U.S.-Chinese cigarettes

Press, 13 June 1984, Page 18

U.S.-Chinese cigarettes

Sir, — It is disappointing that China is joining America in promoting cigarette smoking. Economic “friendship” is no excuse for torturing asthmatics and other pulmonary sufferers. One aspect of “individual freedom” is the rudeness of smokers not only in polluting the air, but dropping their butts and other litter everywhere. By the law of averages, a lot of ash, spit and unburned but sucked tobacco threads must get into food. Fortunately, both their traditional politeness and their communist indoctrination would make the Chinese less objectionable than Western nicotine addicts. We are not told if America is to export tobacco to China. Cancer from cigarette smoking might be traced to the tobacco mosaic virus, which persists even in smoke carried a long distance. Asian tobaccos are relatively free from the virus, but cigarettes sold as “Balkan” and "Turkish” contain Virginian blends, which are all diseased — Yours, etc VARIAN J. WILSON. June 11, 1984. Sir, — I find it strange that Patrick Neary appears more concerned about cigarette smoking in China than he is about the pollutants in our own atmosphere. Chinese have been smoking for thousands of years. The United States participation will not increase smoking, but will probably result

in a better product for the many millions of Chinese smokers. I would prefer Mr Neary and the Clean Air Society to be more vociferous in campaigning against the real pollutants in our own environment. He could campaign against the inordinately high lead content of New Zealand petrol — the highest in any developed country in the world. He could also attack the highly deleterious smoke emission of incorrectly maintained diesel engines of buses and heavy vehicles, condoned here but not permitted in many countries. He might also consider the banning of high-sulphur coal for household fires, plus backyard rubbish fires. — Yours, etc., C. W. BROMLEY. June 11, 1984.