BAN SMOKING BAN

Assad (Sid) Chedrawe's suggestion ("Ban youth smoking," April 9
letter) seems a little shortsighted. Nowhere in his simplistic
solution does he tell us what the consequences of defiance ought to
be.

Isn't it enough to consider the number of youngsters whose first view
of the inside of a jail came about for possessing more than the
prescribed amount of marijuana? How do you ban a youngster from
smoking? Take away his Bic lighter or, better still, force his old man
to pay his fine?

One wonders whether Mr. Chedrawe ever reflects upon adults' response
to Prohibition in the 1920s and '30s. Their "compliance" with that law
led to bathtub gin, booze barons, and Al Capone and his like.
Governments have since learned that it is far better to control
questionable substances than to ban them, which they have done, with
both alcohol and tobacco.

If smoking is undesirable among our youth, it is bad for everyone.
Perhaps Mr. Chedrawe might better suggest how governments could recoup
lost tobacco revenue resulting from an outright ban, which makes
infinitely more sense. Then they could recover the lost tax money from
the fines levied against those who would also defy that law.

John G. McKay,

Amherst