If you smoke and you still don‘t believe that there’s a definite link between smoking and bronchial troubles， heart disease and lung cancer， then you are certainly deceiving yourself. No one will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking. This needn‘t make you too uncomfortable because you are in good company. Whenever the subject of smoking and health is raised， the governments of most countries hear no evil， see no evil and smell no evil. Admittedly， a few governments have taken timid measures. In Britain for instance， cigarette advertising has been banned on television. The conscience of the nation is appeased， while the population continues to puff its way to smoky， cancerous death.
You don‘t have to look very far to find out why the official reactions to medical findings have been so lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is a wonderful commodity to tax. It’s almost like a tax on our daily bread. In tax revenue alone， the government of Britain collects enough from smokers to pay for its entire educational facilities. So while the authorities point out ever so discreetly that smoking may， conceivable， be harmful， it doesn‘t do to shout too loudly about it.