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  • Opinion:Anti-Smoking Movement a Cancer on American Liberty

    By Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights March 06, 2009

    By Don Watkins | Any Rand writer and research specialist Newport Beach is considering banning smoking in a variety of new places, potentially including parks and outdoor dining areas. This is just the latest step in a widespread war on smoking by federal, state, and local...

  • Opinion:Marijuana Use Increasing Among People 50+

    By National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws February 05, 2010

    ROCKVILLE, MD --  Americans over age 50 are using marijuana in greater numbers, according to survey data compiled by the United States Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Association ( SAMHSA ). Among men age 50 to 54, nearly 9 percent admitted to having used marijuana within the...

  • News:Some Smokers May Carry Gene that Increases Lung Cancer Risk

    By Reason Foundation July 05, 2009

    GenomeWeb News is reporting the results of a very preliminary study in which researchers test smokers for a genetic variant that slightly increases their risk of lung cancer : Researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute and elsewhere used online and telephone surveys to gauge...

  • Opinion:The FDA's New Orwellian Cigarette Regulation

    By Reason Foundation April 02, 2009

    By Jacob Sullum, Reason Senior Editor Yesterday, as expected, the House of Representatives approved a bill that would authorize the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products . One of the concerns raised by the bill's critics  is that FDA regulation of cigarettes will be...

  • Opinion:Hugh Jackman Making Kids Smoke, Says Paranoid Health Group

    By Reason Foundation May 31, 2009

    Not so long ago, we read about how cars are like cigarettes in that they both are sexy and carcinogenic. Now comes the latest from the American Medical Association Alliance, a confusingly named group which demands that any movie featuring smoking be rated R, apparently for "Reprehensible." In...

  • Opinion:Do Anti-Smoking Programs Really Reduce Smoking?

    By The Cato Institute July 21, 2009

    by Michael Marlow Tobacco control is a prime example of a government program with the noblest of intentions. Tobacco is unhealthy; and its impact on public health makes it easy to convince people that government should fund programs that reduce smoking . The Centers for Disease Control and...

  • Opinion:Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus Has Ideas for Tax Hikes

    By Reason Foundation July 12, 2009

    When it comes to health -care reform, Congressional Democrats are behaving a lot like newlyweds eying their dream home: They've finally found something they truly love — trouble is, they have no idea how to pay for it . Well, maybe that's not entirely fair. In response to the news that Senate...

  • Opinion:Smoking Bans About Stigmatizing Smokers, Not Protecting Public

    By The Cato Institute October 27, 2009

    by Patrick Basham and John Luik A proposal to ban lighting up in New York's parks has exposed the puritanical agenda behind the crusade against smoking . The truth about second-hand smoking is finally out. Thanks to some unusual candour on the part of the anti- tobacco brigade in New York...

  • News:APHA Supports Bill Giving FDA Oversight of Tobacco Industry

    By American Public Health Association April 02, 2009

    The American Public Health Association (APHA) today applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act . The legislation aims to protect the health of Americans, particularly children , by giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...

  • Research:Pulmonary Risk for Marijuana-Only Smokers Far from Clear

    By Marijuana Policy Project April 16, 2009

    Earlier this week there was a smattering of press attention to a study  published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal , dealing with a deadly lung condition known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. “Marijuana plus cigarettes boosts lung disease risk,” is how...

  • Opinion:Matthew Modine Says Cars and Cigarettes Both Cause Cancer!

    By Reason Foundation May 27, 2009

    Via the increasingly indispensable Big Hollywood comes a link to a Huffington Post post by actor and self-identified "self-propulsion and self-motivation" zealot Matthew Modine. As much as I admire Modine as an actor (and I do!), what a limousine liberal to the max! Or, more precisely, a...

  • Research:Direct Link Found Between Smoking and Brain Damage

    By News-Medical.Net June 23, 2009

    New research which suggests a direct link between smoking and brain damage will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry . Researchers, led by Debapriya Ghosh and Dr Anirban Basu from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC), have found that a compound in tobacco...

  • News:Defense Dept. Asked to Eliminate Smoking from the Military

    By U.S. Department of Defense July 10, 2009

    By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, July 10, 2009 – The military has come a long way from the time when it packaged cigarettes in with rations, but more must be done, according to an Institute of Medicine report. The report, titled “Combating Tobacco in Military...

  • News:FDA Says E-Cigarettes Have Carcinogens & Toxic Chemicals

    By Reason Foundation July 23, 2009

    Today the Food and Drug Administration announced that laboratory analysis of cartridges used in electronic cigarettes , which deliver nicotine in a propylene glycol vapor instead of tobacco smoke, "has found that they contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol, an...

  • Opinion:Drug Czar Responds to Outraged Marijuana Supporters

    By Marijuana Policy Project August 03, 2009

    Last week, several thousand MPP members called and e-mailed the White House to express outrage at drug czar Gil Kerlikowske’s statement that “ marijuana is dangerous and has no medical benefit.” A big thanks to everyone who took action! This week, the White House started sending out a form...

  • Opinion:Evidence Lacking on What Makes Teens Smoke Cigarettes

    By The Cato Institute September 13, 2009

    by Patrick Basham Tobacco policy currently rests on two claims: tobacco advertising and promotion are the major reasons why young people begin to smoke; and young people are particularly sensitive to the price of cigarettes . From these two claims follow the central elements of tobacco policy...

  • Opinion:NYC Wants to Ban Smoking Outdoors-Going Too Far?

    By Reason Foundation September 15, 2009

    by Jacob Sullum New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, who wants to expand the city's smoking ban to cover parks and beaches, makes no bones about the fact that the goal is to save smokers from themselves. According to The New York Times , "Dr. Farley said the ban—which...

  • Opiniion:The Mainstream Media's 5 Favorite Marijuana Myths

    By National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws September 27, 2009

    Writing in the journal Science nearly four decades ago, New York State University sociologist Erich Goode documented the media 's complicity in maintaining cannabis prohibition. He observed: "[T]ests and experiments purporting to demonstrate the ravages of marijuana consumption receive...

  • News:FDA Warns Sellers of Illegal Flavored Cigarettes

    By U.S. Food and Drug Administration November 08, 2009

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is enforcing the flavored cigarette ban provision of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) by issuing several warning letters to companies continuing to sell illegal flavored cigarettes to consumers in the United...

  • Research:Teen Smoking and Meth Use Decline Significantly

    By National Institutes of Health December 14, 2009

    WASHINGTON – Methamphetamine use among teens appears to have dropped significantly in recent years, according to NIDA's annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, released today at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. However, declines in marijuana use have...

  • Opinion:Movie "It's Complicated" Gets Restricted Rating Because of Pot

    By Marijuana Policy Project December 29, 2009

    By Kurt A. Gardinier The romantic comedy “It’s Complicated,” which stars Steve Martin, Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, was recently given an R rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The rating was not due to explicit language, graphic violence, sex or nudity (many...

  • Opinion:Group Submits Petition to Legalize Marijuana in Nevada

    By Marijuana Policy Project January 06, 2010

    CARSON CITY, Nev. --- Today, on the steps of the State Capitol building, the campaign manager for Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, Dave Schwartz, unveiled the details of a proposed 2012 ballot initiative to establish a taxed and regulated marijuana market in the state of Nevada. The...

  • Opinion:Anti-Smoking Advocate Criticizes "Avatar" for Cigarettes

    By Reason Foundation January 06, 2010

    By Jacob Sullum Anti- smoking activist Stanton Glantz thought Avatar was "a great movie," except for the one detail that moved him to launch a publicity campaign against it: Grace Augustine, the environmental scientist played by Sigourney Weaver, has a cigarette habit. "This...

  • Opinion:Bill to Give FDA Regulation Over Tobacco is Wrong

    By The Cato Institute June 03, 2009

    by Patrick Basham Handing tobacco regulation over to the FDA, as Congress is poised to do , is an epic public health mistake. It is tantamount to giving the keys of the regulatory store to the nation’s largest cigarette manufacturer, Philip Morris. The legislation that will be voted on...

  • Opinion:Recession Ushers in More Tobacco Taxes

    By Stateline.Org June 18, 2009

    Clipping away at a $590 million deficit, Rhode Island this April raised its taxes on cigarettes by $1 to $3.46 a pack – the highest rate in the country. With the backing of its governor, a former tobacco lobbyist, Mississippi in May imposed its first tax hike on smokers in more than two...

  • Opinion:Possible FDA Ban on E-Cigarettes is Wrong Move

    By Competitive Enterprise Institute August 03, 2009

    by Hans Bader The FDA is now moving towards banning a smoking alternative that could save many lives. Every year, millions of smokers like my wife try and fail to quit, because they are nicotine addicts. Many later die of smoking-related illnesses, which are caused by the smoke, not the...

  • Research:New Evidence That Healthy Life Means Long Life

    By National Institutes of Health August 11, 2009

    People who adopt four healthy behaviors -- never smoking , regular exercise , eating well and maintaining a healthy weight -- can dramatically reduce their likelihood for chronic disease and an early death, a new study confirms. On average, healthy living may cut your odds for heart disease...

  • Research:Wider Waist Boosts Asthma Risk for Women

    By National Institutes of Health August 25, 2009

    Women with extra fat around their waists are more likely to develop asthma, even if they aren't overweight, a new study finds. The California Teachers Study of more than 88,000 women found the same association between obesity and increased incidence of asthma that has been seen in other...

  • Research:God + 2 Parents = Non Smoker

    By Family Research Council August 26, 2009

    by Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D. & Althea Nagai, Ph.D. Adults who frequently attended religious services as adolescents and grew up living with both biological parents are least likely to smoke. According to the General Social Surveys (GSS), 31 percent of adults who attended religious services at...

  • Research:Anti-Marijuana Ads Actually Encourage Teen Use

    By National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws September 09, 2009

    Anti-drug public service announcements that feature teens using marijuana are less likely to dissuade viewers from experimenting with pot than are advertisements absent such images, according to survey data to be published in the journal Health Communication . Investigators at the...