Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Tue, Sep 19 2006
Butts on the run
Cigarettes have been prominent in news stories lately, but not in the way one might think of them at first. We're used to hearing about cigarettes causing lung cancer, heart disease and other conditions that develop over a longer period of time. But a couple of police officers in San Francisco got a sudden jolt and had to be checked for injuries after a suspect rear-ended them while attempting to light his cigarette. One suspect in Colorado accidentally fell and cut his own throat with a box cutter while fleeing police officers after they told him to put out his cigarette. Another story told of one hapless smoker who suffered various burns when he dropped his cigarette while filling a gas lawnmower in a basement.
It's not all bad news. Crime scene investigators in Connecticut used DNA from a cigarette butt to help link a suspect to unsolved robberies. Police detective Denise Armstrong in Wisconsin used the DNA from a discarded cigarette butt as evidence in an attempted sexual assault case.
Virtually all current warnings on cigarette packages focus on long-term risk. Maybe future warnings should zero in on elements that address the more short-term risks—like lighting one up around tanks of flammable liquid— or while running from, or following behind, law enforcement personnel. Of course, it could backfire. There's probably nothing like the added element of surprise to inject a little excitement into the dangers of using something young smokers think might not kill them until they're too tired and wrinkled to care.
posted at: 12:49 | category: /Health and Fitness | link to this entry
Cigarettes have been prominent in news stories lately, but not in the way one might think of them at first. We're used to hearing about cigarettes causing lung cancer, heart disease and other conditions that develop over a longer period of time. But a couple of police officers in San Francisco got a sudden jolt and had to be checked for injuries after a suspect rear-ended them while attempting to light his cigarette. One suspect in Colorado accidentally fell and cut his own throat with a box cutter while fleeing police officers after they told him to put out his cigarette. Another story told of one hapless smoker who suffered various burns when he dropped his cigarette while filling a gas lawnmower in a basement.
It's not all bad news. Crime scene investigators in Connecticut used DNA from a cigarette butt to help link a suspect to unsolved robberies. Police detective Denise Armstrong in Wisconsin used the DNA from a discarded cigarette butt as evidence in an attempted sexual assault case.
Virtually all current warnings on cigarette packages focus on long-term risk. Maybe future warnings should zero in on elements that address the more short-term risks—like lighting one up around tanks of flammable liquid— or while running from, or following behind, law enforcement personnel. Of course, it could backfire. There's probably nothing like the added element of surprise to inject a little excitement into the dangers of using something young smokers think might not kill them until they're too tired and wrinkled to care.
posted at: 12:49 | category: /Health and Fitness | link to this entry
