RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Glenn Boothe wrote:
> Support music trivia, my eardrums need a break!  

Umm, what about your lungs? Will this be a nonsmoking event? I heard a 
shitload of people came out to the Smiths tribute show, which was 
nonsmoking, so apparently it's a viable economic decision. And here's 
more proof that you're killing yourself (and the rest of us, although 
the rest of us can always just stay home, which isn't really a choice 
for you):

A Warning on Hazards of Secondhand Smoke
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/28/health/28smoke.html

The evidence is now "indisputable" that secondhand smoke is an 
"alarming" public health hazard, responsible for tens of thousands of 
premature deaths among nonsmokers each year, Surgeon General Richard H. 
Carmona said yesterday.

Dr. Carmona warned that measures like no-smoking sections did not 
provide adequate protection, adding, "Smoke-free environments are the 
only approach that protects nonsmokers from the dangers of secondhand 
smoke."
[. . .]
"I am here to say the debate is over: the science is clear," Dr. Carmona 
said at a televised news conference, where he released a report updating 
the original surgeon general's study of secondhand smoke in 1986. Since 
then, hundreds of studies have indicated that the harm caused by 
secondhand smoke is far greater than earlier believed, he said. The 
report includes these findings:

¶There is no safe level of secondhand smoke, and even brief exposure can 
cause harm, especially for people suffering from heart or respiratory 
diseases.

¶For nonsmoking adults, exposure raises the risk of heart disease by 25 
percent to 30 percent and of cancer by 20 percent to 30 percent. It 
accounted for 46,000 premature deaths from heart disease and 3,000 
premature deaths from cancer last year.

¶Secondhand smoke is a cause of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, 
accounting for 430 deaths last year. The risk is elevated for children 
whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy and for children exposed in 
their homes after birth.

¶The impact on the health and development of children is more severe 
than previously thought. "Children are especially vulnerable to the 
poisons in secondhand smoke," Dr. Carmona said.

¶Efforts to minimize the effect of secondhand smoke by separating 
smokers and nonsmokers are ineffective, as are ventilation systems in a 
shared space.