 |
| 11 June 1992 |
|
| Cheryl B. Horton Criminal District Court, Section "A" 2700 Tulane Ave. New Orleans, LA 70118 |
|
| Re: Current Events |
|
| Dear Cheri: |
|
|
A grave matter, a weighty and important subject, has troubled me for a day now. It is my health, and how it is being altered by my association with you, my wife and others like you. I speak of smokers.
|
|
| The word, "institute," calls to mind an establishment at which work of immense consequence is carried on by our greatest scientific minds. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a case in point. As is, locally, the Institute for Cardiovascular Studies and the Institute for Vascular Studies. The local telephone directory lists an enterprise on Elysian Fields which is known simply as The Institute. I don't know the manner or subject of its work, but I am certain it is important. |
|
| How about the Tobacco Institute? The American Heart Association called today for cigarette smoking to be banned from all work and public places. It seems a recently released study by the AHA cites overwhelming evidence that exposure to the smoke of others, so-called secondhand smoke, increases one's risk of contracting a host of nasty and persistent ailments including lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. |
|
| Two physicians who participated in preparing the study stated that thousands of studies placed the odious connection beyond debate. Well, the Tobacco Institute, described as a "trade group", criticized and challenged the report. Said an institute spokesman, "The weight of the scientific evidence continues to show that there is no link." The institute maintained that "fewer than 100 studies had been done on the effect of secondary smoke." The president of the American Lung Association, Dr. Lee B. Reichman, said, "Asking them [the institute] about the effects of environmental tobacco smoke is akin to asking the fox about conditions in the chicken coop." |
|
| I tend to side with the physicians even though it is difficult to discount the assertions of an institute. Although one might argue that Jack Black mixed with cherry-juice and sugar-water poses a greater and more immediate hazard, I am troubled about the amount of environmental smoke to which I was exposed last eve and must insist that on future such occasions you and my spouse refrain from contributing to the toxic environment in which I am asked to survive. |
|
| By the way, I am considering incorporating my practice as The Institute of Legal Services. What do you think? |
|
|
| Sincerely, |
 |
| David J. L'Hoste |
|
| DJL/djl |
| cc: Denise Faill L'Hoste |