The availability of cancer drugs such as Herceptin is just one of the causes cited for Britain’s poor performance Late diagnosis of cancer needlessly kills up to 10,000 patients every year, the Government’s director of cancer services has revealed. Professor Mike Richards will this week unveil a shocking study of the three deadliest forms – lung, bowel and breast cancer – showing that early detection could save twice ... Jump to full article >>

Is using smokeless tobacco just as harmful as smoking, or is it potentially a safer option? Getting a definitive answer to that question has proved elusive despite centuries of medical research. Resolving the issue, and providing clarity amid the heated rhetoric, has prompted a new series of medical studies sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. One set focuses on whether such smokeless products as snus and the dissolvable products from R.J ... Jump to full article >>

Indianapolis – Researchers at Indiana University say secondhand smoke costs every Marion County resident $54 a year. They say it’s a health risk too costly to ignore. The debate over expanding Marion County’s smoking ban to all workplaces – including bars and smoking establishments that currently allow smoking – boils down to individual rights vs. public health. When Jarron Carter smokes, those around him at the cit ... Jump to full article >>

A tobacco control bill proposed by the government to ban smoking in public places and set restrictions on its use was sent to committee for further review today. All 55 MPs who participated voted in favour of sending the bill to the social affairs committee. Presenting the bill at a previous sitting, Health Minister Aminath Jameel said the dangers and health risks of tobacco were well established and the habit led to extreme suffering. “When ... Jump to full article >>

Researchers have uncovered copies of sensitive internal documents destroyed by a Canadian tobacco company that could boost efforts by provincial governments suing the industry over health costs linked to smoking. The documents destroyed by Imperial Tobacco Canada reveal the firm had scientific data decades ago showing that cigarettes were addictive and caused cancer. “This evidence suggests that the industry wasn’t sharing absolutely ... Jump to full article >>

Damn the facts. Climate change is not happening, just like smoking doesn’t cause cancer. We all know the long history of Big Tobacco and their attempts to kill bans on second-hand smoke and their hire-a-scientist strategy to delay regulatory impact on their pocketbooks. My all-time favorite line: “I got a BA in kicking ass and taking names.” Many of the same people who worked on the tobacco front shifted gears to the issue of c ... Jump to full article >>

Group will be part of smoking ban court case in November PIERRE – The American Cancer Society won another battle Tuesday in its campaign to reduce the number of places where people can legally smoke tobacco in South Dakota. The cancer society and its South Dakota governmental affairs director, Jennifer Stalley, will get to take part in the court fight over whether there is a statewide vote next year on South Dakota’s new law banning ... Jump to full article >>

Is the state’s no-smoking law lighting up creativity? As Montana bars dealt with their first smoke-free weekend since the state’s indoor smoking ban went into effect, ingenuity ruled. In Missoula, according to a great piece by Michael Moore in the Missoulian, the Rhino Bar gave smokers their very own place to light up: a Butt Hutt, created by Dave Golden of Well Done Welding and Jim Bell, a general contractor. Moore describes the hut as ... Jump to full article >>

A 1978 document, recently made known, revealed the sleight used during that time by the tobacco industry of the United Kingdom in order to overcome the crisis in the sector before evidence that cigarettes were harmful: “We need something for people to die,” said the report. According to the consulting agency Campbell-Johnson for the British Association of Tobacco (BAT), tobacco consumption was functional for the Government, due to t ... Jump to full article >>

OTTAWA — Fewer women are lighting up, but Canada’s smoking rate has flatlined in the last three years — a trend some blame on cheap illegal butts. New figures from Statistics Canada show 18% of Canadians reported smoking either every day or occasionally last year — about the same level as in 2005. “The rate of decline has slowed, and that’s because of the widespread inexpensive contraband cigarettes,” said Rob Cunningham, a policy ... Jump to full article >>