Consumerist
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badvertising
Old Cigarette Ads: Doctors, Nurses, And Rock Hudson Say It's Good For You
Man, cigarettes were awesome in the past, if these old ads collected by Stanford University are to be believed. They calmed your nerves so you'd stop humming nervously! They soothed your throat! They made you a movie star and helped you capture animals on your big game hunt! We don't know what tobacco was made of before the mid-80s, but no wonder everyone smoked. More » -
Sorry, light cigarette smokers! The Second Circuit denied you class-action status in your suit against the tobacco companies. A district court judge had held that "virtually all Americans who had purchased cigarettes labeled as 'light'" could be part of the class. The appellate court laughed at this broad certification, saying it would not "reduce the range of issues in dispute and promote judicial economy." [Consumer Law & Policy Blog]
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conflict of interest
Liggett Cigarette Company Paid For 2006 Lung Cancer Study
CT scanning, a promising approach to detecting lung cancer at early, treatable stages, has been dealt a setback with the revelation that the most prominent study so far in support of it was funded almost entirely by a cigarette company—with the funds funneled through a foundation set up by the study's author, Dr. Claudia Henschke, reports the New York Times. Although the funding revelation doesn't negate the results of the study, it raises huge conflict of interest flags and reveals how a tobacco company secretly influenced professional opinion by funneling $3.6 million into the foundation over a three year period. More » -
Some Minnesota bars are getting around smoking bans by holding "theater nights" and proclaiming everyone in the bar an "actor." State law allows performers to smoke during theatrical performances. [Star-Tribune via BoingBoing]
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news from the swamp
Senate Committee Votes To Give FDA Power To Regulate Tobacco
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted 13-8 to empower the FDA to regulate tobacco products. States and municipalities have spent years shoving cigarettes out of the public domain, but the FDA would be able to control cigarette advertising, mandate bigger, European-style warning labels, and regulate nicotine content. Only Congress has the power to ban cigarettes outright. From the Boston Globe:Yesterday's slim majority however, came as Republican-sponsored amendments loom that could gut the bill's main intent.
More » -
news from the swamp
Cigarette Taxes Rising To $1 Per Pack
Sorry smokers, the federal cigarette tax will soon be $1 per pack, a 61 cent increase, if the Senate Finance Committee has its way. Both chambers of Congress agree that a higher tax is needed to help finance an expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program. From the Times-News Online: More » -
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blogs
Five Things Tobacco Companies Wish They Never Said
Here's five thing about nicotine's addictiveness and the industry's underlying motives that tobacco companies probably wish they never said. Not like they're a shock or anything, it's just that they're there, in print, in court documents. Blamo. More » -
addiction
Specific Brain Injury Stops Smoking Addiction
From the New York Times:
Scientists studying stroke patients are reporting today that an injury to a specific part of the brain, near the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit. People with the injury who stopped smoking found that their bodies, as one man put it, "forgot the urge to smoke."
Oddly enough, the part of the brain in question is the insula, otherwise known as one of the part that makes you a spendthrift or a tightwad. It's the same part that lights up when a price is too high. The insula is crazy!—MEGHANN MARCO
In Clue to Addiction, Brain Injury Halts Smoking [NYT] More » -
cigarettes
Study Finds Higher Levels Of Nicotine In Cigarettes
NPR has an interesting report on The Harvard School of Public Health's findings that nicotine levels in cigarettes are rising, despite tobacco companies' promise not to work to increase the levels of the addictive substance in their products. More » -
cigarettes
Addicted to Cool: Menthol Cigarettes Are Harder to Quit
Is the minty freshness of menthol cigarettes more addicting than regular cigarettes? More »
cigarettes
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Mon Dec 1
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