Smokers in the North, Drinkers in the Southwest

Drinking and marijuana use on the rise in Ontario: Survey - Healthzone.ca

A daily beer or cocktail could be turning into a habit for more
people in Ontario and marijuana use is also growing, according to a new
survey.

The survey released today by the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health suggests the proportion of adults reporting daily drinking
increased from 5.3 per cent in 2002 to more than nine per cent in 2009.

Tobacco smoking is down slightly, but the use of cannabis, or
marijuana, has increased from 8.7 per cent in 1996 to 13.3 per cent in
2009.

Read the link for the whole story

Third-Hand smoke is also deadly

A new fear: third-hand cigarette smoke - Healthzone.ca

A California research lab has found in a recent that third-hand smoke, or the residue of cigarettes that is left on clothing, paper or walls, is extremely carcinogenic when combined with an indoor pollutant.

“The biggest message is the study reveals that the tobacco smoke residue that remains after smoking, sometimes days or weeks later, could pose a risk to people who occupy that space or use it,” said Lara Gundel, the co-principal investigator in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

That risk increases when the residue combines with a common indoor pollutant, nitrous acid, Gundel said. Nitrous acid usually floats inside a building and is generated by unvented gas appliances or diesel engines.

Together the residue and pollutant become potentially even more carcinogenic, forming a tobacco-specific nitrosamine, which is extremely hazardous, the scientist explained. In fact Gundel said when nicotine and nitrous acid combine, Gundel said, they are much more dangerous than just nicotine.

...