quote of the day 7

"On the plus side, Ohio's new smoking ban has made everyone an expert on trans fats."
-- my friend Justin, responding to the post-11/7 election commentary last year


It's remarkable how there seemed to be more heated opinions on Ohio's proposed smoking bans after the election than before it. In the ensuing debate, nearly all of the arguments followed the same pattern:

A: Smoking is a hazard to one's health.
B: Well so are trans fats.
A: Yes, but when someone eats trans fats, it doesn't affect anyone else.
B: Sure it does; their obesity causes health insurance costs to rise.
A: But there are many other factors in a person's weight besides trans fats, whereas smoking is directly linked to lung cancer. Plus, smoking is voluntary, whereas eating is required to sustain life.
B: But my dad was a doctor and smoked for 100 years and never got cancer. Whereas {blah blah blah rattle off a bunch of facts about trans fats}.
A: Whoa, how did you learn so much about trans fats?
B: Some guy's blog.

I was reminded of this today because a friend of mine at the Cleveland Clinic forwarded me a notice about a new employment policy going into effect later this year. Although current employees won't be affected, starting September 1st the Cleveland Clinic will not hire anyone who tests positive for cotinine. Applicants will be offered a free tobacco cessation program, and after 90 days, "those who have been successful in quitting will be encouraged to reapply."

Because I know whenever I apply for a job, I always have a good three-month buffer in which I can just wait around for the opportunity to reapply.

I have to wonder what the point is, honestly. Banning smoking on their property is fine, especially since they're a hospital known for their heart and cancer programs, but a hiring policy like this is an intrusion into the person's private life.

I suppose one could say no one's forced to apply for a job there, but one wonders where such hiring practices draw the line. They could very easily use the same logic ("we're the #1 cardiac hospital") to refuse hiring overweight people, and require all employees to join an exercise program and eat certain foods at home, lest they be denied employment. Except since fat people are in the majority, I doubt such a policy would go over too well; I'm just saying the same logic could apply. And it's not as though being a fat doctor or a smoking nurse makes one any worse at his or her job.

I was curious how long it's detectable in the body, wondering if "social smokers" (celebratory cigar smokers, people who only smoke after a few drinks, etc.) would get caught as well. Wikipedia says: Cotinine is a metabolite of nicotine. Cotinine typically remains in the blood between 48 and 96 hours. The level of cotinine in the blood is proportionate to the amount of exposure to tobacco smoke, so it is a valuable indicator of tobacco smoke exposure, including secondary smoke.

So I guess it's kinda like Elaine with the poppyseed muffin.

You can read the press release on their website: Cleveland Clinic’s New Nonsmoking Hiring Policy Rolls Out July 1

Incidentally, the Clinic is not the first to refuse hiring smokers, although until now it was usually more about employers wanting to save money on health insurance than about promoting good health: A Job or a Cigarette? (Newsweek, February 2005).

Also, 31 states have laws prohibiting employment practices such as this -- Ohio isn't one of them, obviously.

On the plus side, anyone who can't afford smoking cessation drugs/gum can just apply for a job with the Cleveland Clinic and get them for free!!