OK, I couldn't help myself, I wrote him an e-mail (that he'll never read):
Dear Sir,
In your recent column "The drug legalization dilemma" of April 4, 2012 you make the following statement:
"
Another legal drug, nicotine, kills more people than do alcohol and all illegal drugs — combined. For decades, government has aggressively publicized the health risks of smoking and made it unfashionable, stigmatized, expensive and inconvenient. Yet 20 percent of every rising American generation becomes addicted to nicotine. "
Furthermore, you write, quoting James Q. Wilson:
"
nicotine shortens life, ....... debases it"
While I believe you meant this as a figure of speech or, at best, as a swift reference to a more complex argument (that nicotine contributes to the addiction to smoking, and since
tobacco smoke, through a whole host of noxious substances is a known health hazard then nicotine could be figuratively "blamed" for its ill effects), I put it to you that such a statement might have unintended dangerous consequences.
As you know (or should know before tackling this topic from such high a tribune) nicotine is not known to be a major causative agent of the notorious ill effects of smoking
tobacco. Nicotine is potentially addictive, although it is known that the extreme addictive potential of smoked
tobacco is due to a less-than-accidental combination of elements in the tobacco smoke that enhance nicotine's effects. Nicotine consumption results in a brief mild increase in blood pressure and/or heart rate, but in the same range as caffeine or light exercise. And, although nicotine has certain psychotropic effects, these are mild and quite unlikely to cause antisocial or counterproductive behaviors (it enhances concentration, decreases reaction time, and provides mild anxiolytic effect; there is emerging evidence that it may provide protection against and/or improve function in Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's, Tourette's etc.). Needless to say, there is no scientifically proven association between use of nicotine alone and any decrease in life expectancy.
Hence, while the philosophical proposition that one should seek freedom from all addiction may have some merit, simply having a nicotine habit is hardly a dangerous thing, either for the individual or for society.
Today, unfortunately, a large number of people are addicted to nicotine and obtain it from smoking tobacco. They are at dire risk of death, illness and disability because of that. They may be served enormously by switching to reduced harm alternatives to smoking. Their likelihood of successfully switching to such alternatives is hindered by confusing and, at times, intentionally incorrect public messages equating nicotine to smoking in terms of harm. They interpret their own (1) failure to become nicotine free and (2) desire to have nicotine's effects in their life as meaning that they are condemned to smoking - which is blatantly untrue.
I believe there is no reason you should perpetuate such a harmful misconception. In the interest of saving lives - and public money - I urge you to revise your statement and avoid equating nicotine to tobacco and, even worse, implying some sort of equivalency between nicotine and known harmful substances such as ....... and ....... I believe it would be the right thing to do.
I invite you to do your own research about this issue, but I humbly suggest that it would include the information rich website
CASAA - The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association .
Thank you,
