Pubdate: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 1998 Mercury Center Contact: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Author: Mary Terry Bader, Darrel Strachan SNUFF THE CIGARETTE ADS ON Page 16A of the Nov. 18 Mercury News, I found a full-page color ad for New Kool Natural cigarettes. It is my understanding that newspapers are used in the schools as an additional teaching aid. What kind of message does this give to the students when you publish an ad for cigarettes? I am aware that ads pay for the low cost of our newspapers, but to print a cigarette ad seems counterproductive in our battle against teenage smokers. Mary Terry Bader Santa Clara MYTH OF SMOKING'S COSTS REGARDING your story on the tobacco settlement (Page 1A, Nov. 17): I am a non-smoker, but please quit promoting the lie about the health costs to society of smoking, which many studies have refuted. Are we to assume that death would be cheap and would never come if no one smoked? We should not persecute or tax anyone over a lifestyle choice or characteristic. Not smokers, not gays, not blacks, not browns, not whites, not greens, not cheeseburger-eaters, not tofu eaters, etc. Darrel Strachan San Jose - --- Checked-by: Patrick Henry