"I found myself focusing on a radio ad this morning which was targeted against youth smoking. The ad was actually well done; however it revealed of course the kind of absurd double standards that many who crusade in that field utilize. The line that began the ad was 'there is no such thing as a safe cigarette.' And the ad built on that theme with the usual statistics approach. I found myself substituting the word 'sex' for the word 'smoking' when listening to the ad -knowing that those who promote 'safe sex' amongst the youths would never run such an ad as I envisioned. Think about that for a moment if you will.

The same people who would never accept the argument that 'well, you should not smoke but if you do try to smoke a low tar cigarette because that is safer' nonetheless promote condoms under the rationale that 'kids are going to do it anyway.' Well, if that is the case, there is always the possibility of handing out free low tar cigarettes to the youths who are 'going to smoke anyway.' Is this going to happen anytime soon??? Do not bet on it if you have any pretentions of being smart.

For the same people who post these ads against youth smoking who like to point to statistics that show that said ads have a positive effect in reducing the number of youths who smoke are not infrequently the same people who get outraged about sex education programs that emphasize abstinence or even (God forbid) do not explain in detail -and with props at that- how various contraceptives actually work."