“If the law allows young people to have sex at 16, why prohibiting cigarettes? At 16, they are adult.” -M. De Block
The opposition is putting the Minister of Health, Maggie De Block (Open VLD) under pressure to take anti-tobacco measures in the country. In their target, the fact that 16 is still the legal age to purchase tobacco cigarettes while most neighbour countries prohibit the sale of tobacco to the under-18s.

Another constraint, the forthcoming implementation of the TPD, as required by the European Commission.

The opposition parties point out incoherences in the current anti-smoking plan like a ban on nicotine e-liquids while tobacco cigarettes remain accessible above 16 years old. Her response to the Flemish media has shocked the audience when she made the association of having sex and smoking.

Last week, the CD&V, made two propositions to the government in order to strengthen anti-tobacco policy: To (1) raise legal age for tobacco from 16 to 18 years old and (2) increase the price of cigarettes by 50% before 2019.

The Flemish Democrate Christians Party also proposes plain packaging and a blanket ban on advertising as well as a ban of flavored cigarettes as early as possible, since it will become applicable in Europe by 2020. For the e-cigarette, they must be subject “correct excise duties”, they declare, in order to prevent them from making the act of smoking attractive or rewarding.

Another Flemish party from the majority, the N-VA, supports CD&V for prohibiting tobacco sale to the under-18s.

The tobacco experts support the scenario of an abrupt raise of tobacco cigarettes and recall that only a strong change is susceptible to impact smokers’ mind to help reduce smoking. The benefit of the e-cigarette in terms of smoking risk reduction has been debated by the Belgian Health experts in October 2015 and their benefit on public health, even for dual user is scientifically established.

“Belgium is so small that everybody would go abroad to purchase their cigarettes.” -M. De Block
The Minister of Health reacted publicly by approving the plain packaging but for the rest, she remains cautious, especially for the raise of the legal age. The ministry of health is working on the subject and declared, earlier this month, that concrete measures would be taken soon according to Mathieu Capouet, from the cabinet of the Federal Minister. According to the latter, the Minister is drafting a royal decree to authorize the sale of nicotine e-liquid, in compliance with the Art.20 of the EU TPD. Will it also include measures to prevent the under-18s from accessing to tobacco cigarettes?

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Jack Listerio
Jack Listerio
8 years ago

…………….
Look who first invented the Passive smoking Fraud

Hitler’s Anti-Tobacco Campaign

One particularly vile individual, Karl Astel — upstanding president of Jena University, poisonous anti-Semite, euthanasia fanatic, SS officer, war criminal and tobacco-free Germany enthusiast — liked to walk up to smokers and tear cigarettes from their unsuspecting mouths. (He committed suicide when the war ended, more through disappointment than fear of hanging.) It comes as little surprise to discover that the phrase “passive smoking” (Passivrauchen) was coined not by contemporary American admen, but by Fritz Lickint, the author of the magisterial 1100-page Tabak und Organismus (“Tobacco and the Organism”), which was produced in collaboration with the German AntiTobacco League.

That’s fine company are so called public health depts. keep with ehh!

Jack Listerio
Jack Listerio
8 years ago

Hitler Youth had anti-smoking patrols all over Germany, outside movie houses and in entertainment areas, sports fields etc., and smoking was strictly forbidden to these millions of German youth growing up under Hitler.”

Jack Listerio
Jack Listerio
8 years ago

…..These limits generally are based on assessments of health risk and calculations of concentrations that are associated with what the regulators believe to be negligibly small risks. The calculations are made after first identifying the total dose of a chemical that is safe (poses a negligible risk) and then determining the concentration of that chemical in the medium of concern that should not be exceeded if exposed individuals (typically those at the high end of media contact) are not to incur a dose greater than the safe one.

So OSHA standards are what is the guideline for what is acceptable ”SAFE LEVELS”

Jack Listerio
Jack Listerio
8 years ago

,,,,,Medicinal Smoke Reduces Airborne Bacteria – 2007

“This study represents a comprehensive analysis and scientific validation of our ancient knowledge about the effect of ethnopharmacological aspects of natural products’ smoke for therapy and health care on airborne bacterial composition and dynamics, using the Biolog® microplate panelsand Microlog® database.

In this study, we have designed an air sampler for microbiological air sampling during the treatment of the room with medicinal smoke. In addition, elimination of the aerial pathogenic bacteria due to the smoke is reported too.

We have observed that 1 h treatment of medicinal smoke emination by burning wood and a mixture of odoriferous and medicinal herbs (havan sámagri = material used in oblation to fire all over India) on aerial bacterial population caused over 94% reduction of bacterial counts by 60 min and the ability of the smoke to purify or disinfect the air and to make the environment cleaner was maintained up to 24 h in the closed room.

Absence of pathogenic bacteria Corynebacterium urealyticum, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens, Enterobacter aerogenes (Klebsiella mobilis), Kocuria rosea, Pseudomonassyringae pv. persicae, Staphylococcus lentus, and Xanthomonas campestris pv. tardicrescens inthe open room even after 30 days is indicative of the bactericidal potential of the medicinal smoke treatment.

We have demonstrated that using medicinal smoke it is possible to completely eliminate diverse plant and human pathogenic bacteria of the air within confined space.
Work has implications to use the smoke generated by burning wood and a mixture of odoriferousand medicinal herbs, within confined spaces such as animal barns and seed/grain warehouses to disinfect the air and to make the environment cleaner.
Work indicates that certain known medicinal constituents from the havan sámagri can thus be added to the burning farm material while disposing unwanted agriculture organic material, in order to reduce plant pathogenicorganisms.

In particular, it highlights the fact that we must think well beyond the physical aspects of smoke on plants in natural habitats and impacts heavily on our understanding of fire as adriving force in evolution.
We have demonstrated that using medicinal smoke it is possible to contain diverse pathogenic bacteria of the air we breathe.

The work also highlights the fact about medicinal smoke and that a lot of natural products have potential for use as medicine in the smoke form as a form of drug delivery and as a promising source of new active natural ingredients for containing indoor airborne infections within confined spaces used for storage of agriculture comodities.

The dynamic chemical and biological interactions occurring in the atmosphere are much more complex than has been previously realized. The findings warrant a need for further evaluation of various ingredients present in the complex mixture of odoriferous and medicinal herbs, individually and in various combinations to identify the active principlesinvolved in the bactericidal property of the medicinal smoke, applied in the above discussed fashion.”
Formerly http: //www.agri-history.org/pdf/Medic…

Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu

Medicinal smokes

Abstract
“All through time, humans have used smoke of medicinal plants to cure illness.
To the best of our knowledge, the ethnopharmacological aspects of natural products’ smoke for therapy and health care have not been studied.
Mono- and multi-ingredient herbal and non-herbal remedies administered as smoke from 50 countries across the 5 continents are reviewed.

Most of the 265 plant species of mono-ingredient remedies studied belong to Asteraceae (10.6%), followed by Solanaceae (10.2%), Fabaceae (9.8%) and Apiaceae (5.3%). The most frequent medical indications for medicinal smoke are pulmonary (23.5%), neurological (21.8%) and dermatological (8.1%).

Other uses of smoke are not exactly medical but beneficial to health, and include smoke as a preservative or a repellent and the social use of smoke.

The three main methods for administering smoke are inhalation, which accounts for 71.5% of the indications; smoke directed at a specific organ or body part, which accounts for 24.5%; ambient smoke (passive smoking), which makes up the remaining 4.0%. Whereas inhalation is typically used in the treatment of pulmonary and neurological disorders and directed smoke in localized situations, such as dermatological and genito-urinary disorders, ambient smoke is not directed at the body at all but used as an air purifier.

The advantages of smoke-based remedies are rapid delivery to the brain, more efficient absorption by the body and lower costs of production. This review highlights the fact that not enough is known about medicinal smoke and that a lot of natural products have potential for use as medicine in the smoke form.

Furthermore, this review argues in favor of medicinal smoke extended use in modern medicine as a form of drug delivery and as a promising source of new active natural ingredients”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu

Jack Listerio
Jack Listerio
8 years ago

…..CAMRA report: people who visit local pub are happier, have more friends & are more satisfied

By Emily Sutherland, 22-Jan-2016

Research from the University of Oxford has revealed people who have a local or regularly visit small community pubs are happier, have more close friends, and are more satisfied with their lives than those who don’t.

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Drinks/Beer/CAMRA-and-Oxford-University-reveal-pubs-are-good-for-well-being

Vinny Gracchus
Vinny Gracchus
8 years ago

Stop the persecution of smokers. Reject smoking bans.