The city of Derby is going to be seeing a new Clean Indoor Air Ordinance, being put into effect soon. There are a few drinking establishments that are already preparing to adapt to the new laws, they will be building outdoor patios before New Year's Eve comes around.
As of the 1st of September, 2008, it will no longer be legal to smoking in public places, places of employment and within 20 feet of entrances to public places. A few restaurants were given a bit more time to adjust to the law but most establishments are going to see a great change on Monday.
Derby city manager Kathy Sexton said, "The city realizes that contractors have backlogs of work, and these clubs tried in good faith to get their design, state approval, and construction moving along. We are happy to work with these valued Derby businesses to get their patios built by the end of the year."
A little time is all that most businesses need to adjust to such changes and it is only fair to do things the way they've been done in Derby.
[Via: knssradio.com]
Recently the government of Scotland has decided that they will be banning cigarette displays behind shop counters. The Scottish minister of health Shona Robinson states that this is an attempt to make cigarettes and smoking less of a norm.
Abdul Majid, who will be greatly effected by this proposal, is the owner of a Spar store in Lankarkshire. He feels that this proposed ban makes no sense; he says "I don't see exactly where they are coming from because the display allows customers to make an informed decision, and putting cigarettes under the counter removes that choice. He goes on to say, "The argument doesn't make any sense. Cigarettes are not an impulse buy. A customer isn't going to look at the display case and say 'I like the look of that brand, I'll buy that today.'"
Mr.Majid is right, as a smoker and an impulse buyer I know I didn't start smoking because I saw a pretty pack of smokes behind a shop counter. It started off with a few bummed smokes, I decided on the brand of smokes I smoke based on taste and not the package they come in or where I saw them on display.
[Via: BBC]
Most people are aware of the fact that coffee shops in Amsterdam are not for drinking coffee. But you can find just about every variety of marijuana imaginable in these locals.
With the change of the smoking laws in Holland, these coffee shops found themselves in a bit of a legal bind. When the smoking ban was implemented a major question was whether or not it applies to coffee shops. The first answer was yes, as most marijuana smokers mix tobacco into their joints.
In Holland marijuana has been decriminalised for years, if you are carrying under 5 grams of pot, you will not get arrested. Wouter Smits a cop in the Red Light District says, "It's not worth the time and the paperwork hassle. If we spend our night chasing minor crimes, we cannot keep the area safe from pickpockets, burglars and other criminals."
Milo, a coffee shop owner, says about the new law "presents coffee shop owners with a conflict of obligations, their 1st is to abide by the tobacco law but on the other hand they also have to prohibit smoking marijuana on the street and cannot send people away smoking a joint. If these facts are somehow acknowledged in court then the owners would go free and coffee shops would be granted an exception."
However, coffee shop owners have still not been granted any kind of exception and it is causing them a lot of problems. It is very difficult to regulate the marijuana they receive, and they cannot control every customer that steps into their shop.
[Via: The Huffington Post]
Most deaths caused by smoking are avoidable; the cancer and lung diseases caused by smoking are mostly preventable. Smoking is considered to be the most easily preventable cause of death in the world. Nicotine has an extremely addictive nature; it is almost as potent as cocaine and heroine. The WHO Classification of Diseases places nicotine addiction among mental and behavioral disorders.
In Jamaica, addiction to smoking is extremely widespread with many children starting to smoke actively before the age of 10. 15% of children aged 13 to 15 are smokers and they smoke actively at home. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey says that 50% of school aged children even if they are not smokers are exposed to some sort of tobacco smoke in public.
With all of this said, most smokers like myself already know this, by banning smoking from public places and other such places is not much of a solution to our problem and especially to that of a heavy smoker. The problems associated with heavy drugs haven't truly been solved through intensive banning which is probably applicable to nicotine addiction as well.
[Via: Jamaica Gleaner]
Researchers in Canada have found that marijuana may contain more toxins than tobacco smoke. Ammonia and hydrogen cyanide is found at much higher levels than in tobacco smoke.
David Moir and his colleagues have conducted extensive studies on the composition of chemicals in both tobacco smoke and marijuana. There are about 50 toxins in tobacco smoke that can cause cancer, while the research on marijuana has not been as extensive.
The researchers used smoking machines in this study to mimic the smoking habits of marijuana smokers. Ammonia levels were found to be significantly higher in marijuana smoke. But the levels of hydrogen cyanide, nitric oxide and other aromatic amines were found to be 3-5 times higher in the marijuana smoke. According to researchers this finding is important because the "information for public health and communication of the risk related to the exposure to such materials."
For smokers the conclusion is that there is actually something worse out there than smoking tobacco.
[Via: Science Daily]
