July 16, 2007
Monday PM

Dear Editor,

Boy, I do not know where to start, so here goes......

Read all the letters concerning smoking and secondhand smoke. Here are some things to contemplate:

1) I have been a non-smoker my entire life (59 years). I have many friends who smoke and one or two family members who do or did. I have been around it off and on my entire life and I can guarantee you that I am a lot healthier than most people.

2) I agree with Ms. Glover on the "trash" situation. I abhor all trash and not just a few "butts" left on the ground from some non-thinking person.

3) Ms. Glover, with all due respect, smokers did not cause your allergies or your mild asthma. They may make it flare up, but that is all. Do NOT hang out with them and you will be fine, trust me. Most people's propensities to have some sort of medical problem is due to their genetic makeup passed down by their forebearers or in a small way by their environment.

4) Nobody and I do mean NOBODY has any right to tell people how to live their lives. If someone is doing something that is illegal, well, yeah, go ahead and point it out. The last time that I checked, however, tobacco was and is a "legal" substance.

5) I agree totally with Ms. Piston's post and the article from Joe Jackson. Dead on!!!!

6) And finally, go to www.google.com, type in "Federal Judge's Decision on the EPA's Statistical Analysis of the Effects of Secondhand Smoke" from 1998. This judge handed the EPA their head on a platter. Surprise, surprise....Turns out that the EPA was not truthful about their findings. You know, throwing out statistics that prove them wrong, etc., etc. The judge wrote a ninety-two page, scathing indictment of their findings. Boy, was he angry. To my knowledge, they have yet to appeal it.

This is not anything but a politically driven agenda from folks that do NOT like smoking. Is smoking annoying to some people??? You betcha. When these same people play "fast and loose" with the facts, they lose me and many more from believing that they are even in the least bit credible.

I think that I have been quite nice concerning my comments even though what I really would have liked to have written probably would not have been printed.

Sincerely,

Rick Krueger
Sitka, AK

Received July 14, 2007 - Published July 16, 2007

About: "Former Ketchikan resident now living in the Democratic People's Republic of Sitka."

Related Viewpoint:

Second Hand Smoke By Charlotte Glover -

Smoke, Lies, and the Nanny State By Ardath Piston

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