Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

Re “Flavors Banned From Cigarettes to Deter Youths” (front page, Sept. 23):

Flavored cigarettes may be new but are brought to you by the same companies that sold me candy cigarettes in the ’40s packaged to resemble the ones that my dad smoked before he died of emphysema.

Francis W. Rodgers
Rensselaer, N.Y., Sept. 23, 2009

Note from KBJ: I ate those candy cigarettes when I was a kid and have never smoked a cigarette in my life. I also watched The Three Stooges. Not once (to date!) have I hit someone over the head with a wrench or a mallet.