Ditka tackles ban on smoking; Proposal's foes bring in Da Coach

I quote to you a statement from an old thread from a FRiend, Publius6961. This is the truest statement EVER made on any of these smoking threads, and I've said the same thing before, only not as elequently. Hope he doesn't mind my using it. He said:

How are these legal challenges organized?
I continue to be of the opinion that real progress against the anti-smoking lying nutjobs will only happen when an organized and focused national legal challenge is organized.
This would require a nationally present legal team and continued financial support from a large base of smokers and other supporters who view arbitrary discriminatory taxes and laws as an ultimate danger to everyone.

IF that doesn't happen...we can kiss our a$$es ...goodbye.

Hey, gorgeous, do you have that WHO report -that the media buried -that debunked their other report? The one that said ETS was NOT harmful? It's gettin' hot & heavy on a local board, and I need some documents to back me up. Thanks.

I'm SO sorry! I just signed on this morning and found your post from last night.

Do you still need that WHO report????

I think Rush has it on his site. Lemme look...

Perhaps Ditka should tell his wife he must do his duty to Illinois and run for the Senate.

Da Coach vs. Da Dick.

do you have that WHO report -that the media buried -that debunked their other report? The one that said ETS was NOT harmful?

From Rushlimbaugh.com:

2nd Hand Smoke Is Harmless!

I, El Rushbo, am about to blow the minds of all of you who have swallowed the one-sided propaganda that tells you second-hand smoke is the deadliest substance known to humanity. I will do so with an article in The Electronic Telegraph from March 8th, 1998.

The article is titled: "Passive Smoking Doesn't Cause Cancer - Official"

Now, you may not have heard of this paper before, but I'll bet you've heard of the group that withheld this study showing that there may be no link between second-hand smoke and cancer - the group is WHO, the World Health Organization.

I bring this story up because a minority group that has been demonized and discriminated against for years is finally starting to fight back. Thousands of smokers are expected Saturday at one o'clock in the afternoon in New York at South Ferry where they'll begin a march on City Hall.

The smokers will protest a Draconian proposal to ban cigarettes in every restaurant and bar in New York City. The smokers are to be joined by restaurateurs, waiters, and bartenders whose livelihood will be damaged by the ban being pushed by anti-smoking Nazis.

Many Callers for Freedom Until It Comes to Smoking

Here you have New York City, where anything goes, where you can get anything you want any time, day or night, 365 days a year. Yet, if the city council gets its way, you won't be able to smoke a cigarette anywhere. You already can't smoke outside at Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium or any other public city venue. You cannot smoke in bars and restaurants that have more than several people. Now they're going to extend the ban to virtually everywhere - and it's not an illegal substance!

One flier drumming up support for this thing says, "We must show in force that we will not tolerate the ever-increasing politically correct changing of our great city by a handful of prudes who disregard our basic rights. What's next, no booze at the bar? It can happen."

Bringing up this story brought on a torrent of feel-first, logic-second calls, as well as those from non-smokers who support the right of smokers to smoke and of businesses to offer what services they will. This was an incredible spicy day of broadcast excellence, folks, and you can listen to it all right here.
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This is one of them -dated 03.22.01. There's a few more.

Here's a link to a CNS news article.

2nd Study Confirms 2nd Hand Smoke Harmless
May 16, 2003

My friends, there's now a second medical study which confirms that secondhand smoke doesn't kill. Not only does it not kill, it doesn't do much damage. It causes discomfort, but there's no great health consequence to it.

The World Health Organization first made this known, and it's on our website ever since. Our tens of thousands of beloved Rush 24/7 members, can access it each and every day, and read it. We've made it free for all right now just so people can once again access it, because it's just classic. They suppressed it because it came up exactly opposite of what they thought what they wanted. And it's a huge survey of a lot of people. This whole secondhand smoke business is an absolute lie, a myth, and now there's another study that basically confirms it! The media today is acting like this is the first one they've ever seen. Well, we have both of them, right at the bottom of this page.

The New York Post, earlier this week, ran a survey of local bars and restaurants in New York City to find out how they're being affected by the smoking ban, and quite a few of them say businesses is way, way down. Mayor Bloomberg dismissed this, because he says restaurants close every day in New York, but fortunately new ones open every day, too.

John Podhoretz has responded in a column that the problem is that when restaurants close and open due to the ebb and flow of the free market, that's fine, but businesses closing because they're hurt by a law - that's a different matter. That's what's happened in New York City. We have a nanny state mayor who has decided that secondhand smoke will kill and people must not be forced to be around it. So he's outlawed smoking and as a result, a lot of businesses, bars and restaurants are hurting. Podhoretz's point is: here we have a billionaire saying, "Well, so what if these little small-fries go out of business, they'll be replaced." It's total insensitivity. It's about time this guy came out of the clouds and started realizing that his own self-preferences affect real people.
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Another link.

One more:
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Demonized Nicotine May Smoke Diseases
July 19, 2004

As I mentioned, ladies and gentlemen, this is from the UK Observer. You know, a lot of stuff ends up in this paper that's pretty good. It is a liberal paper of sorts but it was in this paper where I learned that the World Health Organization suppressed the truth of its survey on secondhand smoke and whether or not it's deadly -- it isn't -- whether it's harmful -- it isn't. They suppressed it but it's on our website in the Essential Stack of Stuff. (2nd Hand Smoke Is Harmless!) Well, get this.

From the Sunday edition of the UK Observer Guardian, or Guardian Observer, whatever: "Nicotine could soon be rehabilitated as a treatment for schizophrenia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases as well as hyperactivity disorders." In fact, I'm holding this story in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers. "Research shows that the chemical that has addicted millions to smoking has a powerful impact on brain activity, in patients who suffer from psychiatric and degenerative disorders." Well, we've told you this before. This is old news actually to us here at the EIB Network. I mean, if you're a regular listener here you heard this yeeears ago, ladies and gentlemen. That's what I mean by "on the cutting edge of societal evolution." The fact they just got around to this in Great Britain is good. The word is spreading.

"Some experiments have shown that nicotine can slow down the onset of Parkinson's symptoms. Others have revealed its power in curtailing the hallucinations of schizophrenics. 'A whole range of psychiatric conditions seem to be helped by nicotine,' said Dr. Dan McGehee, a neurobiologist at the University of Chicago. 'However, such benefits do not justify smoking. The lethal effects of cigarettes far outweigh any help they provide. On the other hand, our research does suggest that derivatives of nicotine administered medically could help to alleviate a range of psychiatric problems.'" Well, let's get nicotine approved by Medicare! Let's do it. (pounds desk) Let's move on this now, folks: Nicotine approved by Medicare. We haven't even gotten around to this business of -- well, we talked about it on Friday. Obesity is now an official "disease." (Rush: Trial Lawyers Closer to Making Obesity a Disease)

Nicotine helps that, too, by the way. Well it helps curb the appetite. If you're a smoker and you stop (hee, hee, hee) you know. Ask Mr. Snerdley. "Nicotine is..." (laughing, clearing throat). "Nicotine is known to switch on receptors on the surface of cells in certain parts of the brain causing these neurons to release the neurotransmitter dopamine, a chemical that is associated with the feelings of pleasure. This effect leads to a person's addiction," and I'll tell you about dopamine. It's thirty times more powerful than morphine, and if nicotine releases dopamine -- and I'm not disputing that it does, but if it does -- it's not even a speck compared to... Try crystal meth if you want to find out what an overdose of dopamine does. That stuff is horrible. It is just horrible, but dopamine is the key here. I mean, that's what this stuff works on. Dopamine is the thing that gets activated when these pleasure receptors are stimulated. However, with whatever, nicotine, sometimes behavioral things can do it, too.

But it is extreeemely powerful, and people are -- the evil types of the world are -- trying to figure out what it is, what designer drug would cause a massive release of dopamine right off -- this is the side issue here -- that would cause instant addiction to whatever designer drug they create. This stuff is natural. It's produced by the brain, but it's such small quantity. If nicotine is releasing dopamine, it's nothing, but I tell you what. Don't misunderstand me, because try to think of this as it was explained to me. The most addictive drug, substance, whatever, on the planet is nicotine -- and here's the proof. No one has a pleasant first experience with it, and yet... You ever seen somebody smoke their first cigarette? (Coughing wildly, first-time smoker impression) "Never doing this again. Where's my back?" It's the most powerful drug on the face of the earth.
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Amen. I can't stand the better than thou attitude that non smokers have. I happen to be a non smoker but I support the rights of adults using a legal product. If the anti's don't like smoke, fine. Don't go there!

Many Thanks, Randall.