RUSH: You know, I got a bunch of sneers when I mentioned that some countries are doling out nicotine patches as a way of limiting the severity of the coronavirus, the people that catch it. So I mentioned this and I got a bunch of sneers and a bunch of snarky looks from people on the other side of the glass because they think I’m constantly out there looking for any excuse I can to justify smoking cigars or using nicotine or whatever.

I’ll give you the details here. “French researchers are planning to trial whether nicotine patches will help prevent — or lessen the effects of — the deadly coronavirus. Evidence is beginning to show the proportion of smokers infected with coronavirus is much lower than the rates in the general population.

“Scientists are now questioning whether nicotine could stop the virus from infecting cells, or if it may prevent the immune system overreacting to the infection. Doctors at a major hospital in Paris — who also found low rates of smoking among the infected — are now planning to give nicotine patches to COVID-19 patients.”

All I can tell you, back in the days when I smoked cigarettes, I never one time got a cold. I tried to quit smoking cigarettes two or three times, and every time I did I had a perpetual cold. Every time, within two weeks of quitting smoking I got a cold.

Now, this is purely anecdotal. But it’s why I can think there might be something to this. (interruption) No. Cigars didn’t have the same effect as cigarettes did. I caught colds and so forth smoking cigars. But I didn’t inhale those. I mean, nicotine still got in the system, but much, much, much less of it. All I can tell you is — and I told people that when it was happening. Everybody sneered then. “Yeah, right, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just trying to fool yourself. You’re just trying to justify what you know to be bad behavior.”

No, I’m telling you what actually happens. I never got a cold smoking. Now, I know all kinds of people who smoke cigarettes get colds, so I’m not saying take what happened to me and make it science. I’m just weighing in on the story here.