The anti-tobacco campaign of the Nazis: a little known aspect of public health in Germany

Quick, start smoking!

Robert N Proctor

Historians and epidemiologists have only recently begun to explore the Nazi anti-tobacco movement. Germany had the world's strongest anti smoking movement in the 1930s and early 1940s,encompassing bans on smoking in public spaces, bans on advertising,restrictions on tobacco rations for women, and the world's most refined tobacco epidemiology, linking tobacco use with the already evident epidemic of lung cancer. The anti-tobacco campaign must be understood against the backdrop of the Nazi quest for racial and bodily purity, which also motivated many other public health efforts of the era.

Tobacco in the Reich

One topic that has only recently begun to attract attention is the Nazi anti-tobacco movement.(4-6) Germany had the world's strongest anti smoking movement in the 1930s and early 1940s,supported by Nazi medical and military leaders worried that tobacco might prove a hazard to the race.(1) (4)Many Nazi leaders were vocal opponents of smoking. Anti-tobacco activists pointed out that whereas Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt were all fond of tobacco, the three major fascist leaders of Europe-Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco-were all non-smokers.(7) Hitler was the most adamant,characterising tobacco as "the wrath of the Red Man against the White Man for having been given hard liquor." At one point the Fuhrer even suggested that Nazism might never have triumphed in Germany had he not given up smoking.(8)

UFO's over New Jersey

Prosecutor investigates red lights, citing possible danger to aircraft

The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the red lights that have been spotted flying over Morris County on several occasions during the past month, most recently on Tuesday night, with officials saying they may present a hazard to airplanes.

Capt. Jeff Paul, a spokesman for Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi, said on Wednesday that federal authorities have expressed concern that the objects — which could be flares attached to balloons — might be a threat to flights on their final approach to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Serious Reaction Reports After Gardasil and Menactra vaccines

Guillain-Barré syndrome disease on the rise.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Comparing serious adverse event reports to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) following Gardasil (HPV) and another vaccine for meningococcal (Menactra), the National Vaccine Information Center (www.NVIC.org) found that there are three to 30 times more serious health problems and deaths reported to VAERS after Gardasil vaccination. As reported by CBS News, the longtime vaccine safety watchdog group is calling for action, including an investigation by the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) and the U.S. Congress into the fast-tracked licensure and government recommendation that all young girls and women get Gardasil vaccine.

“Merck only studied the vaccine in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 and most of the serious health problems and deaths in the pre-licensure clinical trials were written off as a 'coincidence,'” said NVIC co-founder and president, Barbara Loe Fisher. “If the new Administration and Congress want to make government recommended health care safer, more effective and less expensive, a good place to start is by looking into the human and economic costs of Gardasil vaccine.”

Gardasil and Menactra vaccines are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for gradeschool, high school and college age children, although Gardasil is only given to girls while Menactra is given to both girls and boys. If reports of Gardasil vaccine-related adverse events are only coincidental as maintained by CDC officials in October 2008, there would be little or no difference in the number and severity of adverse event reports for both vaccines.

Using the MedAlerts database, compiling data for VAERS through November 30, 2008, NVIC found that compared to Menactra, Gardasil is associated with at least twice as many Emergency Room visit reports (5,021), four times as many Death reports (29); five times as many “Did Not Recover” reports (2,017) and seven times as many “Disabled” reports (261). There have been 34 reports of thrombosis, 27 reports of lupus, 23 reports of blood clots, 16 reports of stroke, and 11 reports of vasculitis following Gardasil vaccine given alone without any other vaccines. There are three to six times more fainting or syncope reports after Gardasil vaccination than after Menactra and there have been 544 reports of seizures following Gardasil and 158 after Menactra (73 Menactra-associated seizures involved co-administration with Gardasil).

Rechallenge reports to VAERS involve cases where there was a worsening of symptoms after repeated vaccination. There were 275 Rechallenge reports after Gardasil compared to eight after Menactra (7 Menactra-associated Rechallenge reports involved co-administration with Gardasil). In the entire VAERS database for all vaccine adverse event reports, there are 467 rechallenge reports, of which nearly 60 percent are for Gardasil.

A 15-year old gymnast, cheerleader and honor roll student in Kansas has been diagnosed with Gardasil vaccine-related brain inflammation after receiving three Gardasil shots. Her first symptoms included muscle and joint weakness and pain, numbness and tingling in her hands and feet, severe headaches excessive fatigue, rash, dizziness, and loss of concentration after the first shot. After the second and third shots she began losing her hair and developed seizures, bouts of paralysis, mini-strokes, partial loss of vision, and severe chest pain, memory and speech loss. Click here to learn more.

A 21-year old Maryland artist, athlete and honor roll college student died suddenly without explanation in June 2008 after her third Gardasil shot. She is one of the 29 Gardasil death reports in VAERS. Click here to learn more.

A nonprofit, non-medical organization founded by parents of vaccine injured children in 1982, NVIC issued three VAERS analyses in 2007 warning that Gardasil appeared to be highly reactive and asking for federal health agencies to inform physicians and parents about serious health problems associated with the new vaccine.

Police Forcibly Hospitalize Florida Boy for Tantrum

LARGO, FL — Police this week removed an unruly 7-year-old from his classroom and forced him to be hospitalized under the state's Baker Act — against the wishes of his outraged parents.

The boy spent the night alone at Morton Plant Hospital before he was seen by a child psychologist the next day and discharged.

"This is a total abuse of police power," said the boy's father, Richard Smith, 41. "My son has no mental health problems. He's never hurt himself. He's never hurt anyone else."

Smith and his wife, Barbara, said they want to consult a lawyer.

But Largo deputy police Chief John Carroll said his officers did the right thing.

By all accounts, the second-grader threw a tantrum at Mildred Helms Elementary on Wednesday. Carroll said the boy tore up the room during his fit. In the process, he stepped on a teacher's foot and "battered" a school administrator.

Carroll said the tantrum was so bad that school officials had to evacuate students from the classroom.

School officials called the parents and police. When officers arrived, they decided the boy needed a mental health examination.

This was not the first time the boy had acted up, Carroll said, and the lead officer, Michael Kirkpatrick, decided the boy couldn't just go home again with his mother.

"He just felt that this young man needed some mental health service he wasn't getting," Carroll explained. "The Baker Act is a kind of a Band-Aid that allows us to have somebody introduced to the service providers that can actually do something for him."

Barbara Smith said she could have defused the situation had officers let her see her son. Instead, they kept her from him as they conducted their investigation, she said.

When police decided to take him to a hospital, she agreed to ride with the boy in a police car to comfort him.

The incident was terrifying for the boy, whose name is not being used by the St. Petersburg Times. Barbara Smith is keeping the boy and his 9-year-old sister out of school because they are "scared to death" to go back, she said.

The Baker Act allows people to be taken for mental health examination against their will. But it requires a person show a substantial likelihood of causing serious injury to himself or others.

Absent that, police cannot use the Baker Act to take someone into custody against their will, even if they think the person needs help, said Raine Johns, who handles Baker Act cases for the Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender's Office.

"That's not the purpose of the Baker Act at all," said Johns, who is not involved in the case. "Stepping on somebody's foot doesn't rise to the level of substantial bodily harm."

Martha Lenderman, a Pinellas-based Baker Act expert, said a child can be taken against parents' wishes, but only if he meets all the criteria.

Johns said she has seen children as young as 7 taken into custody under the Baker Act before, but usually it's voluntary.

Pinellas schools police report they have been involved in 83 Baker Acts from the beginning of the school year to the start of this week. That does not include any handled by other police agencies.

School Board member Peggy O'Shea said she didn't think that sounded like a large number given the 105,000 students in Pinellas schools.

School board member Janet Clark noted there were several other Baker Acts in Pinellas schools that day. She plans to raise the issue with the superintendent.

School officials said a region superintendent has agreed to meet with the Smiths and the principal.

Carroll said the it's not as if police officers enjoy taking kids into custody.

"We look like the big tough cops with the tiny kid," he said.

But in the case of this boy, it was justified.

"The child got interviewed by mental health professionals," he said. "He didn't get arrested. There's no criminal charges against him."

Richard Smith and his wife are not sure of their next step.

"We can't just sweep this under the carpet," she said. "We do want to talk to a lawyer. … Our main goal is to make sure this does not happen to another family."

Guns for Roses in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Police in South Carolina gave away roses on Valentine's Day. All you had to do to get one for your sweetie was turn in a gun.

Hoping to get the weapons off the streets with the "Guns for Roses" program, authorities in two central South Carolina cities set up a program where anyone who turned in a gun received a free rose and a Best Buy gift card.

At a Columbia church, five cars lined up to give away guns before the exchange had even started. At the end of the day, Columbia area police had collected 191 weapons and police in Sumter collected 32.
"We've got a great turnout so far," Richland County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Chris Cowan said.
A handgun was worth a $100 gift card, while a rifle or shotgun netted a $50 gift certificate. Cowan said one man turned in six handguns, worth $600 in gift cards.

Cowan did not immediately have a total value for gift cards given out. Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson said her program gave out $550 in gift cards for long guns and $2,100 for handguns.
There was no amnesty for those turning in the guns. The weapons were being checked to see if they were stolen, names and addresses were jotted down and ballistics tests would also be done to see if the firearm was used in a crime.
Both Cowan and Patterson said there were no incidents and no arrests made Saturday.

Cowan said the idea was spawned in part by Columbia Police Chief T.P. Carter and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who has made headlines recently for investigating Michael Phelps after a photo surfaced showing the Olympic swimming champion smoking a marijuana pipe. The program was modeled after a California one; similar exchanges have been done in New York and San Francisco.

Cowan said gun donors were young and old, men and woman. Many had a big smile and some said it was a relief to get rid of the weapons.

And did they even care about the rose?

"Most of them have taken it," Cowan said.

Luxury Chinese Hotel Survives Massive Fire

Flames engulfed a luxury hotel that forms part of the landmark new headquarters of Chinese state television yesterday after sparks from fireworks set off to celebrate the biggest holiday of the year showered the capital.

The wail of police sirens from hundreds of vehicles racing to the building was almost drowned by the constant eruptions from firecrackers and fireworks being lit to mark the Lantern Festival, which is the final day of the Chinese New Year holiday.

The flames shooting up the side of the 44-storey building sent off plumes of black smoke and showered the ground with embers. At least seven fire crews fought to bring the fire under control.

The Television Cultural Centre was to have housed the 241-room Mandarin Oriental Hotel as well as a theatre and recording studios. It formed the smaller of two huge buildings that make up the China Central Television complex due to be completed towards the end of this year at a cost of about $730 million (£490 million).

NJ to fluoridate more drinking water

An extra 6 million people in New Jersey would get water treated with fluoride under a bill that cleared an Assembly committee yesterday.

The measure, approved by the Assembly Health Committee, was strongly pushed by medical professionals but opposed by environmentalists and water companies.

Committee chairman and bill sponsor Herb Conaway (D-Burlington) made it clear from the outset the bill would be approved by the panel, saying it was "appalling" that only Hawaii has lower percentage of people who have access to teeth-strengthening fluoride in their water.

"We need to do something to change that," he said.

Nationwide, about 184 million people -- nearly 70 percent -- drink fluoridated water. In New Jersey, where municipalities are free to decide whether to mandate water fluoridation, 1.7 million people -- only 22.6 percent -- have fluoridated water, according to state and federal reports. They live in 78 towns, mostly in Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset counties.

Three officials for the New Jersey Dental Association urged the committee to support the bill, noting tooth decay is the most prevalent chronic disease among children.

"This will not only improve oral health," said Arthur Meisel, the group's executive director. "We're not asking you to spend money. We're coming to you to ask you to save money," noting there would be fewer dental claims submitted to the state health benefits plan.

Environmental advocates unsuccessfully tried to persuade the committee it was rushing the bill (A3709) Conaway introduced Feb. 5. They wanted to delay action until they reviewed research about the impact of fluoride and other potentially dangerous additives on riverbeds, as well as overexposure in humans.

"The sponsors' goal to reduce tooth decay is laudable but there are safer, cheaper ways to do it than mass medication," said Sharon Finlayson, chairwoman of the New Jersey Environmental Federation.

Finlayson brought food items she said contain enough fluoride, like some baked potato chips, cereals and sweetened iced tea. "We already are getting fluoride from many sources," she said.

Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, said he worried residents may be exposed to cheap "industrial-grade" fluoride, laced with arsenic, lead and mercury. "Our concern is to make sure it's a pure form of fluoride," he said.

Karen Alexander, president of the New Jersey Utilities Association, said the federal Drinking Water Act regulates fluoride as a "water contaminant" and could affect "more sensitive populations."

Utility operators "should not have the responsibility for ensuring the appropriate dosage of fluoride, Alexander said.

Conaway, a physician, declined to postpone the vote. He said the state departments of health and environmental protection would set and enforce safety standards.

Noting the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has strongly endorsed adding fluoride to drinking water, he said: "I guess the CDC must be nuts and not know what they are doing."

The bill was approved 10-0. Assemblyman Vincent Polistina (R-Atlantic) abstained, saying he wants to do more research. The measure moves to the full Assembly.

Ellen Gulbinesky of the Association Environmental Authorities, representing 110 waste water and solid waste authorities, said the recommended dose of fluoride is 1 part per million, and it is difficult to maintain that level.

"They make it sound like all they have to do is wheel in a tank of fluoride and add it, but there is a lot of science involved in it," she said.

James Schulz, the dental association's lobbyist, said communities are already passing that test.

"This is not new territory," he said. It's monitored on a regular basis in communities across the country, including 20 percent of the population in New Jersey."



For a list of New Jersey communities already receiving fluoridated water, go to http://www.nj.gov/dep/watersupply/FluorideAS_9_3_03.pdf.