re: New Orleans City Council Passes Smoking Ban

I just saw the tail end of a Chantix advertisement on NFL Network. Don't know if they took out the barbecue scene or not.

Published on Jan 22, 2013

Smoking is a deadly habit that can cause debilitating health problems and take years off your life. However, many who tried to improve their health by taking the popular stop-smoking drug Chantix reported suffering other serious side effects that threatened their health and well-being, including suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Chantix works by binding to the nicotine receptors in the body, helping to reduce the pleasurable effects of smoking and making it easier to quit. However, the Food and Drug Administration issued an alert in early 2008 that "it appears increasingly likely that there is an association between Chantix and serious neuropsychiatric symptoms" such as suicidal thoughts and behavior and other erratic and aggressive behavior.

Later that year, Pfizer, the manufacturer of Chantix, added warnings to the product about its link to behavioral changes, depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. In 2009, the FDA added its strongest possible warning, its "Black Box" warning, to the product over the link between Chantix and reports of depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

A 2011 study in the journal PLoS One reviewed more than 3,000 reports made to the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System and found that those taking Chantix were at a higher risk for psychological problems than those taking other treatments to stop smoking. Of the reported cases that involved suicidal behavior and depression, 90 percent had taken Chantix. Of the reported cases of actual suicide, 92 percent had taken Chantix.

Chantix has also been linked to other serious side effects, including cardiovascular problems.

If you or someone you love took Chantix and suffered serious side effects such as suicidal thoughts or behaviors, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Call the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin at 1-866-844-4262 for a free evaluation of your case.

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BestbankTiger, you are exactly correct. I've lost my mother, father, sister & all 4 grandparents to cancer. My surviving sister & I have met with oncologists in both Houston & in N.O. to see if we can tell exactly where we stand with all this history in our family. All the experts we talked to said the same thing, cancer, particularly lung cancer, can take decades to develop, so there is no real time line info available. Relating any current cancer figures to any stoppage of smoking by the general public is not relevant. All of my exposure is to second hand smoke, but as I am no longer young, if I have it, I've HAD it for a while. Even with my family history, I don't like the govt stepping into yet another aspect of my life, were I a smoker or not.

Personally, I like the idea of smoke free bars & casinos....but it does seem like an unecessary intrusion by the government.

Mississippi casinos are dancing in the street!

The anti-smokers' frequent fallback argument, that "smoking costs society money" isn't even true. As the New England Journal of Medicine put it

"...in a population in which no one smoked the costs would be 7% higher among men and 4% higher among women than the costs in the current mixed population of smokers and non-smokers... complete smoking cessation would produce a net increase in health care costs."


The Heartland Institute adds

"Smokers already pay taxes that are too high to be fair, and far above any cost they impose on the rest of society."


Thus, smoking may be the only unhealthy activity that pays for itself with enough money to spare for public projects!

It's about time smokers stop being ashamed. Instead they should start speaking up, and fighting to regain the rights that have already been taken away from them.

--Jonas Jagielski
Kalmazoo
Contributor

More higher taxes just around the corner.
Ain't it grand?!