Smoke-screen
Sir: I read with interest Nicholas Farrell's article on the dangers of passive smoking (Passive smoking: the big lie', 14 Novem- ber). His barrage of statistics proves again only that while figures can't lie, liars can figure.
Even if Mr Farrell and his fellow smok- ers' friend Auberon Waugh refuse to believe the health risks of passive smoking, can he not see that having to inhale second- hand smoke is simply unpleasant and uncomfortable for those of us who choose not to smoke? Tobacco smoke smells awful, and standing next to a smoker is as dis- agreeable as being near a woman who wears too much perfume or a man who has not bathed for several days. What is worse, even after the smoker has left, the smell of smoke stays on in one's hair and clothes.
As for Mr Farrell's claim that smokers are being deprived of their freedom of choice in public, would he also argue that people who talk in cinemas and neighbours who play loud music late at night are simply exercising their freedOrn of choice as well?
Christopher J. Stephens
2301 E Street, NW, Washington DC, USA
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