This is a comprehensive book that analyses the scientific evidence linking tobacco smoking to disease and premature death, as well as the political motivations that have led to the anti-smoking movement becoming so large. The book explores all aspects of tobacco smoking, including: smoking trends among social classes; detection bias and its impact on diagnosis; and examines in depth the evidence linking smoking to specific diseases; how attitudes towards smoking have changed over time from being used medicinally to being the scourge of society; and how and why tobacco smoking has the negative status it does today. It objectively dissects the politics and science of smoking trends and issues, looking at vital, complex components that are often overlooked. A must-read for smokers and non-smokers alike, Smoke Screens: The Truth About Tobacco is a controversial work that challenges one of the most widely accepted beliefs of our time.
Unwillingly promoted to the tobacco industry's lead spokesperson, Trevor Barnett oversees the industry's economy-staggering production freeze in the wake of a high-stakes lawsuit, placing him in a tenacious position.
It has been used in sacred ceremonies, in medicine, and as a life-saving cash crop in the New World. But today, tobacco is a problem—a big problem. It is one of the first substances to which young people become addicted, and it contains thousands of chemicals that are dangerous to smokers and to those who are simply in the proximity of the smoke. In Tobacco: Through the Smoke Screen, you’ll learn the story of tobacco, its history, its role in culture, and its dangers. You will also learn about the power of tobacco over smokers and chewers, and how cigarette makers help increase its hold—and make it more difficult to live without it. Last of all, you’ll find suggestions on how to kick the tobacco habit and reverse its ill effects.
From the leading authority on marijuana—a man who has served as White House advisor on drugs to three different administrations and who NBC News once called “the prodigy of drug politics"—comes the remarkable and shocking exposé about how 21st century pot, today’s new and highly potent form of the drug, is on the rise, spreading rapidly across America by an industry intent on putting rising profits over public health. Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn't Want You to Know examines the inside story behind the headlines, containing accounts from Sabet’s time in the Obama administration to stunning revelations from whistleblowers speaking out for the first time. What it finds is how the marijuana industry is running rampant without proper oversight, leaving Americans’ health seriously at risk. Included are interviews with industry insiders who reveal the hidden dangers of a product they had once worshipped. Also contained in these pages are insights from a major underground-market dealer who admits that legalization is hastening the growth of the illicit drug trade. And more to the heart of the issue are the tragic stories of those who have suffered and died as a result of marijuana use, and in many cases, as a result of its mischaracterization. Readers will learn how power brokers worked behind the scenes to market marijuana as a miracle plant in order to help it gain widespread acceptance and to set the stage for the lucrative expansion of recreational pot. The author of this compelling first-person narrative leading the national fight against the legalization of cannabis through his nonprofit, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (aka SAM) is Kevin Sabet. As a policy advisor to everyone from county health commissioners to Pope Francis, and a frequent public speaker on television, radio and through other media outlets, his analysis is consistently relied upon by those who recognize what’s at stake as marijuana lobbyists downplay the risks of massive commercialization. A book several years in the making, filled with vivid characters and informed by hundreds of interviews and scores of confidential documents, Sabet's Smokescreen lays bare the unvarnished truth about marijuana in America.
This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.
People have always smoked, and they probably always will. Every culture in recorded history has smoked something, whether for pleasure or relief, whether as part of an elaborate religious ritual or merely to strike a pose. This is the first truly comprehensive history of smoking, describinbg all of its forms, practices, paraphernalia and materials, in cultures, locations and times throughout the world.
“Mills is fast becoming the new master of gripping and intelligent page-turners.”—Tom Clancy The videotapes arrive at television stations across the nation. Their chilling message: Al Qaeda has secured a rocket launcher on American soil. Their potential targets: U.S. civilians. Their ultimate threat: they will attack. Anytime. Anywhere. Amid national chaos, the FBI calls upon one of its best agents for a final desperate mission. But no one—on either side—realizes how deep or how far the sphere of influence has spread. “An interesting and enjoyable piece of work...the kind of dark romp that Lawrence Sanders or Ross Thomas might have produced in their heyday.”—The Washington Post Book World “Great fun.”—The Houston Chronicle “Engrossing.”—Publishers Weekly
One father was murdered. Another was convicted of his death. And all because their children fell in love. Nate Beckett has spent his life fighting wildfires instead of the lies and rumors that drove him from his Colorado hometown. His mother begs him to come back now that his father has been released from prison, but it isn’t until he’s sidelined by an injury that he’s forced to return and face his past. But that means facing Brenna too. Fourteen years ago, Nate was in love with the preacher’s daughter. When Pastor Strickland discovered Brenna had defied him to sneak out with Nate, the fight between the Pastor and Nate’s drunken dad was loud—and very public. The Pastor was found murdered later that night, and everyone accused Nate’s father, Roy, of the murder. When the church burned down not long after, people assumed Nate set the fire to get even for his father’s conviction. He let the rumors fly and left town without looking back. Brenna is stunned to learn that the man convicted of murdering her father has been pardoned. The events of that night set her life on a bad course, and now she’s fighting a brutal custody battle with her ex and his new wife where he’s using lies and his family’s money to sway the judge. Brenna is barely hanging on. As Nate and Brenna deal with the present—including new information about that fateful night and a wildfire that’s threatening their town—the past keeps igniting. Nate is the steady force Brenna has so desperately needed. But she’ll have to learn to trust him again first. Full-length, stand-alone suspense novel Also by New York Times bestselling author Terri Blackstock: If I Run, Intervention, Cape Refuge, Aftermath Includes discussion questions for book clubs
The invention of mass marketing led to cigarettes being emblazoned in advertising and film, deeply tied to modern notions of glamour and sex appeal. It is hard to find a photo of Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall without a cigarette. No product has been so heavily promoted or has become so deeply entrenched in American consciousness. And no product has received such sustained scientific scrutiny. The development of new medical knowledge demonstrating the dire harms of smoking ultimately shaped the evolution of evidence-based medicine. In response, the tobacco industry engineered a campaign of scientific disinformation seeking to delay, disrupt, and suppress these studies. Using a massive archive of previously secret documents, historian Allan Brandt shows how the industry pioneered these campaigns, particularly using special interest lobbying and largesse to elude regulation. But even as the cultural dominance of the cigarette has waned and consumption has fallen dramatically in the U.S., Big Tobacco remains securely positioned to expand into new global markets. The implications for the future are vast: 100 million people died of smoking-related diseases in the 20th century; in the next 100 years, we expect 1 billion deaths worldwide.
