It's the dose that makes the poison

Now so far I've only posted letters-to-editors that have actually been printed, I suppose to spare the reader too much of my rambling, but here's one I just sent. It was a reply to another letter in today's Citizen, which itself was talking about some other letter, which...well let's just say it was on the subject of smoking bans. The letter I was replying to made this statement:

Damning reports have also come out regarding exposure to secondhand smoke. We now know that there is no such thing as safe exposure to secondhand smoke, any more than there is such a thing as a pee-free section of a public swimming pool.

So, my letter was as follows:

Any "scientist" or public health official who claims there is "no safe dose" of second-hand smoke is quite simply lying. It is the dose that makes the poison. Too much alcohol in one night will kill you, but a drink a day is likely beneficial. As the media credulously parroted from an environmental pressure group'’s scaremongering stunt not long ago, most of us have tiny amounts of all sorts of potentially very toxic substances floating around our blood. Yet we survive, how is this possible? It'’s the dose that makes the poison!

There is in fact not a mountain of compelling evidence on the dangers of second-hand smoke. There is some evidence, some tragic anecdotes, but it has been overhyped. There is moreover no evidence showing public health benefits from smoking bans, only textbook examples of lying with statistics. What we have is hyperbolic rhetoric that makes getting one whiff of second-hand smoke on a patio out to be more dangerous than being a pack-a-day smoker.