Stopping smoking best

Re: You haven’t come a long way baby, Kristin Halle, July 11

We keep peering across the border and seeing how people driven by ideology can act against their own interests, but Kristin Halle gives us a flagrant domestic example.

Smoking kills more than 45,000 Canadians each year according to a recent report by the Conference Board of Canada. More than 26,000 of those premature deaths (58.5 per cent) occur among men and almost 19,000 (41.5 per cent) among women. A few years ago, Canada had the highest death rate from lung cancer among women anywhere in the world, though Denmark now holds that dubious distinction, with Canada second.

Joe Camel and other cartoon characters were obviously aimed at children and were eventually banned, even in the land of “free speech” and the First Amendment. But cigarettes as “torches of freedom” and Virginia Slims (“you’ve come a long way, baby”) were clearly aimed at women, just as are slim cigarettes and lipstick packs in this country, and they demand elimination as well.

Being a proud feminist does not mean lobbying for the right to die as stupidly and meaninglessly as men. It’s naïve not to realize that marketing is segmented and legislation must address specific concerns over specific products. Banning slim cigarettes is not paternalistic. It just addresses one part of the larger problem. One can always buy a bigger purse, but it’s even better to just stop smoking and live a