Finnish parliament is currently debating a regulation that could simply prohibit all forms of tobacco use across the country. If the landmark tobacco act is approved Finland will become the first tobacco-free country in Europe, and the second one across the world, after the Kingdom of Bhutan, which introduced similar measure in 2004. The major objective of this measure is cessation of consumption of all forms of tobacco, which contains hazardous chemicals, according to the 2009 Tobacco Act, which is considered by the lawmakers. The measure includes several strictest anti-tobacco regulations, w ... Jump to full article >>

Teenage smoking is often thought of as kind of innocent experiment, but a drag on a friend’s cigarette may be the beginning of something that will be hard to shake. A study of adolescent smokers in the journal Pediatrics tracks the course of addiction to nicotine among a group of sixth-graders. After following 1,246 middle-school children for four years, researchers say a pattern emerged of occasional smoking that led to an addiction to tobacco: A cigarette a month will do it. “When people are just wanting a cigarette, every now and then, they think they just enjoy smoking,” ... Jump to full article >>

Dennis Hopper, who brought the counterculture to Hollywood with “Easy Rider” and led a career marked by successes, failures and comebacks, has died at age 74. Hopper, who was twice nominated for Oscars and earned a star this year on the Walk of Fame, died Saturday at his home in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, family friend Alex Hitz said. Hopper had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009. “We rode the highways of America and changed the way movies were made in Hollywood,” Peter Fonda, his “Easy Rider” co-star, said in comments carried by sever ... Jump to full article >>

Kristen Stewart ended up soaking wet after refusing to wear a protective mac during a jet boat ride – proving that trying to look cool doesn’t always pay. She might have avoided being snapped in a baggy red jacket, but as a result the actress left the ride looking like a drowned rat. But that seemed to be her plan, as she reportedly told the driver to allow ‘more water’ into the boat after loving the ‘hardcore’ action ride. ‘She wanted to get wetter because they don’t have anything like it in America and thought it was hardcore’, as spokesperson for OZ Jet Boating said. [capt ... Jump to full article >>

A study shows that comfort foods, even those that are bad for us physically, provide a beneficial psychological effect. What does that mean for ‘sin taxes.’? Ah, Memorial Day. It’s a holiday that encourages every red-blooded American to do two important things. The first, of course, is to remember those brave men and women who have fallen in the line of duty. The second is to eat junk food and barbecue and drink a lot of alcohol, soda and lemonade. The second Memorial Day rule is no small thing, particularly in an era a lot of people say is marked by an epidemic of obesity. A ... Jump to full article >>

Workers who take smoking breaks may be clocking up as much as eight days’ extra leave every year, a conference in Dublin was told yesterday. Miriam Gunning, acting senior health promotion officer on tobacco in the Health Service Executive (HSE), said she was given the estimate by a human resource officer from outside the sector. She was speaking as it was announced that all acute hospitals campuses would outlaw smoking in the next five years for patients and staff. So far, only St Vincent’s Hospital and Connolly Hospital in Dublin have introduced the ban, while Cork University Hosp ... Jump to full article >>

Obesity and smoking may each raise a person’s risk of potentially dangerous blood clots in the veins, but certain other suspected risk factors seem to have no impact, a new study finds. The study, reported in the journal Circulation, investigated risk factors for venous thromboembolism — blood clots in the veins, usually affecting the legs. If one of these clots travels to the lungs, creating what is called a pulmonary embolism, it can prove fatal. Some studies have suggested that venous thromboembolism, or VTE, has largely the same risk factors as heart disease does, such as high ... Jump to full article >>

An indefinable fusion of DJ, techno-nerd, entertainment wizard and brand, Joel Zimmerman (aka deadmau5) is shaping music’s future. As the world changes, beyond recognition even as we still recognise a lot of what goes on, the disc jockey is among those adapting the best. Not necessarily the kind of disc jockey we think of when we think of someone such as Tony Blackburn, even though as a mischievous combination of music-bringer, loud mouth, holy fool, larger-than-life personality and single-minded careerist he was among those who helped invent the basic DJ template. We’re now talkin ... Jump to full article >>

As sales of contraband tobacco continue to butt into their bottom line, local convenience store owners are trying to take back cigarette sales. “We as retailers think enough is enough,” said Mike Hammoud, president of the Atlantic Convenience Stores Association, who also owns a store in Burnside. While worst in central Canada — a study commissioned by the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco revealed almost half of all cigarettes bought in Ontario are contraband — it’s spreading eastward. Hammoud claimed 30 per cent of cigarettes in Nova Scotia are now illegally purchased. [ ... Jump to full article >>

Air quality isn’t the only thing that’s improved within many of Michigan’s bars, restaurants and bowling alleys. Owners’ optimism also has gone up dramatically. In the days leading up to Michigan’s smoking ban, business owners and others expressed an array of mixed emotions. Almost a month after the state banned all smoking in work places, some business owners’ pessimism has shifted. “I thought we were going to take much more of a hit with the smoking ban, but, surprisingly, we didn’t,” said Abby Shepard, operations manager of Jumbo’s Bar in Owosso. “We haven’t seen a d ... Jump to full article >>

The Senate last night unanimously attached to its fiscal 2011 budget proposal changes to the state’s probation department. The bipartisan amendment limits the probation commissioner to serving a five-year term, allows the commissioner to fire, hire and promote individuals only with the approval of the head of the trial court, and establishes a task force that would recommend by Oct. 1 whether the department should be placed under the executive branch or elsewhere. “We should not be in the position of making a decision without all the facts before us,” said Sen. Cynthia Creem, a Newton De ... Jump to full article >>