Only 5% to 10% of smokers who try to quit succeed. For the rest, the quick onset of withdrawal symptoms—craving, irritability, hunger, and headache—is too much; the brain begins to raise hell and demand a fresh dose of nicotine, which binds to certain receptors and causes the pleasurable release of dopamine. In the face of 40 years of public-health drumbeating, smoking bans, and social pressure, that’s an amazing failure rate. The profo ... Jump to full article >>

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New research published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, supports the World Health Initiative’s efforts for a home smoking ban, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Specifically, hair nicotine concentrations were higher in children exposed to secondhand smoke at home, and the younger the children, the higher the concentration under the same level ... Jump to full article >>

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The District was first to clear the ashtrays from its taverns in 2007. Maryland pushed its smokers outside not long after, in 2008. And on Tuesday, so goes Virginia. The march of smoking bans in bars and restaurants across the region has made lighting up while dining out a practical impossibility for many people. And Virginia’s ban — which kicks in Tuesday — leaves the Washington area with a only a handful of venues where a cus ... Jump to full article >>

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A Long Crendon man is looking for local agents to sell healthier alternatives to tobacco products called ‘electronic cigarettes’, which he believes are set to take off in Britain. Martin Whelan is an independent distributor for inLife, an American company now looking to expand in Europe. He said the firm’s e-cigarettes, which deliver nicotine without the harmful toxins found in tobacco smoke, present a golden business opportuni ... Jump to full article >>

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Smoking bans have made the air healthier in bars and restaurants, but may have made the air just outside the establishments more hazardous, University of Georgia researchers have found. Nonsmoking diners and imbibers sitting in outdoor patios or sidewalk seating areas connected to the bars or restaurants are picking up doses of secondhand smoke, the scientists found. In fact, nonsmokers who volunteered to sit in the outdoor seating areas had leve ... Jump to full article >>

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When, more than a decade ago now, smoking bans began to take effect around the world, researchers and public health officials feverishly collected data demonstrating the health benefits: lower levels of respiratory illness were reported among bar workers from Dublin to San Francisco after indoor smoking bans took effect, saliva tests revealed lower levels of nicotine concentration in hotel and restaurant workers once smokers were chucked outside, ... Jump to full article >>

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