Madam, - Lady Kilbracken (January 5th) is misinformed: smoking is not banned in Australian pubs. The ban in restaurants is tolerated because people can usually dine, and smoke, outdoors in Australia.
Such misinformation - indeed disinformation - typifies the Health Minister's crusade to punish smokers in Ireland. For example, it has not been proven that second-hand smoke is harmful, yet the Minister wants us to believe that a cigarette is a weapon of mass destruction at 45 inches. He tries to blind us with contrived statistics because actual mortality and morbidity from second-hand smoke is so minuscule it is difficult to measure, and any clinical significance is disputed by unbiased authorities.- Yours, etc.,
HARRY DAVIES, B.Sc., An Spidéal, Co na Gaillimhe.
Madam, - A fact has emerged that might give the publicans of Ireland and others pause in the collective wringing and twisting of their underwear. In New York, the amount of specific hospitality tax paid by establishments affected by the smoking ban has shown a 12 per cent increase over the previous six months, when smoking was allowed. Same here in Canada.
Are the owners of Irish pubs so personally addicted to the weed that they are willing to ignore the possibility of an improvement in their takings? - Yours, etc.,
EDWARD BARBER, Markham, Canada.