Proposals for drug legalization are rooted in the belief that drug prohibition does not work. Legalization advocates point out that the prohibition of alcohol failed in the United States two generations ago. They argue that the use of illicit drugs is widespread despite prohibition and that the high costs and negative consequences of that prohibition ranging from costs for police and prisons to the loss of privacy caused by drug testing in many settings, notably the workplace are unreasonably high prices to pay for an ineffective policy.
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The overriding goal of federal policies governing the use of chemicals in agriculture and food processing is-and should be-consumer safety. One would hope that food safety regulation would be driven by the best scientific and medical knowledge. But instead, much of the American food supply is held hostage to the misguided absolutism of what is known as the Delaney clause, a nearly 40-year-old, 55-word quirk in the law. It reads, in its entirety:
Every now and then someone says, "Calories do not count. Some foods are more fattening than others." This statement is not quite correct, calories do count. However, recent scientific evidence suggests that the calories from some foods are more fattening than from others. How can this be? Let's take a look at the calorie content of different foods, and how these calories are used in our body.
The American Council on Science and Health today presented the "Poison Apple Award," given for the most shocking example of promoting, endorsing and glamorizing a deadly product to ELLE Magazine for encouraging cigarette use by its young female readers. ELLE earned this award for its May issue, which on page 219 contains a promotion for "the ELLE cigarette case," billing this "handsome and sophisticated antique-like silverplated case" as "the stylish way to transport your favorite brand."
Today's revelations that Philip Morris executives had suppressed internal company information on the addictive properties of nicotine, combined with the recent settlement of some lawsuits against tobacco companies, may mean that "at long last, tobacco companies are going to be held to the same standards of accountability as are all other businesses," declared Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health.
Yes
by Laurie Leiber
For nearly two decades, two U.S. Surgeon Generals C. Everett Koop and Antonia Novello and numerous public health organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Parent Teachers Association, the American Medical Association, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving have called upon manufacturers of alcoholic beverages to advertise more responsibly. National polls show that Americans increasingly favor either restricting or banning broadcast alcohol advertising.
Adapted from "The New Skinny on Snack Foods," by Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, in Priorities for Long Life and Good Health, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1996.
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This material has been published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 38, 71-84 (1997), the only definitive repository of the content that has been certified and accepted after peer review.
Both commercial and homemade baby foods can be safe and nutritious if used appropriately. To provide their infants with a healthful diet, parents need to choose foods wisely, introduce them correctly, and follow appropriate safety precautions:
Scientists and physicians at the American Council on Science and Health today applauded the decision of the New York City Board of Education not to ban milk from c that increases milk production.
Scientists from the American Council on Science and Health today urged the nation's physicians and scientists to unite in rejecting any Congressionally sponsored "global deal" that would offer the cigarette industry immunity from current and future litigation. Such a deal which may be the product of negotiations now under way with the Philip Morris Cos. and RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. was described in detail in a front-page article in the April 16, 1997, Wall Street Journal.
Contrary to popular wisdom, mayonnaise in your summer chicken salad is usually not the cause of food poisoning; it is more likely that the source of the problem is improperly handled chicken (undercooked, unrefrigerated, or both). This helpful summer tip is among many collected in a new booklet released today by a panel of scientists from the American Council on Science and Health.
Here are a few more tips:
Last week's unprecedented recall of 25 million pounds of beef contaminated with the disease-causing Escherichia coli bacteria tells us a good deal about the futility of demanding zero risk in our food supply.The ensuing media frenzy tells us even more about America's naivete concerning food production.
The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) has announced the formation of an affiliate group, the New York City Advisory Council on Health Priorities ("Advisory Council"). This affiliate, funded by grants from two private New York City foundations (The Bodman and J. M. Foundations), will focus on public health issues of particular importance to New York City.
In this report we will look at some common myths about colorectal cancer (CRC); describe findings from the past decade of research that have countered those myths; and comment on what the future may hold.
A self-styled consumer group is deliberately distorting the facts to scare the public about a perfectly safe sweetener, the American Council on Science and Health announced today.
ACSH, a consortium of more than 200 scientists, was responding to unfounded charges by the Center for Science in the Public Interest that the no-calorie sweetener Acesulfame-K causes cancer.
Recent research suggests that a fiber-rich diet may prevent and/or relieve various health conditions. Fiber is not a panacea, however. Dietary Fiber, a new Special Report from the American Council on Science and Health, summarizes current scientific knowledge about the health effects of this complex food component.
(From Priorities Vol. 8, No. 2, 1996)
FYI: What is a Medical Device? -- medical (download)
Back in July 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued new air quality standards to tighten ozone and particulate matter (soot) pollution to provide additional protection for children and asthmatics. This regulation, however, is ill directed and a misuse of public health funds.
New York, NY March 6, 1998.Scientists associated with the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) today deplored attempts by some American corporations to manipulate scientific findings by withholding funding when research results displease them.
Every day more than 5,500 Americans turn 65 and officially become senior citizens. For many of these people, the years ahead will bring significant changes: changes in their social roles, in their family lives, in their health concerns, and though they may not realize it in their nutritional needs and priorities. Many seniors are, of course, healthy, relatively independent, and well nourished. Some older adults, however, are beset with accumulating medical, performance, and social problems that can make adequate nourishment difficult.
Executive Summary
To the Editor:
Ralph King Jr.'s article ("Medical Journals Rarely Disclose Researchers' Ties," 2/2/98) calls for further analysis of the assertion, by the journal Epidemiology's Kenneth Rothman, that today's conventional wisdom in favor of disclosing corporate funding of research is a "new McCarthyism."
In a court of law, evidence is admissible only if the probative value of that evidence exceeds its prejudicial effect. The same rule should apply in the court of public opinion.
New York, NY, April 14, 1998 Scientists at the American Council on Science and Health today questioned a new report in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that cites adverse reactions to drugs as the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States. The JAMA report, in the April 15th issue, is entitled Incidents of Adverse Drug Reaction in Hospitalized Patients.
The JAMA study fails to point out the almost incalculable number of lives saved each year as a result of properly prescribed pharmaceuticals,
Pagination
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