I NOTE that the anti-smoking brigade have been trotting out the dogma again (“The first smoke-free decade has seen Scottish pub culture change rapidly”, The Herald, March 26) despite the disastrous impact on to social gatherings, and the realisation in other parts of the world that anti-smoking laws are far to draconian to be sustained. Others have realised that independent science in the United States, free from any influence of the tobacco companies, has proved that the dangers of second-hand smoke is a myth and that asthma continues to rise despite the anti-smoking laws and indeed had nothing to do with tobacco, being entirely the fault of the internal combustion engine. The oil companies love the anti-smoking brigade for hiding that fact.

As for the sensible people of Holland, Croatia, and Germany, they have no doubt actually read the science, and in the case of Germany, government-sponsored research has reported that tobacco consumption brought in a far greater tax take to the government than any health cost it may have. Given that tobacco is cheaper there and so the tax take lower than the high tobacco tax situation we have here, then I think that it is safe to say that the dogma foisted on us by the anti-smoking lobby concerning health versus cost is nonsense.

Smokers, non-smokers, and others, be they politicians, media or otherwise, need to stand up to the anti-smoking dogma, check facts and bring a degree of sense into this matter.

Alex Flett,

Lochfergus House, Kirkcudbright.