Editor, The News:
Re: Why not ban sale of cigarettes (Letters, June 29).
Two smokers wrote to complain about a suggested ban of smoking on balconies would restrict their freedom.
They claim that there were many more dangers pollutants than cigarette smoke.
This is true.
I know of a very health conscious person who avoided cigarette smoke, but every day she would run an hour on a busy street. She felt safe on that street.
To me, that street was so filled with car fumes, I could not walk on it.
She, however, had become very used to it.
She died of lung cancer.
I live away from busy streets, and when in Haney, find it difficult to breathe the air that so many accept as normal.
When I was young, smoking was everywhere, and it did not bother me.
Now if I am in a smoky room, my eyes become so red I can not drive a car.
While car fumes are worse, people are no longer use to cigarette smoke. It is not a question of what is worse for health, but what people are used to coping with.
In the same way many people worry about cell tower waves or smart meter waves, many more electronic items are more dangerous. But perception is that they are dangerous.
People claim non-organic food products are a danger to health, yet will eat unhealthy food products that are so much worse.
Someone may exercise for two hours, then eat a greasy hamburger with all its chemicals.
It is not logical anymore to say you love all animals, then eat a big steak.
Cigarette prohibition would not work any more than it does with marijuana.
Public pressure against the drug is working.
That is why you wrote your letter, to complain about how effective public pressure is against your right to use your drug.
Dan Banov
Whonnock