smoking

Blair Horner: From one cliff to the next

Blair Horner — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:35:48 +0000

Tobacco companies are an extreme example of how greed trumps morality in America’s marketplace. Every year roughly 500,000 smokers die from tobacco use and the industry knows it must at least replace those lost customers – plus the ones who successfully quit the addiction.

4/23/13 - Panel

Joe Donahue — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Today's panelists are WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Ray Graf, and Selma Kaplan. Joe Donahue moderates.

This morning our discussion topics include:
• Bombing Suspect Charged
•Death penalty discussion with WAMC listeners
• NY Smoking Age to 21?

Blair Horner: The Battle Over Smoking Continues

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:18:27 +0000

New York State – and much of the nation – has made tremendous strides in reducing smoking rates. In the mid-1960s, nearly half of Americans smoked; today it’s roughly half that nationwide and lower still in New York.

"Making Habits, Breaking Habits: Why We Do Things, Why We Don't, and How to Make Any Change Stick"

Joe Donahue — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:30:00 +0000

It's that time of year again when millions of Americans vow to create good habits and break bad ones.

We welcome Jeremy Dean, the psychologist behind PsyBlog, to explain why it is so difficult to modify our behavior -- and to stick with the change. His book is called Making Habits, Breaking Habits: Why We Do Things, Why We Don't, and How to Make Any Change Stick.

Blair Horner: The Nation is Losing Control of the Tobacco War

Blair Horner — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 20:25:45 +0000

Tobacco kills more than 400,000 Americans every year and costs the country about $100 billion in health care bills. Despite successes in curbing tobacco use over the past four decades, it still is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

Blair Horner: New York State must help its poorest smokers

Blair Horner — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 19:55:27 +0000

New York State’s efforts to reduce smoking have had a tremendous impact. Between 2003 and 2010, the adult smoking rate in New York fell by 28 percent. During that time, the nation’s smoking rate slipped only 11 percent. New York high school students’ smoking rate dropped an incredible 38 percent, more than twice the nation’s decline.

Blair Horner: Tobacco's Big Win in the Courts

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:34:02 +0000

A federal appeals court ruled last week that tobacco companies are not required to comply with the implementation of new graphic warning labels on cigarette packs, arguing that the law violated corporate free speech rights. These warnings are required by the federal government and are supposed to go into effect next month.

Blair Horner: How Does New York Measure Up in Taking on Cancer?

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:07:45 +0000

New York receives a decent, but mixed, review for its legislative work to combat cancer, according to a new report, How Do You Measure up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality (www.acscan.org) issued by the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network.

Blair Horner : New York Can't Stop Fighting Big Tobacco

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:45:00 +0000

A new report from the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contains good news and bad news about smoking in America. First the good news, according to the CDC, total cigarette consumption continued an 11-year downward trend with a 2.5 percent decline from 2010 to 2011.

Sean Philpott: On cigarettes and free speech

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:55:12 +0000

Smoking remains the number one cause of preventable deaths in the US. Last year, nearly half a million people died of smoking-related illnesses like emphysema and lung cancer. That’s nearly one of every five deaths, a number that is greater than the number of deaths caused by AIDS, drug and alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined. Smoking also costs American taxpayers and businesses over $150 billion a year in terms of health care and lost productivity – that’s approximately $7 for every pack of cigarettes sold.