Smoking


Smoking

Scientists stumble across the obvious treatment for Ebola: tobacco

Maggie Fox
NBC News
Wed, 21 Aug 2013 20:08 UTC
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A cocktail of antibodies cooked up in tobacco plants may provide an emergency treatment for Ebola virus, one of the deadliest viruses known, researchers reported Wednesday.

The treatment provides 100 percent protection to monkeys when given right after exposure. But it also helps even after symptoms develop, the researchers report in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Ebola first appeared in 1976 and causes an especially frightening and deadly form of hemorrhagic fever. Patients die of shock but may bleed internally and externally. Depending on the strain, it kills between 25 and 90 percent of patients.

There is no existing treatment and no vaccine. "It is horrifying," says Gene Olinger of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), who worked on the study.

Various strains of the virus pop up unpredictably across Africa, perhaps as people venture into forests to hunt wild animals, especially monkeys and apes, known as bushmeat. The virus infects apes and monkeys and it infects people who are exposed to bodily fluids, such as blood.

Comment: We hate to say we told you so, but...

New Light on the Black Death: The Viral and Cosmic Connection

Comets, plagues, tobacco and the origin of life on earth

Pestilence, the Great Plague and the Tobacco Cure

Black Death found to be Ebola-like virus

Beneficial tobacco: Monoclonal antibodies derived from tobacco thwart West Nile virus

Health Benefits of Smoking Tobacco

Don't wait around for the vaccine, get smoking!

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Monkee sez: 'I'll pass on the vaccine, thanks. Gotta light?'


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Family

Father of six dies after New York police place him in chokehold for selling untaxed cigarettes

Tom Boggioni
Rawstory.com
Fri, 18 Jul 2014 20:01 UTC
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© RawStory
A Staten Island man died Thursday after police placed him in a chokehold as they attempted to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes.

According to authorities, Eric Garner, 43, went into cardiac arrest and died at Richmond University Medical Center following the arrest that was filmed by several witnesses, the New York Daily News reported.

In the video, Garner can be seen telling police that he had not been selling cigarettes, repeatedly saying, " I didn't sell anything," before insisting, "I'm minding my own business, please leave me alone."

After a standoff, five officers tackled the 400-pound Garner - with one placing him in a chokehold - and wrestled him to the ground as they attempted to put handcuffs on him.

As Garner lay on the ground, with one officer pushing his head into the pavement, he can be heard saying, "I can't breath. I can't breath," over and over.

As the video ends, Garner appears to be unconscious as police clear onlookers while waiting awaiting paramedics.

Comment: See also:
  • NYPD Twitter campaign backfires, flooded with photos of police abuse
  • US is the Worst Police State in the World - By the Numbers


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Smoking

SOTT Focus: Let's all light up! What you don't know about tobacco

Sott Editors
Sott.net
Wed, 25 Jun 2014 04:12 UTC
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Everyone knows that smoking is a health hazard. Even Big Tobacco behaves in a way that screams 'GUILTY!'

Historically, smoking various plants was believed to be beneficial. But today, we know better, right?

Assuming smoking is unhealthy, the science should therefore support 'what everyone knows'.

But, as the following Sott.net-produced video shows, it doesn't.

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Smoking

British Medical Association seeks to permanently ban cigarette sales to everyone born after the year 2000


RT
Tue, 24 Jun 2014 17:08 UTC
cigarettes
© Reuters / Suzanne PlunkettA shopkeeper reaches for a packet of cigarettes in a newsagent in London
British Medical Association (BMA) doctors have voted to demand a permanent ban on selling cigarettes to those born after the millennium - i.e. kids who are currently 14 or under. The group's ambitious plan is to make British society tobacco free by 2035.

The motion was passed at a meeting on Tuesday.

"It is not expected that this policy will instantly prevent all people from smoking, but [rather it will] de-normalise cigarette smoking," said London research assistant in academic public health, Dr Tim Crocker-Buqué at the meeting. "The level of harm caused by smoking is unconscionable."

The decision was made at the British Medical Association's annual representatives' meeting on Tuesday. The doctors' voting in favor means that the doctors' union will push for the British government to introduce the ban.

Comment: "Sensationalist"? Maybe. Fascist? Most definitely.

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Smoking

Surprise! Mental health problems found to lower life expectancy more than heavy smoking

Jeremy Dean
PsyBlog
Sat, 14 Jun 2014 00:00 UTC
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A serious mental health problem can reduce life expectancy by 10 to 20 years, according to a new analysis by psychiatrists.

In comparison, the loss of years due to heavy smoking is around 8 - 10.

Researchers from Oxford University analysed studies which included 1.7 million people, reporting 250,000 deaths to compare the effects of smoking and serious mental health problems (Chesney et al., 2014).

Comment: While smoking is constantly being demonized, it is not as injurious to health as is portrayed, and it does not cause lung cancer. Smoking commercial cigarettes with the toxic additives and fire-safe paper is not recommended, but pure tobacco has been found to be an anti-inflammatory agent, can prevent and treat Alzheimer's and delay the onset of Parkinson's disease. For more information see:

Health Benefits of Smoking Tobacco

'World No Tobacco Day'? Let's All Light Up!

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Smoking

The long forgotten healing properties of tobacco

Katarina
Waking Times
Thu, 12 Jun 2014 16:39 UTC
tobacco
© unknown
Tobacco's genus, Nicotiana, covers over 70 species. The name tobacco usually refers to most famous and widely used Nicotiana Tabacum and its shorter but more potent cousin Nicotiana Rustica, both native to the Americas.

Although it's hard to pinpoint when and where it was first cultivated, it is sure tobacco has been used for several thousand years before the time Christopher Columbus reached Americas in 1492, and after that it spread to the whole world.

Although in present-day society associated with a myriad of health issues, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases, this plant has been used for medicinal, as well as ritual purposes for millennia. Only in the last decades tobacco has been aggressively proclaimed harmful. Up until the '50s they even had doctors promoting them. Why it is so?

Comment: See also:

'World No Tobacco Day'? Let's All Light Up!

Health Benefits of Smoking Tobacco

Read More...
Smoking

Strictest smoking ban in Russia's cafés, restaurants comes into force June 1


RT.com
Sat, 31 May 2014 19:23 UTC
smoking
© RIA Novosti/Vitaliy Bezrukih
The strictest part of Russia's anti-tobacco law comes into force on June 1, making it illegal to smoke cigarettes in cafés and restaurants.

The smoking ban also spreads across to hotels and marketplaces, as well as long distance trains, train stations, and ships.

From now on, smoking areas will cease to exist in eating establishments across Russia, with special rooms for tobacco lovers also forbidden.

Café and restaurant owners must remove all ashtrays and hang warning signs which inform customers that smoking is prohibited inside the establishment.

A violation of the ban will result in significant fines - which must be paid by both the smoker and the owner of the establishment.

An individual owner will be forced to part with 30,000-40,000 rubles (around US$870-1,150) if one of his customers is caught puffing a cigarette. Meanwhile, a chain-run corporate business must pay a larger penalty of 60,000-90,000 rubles (around $1,700-2,600) for the same crime.

Comment: Bad move, Russia, really bad move. Putin doesn't realize it, but the anti-smoking program is a key plank in the 'fifth column democratization' agenda.
  • Let's All Light Up!
  • Pestilence, the Great Plague and the Tobacco Cure
  • 5 Health Benefits of Smoking


Read More...
Pirates

Chantix, anti-smoking drug, blamed for murder

Michael Doyle
McClatchy DC
Sun, 04 May 2014 14:32 UTC
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© Handout/MCTArmy Pfc. George D.B. MacDonald says the smoking-cessation drug Chantix affected his mental health leading to his killing recruit Rick Bulmer. While the drug maker has denied the claims, others have blamed it for suicides, suicidal thoughts and other psychiatric problems.
Before Pfizer paid at least $299 million to settle claims that its anti-smoking drug Chantix caused harm, the pharmaceutical giant played hardball with Army Pfc. George D.B. MacDonald.

Charged with murdering fellow soldier and Fresno, Calif., native Rick Bulmer in May 2008, MacDonald claimed his mind snapped after using the medication to stop smoking. Chantix, MacDonald wrote, caused him to "go crazy for a while" before the assault in their Fort Benning, Ga., barracks.

During his court-martial, Pfizer resisted turning over certain documents to the defense team, including clinical trial studies that were conducted on Chantix.

"I mean, it is the United States and Pfizer versus Pfc. MacDonald here," MacDonald's attorney, Lt. Col. Jan Aldykiewicz, fumed at a pretrial hearing June 1, 2009, a transcript shows.

The trial judge disagreed and refused to compel the company, which wasn't a party to the case, to comply with a subpoena for the material. The military jury subsequently convicted MacDonald of murdering Bulmer, a 23-year-old private, and sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole.

Comment: 'Tis better to smoke tobacco. Let's All Light Up!

Anti-Smoking Drug Chantix May Pose Psychiatric Risks
Antismoking Pill May Ease Depression ... Or Cause Suicidal Thoughts
Lawsuits Claim Harm From Pfizer Quit-Smoking Drug
Suicide Warnings Required for Anti-Smoking Drugs
Smoking-Pill Suicides Overlooked in Missing Reports
Mind over matter: Anti-smoking drug linked to suicide
"Quit Smoking" drug Champix side effects prompt 818 complaints

Read More...
Smoking

Netherlands: Total ban on smoking in cafes and bars delayed by three months‏


Dutch News
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 05:10 UTC
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© NRC
Plans to reinstate the smoking ban in bars and cafes across the entire hospitality industry in July will not be achieved, junior health minister Martin van Rijn has confirmed.

'In practical terms, it will be very difficult to make it by July 2014,' Van Rijn told MPs. The delay has been caused by the slow processing of the legislation through parliament.

'We are ready to do so and café and bar owners know it is coming,' the minister said. 'I will try and implement it as soon as possible, perhaps by October.'
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Document

Study: Even casual pot use causes brain abnormalities

Travis Gettys
The Raw Story
Wed, 16 Apr 2014 10:51 UTC
Image
© Shutterstock
Even casual use of marijuana can cause significant abnormalities in two areas of the brain that regulate emotion and motivation, according to a new study.

The findings, published Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience, challenge the idea that casual pot smoking is relatively harmless, researchers said.

The study, which was conducted by Northwestern Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and funded in part by anti-drug government agencies, found major abnormalities directly related to the amount of weed smoked each week.

"Some of these people only used marijuana to get high once or twice a week," said the study's co-author, Dr. Hans Breiter. "People think a little recreational use shouldn't cause a problem, if someone is doing OK with work or school. Our data directly says this is not the case."
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