Free Republic

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked whether society should pay for the health care of Americans who eat doughnuts or smoke when they know those habits can contribute to poor health outcomes. “If you’re smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, should you expect society to pay when you get sick?” the nation’s top health official asked in an interview released Wednesday with CBS News chief medical correspondent, physician Jon LaPook. Kennedy went on to say that it is an American’s choice to “eat doughnuts all day” or drink sodas, and he promised not to take those choices away. “But in...

Opinion Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with millions of new cases reported each year. In 2022 alone, approximately 20 million new cancer cases were diagnosed globally, and 9.7 million lives were lost to the disease. In India, the numbers are equally alarming, with around 100 out of every one lakh people diagnosed with cancer. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), more than 14 lakh cancer cases were estimated in 2023. [1 lakh = 0.1 million] Despite advancements in early detection and treatment, many myths surrounding cancer testing prevent people from undergoing timely...

The loss of friendship is measurable, and can be seen in every age group and demographic -- although working-class Americans look to be hardest hit.. Friendship in America is in steep decline: We’re more disconnected from each other than ever, and the gulf between us is only growing. Does it matter? It does. We know that friendships are good for us. People with stronger social interactions live longer than those without, according to a study published last week in the UK’s Nature Medicine journal. Living with a partner, for example, is as good for physical health as regular exercise, researchers...

A new rule by the FDA could change smoking as we know it.No drug is quite like nicotine. When it hits your bloodstream, you’re sent on a ride of double euphoria: an immediate jolt of adrenaline, like a strong cup of coffee injected directly into your brain, along with the calming effect of a beer. Nicotine is what gets people hooked on cigarettes, despite their health risks and putrid smell. It is, in essence, what cigarette companies are selling, and what they’ve always been selling. Without nicotine, a cigarette is just smoldering leaves wrapped in some fancy paper. But if...

In its last few days of power, the Biden administration is expected to officially propose a limit on nicotine in cigarettes. It’d be a last-minute move to push back against the tobacco industry after President Joe Biden failed to finalize a long-standing pledge to ban menthol cigarettes. The proposal, which could come as soon as Monday, is not expected to include tobacco products like e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement patches and lozenges. Precise details of the proposal to cap nicotine levels have not been released. Multiple studies have suggested, however, that levels may have to be slashed by up to 95%...

The European Parliament voted against the resolution on the Commission’s recommendations for smoke-free environments.A resolution on smoking bans, initially backed by a majority of MEPs, was widely rejected after attempts by right-wing groups to exclude novel tobacco products from the text. The European Parliament has overwhelmingly voted by 378 votes against a resolution on recommendations for smoke-free environments - with only 152 in favour, and 26 abstentions. The proposal which originated from the Commission was jointly presented by the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe, and the Greens/EFA. But despite joint backing from four powerful...

Cannabis poses a greater threat to health than tobacco, lung experts have warned. The warning comes on the day that Home Secretary David Blunkett is due to make a Commons statement about the future of government drug policy. Many young people are simply not aware that smoking cannabis may put them at increased risk of respiratory cancers and infections . Dame Helena Shovelton: The Home Affairs Select Committee has recommended that cannabis is downgraded from a class B drug to class C. This would mean that possession would lead to a caution, rather than arrest. The British Lung Foundation is...

Light smoking is also tied to poor birth outcomes, even if the mother quits during pregnancy. Smoking even one or two cigarettes a day before or during pregnancy can lead to serious health problems for newborns, according to a new analysis of more than 12 million families. Globally, an estimated 1.7 per cent of pregnant women smoke, though that rate is 8.1 per cent in Europe and 5.9 per cent in the Americas. Smoking during pregnancy can negatively affect the newborn’s health, increasing their risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, restricted infant growth, and death. In the study, which...

When Elon Musk took over Twitter in 2022, it marked a new era for the struggling San Francisco company. Twitter, now known as X, is expected to close its San Francisco headquarters this month, leaving behind the Mid-Market neighborhood it has called home since 2012. The company is reportedly moving its headquarters to Austin, Texas, but plans to relocate its San Francisco employees to San José and Palo Alto, ... ... another blow to a city...buffeted by high-profile business departures and once held up Twitter as a key part of its revival. Downtown San Francisco's vacancy rates have ballooned... Confronted...

The latest report by Public Health France revealed alarming data, stating that today, more than one in 10 French women smoke during pregnancy, despite the widespread knowledge of health risks associated with tobacco use. More French women are smoking while pregnant A 2021 study by Public Health France surveyed more than 1,300 mothers of children under five years old, revealing that 13 per cent of the women smoked throughout their pregnancy. The survey showed that 45 per cent of the women had stopped smoking after learning of their pregnancy, while 51 per cent reduced their smoking habits and 4 per...

Smoking is to blame for 20% of US cancer cases and nearly 30% of cancer deaths, the American Cancer Society (ACS) warns in new research. In fact, the organization insists that 4 in 10 cancer cases and nearly half of cancer deaths in American adults 30 and older may have been prevented with a lifestyle change like stopping smoking or losing weight. Dr. Farhad Islami, who penned the Thursday report, said he was “alarmed” that more than 169,800 Americans died in 2019 from smoking. He is calling for tobacco control policies in each state — the ACS finds that raising...

A health guru claimed puffing on cigarettes is linked to longer living — but now he’s trying to extinguish the controversy. “The men in Sardinia have a seven year longer lifespan than the women because they’re smokers. That’s what brings them up,” Dr. Steven Gundry, a former cardiac surgeon and contributor to Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow’s website, insisted in a viral December interview with celebrity physician Dr. Mikhail Varshavski. During the combative, nearly two-hour-long debate, which has racked up over 2.4 million views on YouTube, the far-out physician also cited a 2020 study that found a decrease in deaths from...

The Supreme Court has issued a conditional order calling on the Environmental Protection Ministry, Public Security Ministry, and Health Ministry to take action on the issue of environmental disturbances caused by a person smoking in his home, when the smoke enters the neighbors' homes, Israel Hayom reported. The court has instructed the ministries to enact guidelines on the matter, or enforce the matter of cigarette smoke pollution entering other apartments in a different manner. The government now has 60 days to respond to the order. The Supreme Court's decision follows an appeal submitted by the Avir Naki organization and six...

President Joe Biden’s administration is delaying its potential plan to ban menthol cigarettes after concerns about the political implications ahead of the 2024 election. The administration planned to announce Friday that it will delay its decision on the rule, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ. While the administration plans to argue that it needs to consult more outside groups on the implications of the rule, there is no current timeline to revisit the issue, the sources told the WSJ. Health and Human Services (HHS) Sec. Xavier Becerra confirmed the news in a statement Friday afternoon, saying the potential...

I’d been reluctant to say this, but now I think it is time…that the ban on smoking is responsible for all this. Been downhill ever since. The rats are out in the open. The good people are in hiding. As at Columbia U, where thousands there and elsewhere are staging an American Kristallnacht. Yes, I know, smoking cigarettes can be hazardous to your health, second-hand smoke included, but back then, before 1995, people had choices. It was live and let live. I smoke a pipe. Can’t write without a pipe, and please spare me the lectures. Sometimes I join the...

“Nobody” should go to jail for “smoking weed,” Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday, despite having prosecuted nearly 2,000 cases of marijuana possession, cultivation, or sale as California’s attorney general. Harris’s public flip-flop is likely due to the politics of a difficult reelection campaign in which the Biden-Harris ticket is losing to former President Donald Trump in 75 percent of 2024 swing states, polling shows. Harris condemned prosecuting those who smoke flowers while speaking at a roundtable event about cannabis reform with musician Fat Joe and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D).

Participants in the I Quit programme, designed to help them quit smoking, need not worry about being fined or prosecuted as it does not presume they have or use vaping products. But if they are caught using or possessing such products, then they will not be immune from criminal prosecution. Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary said this on Feb 16 in Parliament when responding to a question from Associate Professor Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC). Prof Lim had asked whether participants in I Quit, the smoking cessation programme by the Health Promotion Board, were offered immunity from prosecution....

A Chinese marathon runner who chain-smoked his entire way through a 26.2 miles race has been disqualified, despite achieving a competitive time. Uncle Chen, nicknamed the 'Smoking Brother', managed to complete the Xiamen Marathon in three hours and 33 minutes on January 7 this year. But despite crossing the finish line only five minutes slower than his 3:28 finish two years ago, the 52-year-old was disqualified for 'smoking on the track'. He placed 574th out of more than 1,500 runners.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson expecting approval of funding for Ukraine... There's new political polling in Germany that puts the Alternative for Germany at 26 percent of the popular vote... Poland's Conservative President swore in a conservative-nationalist government today even though the liberal-secularists won... A former adviser to the jailed ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan says he was the victim of an acid attack... British politics the latest opinion poll from "Redfield and Wilson" showing the Labor Party at 45 percent, the Conservative Party at 25 percent and the Reform Party at 10 percent... "No choice but to kill...

Two men were caught on camera pummeling an NYPD cop in the head and face at a Bronx subway station Monday after the officer and his partner asked the suspects to put out their cigarettes. Kaream McClary, 23, and Izayiah Jessamy, 20, were charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, and trespassing over the shocking attack at the Freeman Street subway station around 2:30 p.m., police said. The altercation erupted after two officers requested McClary, Jessamy and a third man stop smoking inside the station — but the trio refused, cops said. When the officers tried removing the...