Rosalind B. Marimont

About the author: Rosalind B. Marimont is a retired mathematician and scientist living in Silver Spring, Maryland. She has been active in health policy issues for more than thirty years.

The health risks attributed to smoking have been grossly exaggerated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses an erroneous computer application to estimate the number of deaths caused by smoking, leading the public to believe that 400,000 Americans die annually from smoking-related illnesses. In actuality, many of these deaths could be the result of other health problems, such as high cholesterol or obesity. The CDC's distorted information on the hazards of tobacco use, coupled with the strong antismoking sentiment in the U.S. government, has misdirected the nation's health priorities. The United States faces more dangers from violence, family breakdown...