Editor's Blog

Promoting Smoking ?

Dr. Pauling Chang of Palo Alto takes great exception to our use of a cigar as a prop in the March Breaking 100, 90, 80 section. It's hard to argue with him:

A few issues ago, you had a profile of the actor Jack Wagner, and the picture in the article was of him standing on his roof, swinging a golf club, with a cigar in his mouth.

In the current March 2008 issue, one of the drills in the article for "Breaking 100" shows a golfer with a cigar in his mouth, and the cigar plays an important role in improving your swing.

Shame on you people for repetitive promotion of an activity that is dangerous to our health. Smoking has been shown to directly increase the risk of many cancers, including those of the mouth, throat, lung, esophagus, stomach, and bladder, just to name a few. In addition, smoking directly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, which are the number 1 and number 2 killers of people in this country.

The cost of health care in this country is rising at a dramatic rate, and it is possible this country will not be able to afford to provide the state of the art health care which we all deserve. If everyone in this country took better care of themselves, which includes not smoking and fitness to avoid obesity, we would all be better off.

Shame on your magazine for promoting unhealthy activity. Golf is a wonderful sport which I highly enjoy and can be very healthy too. Healthy if we avoid smoking and golf carts. Promote this instead.

My subscription to your magazine was a gift, if it were not I would ask you to cancel my subscription. With our knowledge of fitness and the dangers of smoking in the 21st century, I can not believe that you people still promote smoking. I wonder if the tobacco industry has any influence on you people.

Thanks, doctor. You're right; we could have made the same point with anothe prop.

--Bob Carney

Comments

Archived Comments (4) Click to expand

No Bob....no reason to thank the Doctor at all!

Smoking on the golf course (particulary cigars) is a pretty tradtional activity. It is one of the few places left that a person can smoke without being looked at as a second class citizen. Your magazine is about golf, and anyone who knows anything about the game would see that using a cigar as a prop makes perfect sense.

I feel bad that you felt the need to back off because of the PC world that we live in.

Is smoking bad for you? Yes. Is there anyone in the universe who is not aware of that? No. Did your swing tip say that in order to ever be a decent golfer, that you had to smoke cigars...no, it didn't.

I appreciate the Dr's position, but keep in mind that there are other opinions on this issue.

Posted by tony2979 February 25, 2008 10:55 AM

The doctor is confusing recognition with promotion; no doubt he'll write another letter decrying pictures of health-depriving golf carts and questioning your affiliation with that industry as well.

Despite an array of life-prolonging surgical interventions and the pharmaceutical efforts of our health care system, in the end we are all dead. I'd prefer to forgo the nagging and enjoy the ride (or walk, if the doctor had his way).

Posted by putterjohn February 26, 2008 7:14 AM

Dear Doctor,

I can understand why you don't like smoking. It must be already difficult to breathe in your ivory tower, riding such a high horse.

Please get the hell over yourself.

Sincerely,

Patrick

Posted by Badger58 February 26, 2008 11:21 AM

Dear Doctor,

I'm a doctor too, a urologic surgeon, and I suggest you pull out the nine iron that's stuck up your arse. Promoting fitness and healthy habits are all well and good but thatnkfully we still live in a country where freedom and personal choice rule the day. That piece was hardly promoting smoking or any other bad habits. If you read GD regularly (which I doubt) you would know that they have been a consistent voice promoting walking and caddies in the game. If Jack Wagner wants to smoke a cigar outdoors that's up to him and him only thank God. That's why I love this country.

Posted by cunn9305 February 26, 2008 1:32 PM
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