Harm Reduction

One brief programming note:

Australian researchers note the immense cost to society of smoking compared to illegal drugs...

Europeans, out of some romantic rebellion against America and high technology, were shunning U.S.-grown food containing G.M.O.'s [genetically-modified organisms] even though there is no scientific evidence that these are harmful.

"...it's literally true that something like a thousand people will not die each year that would have otherwise died..."

There have been several reports lately about the odd, non-health-related projects that all that settlement money extracted from the tobacco companies went to, such as bridges, sprinkler systems, and even subsidies to tobacco farmers.

I wrote a big essay called LIBERTARIANS, SMOKING, AND INSANITY: How Ideology Affects Ideas About Freedom and Health a few months ago, suggesting that even those who d

PETA is giving children stickers that look like familiar cigarette ads but warn that cigarette companies do testing on animals. PETA says getting kids to stop smoking might be a fringe benefit but that their goal is to stop the animal testing.

"I'm OK with it, but it'll be a drag if I don't make it until the next James Bond movie comes out."

To political activists though to few scientists ACSH's constant warnings about smoking seem like a non-sequitur.