The letter from A. J. Hedley (South China Morning Post, April 2) was as inaccurate in its content as it was odious in its tone.
I did not 'pour scorn' on the legislation banning the importation of snuff products. All I said was that those who advocated and defended such legislation should not now criticise the tobacco industry for offering no products which can be consumed without burning them.
I did not brand Dr Judith Mackay or Mr Hedley as 'over-zealous', though if you ban all forms of snuff because of health fears about one variety then such a charge may be difficult to refute.
I did not suggest that they were social pariahs, either for defending the health of young people or for any other reason.
I am neither an apologist for nor a defender of the tobacco industry.
It is a characteristic of single-issue fanatics that they recognise no neutral positions in their private wars. But it is possible to be convinced both of the dangers of smoking and of the virtue of the old tradition that the law should ban only those activities which harm people other than the actor.
