Tobacco Risks Widely Known
In 1958, at the age of 11, I began smoking. I had been warned, and believed, that cigarettes caused lung cancer. My friends and I also believed that, in addition to cancer, cigarettes stunted your growth, shortened your breath, and were in general bad for you.
Retired New York Times columnist Russell Baker recalls that in 1933, when at about the same age as I, he picked up the habit, cigarettes were referred to as "coffin nails." For as long as anyone can remember, smoking has been thought to be very harmful.
The claim of President Clinton and Attorney General Reno that for the last fifty years or so cigarette manufacturers have succesfully "hidden the truth" from the public is patently untrue. The president and the attorney general know that what they say is false, but they say it for political and legal reasons.
It is unfortunate that The Crimson supports this new government anti-smoking litigation. The editors are either ignorant of-or, like the president and the attorney general, have no respect for-the truth.
Stephen Helfer
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