The United Pro Choice Smokers Rights Newsletter

Issue # 34: 9/24/99 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. Presidential Treason 105
2. Brown & Williamson: 1-800-578-7453
3. Fat-food Tax Urged In War On Obesity
4. Wasserman's 'Reality'
5. U.S. Plans to Seek Billions in Tobacco Lawsuit
6. Smoking From All Sides: Statistics
7. Travelers: Here's Another Place Where You Can't Smoke
8. We Are Everyday People

1. Presidential Treason 105: By Gretchen Glass. A President need not directly perform the treasonous acts himself to sell out our country. He need only to open the doors, put the 'right' people in charge and let the Communists and their sympathizers have full run of the labs and the key departments of our government - and the White House - effectively creating an enabling environment.

2. Brown & Williamson: 1-800-578-7453: Washington Post. The Butt of a Marketing Joke? Company spokesman Mark Smith said the Louisville-based firm wanted to "put [on] more of a human face." It is "our attempt to have some fun and be more approachable." The toll-free number (1-800-578-7453) offers "adult smokers" the chance to get on a mailing list, order merchandise catalogues or ask questions.

3. Fat-food Tax Urged In War On Obesity: By Usha Lee McFarling. Obesity experts offered a radical agenda Wednesday to reduce the growing ranks of overweight Americans, including proposals to tax high-fat foods and make insurers cover weight loss programs.
Also see:
Californians Found To Eat Unhealthy: By Jennifer Coleman. The majority of Californians surveyed blamed their extra pounds on the power of suggestion: aggressive television advertising of snacks and fast food.
( Editor note: Here we go again... tax it, control it, sue the makers, throw in "For the good of the kids" to make it PC.)

4. Wasserman's 'Reality': The Dallas Morning News. ( Scroll down for smoking articles.) While criticizing the "Alice in Wonderland" attitude of the Dallas Environmental Health Commission in regard to the public smoking issue ("Secondhand Smoke - City panel bows to lobbyists, not science and public health," Viewpoints, Sept. 12), Richard Wasserman has seemingly created his own alternate reality. In Mr. Wasserman's world, apparently, the consumer is powerless and the government is the sole guardian of an individual's health and well-being.

5. U.S. Plans to Seek Billions in Tobacco Lawsuit: The New York Times. The Justice Department is about to file a civil suit against the tobacco industry, seeking to recover billions of dollars in health-related expenses that cigarette smoking has cost over the decades, a Government official said Tuesday night.

6. Smoking From All Sides: Statistics: Smoking From All Sides. United States and International links.

7. Travelers: Here's Another Place Where You Can't Smoke: By Bob Greene. Non-smoking cars. It's already happening--as many travelers have been finding out for the last few years.

8. We Are Everyday People:
*** Traffic Pollution Found In Nearby Homes: HealthCentral. The toxic fumes are a group of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) that are created when substances burn. PAH compounds can affect people with respiratory diseases, and have been linked to lung cancer.

*** Insurer Pays Up For Damaged Pot Plants: By Dr. Dean.. This may be one of the first cases in the nation where an insurer has paid for the loss of medical marijuana plants. Maybe this will send a message to the politicians that medical marijuana has a legitimate purpose and people who use it shouldn’t be hassled.

*** Evidence Said Ignored by Drug Maker: InfoBeat. Internal company memos in 1996 indicated that American Home Products knew of illnesses and deaths from the rare lung disease among users of Pondimin, which was part of the fen-phen diet-drug combination, the report said.

*** Democrats Set Demographic Goals For Convention Delegates: Capitol Watch. California Democrats have spelled out precisely how many gays, lesbians, disabled people and minorities should serve as delegates to the party's national convention, drawing criticism from Republicans.

*** Back to a Tobacco Tax: The Washington Post. If they want to use the entire Social Security surplus to pay down the debt -- but also want to be "straightforward with the people" -- and don't have enough money to cover all the government's other costs, they have only one alternative, which is to find some extra money. Tobacco is a good place to start.

Announcing the 1999-2000 Individual Choices and Liberty Seminar at UQAH

Chaired by Prof. Alain Albert and Pierre Lemieux
Papers by Hugh High, University of Cape Town (South Africa), Dwight Lee, University of Georgia (USA), Bertrand Lemennicier, Université de Paris (France), Tomas J. Philipson and Casey Mulligan, University of Chicago (USA), Richard Wagner, George Mason University (USA), Alan Woodfield, University of Canterbury (New Zealand), and others. For information on this monthly seminar starting in November 1999, to be put on the seminar's mailing list, or to participate, please visit the (bilingual) seminar's Web site, at http://www.uqah.uquebec.ca/lemieux.

APATHY

The world is a dangerous place to live;
not because of the people who are evil,
but because of the people who don't do anything about it.
- Albert Einstein

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.