http://nypress.com/no-ifs-ands-or-butts/ New York's essential guide to culture, arts, politics, news and more Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:49:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://nypress.com/no-ifs-ands-or-butts/#comment-504 charlesbeward Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:19:57 +0000 http://westsidespirit.com/?p=3303#comment-504 “‘We don’t have the data today to demonstrate that outdoor smoking causes a significant health hazard,’ Dr. Warner said.” Maybe we'll have it tomorrow when they cook something up? Nor is there any solid evidence that secondhand smoke in a bar or restaurant is a health hazard, significant or otherwise. Hence Dr. Elizabeth Whelan's “There is no evidence that any New Yorker — patron or employee — has ever died as a result of exposure to smoke in a bar or restaurant,” and “The link between secondhand smoke and premature death is a real stretch.” She's president of the American Council on Science and Health and a world-class epidemiologist; and moreover she speaks for her Council of 380 scientists. I'm sorry that the writer wasn't clear on the point that secondhand smoke is truly “a phantom menace,' since 80 percent of the epidemiological studies ever made show only a statistically insignificant connection between secondhand smoke and either lung cancer or heart disease. And no, I'm not talking about it's effects on asthma sufferers.

]]> http://nypress.com/no-ifs-ands-or-butts/#comment-503 charlesbeward Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:19:57 +0000 http://westsidespirit.com/?p=3303#comment-503 “‘We don’t have the data today to demonstrate that outdoor smoking causes a significant health hazard,’ Dr. Warner said.” Maybe we'll have it tomorrow when they cook something up? Nor is there any solid evidence that secondhand smoke in a bar or restaurant is a health hazard, significant or otherwise. Hence Dr. Elizabeth Whelan's “There is no evidence that any New Yorker — patron or employee — has ever died as a result of exposure to smoke in a bar or restaurant,” and “The link between secondhand smoke and premature death is a real stretch.” She's president of the American Council on Science and Health and a world-class epidemiologist; and moreover she speaks for her Council of 380 scientists. I'm sorry that the writer wasn't clear on the point that secondhand smoke is truly “a phantom menace,' since 80 percent of the epidemiological studies ever made show only a statistically insignificant connection between secondhand smoke and either lung cancer or heart disease. And no, I'm not talking about it's effects on asthma sufferers.

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