New York state had an 8 percent decline in heart attacks in the year after its 2003 indoor public smoking ban went into effect, according to a study released by New York health authorities. Hospitals admitted 3,813 fewer cardiac patients than would have been expected in 2004 without the clean air law.
And in Scotland, a nationwide ban on public smoking led to a 20 percent decline in heart attack admissions of nonsmokers in the 10 months after it went into effect, according to another recent study.
The evidence keeps piling up that smoking bans deliver major public health benefits.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- BlueJay on Let immigrants run
- Monkeyhawk on Let immigrants run
- Chrisfrommactown on Let immigrants run
- BlueJay on Let immigrants run
- Monkeyhawk on Too many exemptions
- JWink on Too many exemptions
- LonnythePlumber on Jail consultants straining patience
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/22
- Regular on Open thread 11/22
- Regular on Open thread 11/22
30 Comments
Perhaps.
Makes no difference. My lungs, my business. Butt out.
Every business owner will make the decision him/herself. If the market demands a no smoking business, he’ll do so. If not, he won’t. Patrons, and owners, can choose as they like.
It is not the State’s job to protect us from ourselves. Butt out.
Smoking bans are great. It finally nice to go into restaurants and other places and not have to smell the drug addicts practicing their habit. Used to be I would never go into a Waffle House because it was so smoky you could not even see. Now I can go in and enjoy a nice breakfast. My hope is that one day smoking will be limited to a person’s private residence only.
This passes for scientific evidence?
A ban on cigarette smoking. What a great way for Big Pharm to make more money! Have you noticed the number of “stop smoking aids”?
Let’s just ban everything than can lead to death.
Oh, to hell with it. Let’s ban life.
Complete nonsense. Medical affects do not take place in “10 months”. It was very simply a statistical spike. These studies requires many years to see a statistically valid result that can be reliable said to not be completely random.
And this “8%” difference in 3 years is also dubious. the affect of 2nd hand smoke is highly questionable with just as many study findings of no correlation whatsoever as otherwise. And “8%” is a numerically small amount when dealing with already very small indicators….otherwise its quite “iffy”.
But none of that means anything anyway. Its a PC thing to do.
Just like the nonsense about Fat. The NYT today outs all the nonsense about the FATTY FOOD issue…(odd for the good Leftist paper that usually is right on board with any nannystate issue) its nonsense also and a complete canard and simple case of what is called “information cascade”.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/science/09tier.html?ex=1349668800&en=67642ef2330f51af&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
“After the fat-is-bad theory became popular wisdom, the cascade accelerated in the 1970s when a committee led by Senator George McGovern issued a report advising Americans to lower their risk of heart disease by eating less fat. “McGovern’s staff were virtually unaware of the existence of any scientific controversy,” Mr. Taubes writes, and the committee’s report was written by a nonscientist “relying almost exclusively on a single Harvard nutritionist, Mark Hegsted.”
That report impressed another nonscientist, Carol Tucker Foreman, an assistant agriculture secretary, who hired Dr. Hegsted to draw up a set of national dietary guidelines. The Department of Agriculture’s advice against eating too much fat was issued in 1980 and would later be incorporated in its “food pyramid.”
Meanwhile, there still wasn’t good evidence to warrant recommending a low-fat diet for all Americans, as the National Academy of Sciences noted in a report shortly after the U.S.D.A. guidelines were issued. But the report’s authors were promptly excoriated on Capitol Hill and in the news media for denying a danger that had already been proclaimed by the American Heart Association, the McGovern committee and the U.S.D.A”
Uh -Oh.. the fight is now joined.. break out the Deep-Fried Twinkies.
The smoking ban had nothing to do with the decline in heart attacks, it was the magic rock that I purchased from a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow. Ever since I obtained this rock, heart attacks have been declining nationwide.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc is junk science at its finest.
So GMC, does that mean you support drecrimalzing victimless crimes. The same arguments can used to end drug laws, gambling, prostitution. Helmet Laws seat-belt laws and other assorted nanny state laws. After all the government shouldn’t be in the business’s of protecting us from ourselves
Probably declined because the non-smokers no longer had their high anxiety about second hand smoke. I can’t see an immediate cause/effect for the decline since smoking is a long term health issue.
If you believe the agenda driven junk science produced by the anti-smoking activists, you would be forced to conclude that it is actually safer to smoke cigarettes than not. In addition to the studies referenced above, there are many others that claim some type of immediate benefit or harm due to a change in exposure to second hand smoke. If only a few hours of exposure to second hand smoke can cause an increase in heart attacks and other illnesses then it is actually safer to smoke, it takes decades of chronic use for smokers to show any ill effects. The second hand smoke boogeyman is built on false science and lies.
ohmygawd! Where we going to get the money for free healthcare if you ban smoking everywhere?
Abortion bans will improve women’s health, father’s health as well, since they also suffer the emotional and psychological scars of abortion, but not the physical scarring that inflicts upon mothers the later complications in addition, like infertility, breast cancer, and premature birth in later pregnancies, with the associated complications like cerebral palsy in the infant and infant mortality during the first year of life.If abortion ended in America today, the killing from long-term complications would go on for another 20 years.
Holy off topic, Batman! WTF is an anti abortion screed doing in this thread?
I’m non smoker, but I like smokers. I do not doubt this article is true, I just hate seeing people told what to do. If it’s a business in question, it should be up to the owner. IT’S THEIR PLACE! Not the nanny state governments.
So, some people beleive that second-hand smoke has not been conclusively linked to disease. However, the Center for Disease Control, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Surgeon General,the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute of Health, the Phillip-Morris Tobacco Company, and a host of academies and associations of physicians and scientists have all issued statements indicating that the evidence conclusively links second hand smoke to heart disease, lung cancer, and a variety of other diseases and disorders. So, who should I beleive, professional scientists, physicians, epidemiologists, (including those employed by the tobacco industry), or lay-persons posting on a forum? Hmmmmm….it’s a tough one, but I think I’ll have to go with the science and medical community on this one.
Nonsense, the second hand smoke study by the EPA was thrown out of Federal court due to the EPA falsifying the data to fit the study they wrote BEFORE the study was complete.
http://www.heartland.org/archives/environment/sep98/smoke.htm
And others have also found it to be bogus. The last Surgeon General quietly left after his silly report that said you would die if you walked by someone on the street smoking.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/788186/posts?page=1
http://www.widigest.com/html/jj101004.htm
I could care less if 2nd hand smoke causes cancer….i simply find the smell sickening. It’s gross and unlike any other bad habit – if you are around it, you go home with it. In your hair, clothes and so on.
“Nonsense, the second hand smoke study by the EPA was thrown out of Federal court due to the EPA falsifying the data to fit the study they wrote BEFORE the study was complete”
The EPA study you site was completed over 15 years ago. Do you honestly believe the science has stood basically still for one and a half decades? Here is a VERY BRIEF bibliography of peer-reviewed scientific literature examining the link behind second-hand smoke and disease. Though I suspect the actual science will not sway anyone who has made up their mind that second-hand smoke isn’t a serious health hazard, I offer the list as an example of the actual peer-reviewed science that is being published.
Again, I will choose to believe actual scientists rather than the non-expert opinions of laypersons. Furthermore, public policy should be based upon actual science rather than the personal opinions of those who lack expertise and knowledge of the current science.
Some peer-reviewed literature from this year:
Okoli, C.T.C.; Kelly, T.; Hahn, E.J, “Secondhand smoke and nicotine exposure: a brief review,” Addictive Behaviors 32(10): 1977–1988, October 2007.
Juster, H.R.; Loomis, B.R.; Hinman, T.M.; Farrelly, M.C.; Hyland, A.; Bauer, U.E.; Birkhead, G.S., “Declines in hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction in New York State after implementation of a comprehensive smoking ban,” American Journal of Public Health September 27, 2007.
Mikaeloff, Y.; Caridade, G.; Tardieu, M.; Suissa, S., “Parental smoking at home and the risk of childhood-onset multiple sclerosis in children,” Brain [ September 7, 2007.
Ohida, T.; Kaneita, Y.; Osaki, Y.; Harano, S.; Tanihata, T.; Takemura, S.; Wada, K.; Kanda, H.; Hayashi, K.; Uchiyama, M., "Is passive smoking associated with sleep disturbance among pregnant women?," SLEEP, September 1, 2007.
Meeker, J.D.; Missmer, S.A.; Vitonis, A.F.; Cramer, D.W.; Hauser, R., "Risk of spontaneous abortion in women with childhood exposure to parental cigarette smoke," American Journal of Epidemiology 166(5): 571-575, September 1, 2007
Taylor, R.; Najafi, F.; Dobson, A., "Meta-analysis of studies of passive smoking and lung cancer: effects of study type and continent," International Journal of Epidemiology [Epub ahead of print], August 9, 2007.
Jiang, X.; Yuan, J.; Skipper, P.L.; Tannenbaum, S.R.; Yu, M.C., “Environmental tobacco smoke and bladder cancer risk in never smokers of Los Angeles County,” Cancer Research 67(15): 7540-7545, August 1, 2007.
Hammaren-Malmi, S.; Saxen, H.; Tarkkanen, J.; Mattila, P.S., “Passive smoking after tympanostomy and risk of recurrent acute otitis media,” International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology 71(8): 1305-1310, August 2007.
Geerts, C.C.; Grobbee, D.E.; van der Ent, C.K.; de Jong, B.M.; van der Zalm, M.M.; Putte-Katier, N.V.; Kimpen, J.L.; Uiterwaal, C.S., “Tobacco smoke exposure of pregnant mothers and blood pressure in their newborns: results from the wheezing illnesses study — Leidsche Rijn birth cohort,” Hypertension [ July 30, 2007.
Håberg, S.E.; Stigum, H.; Nystad, W.; Nafstad, P., "Effects of pre- and postnatal exposure to parental smoking on early childhood respiratory health," American Journal of Epidemiology July 11, 2007.
Cobanoglu, N.; Kiper, N.; Dilber, E.; Gurcan, N.; Gocmen, A.; Ozcelik, U.; Dogru, D.; Yalcin, E.; Pekcan, S.; Kose, M., "Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and respiratory morbidity in children," Inhalation Toxicology 19(9): 779-785, July 2007.
Toro, R.; Leonard, G.; Lerner, J.V.; Perron, M.; Pike, G.B.; Richer, L.; Veillette, S.; Pausova, Z.; Paus, T., "Prenatal exposure to maternal cigarette smoking and the adolescent cerebral cortex," Neuropsychopharmacology July 4, 2007.
T. Wu, F.Y.; Wu, H.D.; Yang, H.L.; Kuo, H.W.; Ying, J.C.; Lin, C.J.; Yang, C.C.; Lin, L.Y.; Chiu, T.H.; Lai, J.S., "Associations among genetic susceptibility, DNA damage, and pregnancy outcomes of expectant mothers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke," Science of the Total Environment July 3, 2007.
Roddam, A.W.; Pirie, K.; Pike, M.C.; Chilvers, C.; Crossley, B.; Hermon, C.; McPherson, K.; Peto, J.; Vessey, M.; Beral, V., "Active and passive smoking and the risk of breast cancer in women aged 36–45 years: a population based case–control study in the UK," British Journal of Cancer June 19, 2007.
Kallio, K.; Jokinen, E.; Raitakari, O.T.; Hämäläinen, M.; Siltala, M.; Volanen, I.; Kaitosaari, T.; Viikari, J.; Rönnemaa, T.; Simell, O., "Tobacco smoke exposure is associated with attenuated endothelial function in 11-year-old healthy children," Circulation June 4, 2007.
Chatzimichael, A.; Tsalkidis, A.; Cassimos, D.; Gardikis, S.; Tripsianis, G.; Deftereos, S.; Ktenidou-Kartali, S.; Tsanakas, I., "The role of breastfeeding and passive smoking on the development of severe bronchiolitis in infants," Minerva Pediatrica 59(3): 199-206, June 2007.
Gatzke-Kopp, L.M.; Beauchaine, T.P., "Direct and passive prenatal nicotine exposure and the development of externalizing psychopathology," Child Psychiatry and Human Development [Epub ahead of print], May 23, 2007.
Keskinoglu, P.; Cimrin, D.; Aksakoglu, G., “The impact of passive smoking on the development of lower respiratory tract infections in children,” Journal of Tropical Pediatrics May 21, 2007.
Ward, C.; Lewis, S.; Coleman, T., “Prevalence of maternal smoking and environmental tobacco smoke exposure during Pregnancy and impact on birth weight: retrospective study using Millennium Cohort,” BMC Public Health 7(1): 81, May 16, 2007.
Heidrich, J.; Wellmann, J.; Heuschmann, P.U.; Kraywinkel, K.; Keil, U., ” Mortality and morbidity from coronary heart disease attributable to passive smoking,” European Heart Journal May 15, 2007.
Groneberg-Kloft, B.; Feleszko, W.; Thai Dinh, Q.; van Mark, A.; Brinkmann, E.; Pleimes, D.; Fischer, A., “Analysis and evaluation of environmental tobacco smoke exposure as a risk factor for chronic cough,” Cough 3(1): 6, May 2, 2007.
Fantuzzi, G.; Aggazzotti, G.; Righi, E.; Facchinetti, F.; Bertucci, E.; Kanitz, S.; Barbone, F.; Sansebastiano, G.; Battaglia, M.A.; Leoni, V.; Fabiani, L.; Triassi, M.; Sciacca, S., “Preterm delivery and exposure to active and passive smoking during pregnancy: a case-control study from Italy,” Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 21(3): 194-200, May 2007.
Felber Dietrich, D.; Schartz, J.; Schindler, C.; Gaspoz, J.M.; Barthelemy, J.C.; Tschopp, J.M.; Roche, F.; von Eckardstein, A.; Brandli, O.; Leuenberger, P.; Gold, D.R.; Ackermann-Liebrich, U., “Effects of passive smoking on heart rate variability, heart rate and blood pressure: an observational study,” International Journal of Epidemiology April 17, 2007.
Hong, R.; Betancourt, J.A.; Ruiz-Beltran, M., “Passive smoking as a risk factor of anemia in young children aged 0–35 months in Jordan,” BMC Pediatrics 7(1): 16, April 10, 2007.
Markowitz, S., “The effectiveness of cigarette regulations in reducing cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,” Journal of Health Economics April 8, 2007.
Khuder, S.A.; Milz, S.; Jordan, T.; Price, J.; Silvestri, K.; Butler, P., “The impact of a smoking ban on hospital admissions for coronary heart disease,” Preventive Medicine, April 4, 2007.
den Boon, S.; Verver, S.; Marais, B.J.; Enarson, D.A.; Lombard, C.J.; Bateman, E.D.; Irusen, E.; Jithoo, A.; Gie, R.P.; Borgdorff, M.W.; Beyers, N., “Association between passive smoking and infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in children,” Pediatrics 119(4): 734-739, April 2007.
Sly, P.D.; Deverell, M.; Kusel, M.M.; Holt, P.G., “Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in cars increases the risk of persistent wheeze in adolescents,” Medical Journal of Australia 186(6): 322, March 19, 2007.
Wilson, S.E.; Kahn, R.S.; Khoury, J.; Lanphear, B.P., “The role of air nicotine in explaining racial differences in cotinine among tobacco-exposed children,” Chest 131: 856-862, 2007.
Panagiotakos, D.B.; Pitsavos, C.; Stefanadis, C., “Chronic exposure to second hand smoke and 30-day prognosis of patients hospitalised with acute coronary syndromes: the Greek study of acute coronary syndromes,” Heart 93(3): 309-312, March 2007.
Zalata, A.; Yahia, S.; El-Bakary, A.; Elsheikha, H.M., “Increased DNA damage in children caused by passive smoking as assessed by comet assay and oxidative stress,” Mutation Research February 20, 2007.
Eisner, M.D.; Wang, Y.; Haight, T.J.; Balmes, J.; Hammond, S.K.; Tager, I.B., “Secondhand smoke exposure, pulmonary function, and cardiovascular mortality,” Annals of Epidemiology February 12, 2007.
Baynam, G.; Khoo, S.K.; Rowe, J.; Zhang, G.; Laing, I.; Hayden, C.; Kusel, M.; Deklerk, N.; Sly, P.; Goldblatt, J.; Holt, P.; Lesouef, P., “Parental smoking impairs vaccine responses in children with atopic genotypes,” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 119(2): 366-374, February 2007.
Gonzalez Barcala, F.J.; Takkouche, B.; Valdes, L.; Temes, E.; Leis, R.; Cabanas, R.; Rodriguez Suarez, J.R.; Tojo, R., “Parental smoking and lung function in healthy children and adolescents,” Archivos de Bronconeumologia 43(2): 81-85, February 2007.
Venn, A.; Britton, J., “Exposure to secondhand smoke and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease in never-smoking adults,” Circulation February 12, 2007.
Huijbregts, S.C.J.; Seguin, J.R.; Zoccolillo, M.; Boivin, M.; Tremblay, R.E., “Associations of maternal prenatal smoking with early childhood physical aggression, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and their co-occurrence,” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology February 10, 2007.
Sadri, G.; Mahjub, H., “Passive or active smoking, which is more relevant to breast cancer,” Saudi Medical Journal 28(2): 254-258, February 2007.
Beadsmoore, C.; Cheow, H.K.; Szczepura, K.; Ruparelia, P.; Peters, A.M., “Healthy passive cigarette smokers have increased pulmonary alveolar permeability,” Nuclear Medicine Communications 28(2): 75-77, February 2007.
Stayner, L.; Bena, J.; Sasco, A.J.; Smith, R.; Steenland, K.; Kreuzer, M.; Straif, K., “Lung cancer risk and workplace exposure to environmental tobacco smoke,” American Journal of Public Health January 31, 2007.
Lin, H.H.; Ezzati, M.; Murray, M., “Tobacco smoke, indoor air pollution and tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” PLoS Medicine 4(1): e20, January 16, 2007.
Posted by: mrbill
godyou smokers are some of the sickest and dumbest people around.
and, you stink too.
your poor children and grandchildren have health problems for life thanks to you and your dumbass smoking habit.
your new slogan is,
i’ll stop smoking when you pry my cigs out of my dead cold hands…
here’s the good news,
yeah, that won’t be too far in the future.
see ya later, smokey.
see ya later, smokey.Posted by: you suck
You really should get down on your hands and knees and kiss the very ground that I walk on. I am paying the biggest tax burden on any American made product in the USA. I am subsidizing and helping defray your costs on a myriad of federal and STATE level programs.
You should really go to church and pray to your gawd. No scratch that. You are liberal pagans. Pray to your Nanny Leader that the number of smokers does NOT decline.
If you and your party REALLY felt that smoking was “bad for us” you would flat out BAN IT.
But you cannot do that because without SMOKERS TAX DOLLARS YOU WILL SUFFER HUGE TAX INCREASES.
Your party knows this. But it is too UGLY for you to face. You WANT smokers on that line, you NEED smokers on that line so you don’t have to think about how ugly the alternative would be.
Your DAMN RIGHT I ORDERED THAT CODE RED!!!!
All you smokers need to quit minimizing, denying, justifying, and procrastinating…just stop smoking..you’ll be glad you did.Just think of the money you’ll save..or would you rather just continue throwing your money at the tobacco companies?
I quit the foul weed several years ago, but I still have trouble with outlawing the stuff.First, we’ve already tried that with other subtances and merely created black markets.Second, I keep having this vision of all those health nuts lying in hospitals dying of absolutely nothing and feeling so put upon. When my time comes, I’d much rather have the memories of some really enjoyable sins than another 15 minutes of making myself miserable.
Hillary talked about increasing smoking taxes to pay for one of her new entitlement programs (I don’t recall which one, there are so many).
Anyway, now everytime I start to pick up a smoke I see Hillary’s face.
I haven’t smoked since.
If you ban smoking, not only will you loose needed tax revenue, but you will increase the life span of more Americans and help drive up medical costs.
Hillary is going to have you paying for socialized medicine for all of them.
Why you do not want this..C.S. Lewis had the goods on the nannys long ago..
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” —C.S. Lewis
Remind you of any good Leftist you you know? When did the “liberal” get lost on Liberals?? Seems
they are as much in need of a reformation… What happened to “do your own thing”, free love, sex , drugs etc….
It seems the Left have gone so far around the bend they have come out the other side as Fascists…
Unions still suck. Mr. Lewis.
People are less moral than 30 years ago
Life begins at conception, begins at birth – Or come up with another stage and develop a different persuasive speech topic
I just don’t have anything to say these days. I’ve just been sitting around doing nothing. More or less nothing seems worth bothering with.
I haven’t gotten anything done. Whatever. I just don’t have anything to say.