Drop in smoking threatens embattled tobacco bonds

Indoor tanning being compared to smoking

Cases of skin cancer are on the rise and now health experts are saying tanning beds should be considered just as dangerous as smoking cigarettes.

Melanoma is currently the leading cause of cancer in women ages 25 through 30 and the blame has been placed on tanning beds.

However, a local business owner says there is another side of the story. The owner of Neon Sun in Amarillo, Blake Goldston, says the health benefits are never included in the research. "The tanning industry has never done any of its own research, all of the research that has ever been done is coming from independent studies through the CDC, through universities, hospitals, that sort of thing, so health benefits include things like helping with allergies, arthritis, it helps with depression and to prevent sleeping disorders."

Most cities in Texas have more tanning salons than popular fast food chain restaurants. A local doctor, Elaine Cook, says there needs to be more health warnings about the risks with tanning. "People think that skin cancer is a minor thing and it is nothing to be worried about. People know tanning beds causing aging and wrinkles and people tend to be more concerned about that, but the skin cancer a lot of people blow off. And you know the sad thing about that is melanoma is the serious kind of skin cancer that kills you."

However, Goldston says there are vital health benefits from participating in indoor tanning. "80 percent of people in the world lack vitamin D and your body needs vitamin D. The CDC actually doubled there weekly recommended exposure to ultraviolet light because of this."

Cook says you don't need to indoor tan to receive vitamin D. She says you get as much as you need through 5 minutes a day of sun exposure to the back of your hand. In September Texas outlawed minors from tanning in a tanning bed, regardless of parental consent.

Report: Captain warned Justin Bieber to stop smoking weed

A captain of a private jet which transported Justin Bieber to New Jersey last week warned the star and his entourage to stop smoking marijuana onboard, according to an incident report.
The “Baby” singer flew in to the state from his native Canada on Friday to attend the Super Bowl football championship game on Sunday, but hit headlines when his private jet was reportedly targeted in a drugs raid after landing.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers and border officials are said to have searched the plane with sniffer dogs, but failed to find any illegal substances.
Now it has emerged the captain of the jet warned the pop star and his entourage to stop smoking dope onboard while they were in the air.
The revelation was made in an official incident report, obtained by Nbcnews.com, which states, “The captain of the flight stated that he warned the passengers, including Bieber, on several occasions to stop smoking marijuana.”
The report also suggests that Bieber, 19, and his group were rude to a flight attendant, adding, “The captain also stated he needed to request that the passengers stop their harassing behavior toward the flight attendant and after several warnings asked the flight attendant to stay with him near the cockpit.”
The news comes amid mounting legal woes for Bieber, who is facing multiple charges in Florida stemming from a DUI arrest last month, as well as assault allegations in Canada relating to a reported attack on a limousine driver.

Letter: Pass smoking age increase in Suffolk

Emphasizing that smoking remains the leading preventable cause of premature disease and death in the United States, a recent report from the surgeon general stresses the need to redouble our efforts to eradicate this epidemic, and especially to prevent young people from starting ["Eye on smoke law impact," News, Jan. 29].Golden Gate Blue
Suffolk County's proposed law to raise the legal smoking age to 21 is right on the mark. Each year, smoking kills nearly 500,000 adults, at a cost of $289 billion in direct medical care and other costs such as lost productivity.
Passage of this law would prevent many of our youth from becoming sad statistics and maintain Suffolk's standing as a leader in this vital public health issue.