Free Republic

A self-proclaimed “vaping addict” is calling for the devices to be banned after her right lung collapsed twice and she suffered permanent scars. “You never think this type of thing will happen to you — but it happened to me. It felt like my lung was on fire,” Wisconsinite Karlee Ozkurt, 20, told SWNS. “I fell into the trap of thinking vaping was cool,” Ozkurt confessed. “But it’s stupid. I didn’t realize until it was too late.” Ozkurt’s plea follows a recent study that found that 11.3% of American high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days...

A study suggests daily cannabis users have a 25 percent increased risk of a heart attack and a 42 percent increased risk of a stroke. The new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association and funded by the National Institutes of Health showed that cannabis smoke increased the risk of heart attacks similar to tobacco smoke. Abra Jeffers, a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and former researcher at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, said that cannabis use should be considered an increased risk of...

-Joe Biden welcomed TikTok stars and social media influencers to the White House for a special briefing. -Kamala Harris hosted a special luncheon for Democratic digital operatives and social media personalities. -The White House is struggling to communicate with young people ahead of the 2024 election. -President Joe Biden hosted a young group of social media influencers at the White House this week as part of his State of the Union address.

"A Dozen NYPD Officers Arrest a Guy Smoking a Cigarette Outside as Rapists and Murderers Roam Free" So with murder, rape, assaults, burglary, and shoplifting running a mok in NY, they send twelve police officers to arrest a guy smoking a cigarette outside. In a city in which a guy feels free to ride his motorcycle down the street just shooting random people, the police apparently have their priorities in line.

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) users have greater lung inflammation than cigarette smokers and non-smokers, according to a study. This study is the first to provide evidence that vaping e-liquids with e-cigarettes creates a unique inflammatory response in the lungs that is different from cigarette smoking. E-cigarette usage has increased dramatically in the past several years, particularly among adolescents and young adults. While many people assume that e-cigarettes are safer than conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes can cause pulmonary inflammation and increase the risk of lung disease. In addition, their long-term safety has not been rigorously evaluated. This is the first PET study to...

A psychiatrist who has analyzed National Health Service data in the United Kingdom is warning that older users of marijuana are triggering a huge surge in demand for mental health services.The Christian Institute explained Dr. Tony Rao confirmed an "astonishing" 777% increase in people over the age of 55 accessing those mental health services "due to addition to the Class B drug…"Rao cited statistics from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities which confirmed the number of over-55s at treatment for cannabis addiction was 374 in 2005-06. The most recent statistics, from 2020-21, revealed 3,279 cases.He explained, "It is still...

More WA residents to be eligible for vaccines March 31, eviction moratorium extended Washington residents in tiers 3 and 4 of phase 1b of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine plan will be eligible March 31. Also, the statewide moratorium on evictions extended. BY TVW As of last week, thousands of smokers of all ages, whether current or former, are automatically eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations in our state. No proof of purchase or breath test required. No evidence that you’ve puffed at least 100 cigarettes in your lifetime, the US Centers for Disease Control’s rather random threshold for whether someone is or...

More Americans now qualify for yearly scans to detect lung cancer, according to guidelines released Tuesday that may help more Black smokers and women get screened. Lung cancer is the nation’s top cancer killer, causing more than 135,000 deaths each year. Smoking is the chief cause and quitting the best protection. Usually, lung cancer is diagnosed too late for a good chance at survival. But some Americans who are at especially high risk get an annual low-dose CT scan, a type of X-ray, to improve those odds.

It’s the first time that smoking has been good for your health. New Jersey is now allowing smokers to get the highly coveted COVID-19 vaccine — on the grounds that their habit is considered a high-risk health condition, reports said Wednesday. “Smoking puts you at significant risk for an adverse result from COVID-19 and there are 2 million smokers in New Jersey who fit into these categories,” New Jersey’s Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said, according to NJ.com.

Men are 65 per cent more likely than women to die from coronavirus, according to statistics. Figures from the World Health Organization and Chinese scientists have revealed that 1.7 per cent of women who catch the virus will die compared to 2.8 per cent of men, even though neither sex is more likely to catch it. More than 98,000 people around the world have now been diagnosed with the virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19, and at least 3,383 have died. Some experts have put the higher risk among men down to higher smoking and drinking rates – both...

U-Haul has a New Year's resolution: cut down on hiring people who smoke. The moving company said that it won't hire nicotine users in states where it is legal to do so, saying that it wants to ensure a "healthier workforce." The new policy will start Feb. 1, and won't apply to those hired before then. U-Haul said the initiative is part of its commitment to establishing a healthy corporate culture. "We are deeply invested in the well-being of our Team Members," said Jessica Lopez, U-Haul Chief of Staff, in a statement. "Nicotine products are addictive and pose a variety...

Two-thirds of Americans say the use of marijuana should be legal, reflecting a steady increase over the past decade, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. The share of U.S. adults who oppose legalization has fallen from 52% in 2010 to 32% today. Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (91%) say marijuana should be legal either for medical and recreational use (59%) or that it should be legal just for medical use (32%). Fewer than one-in-ten (8%) prefer to keep marijuana illegal in all circumstances, according to the survey, conducted Sept. 3 to 15 on Pew Research Center’s...

Famed British artist David Hockney is giving up Los Angeles after 55 years for Normandy, France, to live out the rest of his days. 'I can do twice as much work there, three times as much,' Hockney tells the Wall Street Journal of leaving the city that made him famous in the 1960s. 'I've probably not much time left and because I don't, I value it even more.' It's there in his new home, which he bought on a whim last year after seeing it for just 25 minutes, that the 82-year-old created his latest work inspired by the view...

LOUISVILLE, KY (AP) - A state senator in Kentucky says companies should be allowed to discriminate against people who smoke. Republican Sen. John Schickel of Union pre-filed his proposal this week. The bill would remove smokers from the protected classes outlined in Kentucky’s employment anti-discrimination law and allow employers to lawfully refuse to hire or terminate people who smoke.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Raising Kentucky’s cigarette tax by $1 a pack has strong support from voters across the state, according to a poll released Thursday and funded by anti-smoking interests. In all, 69 percent of those surveyed in December said they favor higher per-pack taxes in an effort to reduce smoking and spend the extra revenue on state budget needs. A majority of residents in all parts of Kentucky back a tax increase, which advocates estimate will generate more than $266 million per year. The support ranges from 61 percent of residents in western Kentucky to 77 percent in...

A Japanese company is granting non-smoking employees an extra six days of paid holidays a year after they complained that they were working more than staff who took time off for cigarette breaks. Tokyo-based marketing firm Piala Inc. only introduced the non-smokers' perk in September, but employees have been quick to take advantage. "One of our non-smoking staff put a message in the company suggestion box earlier in the year saying that smoking breaks were causing problems", said Hirotaka Matsushima, a spokesman for the company. "Our CEO saw the comment and agreed, so we are giving non-smokers some extra time...

Older smokers are usually more set in their ways, but a dollar increase in cigarette prices makes them 20 percent more likely to quit, a new Drexel University study found. The study, published in Epidemiology, used 10 years of neighborhood-level price data to determine how it affected nearby smokers, focusing on those who skewed older. “Older adult smokers have been smoking for a long time and tend to have lower rates of smoking cessation compared to younger populations, suggesting deeply entrenched behavior that is difficult to change,” said Stephanie Mayne, PhD, the lead author of the study who is a...

A 36-year-old Scottish tourist wearing traditional Muslim garb had her blouse set on fire in a bizarre incident outside a pricey Fifth Ave. boutique, police sources said Monday. The victim noticed the sleeve of her blouse was charred and smoldering in the Saturday night attack, just hours before the ceremony marking the 15-year anniversary of 9/11. She was not badly hurt.

Obese people will be routinely refused operations across the NHS, health service bosses have warned, after one authority said it would limit procedures on an unprecedented scale. Hospital leaders in North Yorkshire said that patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above – as well as smokers – will be barred from most surgery for up to a year amid increasingly desperate measures to plug a funding black hole. The restrictions will apply to standard hip and knee operations. The decision, described by the Royal College of Surgeons as the “most severe the modern NHS has ever...

Labour’s vegan farming spokesman believes meat should be treated like tobacco with a public health campaign to stop it being eaten. Kerry McCarthy MP was recently named the Labour Party’s Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Jeremy Corbyn’s appointment of a vegan farming spokesman was always going to be controversial. Not only is McCarthy’s 20 year-long vegan lifestyle choice in potential conflict with a large section of Britain’s agricultural economy, she is a Vice President of the League Against Cruel Sports which seeks to ban countryside pursuits favoured by many farming communities.