Smoking kills, they said in their hollow voices

Gowramma, 48, lost her voice box and the entire food pipe to cancer caused due to tobacco chewing for more than 12 years.

Post surgery, her food pipe was removed and her stomach is now just below her throat making it extremely difficult for her to chew food and digest it. Speaking in a hollow male voice using voice prosthetics, she said no one should suffer the way she has.

“Tobacco is an addiction, which does not kill you immediately. The suffering is prolonged and it kills you every minute,” she said.

Government rejects Labour's cigarette 'U-turn' claim

The government has denied claims it has caved in to the tobacco industry after plans to introduce plain cigarette packaging in England were put on hold.

A decision has been delayed so more time can be spent examining how similar plans have worked in Australia.
Health minister Anna Soubry said she "would never give into pressure" and awaiting more evidence was "sensible".
But Labour said it was a "humiliating u-turn" and questioned the input of Tory election strategist Lynton Crosby.Tobacco.
Health campaigners and doctors groups have criticised the move, which comes as the government confirmed plans to set a minimum price for alcohol in England are to be formally abandoned.
David Cameron was a vocal advocate of minimum pricing as a way of tackling drink-related health and social problems but he appears to have been defeated by ministers who feared it would not work and prove unpopular with voters.
BBC political correspondent Ben Wright suggested the Conservatives were trying to jettison potentially unpopular policies in order to focus on their core economic message in the run up to the next election.
Ministers had also been keen to go ahead with the cigarette packaging proposal, designed to discourage young people from smoking by making the packets less attractive, after the Department of Health held a consultation last year.
Under the plans, the standardised packets would all be the same colour, with the same font, and carry a prominent graphic warning.
'Polarised' But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the government wanted to see how the policy had worked in Australia, the first country to introduce plain packaging last year, before making a "final decision".

He said a public consultation on the issue, the details of which have been published on Friday, had shown that the debate was "highly polarised" with "strong views" about the effectiveness of the policy on both sides.

In an urgent question in the Commons, shadow health minister Dianne Abbott said the "disgraceful" announcement showed the government had "caved in to big business" and the "health of the nation has been sacrificed to the interests of big tobacco".
"We have to ask on this side of the House what happened," she added. "We suspect that Lynton Crosby happened."
Mr Crosby's lobbying firm Crosby Textor was employed by British American Tobacco in Australia, but the company said the lobbyists did not work on its campaign against plain packaging there.
Asked what evidence Labour had of Mr Crosby's direct involvement, Mrs Abbott said she was not saying "he is influencing public health decisions per se" but suggested he had told senior Tories that this and other policies would give them "problems with UKIP".

But health minister Anna Soubry told MPs this was a "complete red herring" since Mr Crosby had not had any conversation with a health minister on the issue.

And No 10 said Mr Crosby had had "no involvement" in the decision and had never lobbied David Cameron on the issue.
The decision was criticised by Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, a former GP, who said many advances in public health - such as the ban on smoking in public places - were controversial at the time but now commanded overwhelming public support.
"My view unfortunately is that it's all about election strategy, she told the BBC. "The idea that public health is something which should be scraped off the boat as some election strategists have announced I think is entirely wrong."
But Conservative colleague Peter Bone said "evidence-based" policy making was right and changes should not be "rushed through".
'Key tool' Cancer Research UK claimed the decision would cost lives while the British Medical Association said it was "deeply disappointing" since packaging was a "key tool" for the industry to attract young smokers.
"This is another example of a government which claims to have prioritised public health putting vested interests over those of the public," Dr Vivienne Nathanson, its director of professional activities, said.
But pro-smokers' group Forest said ministers had "listened to ordinary people" and it was good news for those who "believe in consumer freedom and are opposed to excessive regulation".
The Tobacco Manufacturers Association said the government should look at alternative measures, such as tackling the black-market trade and sales to under-aged smokers.
"Plain packaging would have been an assault on UK business in the midst of difficult economic times," it said. "Plain packs would be far easier to copy and would have therefore been a gift to the criminal gangs behind the increasing illegal trade in tobacco."
The Scottish government says it is "still committed" to introducing plain packaging and is expected to press ahead with its own plans.
The Welsh government said it was "disappointed" by the delay and would consider "the way forward" while the Northern Ireland executive said it would like to see a "UK-wide" response to the issue.

Time to clear the air on cannabis

‘I live at home with my dad and I smoke weed in front of him and it doesn’t faze him in the least. There is no taboo with it anymore,” explains Pauline Scanlon, a singer from Dingle and a habitual cannabis user.

As cannabis users go, Scanlon is in fact in the minority. The majority of users, according to a National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (NACD) report published this week, are male. Of those who have tried it in their lifetime, 35 per cent are from higher socioeconomic groups such as professionals, managers or civil servants. Of the general population, one in four 15- to 64-year-olds have tried cannabis in their lifetime, which is an increase of 3 per cent on the last survey conducted in 2006/07.

Lifetime usage rates were also highest among those who ceased education at 20 or those who completed third level, compared with those who left school at 15, indicating its popularity among higher socioeconomic groups. Students and those dependent on State aid were most likely to have used cannabis in the past month.

The study also highlighted the increased preference for cannabis herb or weed over cannabis resin in recent years. In 2007, 53.8 per cent of cannabis used was hash, which declined to 22.6 per cent in 2011. The use of cannabis herb jumped from just 8.4 per cent of the cannabis used in 2007, to 46.5 per cent in 2011, as more drugs are being grown, harvested and consumed here. Smoking.

Socially acceptable
Despite a feeling among cannabis users that the drug has become more socially acceptable, the report found that 69 per cent of the general population is against legalising recreational cannabis use, while 66 per cent would be in favour of allowing cannabis use solely for medical purposes.

The Irish Medicines Board has received a market authorisation application from a pharmaceutical company for Sativex, a cannabinoid mouth spray. Following the publication of the NACD report, Minister Alex White said that plans are at “quite an advanced stage in preparing regulations to allow for a very limited availability of cannabis for medical purposes”.

Dr Chris Luke, consultant in emergency medicine at Mercy University Hospital in Cork, has given the news a guarded welcome but issued some reservations.

“So-called ‘medicinal use’ of cannabis, and products derived from the many ingredients of the cannabis plant, is arguably a Trojan horse for the liberalisation of cannabis availability,” he says.

“The scientific evidence supporting medicinal application of cannabinoids remains only marginally positive and the ‘medicalised’ version of the drug brings with it serious hazards, most notably cognitive impairment [of concentration and memory] and occasional ‘mental illness’.”

One of those patients currently relying on cannabis for medicinal purposes is 21-year-old Aodh Rua, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma two years ago. Prior to this, he had used cannabis recreationally, but he says he now relies on the drug to help him to get through chemotherapy.

Smoking ban effective today

As soon as copies of The Messenger hit driveways this morning, Troy’s new no-smoking ordinance will be in effect. That means bars that open up tonight will be smoke free establishments.
“Once the ordinance is published it becomes law and we are duty bound as the executive branch to enforce the laws of the city,” said Mayor Jason A. Reeves. “We will make every effort to educate our citizens and the public on what the law entails so they can be in compliance.”

The best cigarettes are  Davidoff cigarettes.

That includes the city providing a “Cliff’s Notes” version of the 15 page ordinance to business license holders in Troy so it’s easier to read what measures must be taken by business owners.
The city also plans to provide window decals for businesses, notifying patrons that the establishment is smoke free. The City of Troy License and Inspection Department will mail decals to every licensed business in the city limits.
The City of Troy Smoke Free Ordinance of 2013 was approved at Tuesday night’s council meeting where members voted unanimously to pass the law.
The ordinance extends current non-smoking rules to include all restaurants, bars, private clubs, single-tenant commercial office buildings, hotel/motels, tobacco specialty shops, child care and adult care facilities, elevators, health care facilities, apartment common areas, polling places, educational facilities, theaters, sports arenas, service lines and other enclosed places.
According to city officials, places such as the Half Shell and the Troy Country Club will not be grandfathered in. No business is exempt from the ordinance. Establishments with outdoor deck areas, such as Cheers and The Front Porch, will be allowed to modify or use those spaces and still be in compliance with the ordinance, as long as smokers are more than 20 feet from the door.
The ordinance also prohibits smoking within 20 feet of a business’ entrances and exits, operable windows and ventilation systems.
The ordinance does not include private residences or cars.
Any Troy Police Department on-duty officer is now authorized to enforce the ordinance, and the penalty is a $50 fine per individual offense. For businesses, the fine is $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second offense in the same year, and $500 for each subsequent offense in the same year.
Violations will be treated in the same manner as a traffic violation, according to the ordinance.
If a business owner or manager violates the ordinance, the law says suspension or revocation of any permit or license issued may occur.
To read a copy of the 15-page ordinance, visit troymessenger.com or troyal.gov.

Marlboro Cigarettes - noble sound of the word

In the United States of America published a book "101 most influential non-existent person." Its authors - Jeremy Salter, Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan and - tells the story of the most influential fictional characters. What do you think, who is leading the list, the most popular myths of our time? Oddly enough, this is none other than macho native of America, the famous Marlboro Man, who became something of a national symbol of the United States. His name he inherited from his famous Count, a military genius, a talented politician and diplomat John Churchill - the first Duke of Marlborough. The creator of Philip Morris brand was confident that his product should be different refined, but having sufficient weight to the title. For the idea had not far to seek: in the middle of the 20th century a very popular figure in the world was a prominent politician, Winston Churchill, who compared with the famous Count. Winston Churchill was born November 30, 1874 in Blenheim Palace, the ancestral estate of the aristocratic family of Marlborough (Marlborough).

Blenheim Palace family of Marlborough

Philip Morris had in mind the noble sound of the word, but that's writing itself was too complex and cumbersome - Marlborough. Because he decided to get rid of a little blood - cut a word, removing not pleasing to him a letter. Since then the brand «Marlboro» to cut off the end of the beginning of the procession on the planet.

More news and info about cigarettes see here.

However, all attempts to gloss and meet certain "elite" image - nothing more than a publicity stunt, which was coined by the best experts on public relations. The thing is that these cigarettes are initially directed their attempts at advertising the fair sex. "Soft as the breeze in May," in the 1920s, the tobacco industry products under the name "Marlboro" placed emphasis on the equality of men and women who follow fashion trends of emancipation. In the 1950s Philip Morris began to think about the need to change course. Not too popular brand tried to save his position, trying to avoid the disastrous results of actions of scientists. The thing is that at that time were released research data Luther Terry, under which he claimed a strong link smoking with lung cancer and chronic bronchitis. Such disclosure has long been feared all the tobacco corporations. And as it turned out, not without reason: in connection with an introduction to such information in 1953 in the U.S. for the first time the history of cigarettes significantly decreased their consumption. Of course, thinking about the health of ordinary American citizens, no one was going. The fact that cigarettes cause great harm to health, the owners of tobacco factories and heard, without any research, but do we know a lot of businessmen who care about something besides the well-being of themselves and their own family? So in this case, the actions were quite predictable. Tobacco companies immediately tried to refute this information, trying to convince Americans of the unreliability of research, and when such a move has not led to expected results, are recklessly accuse competitors in that they produce more harmful varieties. Of course, a large proportion of the charges were accounted for cigarettes, while products with the filter is completely harmless. At that time it was believed that these cigarettes - exclusively female domain, because brand "Marlboro" in this case was left on the horse. However, due to the reduction in cigarette consumption in general, Philip Morris might well fail, but because he urgently needed to teach American males to think that smoking cigarettes without a filter is not shameful. From now on, ladies' tobacco products were to become universal.