Smoking for Britain
Sir: Nicholas Farrell's piece about smoking (Passive Smoking: the big lie', 14 Novem- ber) overlooks the vital contribution made by smokers to the economy which goes well beyond mere tax revenue. At a time when even without the recession, government expenditure would come under increasing and relentless pressure from the aging pop- ulation, it is not very surprising that official propaganda against the habit is so feeble.
Smokers not only pay huge amounts of wholly voluntary tax, they also tend to die younger. Of course they usually die expen- sively but most survive their most produc- tive years, and the longer lived non-smoker will surely make more demands on the social security and health services over his extended old age than his addicted cousin.
We can hardly afford to make matters much worse by making a serious dent in smoking. Of course it is extremely anti- social, so it is right to insist on non-smoking areas in public places, offices and restau- rants. But government policy must surely support smoking in private.
Oliver Gillie
126 Court Lane, Dulwich, London SE21
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