smoking

The US House passed a bill yesterday opening the door a crack for the FDA to get involved in regulating cigarettes. At issue are additives in cigarettes that are designed to make smoking more appealing to young people. Binker pulls out this amazing section of the bill, and does us the favor of translating it, too.

North Carolina has always been a fighter for the rights of smokers, or for the rights of the profits of cigarette makers and tobacco farmers. But North Carolina now officially comes to the minority in terms of states willing to let "smokers' rights" beat out public health. According to WRAL , now over 1/2 the population lives in states that regulate smoking in the workplace:

For the first time in our nation's history, with the November passage of initiatives in Nevada and Ohio, one of every two Americans lives in a place with laws to keep the workplace smoke-free.

Of course North Carolina is behind the trend and would seem to be one f the most hopeless places in terms of ability to get an anti-smoking law passed. But similar things were thought about Florida; but while I was there a few years ago, a law banning smoking in all restaurants and bars passed. And people loved it, even smokers. The difference in air quality was noticeable, you did not smell horrible every time you went out for a meal, and fewer people will develop health problems and die prematurely.