81–90 of 151 posts
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> there is absolutely nothing positive about cigarettes. This is a silly statement. People smoke for many legitimate reasons beyond having an active addiction.
Like what? I also see nothing positive about cigarettes.
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Citation: "Most studies found that raising cigarette prices through increased taxes is a highly effective measure for reducing smoking among youth, young adults, and persons of low socioeconomic status" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3228562/
"some estimate that for most intents and purposes, tobacco tax increases are also regressive even at the population level" [...] "While there are numerous studies that support the effectiveness of increasing prices, most declare that equity implications need to be paramount." An important point to be sure. I think we should just execute smokers. Surely a study will show that reduces smoking. /s ...or maybe we can jus…
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"some estimate that for most intents and purposes, tobacco tax increases are also regressive even at the population level" [...] "While there are numerous studies that support the effectiveness of increasing prices, most declare that equity implications need to be paramount." An important point to be sure. I think we should just execute smokers. Surely a study will show that reduces smoking. /s ...or maybe we can jus…
Murder is a disproportionate response. Making it legal to throw or smear poop on someone's face would be approximately equal in my mind to public smoking. You want to smoke? Fine, control the entire byproduct so it doesn't enter the personal space of others. Oh you can't control it? Sounds like you're out of control. Well I can get all out of control too, here's a poopstache. Yes this would be assault with a biohazar…
In the town I live in, smoking is only allowed in adult-only establishments. And those allowing smoking are the minority because many business owners realized their customers don't want it at all. Best of all worlds and the state didn't have to completely outlaw its public indoor use, just restrict it.
The only measure that has ever been shown to work to reduce smoking is to make smoking less affordable. Tax cigarettes and people smoke less. Tax them highly and kids sure can't afford them. It's more politically easy to put money into paying celebrities to beg kids not to smoke, but it's not actually effective. It's just theater so politicians can say they tried. Here, Greece is seeing the affordability fall just be…
As others have reported in this thread the tax on tobacco is 70% in Greece. I'm not sure what it is in the UK.
The detail to take into account is that Greece produces tobacco locally. So it's going to be cheaper.
Bottom line- I'm not convinced it's the price that's making a difference.
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When reading this comment, I am glad prohibitionists didn't have these scientific tools a century ago. Creepy.
What’s the difference between malaria and tobacco use, considering nicotine is highly addictive? If substance abuse is a disease, why is it “wrong” to attack it or it’s vectors in the same way as a biological disease?
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> there is absolutely nothing positive about cigarettes. This is a silly statement. People smoke for many legitimate reasons beyond having an active addiction.
Could you list some examples of those legitimate reasons? I fail to see any, and I've lived with smokers my whole life. I'm genuinely interested.
Also someone mentioned the antipsychotic treatment, irrelevant to most but pretty interesting: http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/01/11/schizophrenia-no-smokin...
edit: good list of nootropic-style benefits of nicotine from gwern (https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine)
Improved reaction time, IQ test scores on the RAPM, pilots performanced enhanced, driving performance enhanced, overnight performance on memory and attention tasks improved, improved prospective memory, helps with ADHD, may help depression, found to help with mild cognitive imparement in the elderly
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Like what? I also see nothing positive about cigarettes.
Nicotine can act as an antidepressant/antipsychotic; cigarettes are a cheap, widely available form that requires no additional equiptment except a lighter.
If they're medicated the hydrocarbons in burnt tobacco interact with antipsychotic medication, making it less effective, meaning they need more meds. And antipsychotic meds can be pretty nasty.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg178
> In March 2014, a correction was made to the wording of recommendation 1.1.3.3 to clarify that it is the hydrocarbons in cigarette smoke that cause interactions with other drugs, rather than nicotine.
What people with psychosis need is early intervention that addresses the full range of bio-psycho-social needs the person has.
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Like what? I also see nothing positive about cigarettes.
Nicotine can act as an antidepressant/antipsychotic; cigarettes are a cheap, widely available form that requires no additional equiptment except a lighter.
A Review of the Effects of Nicotine on Schizophrenia and Antipsychotic Medications
Edward R. Lyon, M.S., Ed.D. Published online: October 01, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.50.10.1346 (full text available)
> OBJECTIVE: Research on the impact of nicotine on schizophrenia and antipsychotic medications was reviewed to determine ways to improve treatment planning for patients with schizophrenia who smoke and to evaluate smoking cessation programs for this population.
> METHODS: All major research databases were searched. The review focuses on reports published since 1990.
>RESULTS: Smoking improves processing of auditory stimuli (sensory gating) by patients with schizophrenia and may lessen negative symptoms by increasing dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal and frontal cortex. Use of traditional antipsychotics may result in patients' smoking more, whereas patients taking atypical antipsychotics may smoke less. Patients who smoke metabolize antipsychotics faster than nonsmoking patients. Smoking cessation programs for outpatients with schizophrenia report a success rate of about 12 percent after six months. No studies of cessation programs for chronically ill inpatients with schizophrenia have been published. Several hospitals have implemented smoking bans with equivocal results.
> CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine affects both schizophrenia and antipsychotic medications. Neurobiological and psychosocial factors reinforce the high use of nicotine by patients with schizophrenia
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> there is absolutely nothing positive about cigarettes. This is a silly statement. People smoke for many legitimate reasons beyond having an active addiction.
Name six legitimate reasons?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3151730/
I'm not saying it's a good idea given the risk profile, but nicotine definitely has useful cognitive effects.
I have an intense personal dislike of smoking. If more people are really moving off them, all the better. From the intrusion on others (second hand smoke) to the cancer, to the litter, there is absolutely nothing positive about cigarettes. I'm no fan of vaping, but as an intermediate step to the elimination of smoking, it is a necessary evil. I would be very happy if cigarettes vanished from the world.
> there is absolutely nothing positive about cigarettes. This is a silly statement. People smoke for many legitimate reasons beyond having an active addiction.
Reason 1. People enjoy smoking.
I'm not sure how people can manage to say stuff like absolutely nothing positive. It's like those lists of the effects of marijuana that list no positive effects whatsoever. Fairly obviously, no-one would smoke if it had no positive effects. There's a kind of moral crusade blindness common to phenomena like this. People can say evidently false things like 'There is absolutely nothing positive about cigarettes'. Because the end message is one they approve of, thinking is somehow blocked in the absolutist zeal.