Maine was once a leader in the nation on smoking cessation and prevention programs, but it is slipping backward and the rates at which high school students are smoking and using electronic cigarettes have now moved above the national averages for the first time in 20 years. In 2015 – the last year for which […]
smoking
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Nate Libby uses ‘colorful language’ in tweet aimed at LePage
AUGUSTA — A letter from Gov. Paul LePage that sharply criticized Sen. Nate Libby’s support for raising the age to buy cigarettes left the Lewiston Democrat smoking mad. The Republican governor called senators who overrode his veto of a measure that hiked the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 “hypocrites” for […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Smoke 'em if you got 'em
It’s hard to believe there was a time when smoking was considered cool. But oh, there were such times. Think James Dean leaning against that 1949 Mercury Coupe, a mile of street cred dangling from his lips. Think Clint Eastwood in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” scowling around that hand-rolled smoke so blazingly, […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Study links 1/4th of U.S. cancer deaths to smoking
CHICAGO — Cigarettes contribute to more than 1 in 4 cancer deaths in the U.S. The rate is highest among men in southern states where smoking is more common and tobacco control policies are less strict. The American Cancer Society study found the highest rate among men in Arkansas, where 40 percent of cancer deaths […]
Posted inLocal & State, New England, Oxford Hills
No butts; smokers fuming over drive-in smoking ban
BRIDGTON — New efforts to comply with its state license to serve food and drinks has some of the patrons of the Bridgton Twin Drive-In taking to social media to complain. According to posts on the drive-in’s Facebook page and a recorded message on its phone line, the summer business has been warned by the […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: How to give up smoking even if you’re stupid
Contained within the Sun Journal photo archives are roughly 6,000 photos of yours truly taken over the course of the past 20 years. Here’s me brooding at a crime scene. Here I am getting my face painted (I was a kitten) at the Balloon Festival. Here’s me leaning against a post, sitting at my desk […]
Posted inLocal & State
Statewide ban on public ‘vaping’ OK’d by legislative committee
AUGUSTA — An effort to place the same restrictions on electronic cigarettes that exist for tobacco cigarettes in Maine cleared the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on a 6-5, party-line vote Friday. With Democrats supporting LD 1108 and Republicans opposing it, the bill’s prospects in the full Legislature appear questionable. Electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Debate heats up over proposed cuts to Fund for Healthy Maine
AUGUSTA — Advocates and health care providers said Monday that Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to divert money from a fund that supports community anti-smoking programs in order to maintain Medicaid reimbursements for primary care physicians is the wrong approach. The Republican’s proposed budget would cut $10 million a year from the Fund for Healthy Maine, […]
Posted inRiver Valley
Dixfield man expelled while trying to snuff smoking at Rumford Eagles club
RUMFORD — A Dixfield man who launched a crusade last year to outlaw smoking at the largest Eagles club in Maine was recently expelled from the club after a trial. Steve Swan said he was escorted from the club in his cowboy hat “throwing the peace sign” as a room full of members cheered his […]
Posted inFranklin, The Franklin Journal
Livermore Falls official stresses alcohol, tobacco ban at rec field
LIVERMORE FALLS — Town Manager Kristal Flagg stressed Tuesday that there is no smoking, alcohol or illegal drug use allowed on the town’s Recreation Field. Flagg told selectmen she saw a group of men drinking alcohol with gas grills set up on the basketball court, which is also not allowed. She had a sign put […]