The United Pro Choice Smokers Rights Newsletter

Issue # 51: 01/21/00 Brought to you by:

The Smoker's Club, Inc.

Please send your news items to: info@smokersclub.com
Read this newsletter on a web page. http://www.smokersclub.com/newsltr.htm

In this issue:
1. Smokers NewsLink
2. Smoke Ban To Extend To Homes?
3. Poetic Murray Comes Out Smokin': view from Canada
4. U.S. High Court Lets Stand Dismissal of Tobacco Suits
5. Bill to Ban Smoking Falls Short
6. Label This Idea Misguided
7. Selecting Pipe Tobacco
8. We Are Everyday People
9. From The Mailbag
1. Smokers NewsLink: Smokers of the World Unite. "I have circled the wagons, ready to fight through the haze, and the double standards of a new millennium, snorted Joy Faulkner Libertarianz spokesman on Tobacco and Alcohol. The world watched enthralled and took huge lung-fulls of carcinogenic sooty smoke with seeming glee as the millennium clocks ticked over one by one. Where were the anti-smokers and the smoke-free fanatics I wonder? Undoubtedly part of the applauding throng.
2. Smoke Ban To Extend To Homes? By Alexandra Paul. It's the next logical step, if the public is ever to be properly protected against second-hand smoke, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority medical director Dr. Garey Mazowita told a city committee. "The issue of smoking in private residences where workers go will become an issue," the doctor warned.
3. Poetic Murray Comes Out Smokin': view from Canada: By Warren Klass. We have the world's most draconian restrictions on indoor smoking in the world. Bleeding people in wheelchairs, amputees, women who had just given birth and are still bleeding are regularly thrown out of our hospitals in -50 bellow(Fahrenheit)to have a cigarette. This is most prevalent at the very same hospital where in the longest inquiry in Canadian history, Medical professionals testified that White babies were separated from Native Indian Babies for certain slaughter by an incompetent surgeon. Winnipeg's Health Sciences Center.
4. U.S. High Court Lets Stand Dismissal of Tobacco Suits: By James Vicini. The justices let stand separate U.S. appeals court rulings that threw out the lawsuits because the union health funds were not directly injured by the cigarette makers and thus did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuits. The appeals courts ruled that such lawsuits were too ''remote'' and ``indirect'' as a matter of law.
5. Bill to Ban Smoking Falls Short: By Leslie Reed. LB 505 would continue to allow smoking in bars, including those attached to restaurants. Opponents said that the measure was heavy-handed and that it interfered with the rights of private business. "Are we going to say Big Brother knows best, or are we going to let management do what is best for their business?"asked Sen. Don Pederson of North Platte.
6. Label This Idea Misguided: By Clifford Orwin. If the bureaucrats really think that teenagers are going to be deterred from buying cigarettes (or anything else) by the grossness of the images displayed in their vicinity, they should meet some teenagers. I'll lend them mine.
But wait a minute. Maybe Flynt had it right. Let's run the revolting pictures, and when the tobacco companies cry uncle, let's sell the space on their own labels back to them. Joe Camel will resume his rightful place, bumping the ravaged lung, and we'll spend the proceeds of the label resale on antismoking programs. It's such a brilliant idea, I wish I'd thought of it myself.
7. Selecting Pipe Tobacco: By Mary McNeill. If you are a cigar smoker with an adventurous nature, who has traveled all the way from mild Macanudo to hearty Padron, it is inevitable that you will be lured into an affair with the pipe. The journey into the world of the pipe is a great adventure, so it is important that you make a good start.
8. We Are Everyday People:
*** Confessions Of A Coffee Addict: By Paul Warme. WARNING: the Surgeon General has determined that drinking coffee or exposure to coffee fumes is hazardous to your health. Coffee companies were required to include this warning in all advertisements. More recently, of course, coffee advertising has been banned in most states.

*** FDA Wants More Information On Prescription Labels: By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times. Side effects can be deadly, experts warn.Scientists estimate that more than 100,000 hospital patients each year die of reactions to their medication, and 2.2 million are injured. At least some of those deaths, Leape and others say, could be prevented if patients had clear, concise information about how to use their medication.

*** Civil Rights Tour Online: Thirdage. Take a fascinating interactive tour through the history of the civil rights struggle. Start back in the 1600s and travel through time until 1968, the year Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

*** Mr. Mills' Mouth: National Post. And if precedent is anything to go by, the money raised will fund the entire range of government services, not just health care alone. Bob Mills has therefore proposed a tax hike -- impure and simple. Is this official Reform party policy? And if not, how long should Preston Manning allow Mr. Mills to continue digging the party into a hole?

*** Together We Can Make A Difference: By Patrick (Pat) Pitman. Let's ALL get together and FIGHT for "DEMOCRACY." This web site is for everyone, Smoker, Non-Smoker and Businesses that are effected by the WCB NO-SMOKING BAN or any subject that touches on the lack of DEMOCRACY in BC or Canada. It is hoped that through this web page and other forms of media that the CITIZENS OF B.C. will be able to Voice their opinions Honestly and Politely.

9. From The Mailbag:

Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia is primarily a disease of the last trimester of pregnancy. In the mother, it is characterized by high blood pressure and proteinuria, and in severe cases headaches, blurring of vision and seizures. End-organ damage, especially to the kidneys and liver, may result if the condition is not recognized early enough, and the condition can be life threatening. Consequences for the late term fetus include diminished placental blood flow, and subsequent wasting and asymmetrical growth of the fetus.
Previously known as 'toxemia' or 'toxemia of pregnancy', preeclampsia is currently also referred to as Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension, or PIH. At present, the "best" [?} cure for this disease is delivery of the preterm baby followed by intensive neonatal care for baby and intensive surgical care for the mother. [Or she could simply SMOKE, and reduce the risk by 2/3!]

Objective: We assessed tobacco exposure in nulliparous women with preeclampsia compared with that in control subjects by measuring urinary cotinine to confirm the reduced risk of preeclampsia associated with tobacco exposure during pregnancy

Conclusion: These findings, obtained by using laboratory assay, confirm the reduced risk of developing preeclampsia with tobacco exposure. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1999;181:1192-6.)

____________________________

I had a dream in which I was seated at a table facing a row of inquisitors sitting behind a high bench. One of them, identified by a placard as "Lord High Snit" and who looked a lot like Joseph McCarthy, fixed me with his beady eyes. "Are you now or have you ever been a smoker?" he demanded.

Without waiting for an answer he plunged ahead in his third degree: "Have you ever associated with smokers? Name names! Do you consider yourself a decent American? Do you agree fully with the assessment of smoking by the WHO, WHAT and WHY? Are you willing to stake your life on disagreement with their edicts? Remember, you are under oath as well as scrutiny and discrimination!

The cross examination was abruptly taken over by a stern woman next to him who was identified as "Her Health Highness.". She also looked like Joe McCarthy. "Are you now or have you ever been overweight? Remember, I can see you! Do you eat more than you should? Do you consume fats, junk food and soft drinks? If the answer is yes, aren't you ashamed of yourself!"

I woke up in a cold sweat, realizing with trepidation that it could actually happen.

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It has been estimated that medical x-rays cause about 44,000 fatal cancers each year in the US. (Source: "What are the Chances?: Risks, Odds, and Likelihood in Everyday Life" by Bernard Siskin and Jerome Staller with David Rorvik. Mass Market Paperback, Published 1993.)

The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it.
John Hay - Castilian Days, II, 1872

In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell
Freedom By Faith

Thank you for your continued help in creating this newsletter!
For information about your local or state laws, call the Smokers Rights Action Line at 1-800-333-8683.


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