Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Ban cultivation

Sir, — The observation in the editorial "Smoking out the weed" (Feb. 7) that the most effective way of discouraging tobacco use is to "make it difficult to procure and to restrict space for smokers aggressively" is unjustified. If tobacco is so bad, why not ban its cultivation? Governments earn substantial revenue from it. That the Government helps tobacco cultivation, on the one hand, and restricts its consumption, on the other, is a paradox.

C.Y. Rao,
Kakinada, A.P.

* * *

Sir, — While King James condemned smoking, Emperor Akbar did a lot of pussyfooting when tobacco was first brought to the Mughal court by traders. The man who led the resistance against tobacco was the Emperor's personal physician, Amir Fathullah. He did all he could to prevent Akbar from smoking. However, Akbar's curiosity got the better of him. But the fighter in Fathullah would not give up. He invented the hookah (hubble-bubble) and insisted that the Emperor inhale only after the smoke was cleansed by water. To this day, the hookah represents the mildest form of smoking.

B. Sasisekhar,
Madurai, T.N.

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