• C’mon everyone! Stop having lives and start watching TV! P.S. Cavemen premieres tonight… (Reuters)

• Finally, a class where the nerds will be cool! For a semester, at least. (The Crimson White)

• Honda Civic being sold on Craigslist has over 930,000 miles on it and is in seemingly great condition. One question: does it still smell like a guido or is that just a New York thing? (autoblog.com)

• “If I would’ve let him smoke crack in my house, he would still be alive, and I blame myself.” Ummm, I feel like that logic is somewhat flawed. (KCTV5)

• Another reason to go Green: Volkswagen is planning to release all future models with a hybrid option! (GoSunSolutions.com)

Yup, it may seem weird, but there has actually been a correlation found between these two habits that are characteristic of many college girls; constant dieting and smoking.

Although smoking rates have gone down in the U.S. (thank God because it’s absolutely disgusting in my opinion), a new study from the University of Florida reports that starting to diet somehow doubles the odds of a teenage girl starting to smoke as well. Although the study was done on girls slightly younger than college age, I think the findings are implicit of our generation too.

According to one of the researchers, “Dieting was a significant predictor of initiation of regular smoking among females…We were expecting that this relationship was going to be stronger among females. That has been well-documented, especially because (nicotine) can suppress your appetite.”

Duh.

I would say that the appetite factor is one of the main reasons many college girls start smoking. I can name three people off the top of my head that were not smokers at the beginning of college and eventually became one of those stick thin girls pulling out a cigarette the second she gets out the door of any building.

The chain of events goes something like this: Read More »

Nothing creates a buzz like a crrrrraaaaaazy combination. Like PUGGLES!! And MEGGINGS!

Which is why “Smexting” – or, the combo of “texting while smoking” is all the rage for people who need their fidgety fixes. Recent research shows that as more and more smoking gets prohibited in restaurants and other public places, the number of sent text messages increases.

UK’s phone brand, Orange, coined the term after discovering that, in the two weeks following a workplace smoking ban in England, text traffic went up by seven and half million messages!

Okay, it’s not exactly a phrase that rolls off the tongue, (“She’s been smending me creepy mext smessages,” “He won’t stop smexting me!” etc, etc) but smexting totally makes sense.

Engadget.com says, “…smokers freshly ousted outdoors to get their smoke on need something to do to pass the time — out comes the phone, and, well, you know the rest. Secondly, smokers that are working on quitting as a result of the ban are turning to texting to give their fidgety, nerve-wracked fingers something to do and to seek support from friends.”

Even though I’m not a smoker myself, I definitely have been comforted by the art of the text – sitting alone on a bench, awkwardly standing in a silent elevator, waiting on my friends to show up at party (what, they were late, ok?) and feeling that burning desire to whip out my phone and start texting like a crazy person, just to keep busy, look distracted and not look like a complete loser with no friends. Read More »

In another blow against the tobacco industry, Disney has recently decided to eliminate all depictions of smoking within their films. They also vowed to discourage smoking within films aimed toward adult audiences through Touchstone Pictures and Miramax.

Famous villains such as Cruella DeVille of 101 Dalmatians had previously used smoking to enhance their infamous personas within Disney movies. Who could forget those long, thin cigarettes that Cruella puffed away at throughout the classic film? The rings of smoke swirling around her added a mysterious, evil air to her character. Read More »

I can recall a specific conversation with a friend who invited me to go to a Hookah bar. “No, thanks,” I replied. “I’m not a huge fan of really smoky environments.” She looked at me like I was nuts and replied, “It’s hookah, it’s, like, more healthy, cause you are smoking it out of water.”

Hm, well I can’t say that I was ever really totally sold on the argument that any type of smoking is considered “healthy,” but now there is new research out that suggests smoking hookah can be just as harmful as cigarette smoking. And, not to sound like an anti-tobacco ad or anything, but we all know the effects of tobacco on a person.

“Using a water pipe to smoke tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking,” the U.N. health agency said in a seven-page document on the practice. “Contrary to ancient lore and popular belief, the smoke that emerges from a water pipe contains numerous toxicants known to cause lung cancer, heart disease and other diseases.” USA Today.

Read More »

I’ve been a smoker for a long time, and though those Truth Anti-Smoking campaigns freak me out, it doesn’t make me want to kick the habit anytime soon. I also went to school in France where you used to be able to smoke just about anywhere you went. So moving back to the States has been… hard.

It’s fifty-fifty really—on the one hand, when you’re out at a bar, smoking outside is a great way to meet other people. On the other hand, when I’m walking down the street having a puff, people look at me like I’m a leper.

Welcome, the NicStic. The NicStic is a battery powered, smokeless vaporizer which gives you your nicotine fix without many of the carcinogens in regular cigarettes. It also manages to slip under the anti-smoking laws being imposed around the States and Europe. You mean, I don’t have to go stand out in the freezing rain to smoke anymore? Read More »