From ANNE BURRILL
I find the concept of therapeutic effects of smoking an interesting
idea (Letters, 15 January), however I was not convinced by the evidence
presented by Mills and Marks in their letter.
They suggest that smokers are less responsive to various stimuli as
a result of their smoking. But, people are not randomly assigned to the
categories of ‘smoker’ and ‘nonsmoker’. Since childhood, I have had a number
of allergies to dust, certain foods, pollen . . . and I get bad headaches
whenever I am in a smoke-filled room. This is certainly one of the reasons
that I have never taken up smoking.
Assuming I am not unique, perhaps, one of the reasons people chose to
be non-smokers is that they are (already) sensitive to irritants, including
those produced by cigarette smoke; smoking is thus a possible result of
lower responsiveness, not a cause.
Anne Burrill European Commission Joint Research Centre Ispra, Italy
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