Letter: Tax revenue is why tobacco won't be banned

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Joan Ryan's diatribe in your Nov. 24 edition typically missed the point. If I correctly read the question (Why do states permit the sale of a known carcinogen?), the answer is quite simple -- money. Specifically, tax revenue.

It's just like our so-called "war on drugs." We, the states, couldn't stop it if we wanted to because there's just too much cash involved.

But then consider North Carolina, where the far-thinking lawmen distributed their share of the tobacco settlement to ... tobacco growers and related businesses. Kool, huh?

GIL NEWBOLD

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