Darren kicks off the show by taking a look at election polls and their real-world margin of error. Next, Pat digs into predatory publishers and fake academic articles. Lastly, Adam fans the flames on the debate around the effectiveness of plain cigarette packaging after a listener asks TRC to look at “both sides of the argument”.
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US Election Polls
Fake Academic Papers
The Guardian: iOS Autocomplete Paper
Ottawa Citizen: Blinded By Scientific Gobbledygook
Beall’s List Of Predatory Publishers
Wikipedia: Journal Of Advanced Computer Technology
Wikipedia: Predatory Open Access Publishing
Wiki: International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology
CNET: Prof turns to iOS autocomplete for aid on prank physics paper
Science Mag: Who’s Afraid of Peer Review?
SGEM Xtra: Everything You Know is Wrong
Plain Cigarette Packaging
Countering Industry Arguments Against Plain Packaging: It will Lead to Increased Smuggling
Japan Tobacco International – Wikipedia
Consultation on “Plain and Standardized Packaging” for Tobacco Products
Hi guys. I’m Australian so I thought I’d point out plain cigarette packaging here doesn’t look like the package in your graphic at all. Australian cigarette packets still have the brand and type on them- ie, a packet of Winfield Red has it written on the packet and that’s what you ask for at the counter. Plain packaging wasn’t really introduced, just a watered down version of it. Of course it wasn’t. Tobacco taxes are a huge source of revenue for the government. If governments were serious about stopping smoking, NRTs would have enough nicotine in them to actually work and vaping would be actively encouraged.
I forgot to add that one thing that seems to have gone out the window since plain packaging came in is safety quality control. Smokers buy whichever brand is cheapest – Australian tobacco taxes are I believe the highest in the world – and unfortunately this means you end up with a factory made cigarette that doesn’t stop burning, it even burns the filter until there’s nothing but ash left. Considering how long ago self extinguishing cigarettes were legally mandated for safety, this is worrying. Perhaps it’s now OK to extinguish smokers by burning the house down round them?
And yes, I am an ex-smoking vaper and I am speaking anecdotally. Vaping is the only NRT method I’ve found to work because it delivers enough nicotine and simulates the manual/oral parts of the smoking habit to allow the break with tobacco to happen. The gums, patches and lozenges could work too, IF they contained enough nicotine, but they simply don’t, not enough for heavy smokers or smokers with decades of smoking behind them . And the tablets like zyban make many people physically ill. Again I’m speaking anecdotally, but both zyban and the newer one made me very ill – nausea, headaches, rashes and boils and my doctor confirmed my side effects were common in his experience, except for the boils. Other people find the tablets make them anxious and jittery as well- not a good thing when nicotine withdrawal already has this effect.
Once again, if governments are serious about stopping smoking, make NRTs EFFECTIVE. Encourage vaping instead of legislating against it. Australians have to purchase vaping fluid containing nicotine overseas. Get over the fear of nicotine per se, drop the morality bit, use a bit of bloody science and meet smokers half way.