Apr 5, 2012

Smoking and World Economy

Smoking costs the world 1% to 2% of its gross domestic product each year and could kill about one billion people this century, authors of the fourth edition of the Tobacco Atlas said at the book's launch in Singapore. The economic losses include direct and indirect costs such as healthcare spending for treating smoking-related illnesses and the value of lost productivity, say the authors of the book, which is published by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation. The cost of smoking could be even greater, as co-author Hana Ross said it was difficult to measure intangible costs like the suffering of family members or pain felt by patients. "During the 20th century, tobacco killed 100 million people. The estimate is that in the 21st century, tobacco will kill one billion people," lead author Michael Eriksen said at the launch of the book at a global health conference in Singapore.

Feb 16, 2012

Tobacco Plant Can Fight Malaria

Who says tobacco doesn’t have any health benefits? A genetically modified tobacco plant that can fight drug-resistant malaria has been developed by Israeli scientists. Although we don’t think smokers will find this in their cheap Nistru cigarettes in the near future or get to smoke it. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have found that tobacco plant can be altered to produce “artemisin”, an active component in malaria treatment. Artemisin, a natural compound that comes from the sweet wormwood plant, can fight drug-resistant malaria, but due to its small quantities and high price, millions of people cannot get access to this remedy, the researchers said.

Feb 8, 2012

Newport Cigarettes Smokers

The modern cigarette has its beginnings in the seventeenth century. Despite its age, it only started to see popular use in the twentieth century. During the two previous World Wars, the product was part of the rations provided to the Allied soldiers on the field. Soldiers passed their idle time by smoking. When the war ended, they took the practice home with them. This is where the phenomenon as we see it today started. The product can be acquired through many different outlets like corner stores and major retail establishments. Smokers trying to find cheap cigarettes on the web get two options: menthol and non-menthol.

Feb 1, 2012

Second-hand Smoke in California

If official statistics are to be trusted, the state of California has less smokers than any other state in the U.S., except Missouri. Good for them, right? After all, it has been scientifically proved that smoking cheapest Marlboro cigarettes is hazardous for your health. But California still has a long way to go, because a recent study coming from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research estimates that nearly 2.5 million children in the state are exposed to secondhand smoke. That is, they live in homes where other people smoke inside, whether or not they're allowed to. Exposure to secondhand smoke, by the way, is just as bad as if you were doing the smoking. For starters, it poses many of the same health hazards. Young children whose relatives smoke near them have a greater risk of being asthmatic or suffering from all sorts of respiratory illnesses.

Jan 31, 2012

Electronic Cigarettes The Future of Smoking

Smoking cigarettes is just not cool anymore. And that’s a good thing: According to the US Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 443,000 Americans die every year from tobacco use, and 49,000 of those deaths are caused by second-hand smoke. Of course, the problem is that quitting smoking is so difficult that many never put out their last butt until it’s far, far too late. The CDC reported Thursday that, while 68.8 percent of smokers wish they could quit, and 52 percent have tried to quit in the last year, only 6 percent manage to do so entirely. One of the reasons quitting is so staggeringly difficult — and you will rarely hear anyone admit this — is that smoking tax free Golden Gate cigarettes is awesome. Sure, that’s the nicotine talking, as any non-smoker will snobbishly tell you. But that’s not the whole story, either.

Jan 26, 2012

University of Oklahoma Restricted Smoking

The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents has voted to restrict smoking to two designated areas on the Norman campus. The board on Tuesday approved a policy that designates parking lots near Dale Hall and Lloyd Noble Center as smoking areas and bans cigarette smoking at the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and the Lloyd Noble Center. President David Boren told board members university officials feel morally obligated to set an example, particularly since hundreds of other colleges and universities across the country have adopted similar policies. The smoking policy stems from a recommendation made by a tobacco advisory committee. The rules go into effect on July 1. Anyone who repeatedly violates the policy can be subject to fines of up to $50.

Jan 24, 2012

University of California Plans to Ban Tobacco Use

The University of California system announced last week that it will completely ban tobacco products, including cigarettes and chewing tobacco, on all 10 of its campuses. More than 500 colleges and universities around the country ban smoking in some fashion. But the degree of these bans vary, and few have gone as far as the University of California system. Marquette’s smoking policy states that people on university property cannot smoke best quality Capital cigarettes indoors or within 25 feet of university buildings. There are no listed consequences for violating the rule. University of California President Mark Yudof sent out a letter to campus chancellors last week, making the news public. “As a national leader in healthcare and environmental practices, the University of California is ready to demonstrate leadership in reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke,” Yudof wrote. “Offering a smoke-free environment will contribute positively to health and well-being of all U.C. students, faculty, stuff, and our patients and visitors.”