It’s official, the longer you smoke the thicker you get!

What was the question again? Well yes, 2x2 make 5, what a dumb question.

Yep, another mad “research project” to further demonise smokers, lookout for more warning labels on your tobacco product stating “Smoking makes you thick.”

A study of 18 to 21-year-old men revealed that the IQs of smokers averaged 94 – seven points lower than non-smokers on 101.

IQ scores in a healthy population of young men fall between 84 and 116, but those who smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day averaged just 90 between them.

Researchers in Israel took data from more than 20,000 healthy men before, during and after they spent time in the Israeli military.

About 28 per cent of their sample smoked one or more cigarettes a day, three per cent considered themselves ex-smokers, and 68 per cent said they never smoked.

Professor Mark Weiser, of Tel Aviv University's Department of Psychiatry, said: "In the health profession, we've generally thought that smokers are most likely the kind of people to have grown up in difficult neighbourhoods, or who've been given less education at good schools.

"But because our study included subjects with diverse socio-economic backgrounds, we've been able to rule out socio-economics as a major factor."

The study also measured effects in twin brothers – and in the case where one twin smoked, the non-smoking twin registered a higher IQ on average.

Prof Weiser said: "People on the lower end of the average IQ tend to display poorer overall decision-making skills when it comes to their health.

"People with lower IQs are not only prone to addictions such as smoking. These same people are more likely to have obesity, nutrition and narcotics issues.

"Our study may help parents and health professionals help at-risk young people make better choices."

The study was reported in a recent version of the journal Addiction.

I’ll say only one thing:

The incredibly stupid smoker Albert Einstein.

And if you think the piece of pap above was bad…there’s more.

I've had a pig of a day, I could do with a fag.

Rich White, author of  Smoke Screens: The Truth About Tobacco found yet more “research” claiming that:

• Cigarettes may contain blood - research 
• "Insight into world of cigarette manufacture"
• Likely to raise concerns for Muslims, Jews

CIGARETTES may contain traces of pigs' blood, an Australian academic says with a warning that religious groups could find its undisclosed presence "very offensive".

University of Sydney Professor in Public Health Simon Chapman points to recent Dutch research which identified 185 different industrial uses of a pig - including the use of its haemoglobin in cigarette filters.

Prof Chapman said the research offered an insight into the otherwise secretive world of cigarette manufacture, and it was likely to raise concerns for devout Muslims and Jews.

Religious texts at the core of both of these faiths specifically ban the consumption of pork.

"I think that there would be some particularly devout groups who would find the idea that there were pig products in cigarettes to be very offensive," Prof Chapman said today.

"The Jewish community certainly takes these matters extremely seriously and the Islamic community certainly do as well, as would many vegetarians. […]

Digging around Rich found this:

Claims of Pig Blood in Cigarette Filters Coughs Up a Cloud of Controversy

In a claim likely to cause consternation from Muslim smokers, a Dutch author has published a book that claims that pig blood is used to make cigarette filters. 
Pig 05049, written by Christien Meindertsma, lists 185 different ways that pigs’ body parts can be used, including in the manufacture of sweets, shampoo, bread, beer and bullets. 
Pig hemoglobin is, according to the book, used to filter harmful chemicals in cigarettes. 
The Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) called on authorities to investigate the claims. “If the claim is true then the National Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), the Ministry of Health and the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM) should immediately conduct a sampling test,” Tulus Abadi, chairman of the YLKI, told the Jakarta Globe. 
Tulus said that Indonesian cigarette producers were using imported filters because they are not produced locally. 
If the claims are true, Tulus said, the government has a stronger case to take a stand against tobacco. “As the most populous Muslim country, we should be really careful, most smokers in Indonesia are Muslims. How would they feel if they found out that the cigarettes they smoke were made using pig hemoglobin?” he said. 
MUI chairman Amidhan said that MUI would not comment on the matter and would not conduct any certification test unless there was a request from the cigarette industry or the importer. 
“Smoking is offensive and for now that’s our stance. However this information should be regarded as a warning for smokers to be more aware,” he said. 
Professor Simon Chapman from the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney was quoted on the university’s Web site as saying, “many devout Islamic and Jewish smokers and some vegetarians would be horrified to think they were putting a filter in their mouth which contained a pig product.”

Rich is not impressed and nor am I:

“Professor” Chapman obviously did not feel it necessary to disclose either the name of the Dutch researcher or the name of the paper.  His argument also hinges on extraordinary ignorance from the readers too.  For starters, haemoglobin being part of the filter does not mean cigarettes contain it.  Secondly, it is neither ingested through smoking nor harmful, and is used it beer, shampoo and bread, neither of which were mentioned by Chapman.  You would think bread or shampoo would be a bigger issue for the religious communities really. Thirdly, he claims the tobacco industry is secretive - wrong.  Ever since the Master Settlement Agreement their internal documents have been viewable by the public, and they openly list their ingredients for each brand on their respective websites for the world to see.  Each ingredient, by the way, is certified for usage in tobacco products.  Chapman also noticed “one” brand in Greece had haemoglobin, so hardly a major panic piece.

Seriously, this crap against one of the biggest earners this country produces, tobacco revenue, has to be fought with vigour, no holds bloody barred!

Blogger Tags: Smokers treated as less than human, Smokers IQ under question by fake researchers chasing the money, Time to fight back!