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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Second Hand Smoke Kills

Posted by on June 27 at 10:23 AM

Really, addicts, it does.

Second-hand smoke clearly kills people and the only way to control it is to ban all smoking in workplaces, the U.S. Surgeon-General said on Tuesday in report that puts the Bush administration on the side of smoking restrictions.

The report by Surgeon-General Richard Carmona, which echoed the forcefulness of a 1964 Surgeon General’s report that paved the way for mandatory cigarette warnings and advertising restrictions, detailed the effects of second-hand smoke and said no one should be forced to inhale it.

“The scientific evidence is now indisputable: second-hand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults,” Carmona told a news conference.

The report said it is impossible to protect nonsmokers even with designated smoking areas, making a workplace ban necessary. It does not offer specific legislative proposals.

Lapdances, on the other hand, hurt no one.


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Frankly, I'm stunned that the Bush Administration even bothered to *fill* the post of Surgeon General.

The fact that we have one, and he's come out against second hand smoke is mind-boggling. Now that they know he's there, surely he'll be submitting his resignation by the end of the week.

Maybe global warming will be their next belatedly acknowledged obvious problem. One can only hope.

Hear hear.

So Dan is advocating lap-dances in the workplace?

Absofuckinglutely, Kinaidos.

With or without the 25' rule?

breathing kills people.

Kaiser Bush commands us all to stop breathing. Then cigarette companies and the Stranger can make lots of money, and noone will die of second-hand smoke.

oh, and kudos for an insightful comment, Napolean.

I dunno, a lapdance could do some serious damage to that guy from yesterday with the permanent erection; it could break that baby right off.

Definitely Fnarf, especially if they are Elizabeth-Berkeley-type lap dances.

Thank you, thank you. You can get back to horror and revulsion after checking this out:

http://autodidactic.hellblazer.net/random/hoff_soap.jpg

as someone whose grandma died of lung cancer because of the smoking of my grandfather, i think that the surgeon general is a little behind the times. wasn't this known about 20 years ago?

I'm pretty certain that fumes from automobiles cause more than just global warming and most likely affect more people.

I look forward to more government studies helping me assess the exact negative impact of every personal choice I make.

but you see, seth, that's the whole point. yes it's a personal choice for you, but it's not a personal choice to get second hand smoke. so it's great that you are okay with getting cancer. not so great that other people are getting it just from being around you.

I applaud the Surgeon General for restating a point that the SGO has made in various forms over the last 20 years. I'd love to see what research and studies he is citing, because I shudder to think he and his office's just restating talking points instead. How is a redundant general proclamation news?

According to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency's 2002/3 report conducted in Beacon Hill and other Seattle neighborhoods, diesel exhaust is by far the biggest airborne cancer risk factor, followed by wood smoke.

Smoking outside by the fire, a cancer triple-play?

I know there are a lot of ingredients in cigarettes, but you can see the non-smokers' breathing recipe -- stashed by whoever -- in our local air, here:

http://www.pscleanair.org/specprog/airtoxics/index.shtml#WhatToxics

Seond hand smoke only kills the poor, because they are the only ones who hang around with smokers, who also happen to be the poor. Death-by-smoke is a net gain for our economy, and should be encouraged by all responsible citizens.

Do you drive a car? Then you pollute the air, and help cause childhood asthma.

Do you purchase manufactured textiles? Then you support an entrenched system of third-world labor that practically amounts to slavery.

Do you turn on lights? The near-extinction of native salmon in our rivers and streams is due, in part, to you.

Anything you do as a human being has a pernicious effect on the environment.

Is the one cigarette I smoke next to a non-smoker more pernicious than the Hummer driving by is to the asthmatic? Or the sneaker purchase is to the 10-year-old Malaysian? Or the iPod charge is to a spawning salmon?

yeah, seth. other stuff is bad. like, why don't i just shoot people then? smoking kills people. it can easily be avoided. so why do it.

and herman b hayes, you a an asshat.

I am not at all sorry that I "a an asshat", whatever in the world that is supposed to mean. Shooting people is another way to reduce the poor population, though, and I am glad you brought it up. Take your pick, street crime, or a super-extra-ultra-mega justifed war in Iraq?

actually, nevermind, herman. i just checked your website, and it rocks. nice work.

Thank you so much. No hard feelings?

How do we get the elephant in the room to smoke outside?

I am quite sure you are refering to the Republican Elephant...remember that we are huge, and we can smoke anywhere we please.

This is a crock of ----!!!
We've been pushed out of airports, restaurants, clubs etc., and into the streets already.
What more do you want?
Smokers reserve the right to smoke ... and if I'm not blowing smoke in your face, then find something else to "concern" yourself with.
Get a life!

JR

Dan,

You acknowledge that secondhand smoke kills and yet you continue to defend The Stranger's anti-901 stance?

Had 901 failed, waitresses, bartenders, busboys, strippers, musicians, comedians, and patrons would still be breathing the same cigarette smoke that you point out is so deadly.

You're telling me that your gripes about the 25-foot rule outweigh the profound health benefits that 901 now provides? You would prefer that the hundreds of thousands of workers and patrons around the state continue to breathe smoke?

Dan - you admitted you were wrong on Iraq. You need to admit you are wrong on this one.

Your credibility is taking a sharp dive. Stop pretending to relish it.

25-foot rule gripes versus an entire state breathing cancer.

C'mon, man.

Dan does not need to defend his position before anyone but the Lord. I hope that goes well.

Is Jeff the loony from the air america thing? If so, I heard about him on the Randi Rhodes show the next day. LOL!

Dan is still reeling from all the attacks he received (rightly) on this issue from people who are basically libertarian in nature, and believe in personal freedoms and rights. Dan wants the right to go to a gay bathhouse, for example, where the chances of contracting a potentially deadly sexual disease are extremely high, but he wants to deny the old lady at the end of the bar her right to enjoy a cigarette in peace. Dan is a hypocrite, and this study is extremely flawed.

I suggest that Dan Savage expend some energy looking into the effects of automobile exhaust on one's health, and campaign to end the use of private vehicles. It's right up his alley.

This study is so false it's laughable -- and guess what, Dan? It comes from an administration who denies the reality of global warning.

The fundamental argument remains: if a person wants to drink until he ruins his liver, he should have the right to do so. If a person wants to do drugs that hurt his mind, he is free to do so. If a person wants to smoke he should be free to do so within the boundaries of his own private property.

Bars are private property, not government property. Get that straight, little Dan. Because you're still pathetically wrong on this issue of personal rights -- unless it affects your own preferences, of course. As long as it doesn't affect you, you won't fight for it.

I guess we'll see how you feel after gay marriage is banned in this state officially by a lot of stupid suburban assholes who want to lead sterile and ignorant lives -- how right in line they are with you on this isue.

How ironic that see Dan Savage, editor of The Stranger, has presented the Surgeon General's report like it's the best thing since Big Fat Delicious Camel Wides. Thousands of WA state workers would still be breathing secondhand smoke on the job, if The Stranger's anti-901 campaign had been successful. And isn't it Dan Savage who continues to defend the 'right' to smoke near doorways. If you read close, the Surgeon General disagrees with you on that, Mr. Savage. Or was 25-foot rule mania just a Big Tobacco style tactic. I spent a lot of time campaigning for I-901. Your 25-foot rule mantra managed to confuse a lot of otherwise reasonable people. But in the end, we won. Maybe smoking is just going out of style. Be careful that The Stranger doesnt. By the way, when does your next full-page cigarette ad come out? I'm sure RJReynolds wouldn't want the teenagers who read The Stranger to take the Surgeon General's report too seriously

This new report is a GOP wet dream! Safe, sanitary public spaces all over the good ol' USA. Everyone knows smokers are traditionally associated with radicals, beatniks, drug-addled musicians, drunks, and just regular ol' down and outs, as well as high-stressed attorneys and phyicians. All of these people are a pain in the ass to ignorant conservatives.

Strange . . . You hear the surgeon general screeching about how dangerous it is to merely pass through a whiff of tobacco smoke on the street, but you don't hear the surgeon general wailing about how dangerous it is for sickly folks to have to stand on a street corner inhaling diesel gas from a truck for a half minute, waiting for the light to change. Strange, that. I wonder why he neglected to mention the highly document dangers of fossil fuel pollution upon the public health.

Oh well, no matter. Now we can have clean, really really clean and sanitary public places everywhere! And when that's implemented, they can make sure no one will be allowed to smoke in their own homes (didn't Savage claim that this "crime" was on a par with child abuse? Yes, he did. I guess he has "Daddy was a smoker" issues).

Finally, when that is done, the GOP wingnuts can go after the homosexuals -- their bars, their clubs, their homes, their parades . . . their actual sexuality itself. Won't that be a grand day for personal freedoms in the USA!

Mark my words . . . first they came for the drug addicts . . . then they came for the smokers . . . and then they will come for the queers.

Good job Dan, Patty (have you joined the GOP yet Patty? I'm sure they'd love your openly fascist style!!), and all the other wingnut suburban supporters at the Stranger!

The subject was secondhand smoke. Since when is standing up for the rights of workers a republican issue. You've got it backwards, ninny! And, as for the "queers". BIg Tobacco-Big Corporation- advertising also targets the gay community through publications such as The Stranger. The gay teen community is an especially vulnerable group that is influenced by tobacco ads in The Stranger. Very irresponsible!

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