They're my lungs
Sheila Duffy of Ash Scotland witters interminably about the already well-known dangers of smoking (Opinion, 23 September), with cherry-picked statistics about the cost of smoking to the NHS. She neglects to mention that tobacco tax revenue far outstrips this figure, with plenty of money left over to pay for the generous government grants that make up her salary.
We all know what smoking does to us and some of us still choose to do it, and the figures show clearly that we more than adequately cover the social costs of our choice. It is not within the government's remit to tell us what we can do in the privacy of our own lungs, and it is certainly not up to interfering busybodies like Sheila Duffy and Ash.
PAUL A J HAMILTON
Viewforth
Edinburgh
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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