Cowtown widens smoking ban

Beginning in January, smoking in restaurants will be banned in Fort Worth, it says right here.

Bingo halls and bars will remain carcinogenic zones.

It tooks the powers-that-be a year and a half to come to this decision.

UK smoking ban irks Arabs who suck on hubble bubble pipes

Al Jazeera, who else?, reports that Arabs living in London don't like the smoking ban, saying it cramps the style of non-drinking Muslims who don't frequent the beer-soaked pubs but like the water pipe culture. Jesus.

Slash under investigation for smoking on stage in Wales

Not a lot happens in Wales. That's the way the people there like it. They can sit around and read the letters of Flaubert in peace and quiet. But when breaking news happens, the people of Wales hop to. [link]

Anti-smoking pill approved in the UK

It's called varenicine and will be sold under the brand name Champix.

The drug partially stimulates nicotine receptors in the brain, which helps reduce nicotine-withdrawal symptoms. It also partly blocks nicotine from attaching to these receptors, making smoking less satisfying and so curbing a person's desire to smoke.

[link]

Smoking and depression

Long-time smokers may be more prone to depression than those who never have smoked, new research suggests.

You long-times smokers will understand this.

How many times have ya'll awakened in the morning, lit a cig the first thing, and then thought, "I must be insane."

And then continued doing the same thing and having the same thought for many years after that?

Yep, that's damn depressing, I'd say.

Guvs to Walt Disney: Stop movie smokin'

A bunch of governors signed this letter that was mailed to Walt Disney Studios asking that the depiction of smoking in movies whose audience includes children be stopped.

Is your governor on the list of signees?

Mine isn't.

Smoking bans: easier said than enforced

It's one thing to ban smoking. It's another thing to make it stick.

In St. Charles, Ill., the powers that be backed off the no-smoking campaign when neighborhing towns wouldn't go along with the idea.

And in Southern Nevada, enforcing new smoking regulations are being applauded by many, but an idea to increase the penalties for violators is being scrapped.

But the handwritin's on the wall. When Red China starts talkin bout a public smoking ban, you know there's a trend afoot, though that far away land better grits its teeth to deal with 350 million very jittery and irribable people if the ban ever comes to pass.