My letter on " Tobacco and free speech " published in the Christian Science Monitor on May 8, 2001

May 08, 2001, 12:05 p.m. ET Words, not images, make "free speech" Regarding your April 25 editorial "Tobacco and free speech": Shouldn't "speech" in this case imply some rational persuasion of a nonsmoker to smoke? The tobacco industry seduces the young with images of young, charming, and healthy people enjoying life - and smoking. Suppose these phony images were banned in tobacco advertising, but the industry was permitted to make its case with the English language. Would a 500-word essay on a billboard persuade any kid to smoke? Let wordsmiths make a brainless case for a poisonous product. Oh, what profits then! Ron Ruggieri Warwick, R.I.