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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 ANALYSIS 
24

Smoking Ban Health Hype Going Up in Smoke

Studies linking smoke-free laws to heart health appear weak

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(Newser) – Reporters are covering stories that link smoking bans to lower heart attack rates—which would be terrific news if it were true, Christopher Snowdon writes on Spiked. Even the anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health stood up to a Sunday Times report of a "10% heart attack drop," saying it had no foundation in science. A BBC report claiming even better numbers was based on three studies, and amusing ones at that.

The studies either side-stepped the awkward fact that heart attacks had gone up in cities after smoking bans, or they found a laughably high 40% plunge. For harder data, Snowdon writes, look at hospitals, which have seen no drop in England, Scotland, and Wales after anti-smoking legislation. But "it may be too late for the anti-smoking lobby to back down on this issue," writes Snowdon. "Too many reputations are at stake."

A man lights up a cigarette in a shop in York, England Friday June 29, 2007 two days before the smoking ban comes into force in England on July 1.
A man lights up a cigarette in a shop in York, England Friday June 29, 2007 two days before the smoking ban comes into force in England on July 1.   (AP Photo/John Giles/PA Wire)
In this June 11, 2009 file photo, a customer at the Red Key Taven in Indianapolis lights a cigarette.
In this June 11, 2009 file photo, a customer at the Red Key Taven in Indianapolis lights a cigarette.   (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, file)
A man smokes bidi, a small hand-rolled cigarette on
A man smokes bidi, a small hand-rolled cigarette on "No Tobacco Day" in Allahabad, India, Sunday, May 31, 2009.   (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Miao Nan, executive director of Ruyan Group Ltd., puffs an electronic smoke while he shows other design during an interview at his office in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009.
Miao Nan, executive director of Ruyan Group Ltd., puffs an electronic smoke while he shows other design during an interview at his office in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009.   (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Cigarettes are shown in an ash try in this 2006 file photo.
Cigarettes are shown in an ash try in this 2006 file photo.   (AP Photo/Michael Probst, FILE)
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24 comments
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dontlikeyou
Sep 25, 09 5:25 PM CDT
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freethemall
Sep 25, 09 5:32 PM CDT
Conservatives don't lie?
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+8
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Thinker
Sep 25, 09 5:43 PM CDT
Dear dontlikeyou: your comments are completely pointless. I am blocking you so that I don't have to waste my time even seeing your pathetic words. Bye bye, you poor, uneducated, unenlightened little conservative.
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godawgs
Sep 25, 09 6:02 PM CDT
@thinker if you don't like someone's statements then why read them?
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Spudsy
Sep 25, 09 6:05 PM CDT
What makes you think that this report was by liberals? It is your allies on the right, the religious, that come down so hard on simple vices. Usually hypocritically, I might add.
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