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Rokken, I understand your misgivings to trust Mr. Oakley's book. But you misunderstand. He does not say that smoking is not bad for you. He points out the misuse of statistics in the studies used to launch the War on Smokers. Smoking may or may not be bad for you -- no statistician not on the payroll of either side can tell you with any certainty. The studies are just methodologically flawed.
In his next part of the book, he argues basically Mordenheim's line -- even if everything we think we know about smoking is true, does that justify the actions we have taken in the War on Smokers? Does it not leave us open for whatever other crusades are launched on whatever else the activists focus their sights upon? Simply drum up a few flawed studies, publicize the heck out of them, and using the Smoker precedent, you can feel justified in cracking down on anything else.
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