The United Pro Choice Smokers Rights Newsletter
Issue # 47: 12/24/99
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In this issue:
1. Comparative Evidence: Smoking As A Source of Pollution
2. Minnesota Joins States To Curb Marketing Of 'Bidis' Cigarettes
3. Nicotine Vaccine Takes At Smoking Addiction
4. Pay Clinton's Fees?
5. Canada News
6. Hazards of Increasing Cigarette Taxes
7. Australia Bans "Ecstasy" Cigarettes
8. We Are Everyday People
1. Comparative Evidence: Smoking As A Source of Pollution, Compared With Other Sources: Forces.
Double Standards: Diesel Vs. Secondhand Smoke, Assessment of Volatile Hydrocarbons from Tobacco Smoke and from Vehicle Emissions, The B.C. AirCare Report, The Aircraft Emission Study: Technical Data on Reducing Emissions for Commercial Aviation, The Exhaust Emissions Study.
2. Minnesota Joins States To Curb Marketing Of 'Bidis' Cigarettes: Channel 4000.
Other states joined in the effort are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
3. Nicotine Vaccine Takes At Smoking Addiction: By Richard A. Knox.
Scientists report today that they have devised a vaccine that blocks nicotine from entering the brain, raising the prospect of a novel way to help smokers quit.
4. Pay Clinton's Fees? ThirdAge.
Should President Clinton be reimbursed for the millions of dollars he spent on legal fees for his defense in the investigation of Whitewater, his affair with Monica Lewinsky and the resultant impeachment trial?
The Bill Clinton Countdown Calendar: Jim Huber.
A handsome spiral-bound calendar that begins with January 2000, and continues for thirteen months through January 2001, when the next president is inaugurated.
Each month will feature a full page "Politically Correct" cartoon by renown cartoonist JIM HUBER. For easy reference, each day lists the number of days that remain in the Clinton presidency.
5. Canada News: No Smoking Gun: National Post Online.
To begin, what law prevents Canadian manufacturers from exporting their products?
Lighten Up: National Post.
When smoking bans are put in place, people are in danger of losing jobs. Even the B.C. government concedes this risk: Friday, B.C. Premier Dan Miller hinted that he might back off from the ban. He announced, "If, in my view, there is an unintended consequence, in other words, a negative impact where jobs are at stake, then I may see if there are alternative mechanisms available."
Breathe Deeply: By Warren Klass.
Those were the days however, when medical professionals were interested in treating disease rather than making a political diagnosis.
Ottawa Sues Big Tobacco For $1-billion: By Joel-Denis Bellavance.
The federal government doubled taxes and duties on tobacco in February, 1991, as part of a national strategy to combat tobacco use. However, it was forced to reduce them significantly in 1994 because of massive cross-border smuggling.
6. Hazards of Increasing Cigarette Taxes: The National Center for Policy Analysis.
In Europe, the smuggling problem has led some countries, like Sweden, to actually cut their tax rates, reducing smugglers' profits and helping keep cigarette distribution within established channels. Indeed, lower tax rates can even raise government revenue.
7. Australia Bans "Ecstasy" Cigarettes: Flash.
The state government today bowed to pressure and banned the sale of herbal "Ecstasy" cigarettes to minors, following fears the product could encourage drug use. They are already banned in Queensland and South Australia. The cigarettes, which have been freely available to children in New South Wales, were marketed with the slogan: "It smells like POT. Looks like POT. Relaxes like POT".
8. We Are Everyday People:
*** Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype? Natural Resources Defense Council.
While bottled water marketing conveys images of purity, inadequate regulations offer no assurance.
*** The Hidden Cost Of Kicking The Habit: The Globe and Mail.
Major Vaillancourt thinks as much. In May, he issued a warning to staff physicians to consider the risks and benefits of prescribing the drug more carefully. He wants to study it, too. This fall, he plans to survey military personnel who may have used the drug, and then review the charts of those who had reactions to it.
*** The Constitution, Political History and Citizenship: Barefoot Bob's.
Every Concerned Citizen Should STUDY Each Of These Pages. It is only as you "Educate Yo'Self" that a DIFFERENCE can be made.
*** The Personal Freedoms Protection Amendment: The Dreamers.
"Behavior expressed in the pursuit of happiness, which does not force others to participate against their will, is an unalienable right of the American people."
*** Y2K Watch: Wired News.
The millennium bug is out there, somewhere deep inside embedded chips that run the nation's trains, power grid, banks, weapons, airports, and so on. Which systems will crash, and for how long? Will Y2K prove a big bang, or fizzle? Nobody knows until we get there.
*** Freewillies Free Zone: Freewillies.
USA Concealed-Carry Map, Bill of No Rights, The Armed Citizen!, The Hall of Clones!, George McGovern - 'Whose Life Is It?', and more.
Secret Talks in NY May Lead to Nation's Highest Cig. Tax [12/17-3]
Excerpts from CIG TAX MAY RISE 50 State in secret dealings to aid health, hosps
By TRACEY TULLY, Daily News (New York) [12/16/99]
ALBANY - Cigarette prices in New York would soar by 50 cents a pack under a deal state leaders are secretly negotiating, sources involved in the talks said yesterday.
The proposed hike would make New York's cigarette tax the nation's highest.
The increase is a key component in down-to-the-wire talks over complicated funding formulas that pump $3 billion a year into hospitals and health-care programs. The formulas expire Dec. 31.
The deadline is driving intense negotiations among Gov. Pataki, top legislative leaders and Dennis Rivera, president of Local 1199, the 190,000-member health care workers union.
If adopted, New York's tax on a pack of smokes would jump to $1.06, bringing the average price to about $3.50. New York City adds an additional 8-cent surcharge.
Common sense isn't.
Voltaire
Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy,
for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty.
Henri Frédéric Amiel, The Private Journal of Henri Frédéric Amiel
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