Recent studies show quite some interesting things about smokers and smoking. A West Virginia University survey published in the Journal of Oncology Practice found that 44 percent of smokers quit after being diagnosed with cancer, but more than half of them keep using tobacco, and doctors aren't doing enough to help them quit.

Less than two third, about 62 percent, also say they received advice from doctors or nurses about quitting the bad habit, but the survey shows there's a need for intervention programs to help cancer patients quit tobacco. In addition to being a risk factor for cancer, smoking can complicate common cancer treatments like surgery and radiation therapy.

In an essay published today in the journal Tobacco Control, researchers say that barring smokers from employment does more harm than good.  It has become common practice to do this, and so is the interdiction to smoke in public buildings, workplaces, even at some outdoor venues.

It's become very popular in the past years to make policies that prohibit the hiring of smokers. Of course, everyone fears this could make smokers nearly unemployable, causing them to lose their health insurance and affect their health and that of their families. Refusing to hire smokers is discriminatory  and may lead to the adoption of other selective employment practices, like not hiring people who are overweight or who have high cholesterol, which is nonsense.

It's clear that smoking is a very powerful addiction and that tobacco-control practitioners have naturally become very frustrated that it's so difficult to get people to quit. It's an employment discrimination and tobacco-control advocates must stop that. Employers typically favor positive approaches to encourage healthy employee behavior, such as free smoking-cessation classes.

Unfortunately, it's highly probable that these bans will become more popular as employers look for every approach to cut healthcare costs. About half of all states have laws that protect employees from being fired or not hired because they smoke, but other states have no such protections, and the smokers can lose an interview or a job very easy, which is not fair at all.

A disturbing study also reports that smoking led to 70 percent of the cancer deaths among Massachusetts men in 2003, much higher than the previous estimate of 34 percent in 2001. Increased tobacco control efforts could save more lives than previously estimated. It's well known that smoking is behind most of the lung cancer cases. Furthermore, smoking is also linked to bladder, kidney esophagus, pancreas and head and neck cancer, so it's very important to develop long-term strategies to discourage smokers.