Autumn 2007

A new paper concluding that drunk driving increases after smokefree bar laws are passed was just published in the Journal of Public Economics (Adams and Cotti, J Public Econ 92:1288-1305;2008). Stan Glantz at UCSF, a pioneer in tobacco-free policy, set the record straight through his analysis of the research, disseminated through smokefree.net.. After detailing the article's questionable statistical practices and biased literature citations, Glantz concludes by emphasizing that even if we accept the authors' conclusions that a smokefree law is associated with 2.54 more accidents per year in the average county, the benefits in terms of just reduced heart attacks...

I thought this was an interesting example of unintended policy consequences. . . New Jacobson study on potential increased smog fatalities from ethanol Ethanol is widely touted as an eco-friendly, clean-burning fuel. But if every vehicle in the United States ran on fuel made primarily from ethanol instead of pure gasoline, the number of respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations likely would increase, according to a new study by Stanford University atmospheric scientist Mark Z. Jacobson. His findings are published in the April 18 online edition of the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T). "Ethanol is being promoted as a clean and...