Category: smoking

Tobacco Smoking Causes Schizophrenia and Depression, Study Finds

Tobacco smoking causes mental health disorders, according to a recent UK study. The study found smoking increased the risk of developing schizophrenia by 53 to 127 percent and can increase depression by 54 to 99 percent. “There is no longer any doubt that smoking is bad for mental health, and this needs to be a…


UK Proposal to Raise Legal Smoking Age Criticised as ‘Creeping Prohibition’

A proposal to raise the legal age of smoking year by year so that eventually no one can buy tobacco and cigarettes has met with a mixed response in the UK, with critics slamming it as an attempt at “creeping prohibition.” A government-commissioned review has said that the minimum age at which people can buy…


The Numbers of Young Vapers is Rising as Smoking Rates Fall

Statistics show more young people are taking up vaping, even as the number of daily smokers in New South Wales (NSW) continues to fall. People over the age of 16 lighting up every day fell from 9.2 percent in 2020 to 8.2 percent in 2021, according to the 2021 NSW Population Health survey. Speaking on…


For Smokers With Heart Trouble, Quitting Equals the Benefit of 3 Meds: Study

Quitting smoking can give heart disease patients nearly five additional years of life without heart problems, according to a new study. “Kicking the habit appears to be as effective as taking three medications for preventing heart attacks and strokes in those with a prior heart attack or procedure to open blocked arteries,” said study author…


Is Loneliness the New Smoking?

When Canadian pop icon Justin Bieber released his song “Lonely” in October of 2020, the 28-year-old star sang about the crushing loneliness he felt after becoming so famous at such an early age. Bieber’s song quickly topped the charts in Canada, as well as in countries as diverse as Hungary, Malaysia, and Norway. I’m not…


Parent Smoking Linked to Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes pain and swelling in the joints. It’s an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system attacks your own healthy joint tissue. Experts don’t know what causes the disease. Genes, hormones, and factors in the environment may play a role. Smoking cigarettes is known to increase the risk of developing RA. Researchers…


Californians Nagged Again on Smoking

Commentary Back in 1967, I wrote my first news article. It was for 7th grade English class in my public junior high school in Michigan. I attacked smoking. Obviously I was reflecting what they were teaching us, and what the mass media were promoting. The schools still heavily advance anti-smoking health messages. Lo these five…


E-cigarettes Don’t Help Smokers Kick the Habit, UCSD Study Finds

SAN DIEGO—E-cigarettes don’t help smokers stay off cigarettes, despite U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance suggesting they can be an effective path to quitting, a report published Oct. 19 with research from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) found. The CDC has previously suggested that smokers who are unable to quit…


Gov. Newsom Approves 12.5 Percent Tax to Curtail Vaping Products Among Teenagers

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 395 into law on Oct. 4 to impose an additional excise tax on the retail cost of vaping products on top of the existing wholesale tax. Senate Bill 395, introduced by Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) in February, aims to curb teen vaping by adding an excise tax to…


Study Finds Both Smoking and Drinking Raise Risk of Late Stillbirth

Women who both smoke and drink after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy have nearly three times the risk for late stillbirth, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published online on Aug. 23. Researchers in the Prenatal Alcohol in SIDS and Stillbirth (PASS) Network found that smoking…