This guy was scary, and I didn't say anything to him, but I thought, "If you're going to party and drink yourself to death, what are you doing in the VA hospital...wasting taxpayer's money?"   I didn't feel sorry for this guy and others like him! 

When it comes to smoking and smokers...I feel the same way...I don't feel sorry for them, and I don't care if they die or not!  The big problem with smokers, is that they spread their poison everywhere they go...and those around them, including their pets, etc.

For those of you, who are genuinely trying to quit smoking, and especially for young people, who I advise never to start smoking in the first place, the article below, may help you to quit. 

The article was written by Alan Barley, of the McClatchy Newspapers, and was published in the Albuquerque Journal on September 23, 2009. 

Article title: Smoking Bans May Cut Heart Attacks;
Two studies show declines after restrictions imposed;

KANSAS CITY, Mo - Public smoking bans do more than clear the air in offices, bars, and restaurants...they lead to quick and dramatic declines in heart attacks, etc.

Two teams of researchers, came to this conclusion after independently examining evidence from more than a dozen locales in the United States; Canada and Europe, that had enacted smoking restrictions.  Not only was the drop in heart attacks almost immediate...the declines tended to be greater the longer the bans were in place, the researchers found. 

After smoking restrictions went into effect, heart attack rates dropped an average of 26 percent in a year, one study found.  After three years, heart attack rates were down by an average of 36 percent, according to the other study. 

"We're confidant that the benefit is real," said David Meyers, of the University of Kansas Medical Center, lead author of one of the studies.  "The effect of smoke on heart attack is huge!" 

Meyers estimated conservatively, that a nationwide public smoking ban, would prevent as many as 156, 600 heart attacks a year.  Non-smokers would benefit too, by limiting their exposure to secondhand smoke, etc.  Smokers would have a greater incentive to quit smoking or cut back.

"I'm embarrassed that the U.S. has not passed a national smoker ban, and yet Scotland; Ireland; Italy and France did."  But, those countries aren't big tobacco producers, so it's politically easier." 

As of last year (2008), 23 states and the District of Columbia, had enacted comprehensive smokiing limits, according to the American Lung Association.  And in recent years, most municipalities in the Kansas City area, have banned smoking in the work places; bars and restaurants.  Kansas City health officials, have noted a drop in local heart attack death, as these laws have taken effect. 

Meyer's study is in the latest issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.  Also, newly published in Circulation, the American Heart Association Journal, is a study by researchers at the University of California (San Francisco), that looked at much of the same data and came to similiar conclusions.

As recently as four or five years ago, claims that smoking restrictions yielded health benefits were controversial, said James Lightwood, co-author of the Circulation study.  "Now, we're getting a consistent picture," Lightwood said.  "The encouraging thing about Meyers study and ours is apparently if you take the same data, the signal is so strong that people get almost the same results." 

Evidence linking smoking restrictions to lower rates of heart attacks, has been mounting for years.  One startling study in Helena, Montana, for example, found that annual heart attack rates dropped 40 percent after the city banned public smoking.  After a court suspended the ban, the rate shot up again! 

END OF ARTICLE:

These are impressive numbers...but there are millions of people who smoke, and who don't care about their own health...so why would they care about someone else's?   In my view, smokers are in this thing for their own self-gratification, and I don't think they care who crosses their path of destruction! 

My father smoked and whined all the way to the grave, and he was never a well person.  He was always sick of something!  That's because smoking breaks down the body defenses, etc.  With ten kids in our family...what do I think if one of them smokes?  You made your bed...you can sleep on it!  I'm not a baby-sitter! 

Over the last few years, I have written several articles on the dangers of smoking, which include:

Smoking Sucks!  How I Quit Smoking;
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=42888

Sabrina: Another Smoking Casualty;
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=43138

Have You Ever Kissed an Ashtray?  (pucker-up)
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=44660

The Insanity of Smoking;
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=48715

The Number ONE Litter Problem In the World;
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=39680

Young People Should Not Start Smoking;
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=47535

POISON ALERT!  Second-Hand Smoke! 
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=45817

Second-hand Smoke and Pets Make For a Toxic Mix;
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=47931

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