Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer

[Sportsdude]

 [DIV id=headline] [H2]Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer[/H2]

[DIV id=author] [P class=source]Canadian Press



[DIV id=article style="FONT-SIZE: 100%"] [!-- dateline --]Toronto[!-- /dateline --] — Heather Crowe, considered by some to be the face of Canada's anti-smoking movement, has succumbed to lung cancer in Ottawa at age 61.

 The long-time waitress is widely known for television ads in which she describes how she contracted cancer from second-hand smoke at the restaurant where she worked.

 Ms. Crowe's passing comes just one week before the Smoke Free Ontario Act has its first reading in the legislature.

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The act will ban any smoking in any enclosed public places and will add restrictions to the promotion, handling and display of cigarettes in stores.

 Jim Watson, the Liberal MPP for Ottawa-West-Nepean, was a frequent customer at the restaurant where Ms. Crowe worked and calls her the "matriarch of the anti-smoking movement."

 He says Ms. Crowe told him she really wanted to live to see the anti-smoking legislation come into effect.

 "It's very sad that she's not going to be here to see it, but she should be very happy that because of her influence, Ontarians will be able to breathe easier as a result of the legislation on May 31," said Mr. Watson.

 Mr. Watson said Ms. Crowe was an unlikely activist.

 "She fell into this anti-smoking passion because she experienced first-hand what so many people have suffered over the years."

[/DIV]

[Dissident]

Last time I drove through Missouri I was struck by the fact that, when I went into a gas station convenience store to pick up some orange juice (2003), the cashier had a smoldering cigarette sitting on the counter next to here.

Have anti-smoking laws in your neck of the woods progressed at all since then?
 

[Sportsdude]

Um that would be a resounding NO.  Got into a huge arguement on the local papers website over banning of smoking in restaurants in a town I live in. It passed but the county wide admendment was shot down.

People smoke here its everywhere. All the girls in high school light it up. Pathetic!  I do not date girls who SMOKE!!!

  Outside of Jackson County (Kansas City) And Saint Louis County and city banning smoking is a wedge issue like abortion and stem cell research and gay marriage.  

  Not suprised really considering the state has too names. Missouri (Mizz-or-eee) and Missouri (Mizz -or-ah)

And you can guess where they say one and not the other.

[Dissident]

Hey, forgive my ignorance, but I'm confused.  My family in PA talks about "Ohiah" and "Nevahdah", so I always called it "Missourah"--but some friends from Minnesota made fun of me for saying that.

Sorry--which is it?  I don't want to be mistaken for a cracker, but I'm a West Coaster.  Please set me straight.
 

[Sportsdude]

Its always been the people with no brains or people who are conservatives say -ah. People with brains and who aren't conservative say -ee.  So if you here a pundit or politician say -ah he's talking to country folk.

  And actually the intellectual normal people response isn't even the right one

  The right one is Mizz - orr-ee

Most people cut the -or- off and say -er- so it sound Mizz - err-ee

And country banjo playing hill billies say Mizz - err - ah  

[Dissident]

   Thanks, Sportsdude.  A lot of people would consider my question ridiculous, but the last thing I want to do is to be associated with the descendants of Missouri (with an "ee") slaveholders.

Being white and middle class is bad enough karma without adding to it.

About the smoking thing:  it's a shame that an issue that's so much of a no-brainer has become so politicised.

However, to give you an idea how much addiction takes hold of people:  BC has had pretty good smoking laws for a few years now.  I've noticed that in some places it has taken a while, but even a lot of the grungy bars have fairly clear air.  Last night I got together with a friend of mine (another "furriner"), had dinner at a "gastropub"-type place, and went off to an outdoor smoking area when he wanted to have a "cigarillo"-type smoke.  Later on we went to a downtown bar for a few more drinks, and sat just inside the door.  I was dying from all the smoke that blew in from the smokers hanging out on the sidewalk right outside the front door.  It was as though they were still inside the bar.

The various provincial governments here in Canada have finally banned smoking in restaurants and bars in most provinces, but the underlying culture of hard drinking and heavy smoking still persists here in Canada, so it's a much steeper uphill battle than in places like California and New York.

I'm going to assume that's what you're dealing with in MO.  It's too bad.  I literally watched both of my parents die from smoking-related causes and it was horrifying.  It also shocks me whenever I see people with young children who smoke inside their house (one more thing about the South that turns me off)--it was one thing when I was a kid but you'd think people would know better these days.

At least when I have a few beers, unless I get behind the wheel of a car or pick a fight with someone, the only one I'm hurting is myself.
     

[Sportsdude]

OH CRAP!!!

I messed it up again!!!

The proper way is to say ee

Country way is ahhh  

[Sportsdude]

I had a friend (notice the had) who I ran into about a month ago and all of a sudden here he is smoking. I asked when did you start to smoke and he said about a year ago then I asked why and no joke this is what he said.  "Because its Fun". FUN?! You got to be f-ing kidding me. Geez you are suppose to grow up after high school but apparently one year out of it and he's gone backwards.

[Dissident]

I agree, that has to be one of the most retarded things I've heard in a long time.  The friend I was out with last night grew up outside of North America where smoking was more the norm--he doesn't smoke very often, but still does from time to time.  I can almost understand that.

But anyone who has grown up in the US in the past 15-20 years has done so in a society in which smoking has become increasingly unpopular.  My brother moved from Canada to Cali about ten years ago, and his kids are always shocked when they see someone smoking.  They'll say, "Look, Dad, he's smoking."  He said it would be like someone of our generation pointing out someone walking down the street naked, it has become so unusual.

I'm happy to see that Washington State has finally gotten the message and banned smoking in bars as well.  That only happened a few months ago.  I guess it's a one step at a time sort of proposition.
 

[Sportsdude]

I think it was only the late eighties that missouri banned smoking in grocery stores. It was before I was born thank god but my mom remembers the days of going to store meant walking next to cigarette butts lying on the floor.

In fact there still is a store in the st louis area its a chain called dirt cheap cigarettes and beer and liquor.  They call themselves the last refuge of the 'persecuted smoker'.  The guy who owns the chain sounds like he's about to die of lung disease and that was about 10 years ago. Sadly I remember those commericals as a kid because it had the funky chicken. Talk about advertising to kids.

[Dissident]

 Sportsdude wrote:
I think it was only the late eighties that missouri banned smoking in grocery stores. It was before I was born thank god but my mom remembers the days of going to store meant walking next to cigarette butts lying on the floor.


Oh, man, that really is brutal.

Your description of the cigarette and liquor store reminds me of a place in Oregon, the last real bastion of West Coast rednecks, where a girlfriend of mine used to go for smokes and cat food.  They had started off as a smokeshop, but added pet food to bolster their bottom line.

Of course, what gets me is places like Kentucky, where you can go to the drive-up liquor store and some fresh young girl in daisy dukes hands over your bottle of liquor without checking your ID or caring whether you're driving drunk or not.  No open container laws, either.
 

[Sportsdude]

well it is coming from a state (Missouri) that didn't end de-segregation in schools until the mid to late eighties under (you won't believe this) Gov. Richard Ashcroft.  

[Dissident]

Oh, I remember.  The fellow who lost to a dead guy and his widow . . .

One of the reasons I moved to Canada.
 

[Sportsdude]

Yep my parents had "I'm still with Mel" stickers.

[Dissident]

 You'll like this Sportsdude--even if you aren't in agreement with it politically.

My parents were both involved with the campaign behind Oregon's assisted suicide law.  One of them got the opportunity to use it legally.  The other, thanks to technicalities, was denied that privilege.  All while Ashcroft was actively opposing the law in the federal courts.

To me, it's supremely ironic--especially with the information you've provided about Ashcroft's policies while governor of MO--that the Supreme Court used a "states' rights" argument in striking down "Gonzales vs Oregon" just a few months ago.