Stop Smoking Way

Kansas – The governor will sign a statewide smoking ban into law on Friday. It’s a law that bans smoking inside and even some places outside.

The ban has some businesses trying to figure out how they’ll accommodate their smoking patrons. It’s especially difficult for some bars as the law prohibits smoking near a business entrance.

“I think it’s a bit confusing,” said Ben George, owner of the Anchor in downtown Wichita.

George joins other business owners across the state in wondering just how the statewide ban will work. Of course, everyone knows there will no longer be smoking allowed inside. But the ban goes beyond that.

San Francisco officials have moved one step closer to expanding the city’s smoking ban to include numerous outdoor areas.
The board of supervisors Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution making it illegal to light up at sidewalk cafes, restaurant patios, movie and ATM lines and the common areas of housing complexes. The resolution also bans smoking near doorways and windows of offices, shops and restaurants and at bingo halls.

Nicotine builds up gradually in smokers’ brains rather than spiking after each puff, according to a study that might help point to new ways to help people quit smoking.

Dr. Jed E. Rose of Duke University reports in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that nicotine buildup in the brain is gradual over several minutes. Scientists have theorized there is a spike of nicotine about seven seconds after each puff, but almost no measurements had been taken until now, Rose said.

Health educator advises President Barack Obama and others trying to quit smoking to keep trying.

Susan Rausch, health educator at the Pat Walker Health Center and co-chair of the University of Arkansas’ campaign to promote the tobacco-free campus policy, suggests first dealing with stress.

“Obviously, President Obama has a very stressful job,” Rausch said in a statement. “But University of Arkansas students facing mid-term exams know something about stress, too. There are ways to deal with stress and quit smoking, too.”

Rick Bender’s message to area students was clear: learn from his mistakes.

Bender began chewing tobacco at 12. By 26, he was diagnosed with cancer, which claimed a third of his tongue, half his jaw and left Bender with limited use of his right arm.

Bender, 47, told his story to freshmen at Piedra Vista High School Wednesday in an effort to help students learn from his mistakes. He also spoke at Hermosa Middle School and Navajo Preparatory School.

The passage of a clean indoor air law for Kansas is a tribute to the majority of Kansans who have long asked for this public health measure to save lives and improve health in our state. Kansas legislators listened to the people of Kansas and voted to adopt a statewide law to protect workers and the public from the hazards of secondhand smoke in most indoor workplaces, eating and drinking establishments and recreational facilities.

Despite otherwise first-rate health it appears that President Barack Obama is still having difficulties in giving up smoking. He has been attempting to kick the habit for a while now and according to reports is still struggling with it.

After his first medical examination since becoming president, at the Navy Hospital outside Washington yesterday, his doctors confirmed that he needed to carry on with “smoking cessation methods” as he had not yet managed to get the habit under control.

The research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2010.

Researchers reported on two new studies from the Familial Intracranial Aneurysm (FIA) project, a multinational collaboration funded by the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study genetic and other risk factors in families with at least two members affected by intracranial aneurysm.

A pub landlord in England who failed to pay fines for deliberately flouting smoking ban laws was jailed yesterday.

He was described as ‘devastated’ by his wife today.

Nick Hogan, 43, from Chorley, Lancashire, was originally fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £7,136 in costs when he was found guilty of breaching the smoking ban.

The hearing, in January 2008, was told that on the day the ban came into force he organised a ‘mass light-up’ in his two pubs, The Swan and Barristers, both in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

State Rep. Charlie Brown’s bid to ban smoking in all public places across Indiana has been revived.

The House of Representatives added the statewide smoking ban language Wednesday to a Senate bill dealing with public health laws.

The ban would apply to public places, enclosed areas of employment and all state-owned vehicles.

House lawmakers endorsed the bill on second reading, and a final vote could be taken today.

“Everyone in here has to know about the dreaded disease of second-hand smoke,” Brown, D-Gary, told his colleagues.