific excise taxes on tobacco - tax hikes that would double the street price of cigarettes in many countries, and more than double prices for cheaper brands.
In Canada, the federal excise tax on a carton of cigarettes is $17, according to background material released with the study. Federal and provincial sales taxes bring the total cost of a carton to between $46 and $87.
But Jha said there hasn't been a significant increase in the federal tobacco tax since then finance minister Paul Martin raised taxes in the early 2000s.
France and South Africa halved consumption in less than 15 years by tripling cigarette prices.
In Canada, smoking rates have flatlined after years of steady decline. Statistics show that five million Canadians were smokers in 2011 - as many as there were in 2008.
"Our evidence suggests that, even in Canada, a big increase in the federal excise tax could get about one million smokers to quit and save about 5,000 lives a year," Jha said.
The biggest barrier is tobacco's "enormous profitability," he said. Worldwide profits for the tobacco industry reached $50 billion US in 2012, or about $10,000 for every smoking-related death, Jha said.
But he and his co-author argue that the extra revenue per pack would offset the effect of tax increases on consumption, and that raising excise taxes to double prices "would raise about another $100 billion (in U.S. dollars) per year in tobacco revenues, in addition to the approximately $300 billion that the WHO (World Health Organization) estimates governments already collect on tobacco."