[ Posted in: Second Hand Smoke, Cigarette Smoking, Smoking Women, Secondhand Smoke on November 23rd, 2009 | ]
"Both of my parents were smokers and both of them eventually died from it, but, since my mother was, throughout my childhood until I was 16 years old, an old-fashioned 1950’s style "stay at home" mom, my strongest memories, the ones forged in early childhood, are of her and her smoking more than of my father’s.
Bound up in my earliest memories of my mother - right along with the sound of her voice reading or singing to me - is the smell of cigarette smoke.
It is said that the sense of smell is more evocative than any other sense, more compelling, more associative, more able to create a memory image.
I know this is true because the memory of my mother is instantly, vividly and inexorably evoked for me by the smell - tobacco smoke mixed with a slight hint of fragrance from the Avon cosmetics she used - which permeated her skin, her hair, her clothes, her bedroom, her books, her house and her very life from as far back as I can remember.
Possibly even before, because the other sense which is considered to be strongly associative is the sense of taste and, since I was breast fed for the first few months of my life, (though, because my mother stopped producing milk when I was 8 months old, probably because of her smoking, I was given a bottle which I promptly rejected and began sucking my thumb - a habit which continued throughout my life until I started smoking!) I probably absorbed the taste of nicotine from her very body as an infant and so, when I tried smoking for the first time, the taste and the sensation instantly found a very old neural pathway and dug in"…
Read the entire powerful story here
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[ Posted in: Second Hand Smoke, Quit Smoking, Cigarette Smoking, Secondhand Smoke on November 23rd, 2009 | ]
If smoking wasn’t bad enough for you already, it looks like there may be another good reason to quit smoking, as it seems that Apple have refused to repair a broken Mac because it shows signs of smoke.
According to one Mac user who took his Mac in for repair, Apple refused to repair it because it showed signs of cigarette smoke inside, which Apple said was a biohazard, and therefore Apple employees couldn’t repair it as it could be hazardous to their health.
Apple’s Applecare warranty doesn’t specify that it wont repair machines which show the presence of nicotine of or smoke, but if someone challenges it Apple could possibly fall back on a clause in the Applecare warranty which covers ‘extreme environment’.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out, and if Apple ends up fixing any of these machines in the future.
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[ Posted in: Second Hand Smoke, Cigarette Smoking, Smoking Ban, Secondhand Smoke on November 23rd, 2009 | ]
Smoking bans are spreading from planes, trains and buses to another from of transit: rental cars
Beginning Oct. 1, Avis and Budget became the first major rental-car companies to ban smoking in their entire North American fleets and to impose a cleaning fee of up to $250 on customers who smoke in the cars.
"The No. 1 request we get is for a smoke-free car," says John Barrows, spokesman of the Avis Budget Group, the parent company. He says a common customer complaint is a car that smells of smoke, adding, "We’re addressing both concerns."
Secondhand smoke is significantly more concentrated in cars than it is in bars, restaurants and other public places, according to a study released last month by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
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[ Posted in: Effects of Smoking on Pets, Second Hand Smoke, Reasons To Quit Smoking, Secondhand Smoke on September 18th, 2009 | ]
A growing body of research shows there are no safe levels of exposure to secondhand smoke - for humans or for animals. And one new study shows that nearly 30 percent of pet owners live with at least one smoker - a number far too high given the consequences of exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS).
An estimated 50,000 Americans lose their lives to secondhand smoke annually and 4 million youth (16 percent) are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes. A number of studies have indicated that animals, too, face health risks when exposed to the toxins in secondhand smoke, from respiratory problems, allergies and even nasal and lung cancer in dogs and lymphoma in cats.
In addition, the ASPCA, one of the largest animal rights groups in the U.S., lists tobacco smoke as a toxin that is dangerous to pets. Said Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, medical director of the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center:
"Nicotine from secondhand smoke can have effects to the nervous systems of cats and dogs. Environmental tobacco smoke has been shown to contain numerous cancer-causing compounds, making it hazardous for animals as well as humans.”
In order to better protect dogs, cats or other pets, the foundation and ASPCA recommend that smokers - who often consider their domestic pets a part of the family - "take it outside" when they are smoking.
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[ Posted in: Second Hand Smoke, Cigarette Smoking, Smoking Ban on January 16th, 2009 | ]
Yesterday, I gave you the American Lung Association’s annual list of grades for each state’s commitment to smoke free air and smoking bans.
Today, let’s look at the specifics for the 10 largest cities in California, by population.
Oakland received an overall grade of B for its policies. Los Angeles and San Francisco earned an overall grade of C.
Los Angeles
C
San Diego
D
San Jose
D
San Francisco
C
Long Beach
C
Fresno
F
Sacramento
C
Oakland
B
Santa Ana
D
Anaheim
F
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[ Posted in: Second Hand Smoke, Cigarette Smoking, Smoking Ban on January 15th, 2009 | ]
The American Lung Association graded the states’ commitment levels to smoking bans and cigarette taxes in its annual ‘State of Tobacco Control’.
The ALA assigned grades to the states based on a smoking ban in workplaces and public places, levying cigarette taxes, and funding prevention campaigns.
Because tobacco use is a major contributor to death and disease in an era when chronic disease and healthcare costs are growing at an alarming rate, "The thing to do is avoid disease altogether," says Chuck Connor, president and CEO of the ALA.
23 states and D.C. have a comprehensive array of laws to keep the air in those states’ smoke free.
Every tobacco company, in an effort to keep nicotine users hooked, is now promoting smokeless tobacco products that deliver a hit of the drug that makes cigarettes addictive, noted the ALA in this year’s report.
Below, I list all states by grade for smoke free air:
Arizona
A
California
A
Colorado
A
Delaware
A
District of Columbia
A
Hawaii
A
Illinois
A
Iowa
A
Maine
A
Maryland
A
Massachusetts
A
Minnesota
A
New Jersey
A
New Mexico
A
New York
A
Ohio
A
Oregon
A
Rhode Island
A
Utah
A
Vermont
A
Washington
A
Arkansas
B
Florida
B
Idaho
B
Louisiana
B
Nevada
B
Connecticut
C
Georgia
C
North Dakota
C
Pennsylvania
C
Tennessee
C
New Hampshire
D
Oklahoma
D
Alabama
F
Alaska
F
Indiana
F
Kansas
F
Kentucky
F
Michigan
F
Mississippi
F
Missouri
F
North Carolina
F
South Carolina
F
South Dakota
F
Texas
F
Virginia
F
West Virginia
F
Wisconsin
F
Wyoming
F
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