The Billings Gazette has an article on employment at Scotts/Miracle Gros: "The company that makes Scotts and Miracle Gro lawn and garden products is requiring its employees to quit smoking if they want to keep their jobs, the Associated Press reported Dec. 10. Officials at Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., of Marysville, Ohio, say they see the smoking policy and a new, $5-million fitness and medical facility as a way to cut down on health-insurance costs. “Why would we admit someone into this environment when they’re passing risk along to everyone else? Our view is we shouldn’t and we won’t,” said company chairman and CEO James Hagedorn. The company can legally fire smokers in 21 states. “We’re being as aggressive as the law will allow us, to keep our costs under control,” Hagedorn said."
Health Day News has a headline: "Parents Can Sway Teens’ Attitudes on Drugs"
The report continues: "Tolerance for illicit drugs by parents raises kids’ risks, study finds. Peer pressure isn’t the only major factor influencing whether teens use drugs. Parents also play an important role, a new study finds. “Much of the previous research in this area shows that adolescents make their decisions about drugs based on influence from their friends. But those studies neglect the notion we found here, that some of the family characteristics help determine who teens associated with,” study lead author Stephen Bahr, a professor of sociology at Brigham Young University, explained in a prepared statement. “We also found that some steps taken by parents had a direct effect on lowering drug abuse, even in the face of peer influences,” he said."
The Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation has released a study looking at the increase in automobile accidents following New Zealand’s decision to lower the drinking age to 18 some six years ago.
In a press release (I could not find the study on their website) they report that “Lowering the drinking age causes a
dramatic increase in alcohol-related car crashes among young people, according to a new study based on data from New Zealand, where the government dropped the drinking age to 18 six years ago.
This evidence is significant for the United States, because drinking and driving patterns among young people are similar.
There’s continuing pressure in the United States, particularly from alcohol industry interests, to reduce the minimum legal drinking age. Currently, five states have pending legislation to lower their drinking age. “There is no traffic safety policy with more evidence for its effectiveness than minimum legal drinking age laws,†said Robert B. Voas, Ph.D., an author of the study. “Traffic crashes by young drivers were declining in New Zealand when that country decided to lower
its drinking age. Thereafter, the overall road toll for those drivers rose dramatically. People in the United States who argue for lowering the drinking age should pay attention.â€"
Maybe they should raise the driving age… ?
Don’t Drink and Drive, well _everybody_ knows that, but apparently Canadian teenagers could use some information about druggin’ and drivin’.
Starting in 2003, San Francisco began providing syringes filled with Naloxone, a short-acting opiate blocker, to addicts to use on fellow users who have overdosed on opiates. The naloxone revives them, preventing death. The program is credited with saving close to 200 lives. That is important, since in California drug overdoses may soon exceed automobile deaths. New York City has also been funding a naloxone program since early 2005.
This is a _very_ nice example of a Harm Reduction approach to addiction. Social policy dealing with substance problems generally falls into one of the Three Reductions: Harm, demand and supply. A brief explanation is available here.
No snowmen in Florida, at least not on t-shirts. Soundslam News reports that "The Polk County School System in Florida’s public education network has recently banned the Snowman t-shirts for their symbolic representation for “snowâ€, or otherwise known as cocaine."
And apparently the "Miskeen Originals company that first produced the Young Jeezy “Snowman†shirts has since cancelled the production and distribution of the clothing upon hearing of the shirts symbolic meaning."
The American Cancer Society’s 28th annual Great American SmokeOut is scheduled for 2005.November.17 (a Thursday?). Information is available at the following links:
"Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a thousand times." (Mark Twain)
If you are curious, here is more information: