Smoking

A “symptom of recovery” from smoking addiction is the hilarious excuse for ministerial forgetfulness from a support group for people trying to beat the butt.

Nick Sherry: 'The Rudd Government will… um, anyone got a light?'

Assistant Treasurer Nick Sherry got himself in a minor twist yesterday on national television when he wrongly – and repeatedly – said the forecast unemployment rate was 8 per cent rather than the recently revised lower figure of 6.75.

His spokesman blamed ill-health, saying the Senator had experienced withdrawal symptoms since giving up smoking. Support group Smokenders told the Sydney Morning Herald that “quitting cold turkey often led to a cough in the first few days and forgetfulness in the first few weeks.”

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  • Billy says:

    10:48pm | 15/01/10

    Allan Carrs Easy Way to Stop Smoking. I smoked for 22 years from the age of 10 to 32, read the book in 2 days and stopped. No patches or gimicks, cold turkey a couple of weeks of mild withdrawal and i can honestly say that I have had no… Read more »

  • S.L says:

    06:16am | 15/01/10

    @Cracklier….. You’ve hit the nail right on the head! Yes the facebookers and the lovestruck psuedo teenagers on the phone to their latest love interests continually during the day are far less productive than a smoker taking the occasional break outside for at least when a nicotine addict is back… Read more »

 

Newsflash: smoking is bad for you.  So, apparently, is drinking to excess.  And, wait for it, regularly gouging on fatty foods is no good either.  It’s shocking, I know.  Better go get a coffee to help get over it all; but do make it one of those low fat, caffeine free types so as to look after yourself.

Yeah yeah, we know.

Maybe, however, you happen to be one of the 99 per cent of people who knew these things to be the facts of life already.  You may still engage in one or some of them, but you do so knowing that there are risks.

This informed consent that you grant yourself is under threat.  A new buzz-phrase is sweeping the bureaucracy and is being visited upon us all.  It’s called “preventative health”.

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  • Andrew Michaels says:

    03:24pm | 03/09/09

    Simon you are such a disappointment. Your lack of any real conviction shows in this essay. Have you forgotten that your own party advocated for a rise in cigarette tax in Turnbull’s budget in reply speech.  Rather than be a follower of where you think popular sentiment is going and… Read more »

  • jason edwards says:

    03:20pm | 03/09/09

    Simon - The issue is not wether the government crosses any lines by delivering important health messages, but the ability of the government to cut that message through to the general public. Why on earth would you ague that the government should not use the tools it has control over… Read more »

 

Mobile phones are the new cigarettes.

The smoke-phone: your international passport to conversational pleasure.

Not when it comes to cancer, of course. That’s still unproven, according to mobile phone companies which have much deeper pockets than this humble scribe.

No, what I’m talking about is the way we’re ditching the fags for another addictive accessory. Instead of going downstairs for a smoko, we fondle the slimline package in our pocket, relishing the thought of our next text or tweet.

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  • mick says:

    02:07pm | 12/08/09

    well, if kiddies are smoking less and calling up more, thats gotta be a good thing, huh?? but, i reckon making constant calls/texting etc… has gotta cost you more than buying cigs in the long run. at least you wont die of lung cancer (or until studies find that in… Read more »

  • Ash Simmonds says:

    06:52pm | 11/08/09

    Futzing around on a phone banishes social anxiety?  Dammit why didn’t they tell me!  Now I just need friends who’ll give me their real numbers… Read more »

 

Updated 3.35pm: Every State Government will have to agree to a total ban on smoking within 50 years under a policy proposal from Labor’s youth wing ahead of next week’s national ALP conference.

Naughty: Nicole Kidman would be arrested for doing this in 2059

The Punch understands Young Labor will announce the policy within the next few days, and has it listed for debate at its conference this weekend. However the policy will not be presented to the party’s national conference in Sydney next week for debate.

Under the plan, smoking would not only be banned everywhere in Australia, but the sale of cigarettes and cultivation of tobacco would also be declared illegal.

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  • nev says:

    08:16pm | 09/02/10

    reiligion has killed more people than smoking ever will i dont see that getting banned Read more »

  • John says:

    08:25pm | 27/01/10

    The government is not paid to make laws they agree with to stop individuals doing what they choose to do to themselves. This would be the final step into full blown communism. This country is fast going down hill into a communist regime the likes the world has never seen.… Read more »

 

IT has become so hard to be a smoker. At a recent wedding I was the only person nipping outside during the bad songs for a quick gasper, and I’m sure the smell of tobacco was following me around the room. Lately I’ve noticed security guards starting to move us on when lighting up outside certain buildings. The next logical step in this “ban creep” is for councils to outlaw smoking in public spaces such as parks and on footpaths. The only place you could smoke would be inside your own home - which would be the end of smoking for me, as there’s a ban there too.

Anti-smokers now believe a fresh round of punitive tax increases could wean a million Australians off the cancer sticks. The price of some packs would be headed for around $20. This is exasperating. If everybody knows the dangers and costs, as the latest unnecessarily revolting ad campaign says, why is this state-sponsored suicide still legal at all? Why don’t we just outlaw cigarettes?

Cost of tobacco v consumption. The red line is mine

This graph, in its unedited form, shows the relationship between consumption of tobacco and the price of a pack. It demonstrates that price rises work, but I’ve added in what I believe to be an additional force on consumption - the dramatic fall in the social acceptability of smoking that began in the 80s and has more recently fallen like a ciggie butt to the footpath.

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  • MwoBriTqy says:

    12:36pm | 25/02/10

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  • Gen X says:

    03:38pm | 08/10/09

    @ Heath. The “ridiculous” thing here is that you berate Kevin Rudd for spending money on schools when you are unable to spell the year five spelling word “ridiculous”.  I applaud Kevin Rudd for his economic stimulus package. Read more »

 

A new preventative health agency is set to be established in the coming months that will tell people what they can eat, drink and certainly not smoke.

It will also attempt to monitor how much of this bad behaviour we are indulging in by working out how fat we’re getting. It’s also likely going to aim to get us fit and exercising as “communities”. 

So be prepared to be awoken by a megaphone wielding Nicola Roxon who will no doubt lecture you on why you shouldn’t be hung-over as she accompanies you to the local common for some invigorating star jumps.

The fat patrol are no longer vigilantes, they’ve been given their own agency.

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  • Michael Moore CEO Public Health Association of Aus says:

    01:49pm | 14/10/09

    Good fun writing the article no doubt Leo - but you know better! No one WANTS to be fat.  No one wants to be unhealthy.  Actually the most common toast is “to your health”.  The interference is actually coming from industry - the food manufacturers, the fast food chains, the… Read more »

  • Reaper says:

    10:33am | 13/10/09

    A wonderful thing, death, so uncontroversial. Leave us alone, for crissakes. Read more »

 

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