When I decided to give up smoking in my 20s, I resolved to enjoy my last cigarette the night before my birthday and turned my final smoke into a sacrament. I put The Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin“ on my tinny record player, turned off the lights and sat in the dark, gazing at […]
smoking
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Correlation ≠ Causation
Mention just about any scientific finding involving a chain of causation — anthropocentric global warming, monarch butterflies/milkweed destruction, fluoridation/fewer cavities (“Colorado Brown Stain,” May 31) — and you’ll hear “correlation isn’t causation” from skeptics. And they’re right. If you suggest A causes B, they’re going to ask, “How are you so sure B doesn’t cause […]
Posted inShopping
The Humidor
For the past 17 years, Humboldt has enjoyed unexpected access to the finer pleasures in life thanks to the friendly staff at Myrtlewood Liquors and John’s Fine Cigars. The folks behind the counter can switch hit between talking shop about vintage Port to where the biggest fish have been biting. The selection surpasses expectations of […]
Posted inNews
Sorry, Kids: Tobacco Buying Age Hiked to 21, Vaping Restricted
Beginning June 9, you’ll have to prove you’re 21 to buy tobacco. Thanks to a bill sponsored by Assemblymember Jim Wood, California is joining Hawaii as the second state in the nation to raise the minimum age for tobacco purchases. Members of the armed services are exempt. The announcement that Gov. Jerry Brown had signed […]
Posted inNews
Wood Pushes Soda Tax Amid Busy Health Week
Really want that Double Big Gulp? Well, come next year, you’ll have to pay an extra $1.28 for it, if North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood has anything to say about it. Kicking off what’s proven to be a busy week for Wood and health news, the assemblyman introduced a bill that would impose a 2-cent-per-ounce […]
Posted inNews
Light up and Move along
Arcata updated its public loitering smoking ordinance last night, but don’t get too attached to the new rules — the now city-wide public ban is likely to evolve again in the coming months. Residents along the border of the current prohibition area (I Street, in particular, at Eighth and Ninth streets) have complained that the […]
Posted inNews
We Mostly Flunk
We’re a (mostly) sad, bad, hackalung lot up here in Northern California. According to the American Lung Association, “Progress in the fight against tobacco use is at a standstill in California and in most cities and counties in the North Coast …” The association released its annual State of Tobacco Control report today, which shows […]