ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER

Some readers were upset by Jim Vaughns' comments in Saturday's
column, "Tobacco is a gateway drug," which they perceived as an
attack on tobacco. Vaughns said: "Tobacco is a gateway drug because
if you are smoking tobacco, it is not a far leap to smoke marijuana,
therefore it is not a far leap to smoke crack cocaine, and not a far
leap to methamphetamine."

Jonathan Pinard of the New York Coalition of Social Smokers offered
this reply: If that's the case, he said, "Drinking water leads to
juice. Sugar in juice leads to soda, bubbles in soda leads to beer,
you get the point." Pinard wanted to know if Vaughns had any evidence
to confirm his conclusion. "Is it based only on the assumption that
smoking cigarettes could lead to smoking marijuana which could lead
to harder drugs?" he asked.

Pinard said most people tend to believe media reports that are
slanted against tobacco. He recalled a recent article that had the
headline, "Smoking reduces mental capacity." The information quoted
from the researcher, however, actually conflicted with the headline.

"The researcher said they weren't able to discover any cause and
effect," he said. "Anybody just reading the headline would walk
around the next day saying, 'Hey, I heard smoking makes you stupid.'
I am amazed that almost anything said negatively about tobacco or its
users, regardless of its merit, can get printed," he said.

Pinard's coalition Web site,
(http://www.socialsmokers.org)www.socialsmokers.org, states the group
was founded "to protect the rights of smokers and non-smokers alike.
The goal is not to promote smoking, but to preserve the individual's
right to choose freely."

Pinard actually complimented Georgia for carding potential tobacco
purchasers in an effort to keep underage kids from buying cigarettes
and other tobacco products.

J.C. Evans of Columbus had a slightly different bone to pick. He said
people seem to come down harder on cigarette smoke than they do on
other noxious smoke and exhaust fumes from buses and personal
vehicles. Smokers are easier targets, he said.

Despite his complaints, he has firsthand knowledge of the kind of
grip cigarettes can have. He's 52 and has been smoking since he was 12.

"Older people used to tell me to light their cigarettes. I was
lighting Camels, Pall Malls, Lucky Strikes," he said.

He has tried to quit smoking three times. "I tried cold turkey,
nicotine patches, nicotine gum. It's not easy to get tobacco out of
your system."

Though he initially had a problem with Vaughns' statement that
tobacco is a gateway drug, he said parents have an obligation to
teach their children not to smoke cigarettes, drink or smoke marijuana.

"And teaching them to 'Just say no' is not likely to work," he said.

So he basically agreed when Vaughns said, "Any drug that a child
takes is a big deal, because it interferes with the child's ability
to mentally function at an age-appropriate level."