Let's all light up!

[baffledking]

interesting that you bring that up beau. Whenever I can I smoke American Spirits which are advertised as 100% natural though the packs till lists all the same chemical additives that are found in Marlboro, Camel, Du Marier etc.... any recommended brands?

 

[Beorn]

Hi guys,

"THREE influential health organisations - the National Heart Foundation, the Cancer Council and Action on Smoking and Health - say Australia could be smoke-free in a decade with full government commitment."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/groups-want-nation-smoke-free-in-10-years/2007/09/05/1188783320072.html

This was just announced on the ABC radio along with claims that smoking related diseases cause 52 deaths a day in Australia.

I did notice they said 'smoking related diseases..." and not 'smoking causes 52 deaths...'

I think this one might need more investigation. Maybe a study on the effects of smoking tobacco without additives.

JP.

 

[kageki]

interesting that you bring that up beau. Whenever I can I smoke American Spirits which are advertised as 100% natural though the packs till lists all the same chemical additives that are found in Marlboro, Camel, Du Marier etc.... any recommended brands?

I don't ever recall seeing an additive listing on any cigarrette packs themselves so I'm not sure where you are getting this information about American Spirits. It is advertised as 100% additive free.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_American_Spirit

After reading this blog post I became more convinced that tobacco and nicotine itself is not bad at all.

Shortly after I did go buy some American Spirits (I usually smoke Parliament menthol lights) and a pouch of tobacco for rolling. I know this is purely anecdotal but my craving was and continues to never be satisfied from smoking American Spirits cigarettes. I have to switch back to what I was smoking before to fully satisfy that classic craving smokers get. I have been smoking daily for almost 10 years now.

It's interesting to note the American Spirit company had to make a deal as described on the wiki page:

Their products are marketed as being "100% Additive-Free Tobacco", though the company warns that they are as hazardous as other cigarettes and openly dissuades others from taking up smoking. This was part of an FTC ruling and agreement stemming from allegations that the advertisement of Additive Free Cigarettes made consumers feel that the product might be less addictive than regular cigarettes

This is truly Orwellian to see how the FTC forced them to comply so the other Big Tobacco companies don't get in trouble. It has been revealed that the tobacco companies have actively researched methods into making their cigarettes more addictive especially through something called ammonia technology, so this FTC ruling is just pure bunk.

Further distinction can be seen in this article: The tobacco additives that keep you hooked

In this case I wonder what "freebase" nicotine really is but the same deception can be see in this article which tries to focus on nicotine as the problem and not the ammonia additive.


I was also appalled to discover that there is polonium in tobacco! So that means additive-free cigarettes don't even cut it.

http://www.acsa.net/HealthAlert/lungcancer.html

Anyone else think this is a pretty big story? It also turns out a large Israeli health insurer was suing the tobacco companies over "radioactive" cigarettes.

http://www.acsa.net/HealthAlert/israelawsuit.html

After reading this I thought this was a link in the Litvinenko poisoning due to the presence of polonium and we again see Israel possibly behind the poisoning, but it is just a theory and would be out of the scope of this thread.

The blog post was still a great read. I managed to sneak in the link in one the comment section of Digg and got a decent amount of diggs eclipsing another comment that ranted about how it was proven that tobacco is bad etc. That was pretty satisfying :)

 

[observer]

I found this article interesting

_http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,856358,00.html#article_continue

Apologies if it was already posted.

 

[Gaby]

I found this article interesting

_http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,856358,00.html#article_continue

Interesting indeed, and I found this one today where it says:

_http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071101/hl_afp/ushealthobesitytobaccorights;_ylt=AmT4xqpP2uobGfNpEMptuh1a24cA

"Companies such as Scotts (gardening) and Weyco (healthcare) have fired employees who tested positive for nicotine," the statement said.

A Massachusetts man last year sued Scotts for firing him for smoking on his own time, a report in the Boston Globe said.

His suit said he was unfairly sacked for "engaging in legal activities away from the workplace," the Globe report said.

Michigan-based Weyco instituted a policy in 2005 that allows employees to be laid off if they smoke, regardless of whether they engage in the habit at work or at home.

The company subsequently fired four employees who refused to be tested for nicotine, press reports said, with other reports saying Weyco staff members were fired after tests showed they had nicotine in their blood.

Jeez...

 

[Laura]

Jaw drops... doing a slow burn!

 

[dant]

oh wow... so is there any recourse against this policy? Would it not
fit in discrimination cases because smokers are not identified as a class?

Seems that policies can be very indiscriminate except for those cases
that are already identified such as harassment, sexual orientation, religious
beliefs, aging, disability, and so on, so smoking and drinking is not a protected
activity even when not around the workplace? Oh yeah, in some cities smoking
is not allowed 'in public places', but who can be allowed to say '... you cannot have
nicotine in your bloodstream'? Now... that is getting very narrow and specific. Of
course drugs and alcohol are not allowed in the workforce but what about nicotine
products designed to break smoking - what if testing found nicotine in these cases?

Interesting.

Can you imagine what's next? Soon will be a laundry list of all possible disallowed
"chemicals" IN YOUR BODY. Hmm, reminds me of the twilight zone movie: 'To
Serve Man' - and extrapolating on this theme is that humans are to be properly
prepared before they can board the ship for "travel", and there is a laundry list
of disallowed "chemicals" in the body and humans must be "consumptionally fit".
(Yeah, I created that word ("consumptionally fit") but it gets the point across.)

Hmm. This is really interesting!

Imagine when the companies decides on work policies such as being overweight,
too tall, too short, not sexually appealing, dress codes, long/short hair or bald, no
tattoos, no glasses(no near/far sighted people), no prescription medications, must
be able to run marathons, be perfectly fit (no poor health "deadwoods" allowed here)
and so on because in all of these cases, it has not been challenged in court.

Well, I guess everyone should check the policies of the company they work for and
either comply with it (as if you agree with their policies) or get another job elsewhere.

The brown-shirts are moving in so either join or or become our target,
as the fascist might say.

Hey, by the way: Oregon voters defeated measure 50: "Force the smokers to pay for
children's health care", and this was to be incorporated into the Oregon Constitution.
The vote was 40%:Yes (for) and 60%:No (against). We have escaped this one for
now... (Kulongoski, the governor of Oregon was in support of this plan)

 

[j0da]

my craving was and continues to never be satisfied from smoking American Spirits cigarettes. I have to switch back to what I was smoking before to fully satisfy that classic craving smokers get. I have been smoking daily for almost 10 years now.

Same with me. Although I haven't tried American Spirits, I've been smoking blue and yellow Drum tobacco - however after some time I really feel like smoking those brand cigarettes (red Marlboro or Golden American) again.

Prices of cigarettes are rising quite sharply in Poland recently and what I've heard from a very nice lady in tobacco store it's going to be even worse by the end of the year. Luckily bags of tobacco are still priced moderately.

Poles were heavy smokers in general since I remember, but with all this propaganda it's already changing. Smoking bans aren't severe yet, we still can smoke in pubs, but every once in a while a new law - usually local one - bans smoking in various public places.

Is it high time to start some small business selling t-shirts saying "Smoking is not a crime!" ?

 

[Rich]

Is it high time to start some small business selling t-shirts saying "Smoking is not a crime!" ?

The recent picture of the day would make a good t-shirt: smoking is healthier than fascism

 

[nemo]

A few years ago I tried swapping my beloved Vannelle tobacco with American Spirit and as a result developed light but noticable
withdrawal symptoms, so I returned to the chemically enhanced tobacco. When I tryed to stop smoking altogether some 3 years ago and failed after a few agonizing months I decided to at least smoke organic tobacco, which I`ve done since then. I find it addictive enough!
By the way, organic tobacco tends to be a lot drier then the normal stuff. An easy way to freshen the tobacco up is to put in a little slice of an apple. Keeps it fresh.

Maybe a study on the effects of smoking tobacco without additives.

That won`t happen. Too late for that. The mainstream reality tunnel view says cigarettes kill. There`s no one left willing to finance a twenty year study with organic tobacco vs. anorg. tobacco. (I`d be VERY curious at those hypothetical results)
I`d also be very interested in a more objective study in the history and validity of tobacco studies.
And please where are the studies on the increase of cancer(-related) illness caused by the myriad of atomic tests worldwide since the 40ies, not to mentioned the trillions of toxins being worked in food and various products (you propably heard of the latest scare of chemical softeners in all kind of plastic products from toys to bicycle grips).
grrrrr!

 

[Al Today]

Is it high time to start some small business selling t-shirts saying "Smoking is not a crime!" ?

Some road workers (oustide laborors) here wear brightly colored, what I call neon, glow-in-the-dark t-shirts of bright orange or green color. One cannot help but see them while working near the road. Well, I was in a store and a fellow was wearing one of those neon, glow in the dark orange t-shirts. As he passed me I noticed writing on his back. The tee-shirt on his back written on bold black said:

STAND BACK 50 FEET
I AM A SMOKER

lol, I want one...

 

[Erykah]

Speaking of smoking here in the State of Hawaii strict laws against smoking are being implemented everywhere:
Gov. Linda Lingle immediately took advantage of the now smoke-free Shell Bar at the Hilton Hawaiian Village to hold a press conference.

A former self-described "militant" smoker herself, Lingle said she understands the frustrations many current
smokers will face trying to adapt to the fewer spots where smoking is legal.

"Those people that are smokers say they're doing it because they want to, but the fact is they're addicted and
it's a very strong addiction," Lingle said. Lingle said she's already gotten negative responses from some
smokers saying the government is infringing on their rights and that the state is trying to dictate how people
live. "We need to send a clear message that this is not about them, it's about those around that don't smoke
and the impact on them by secondhand smoke," Lingle said. "Hopefully, it's about them in a sense that the
fewer places they're able to smoke, the more incentive they have to stop smoking."

The question remains since when is any government official concerned with our health? Here in Hawaii we have tanks and striker vehicles returning from the Iraq with high levels of toxic depleted uranium, there is no ban currently in place for these harmful substances, what up with that!!!

 

[Al Today]

the impact on them by secondhand smoke

At work here we just had the manditory, yearly drug free workplace seminar. The nurse was telling stories on how some people try to talk their way outta positive test results. She went on about marijuana smokers who claim that they did not inhale, that they were just near people smoking pot. The nurse went on to say that just being near pot smokers will NOT result in a postive test result. The nurse went on to say that there is "NO SUCH THING" as second hand pot smoke. "IT JUST DON'T HAPPEN". (capitals used to illustrate her heavy emphasis on this). I then raised my hand and asked "well then, what about all this hoopla about second hand cigarette smoke? Huh?" I said, you (the nurse) just said there is no such thing as second hand smoke. She could not answer me! She said, "oh, that's different". Again I asked "what is different? What is the difference"? Boy did that raise a few eyebrows at the meeting... And then someome apologized for my militancy... sigh...

 

[Cyre2067]

Lol Al, that's a laugh. I love how pointing out flaws in the establishment was referred to as "militant"

from _m-w.com:
Militant
1 : engaged in warfare or combat : fighting
2 : aggressively active (as in a cause) : combative <militant conservationists> <a militant attitude>

 

[j0da]

Al, I'd say your story is great inspiration!! It's definately worth trying, talking about and asking questions - how would "authorities" reconcile their statements that there's no second hand pot smoke, but second hand cigarette smoke is real.

Jeez, it's like they shoot themselves in the foot!