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10 Feb 2011 23:17

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U.S.: New rules pose problems for cigarette-loving surgeons

  • If you’re an unemployed smoker, don’t bother trying to be a nurse. Around the country, hospitals are implementing no-smoking-allowed policies for their employees, subjecting new applicants to urine tests and treating smoking as a terminable offense. This isn’t entirely without merit: an average smoker costs their employer about $3,391 per year in health costs and lost productivity. On the other hand, it may set a troublesome precedent for other lifestyle choices that result in higher-than-average health costs (skiing, eating meat from Taco Bell). Oddly, though both the SEIU and the tobacco lobby have voiced opposition to the law, neither are aggressively campaigning against it. (thanks for the tip, toutlejour)  source

10 Feb 2010 22:01

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U.S.: Most people favor taxing smokers (again) for quick government cash

  • 60% the percentage of taxpayers who would support a $1 cigarette tax increase as a way to raise cash
  • $9 billion the amount health advocates say could be made if the tax was actually implemented source