[Speed Gibson,
Friday April 15, 2005 at 7:49am]
Second Hand Smoke killed 38,000?
That's what a radio spot I heard this morning claim. With someone wheezing in the background, a stern voice lists the contents of second hand smoke including acetone, cyanide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and arsenic. These are trace amounts, of course. The four largest components are nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor, deadly poisons all.
I've had a couple of exchanges with PinkMonkeyBird where I asked him how many Death Certificates list second hand smoke as the cause of death or even a contributing factor. After all, 38,000 deaths a year - and the spot didn't mince words - 38,000 deaths a year equates to 1 death per 7,500 population. Your annual chance of dying from a car accident is about 1 in 5,000.
If these figures are true, we should have no trouble finding the thousands of Death Certificates I asked for. Otherwise, you in the second hand smoke faithful need to restrain these chicken littles before they dissipate what little creditibility you have left.
I've had a couple of exchanges with PinkMonkeyBird where I asked him how many Death Certificates list second hand smoke as the cause of death or even a contributing factor. After all, 38,000 deaths a year - and the spot didn't mince words - 38,000 deaths a year equates to 1 death per 7,500 population. Your annual chance of dying from a car accident is about 1 in 5,000.
If these figures are true, we should have no trouble finding the thousands of Death Certificates I asked for. Otherwise, you in the second hand smoke faithful need to restrain these chicken littles before they dissipate what little creditibility you have left.
From http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv21n4/lies.pdf:
"Yet, if a smoker who is obese; has a family history of high
cholesterol, diabetes, and heart problems; and never exercises
dies of a heart attack, the government attributes his death to
smoking alone."