The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "smoking" ...
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The Five Percent Rule
The investigation uncovers the U.S. military's failure to comply with its own tobacco pricing restriction, selling millions of dollars of tobacco products for well beneath legal limits.
Tags: cigarrettes; Department of Defense; Marlboro; soldiers; smoking
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Where There's Smoke
"Where There's Smoke" investigates the military's practice of using open burn pits to dispose of the millions of tons of waste, including hazardous materials, generated by base operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Burn Pits
"Open air" burn pits are used by private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan to destroy military waste. U.S. soldiers living near the pits reported that they were constantly inhaling the smoke, were smothered in ash and suffocating from the smells. The story finds a link between the burn pits and the health problems that soldiers reported when they returned home.
Tags: open air burn pits; military; army; soldier; Afghanistan; Iraq; soldier health
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Up in Smoke: The Chris Bartkowicz story"
After KUSA aired promotions for a story taking viewers inside a medical marijuana grow house, the Drug Enforcement Agency immediately raided the grower's home. Protests outside the KUSA studios followed, along with a discussion of states' rights versus federal law regarding medical marijuana.
Tags: medical marijuana; pot; DEA; states' rights; marijuana
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Could Sandy Hill Have Been Saved?
This series looked at why fire-and-rescue workers were unable to save a woman trapped inside her home even though she was on the phone with a dispatcher giving directions to her upstairs bedroom. The reporting found that volunteers who responded that night did not use thermal imaging equipment that could have helped them find the victim, Sandy Hill; that they did not place a ladder at either of the windows in her bedroom; that they were slow to ventilate the house and remove the smoke that killed her; and that they did not question people who had escaped the house about her location. Additional reporting exposed systemic weaknesses in Spotsylvania's fire-and-rescue services, which rely on self-governing volunteer departments and a smaller number of career personnel hired and directed by the county. These weaknesses include a poorly structured chain of command, lack of communication, insufficient training for man volunteers, and a failure to enforce existing regulations due in large part to friction between the career and volunteer units.
Tags: Firefighters; Fire Department; asphyxiation; volunteer; equipment; protocol; Spotsylvania; fire-and-rescue; training; regulation
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Up In Smoke
The series was dealing with the “proliferation of medical marijuana clinics in Los Angeles”. The series revealed “a loophole inadvertently included in legislation passed by the Los Angeles City Council which allowed hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries to open with no oversight”. Further, the council was unwilling or unable to control the problem they had knowledge about.
Tags: FOIA; City government; Oaksterdam University; cash crop; entrepreneurs; medical purposes; cancer; AIDS; glaucoma
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Disposable Heroes
The original story focused on Iraqi war veteran James Elliott, who suffered a psychotic breakdown and was stun gunned by police while taking the drug Chantix in a smoking cessation study by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The series examined the use of military veterans as guinea pigs in drug experiments conducted by the federal government and exposed numerous ethical lapses, including a system-wide failure to notify participants when the Food and Drug Administration issues new drug warnings.
Tags: Department of Veterans Affairs; veteran; drug trials; Food and Drug Administration; Soldiers for the Truth; human research studies; Pfizer; PTSD; smoking
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Smoke and Mirrors
"This four-part series documents the slow but complete transformation of the EPA from an agency legally bound to protect and improve the environment to an agency that used an array of political tricks to avoid its Congressional mandate. The series major findings are that the Bush administration appointed an administrator who would do its bidding on behalf of the corporate community; allowed important decisions to languish in the courts, thereby delaying the implementation of various regulations for years; developed a 'voluntary' anti-pollution program that actually rewards polluters; and ignored the science that underpins sound environmental policy."
Tags: EPA; pollution; Bush administration; environment; regulations; corporate control;
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Undetected Danger
Four brands of carbon monoxide alarms have been recalled since 1999, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Research published in 2002 claimed six of 10 brands performed inconsistently, while only three met the standards set by Underwriters Laboratories, the certification firm that ensures their reliability.
Tags: poison; detection; smoke alarm; bullfrog; marina; gas;
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Chantix: Miracle cure for dangerous drug?
An investigation into the anti-smoking drug Chantix/Varenicline found many adverse reactions in the FDA's public database. The reactions included aggression, violent behavior and thoughts of suicide. "A follow report detailed how drugs are sent to market with minimal testing."
Tags: Food and Drug Administration; medicine; anti-smoking; risk; Europe; drug testing; adverse reactions;