Free Republic

Michigan Firm Won't Allow Smoking, Even On Employee's Own Time LANSING, Mich. -- A Michigan health care company has fired four of its employees for refusing to take a test to determine whether they smoke cigarettes. The company enacted a new policy this month, allowing workers to be fired if they smoke, even if the smoking takes place after-hours, or at home. The founder of Weyco Inc. said the company doesn't want to pay the higher health care costs associated with smoking. An official of the company -- which administers health benefits -- estimated that 18 to 20 of its...

Vatican City, Vatican City, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- An article in a leading Roman Catholic journal signals that the Vatican may join the public health establishment's crusade against cigarette smoking. The latest edition of the scholarly publication Civilta Cattolica, published by the Jesuits and approved by a top aide to Pope John Paul II, says smokers cannot damage their own health and that of others "without moral responsibility." The article by Giuseppe de Rosa stops short of calling smoking a sin, but says lighting up is "not neutral either in social or indeed moral terms." De Rosa's views, and presumably...

<p>With the closing of Pinstripes Sports Cafe on Dec. 24, some other bar owners in the city are concerned that they will be next.</p> <p>Pinstripes closed as a direct result of the state public places smoking ban, according to Frank Bokoff, who said he was a spokesman for F and J Management, the group that owned and operated the bar and grill.</p>