Friday, January 11, 2008

Anti-Smoking Groups Celebrate Anniversary of Historic Publication.....

Washington, DC-Anti-smoking organizations from across the country have sent representatives to our nation's capital to celebrate the anniversary of the 1964 publication by United States Surgeon General Dr. Luther Leonidas Terry of a report announcing that smoking may be hazardous to health.

The report's findings, which represented the first time that the U.S. government voiced its opinion on the subject of smoking cigarretes, led to serious debate amongst experts and has been a source of controversy ever since. But to many, it was a large step in the right direction as it became the motivation for widespread anti-smoking initiatives such as the placement of warnings on all cigarrete packages beginning in 1965, and the complete ban of cigarrete advertising on television and radio since 1970.

But not everyone agrees that the report is deserving of celebratory remembrance, and some have even gathered to protest the event. "The 1964 Surgeon General's report was a travesty," retired internist William "Dub" McIlhenny explained. "Its biased and sensationalistic claims made it very difficult for physicians to prescribe their favorite brand of cigarettes to prevent throat irritation and chase away tiredness."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, Mr. Knudsen,

please put me in touch with Dr. Dub. I am so in need of a physician with a mind of his own, not a lock-step follower of that damn AMA, FDA and the rest of the initialized and socialized medicine, all those liberal lefty healers.

Ms. Emma Physema

ps... McIlhenny? Is he of the New Orleans, nutria-raising clan? If yes, even better!

pps punkin' I am assuming that when you are writing "cigarretes" you are meaning "cigarettes"? Or are you talking about some New Age product of which I have no knowledge?

Zoo Knudsen said...

Unfortunately, as mentioned in the article, Dr. McIlhenny is retired. I believe due to health reasons but this hasn't been confirmed. He hails from the swamps of Avery Island and has eaten more than his fair share of nutria. Some say it is the source of all of his vim and vigor.

I had to intentionally misspell the word in order to avoid the ever diligent probing eyes of the government anti-smoking enforcement agency, which might have taken my clearly unbiased and even report as pro-smoking.

Unknown said...

My comments get gobbled.

Trying again but kinda out of steam and passion...

My daddy's best friend is in Hospice Care and due to expire sooner no† later.

But daddy and his other buddies keep showing up and they are playing fiendish hot poker. No hostages.

My daddy is a member of the American Legion Firing Squad. He attends some three to ten funerals per week.

He is hoping very hard to postpone firing a salute at his buddy's service. Scrabulous games end too soon... but poker? hmmm.

Unknown said...

There WAS a vaguely relevant point to the previous comment(s) which were mostly eaten by Blogger.

My daddy and his poker pals all quit smoking back in 1964(?) when that Surgeon General report came out, yet they have all been dying off of smokerish ailments such as emphysema, lung and/or throat cancers, COPD, etc.

This seems unfair. Maybe they would have lasted just as long happily puffing away?
word verification is gigilo