To the editor:
Robert J. (Chris) Dettman's letter (Forum, Jan. 19) deserves a comment. First, his previous letter in which he stated that he would never again patronize Hardee's due to the no-smoking policy. That is certainly his right.With that premise in mind it's going to be rather interesting to see what approach the Dettmans might make if it necessitates that one of them needs to be hospitalized. Hospitals have a total no-smoking policy. How about the airlines and their no-smoking policy? Are the Dettmans never going to fly?
As for the risks of smoking, I refer to the January 1991 issue of the New England Medical Journal. In it are the statements of four thoracic surgeons, which in essence say the largest preventable health problem that we have in our country today is tobacco use. Periodicals supplied by both the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association indicate that very few longtime tobacco users live to a ripe old age.
Why is it non-Christian and discriminatory for non-smokers to ask Dettman not to befoul our shared air space, but when he does it to us, that criticism does not apply to him?
Roy W. Hedin
West Valley City