Letter: Honest tobacco ads

Tuesday 22 June 1999 23:02 BST

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Sir: I do not believe that tobacco advertising should be banned (report, 18 June) because it is the only balanced advertising we have.

Each tobacco advertisement is in two parts: the first is to encourage you to buy the product, the second explains the consequences for you and those close to you if you do. This should be a model for all advertising.

If everything that is advertised - disposable nappies, cars, soap powder, supermarkets, fast food - had to show the negative consequences of buying it, it would be a revelation.

We would all still have the freedom to spend our money on whatever we choose but we would not be able to claim ignorance of our individual contribution to the wider picture.

KEITH MORRIS

Loughborough, Leicestershire

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