Letters, February 18: Tobacco war dragging on

The Waikato Times hit the nail on the head with the editorial "Beach ban too hard to justify" (February 10). New Zealand desperately needs to step up the war on cigarette smoking. The drop in smoking from 30 per cent to 24 per cent since 1986 is a rate of less than quarter of a per cent per year. This is slower than almost every other developed nation, and improving our performance requires urgent and effective action.

Banning smoking on beaches is not urgent action – it is a distraction.

Of course it would be nice but it's tinkering around the edge of the tobacco problem, rather that getting to the heart of it. Public health needs to put its efforts into big impact policies such as tax increases, controlling tobacco supply and working towards a goal of removing tobacco from sale by 2020.

Without this focus we face another 25 years of barely shifting the smoking rates in New Zealand.

BEN YOUDAN

Director

ASH New Zealand

Changing lives

What is this National Government thinking?

The costly problem of youth offenders becoming en-trenched in a life of crime is the bane of this country.

Just recently psychologist Nigel Latta explained on the TV programme Beyond the Darklands (TV One, February 2) how Antonie Dixon was set on an inevitable path toward tragedy from earliest childhood. He was raised in a house where he was physically, sexually and emotionally abused.

He developed into a violent, anti-social young offender and later an addiction to methamphetamine (P) resulted in the tragic samurai sword attack on two women, the shooting death of a man and, eventually, Dixon's suicide.

These are the kind of tragedies which Hamilton's youth justice unit Te Hurihanga seeks to prevent and it is working. The programme has had a 100 per cent success rate to date.

The kind of young offenders Te Hurihanga is designed for are angry young men, with difficult backgrounds and issues, who need intensive support. It may not be a cheap programme to run but what is the cost of not providing this intervention?

RAVAANI GHAEMMAGHAMY

Hamilton

Stark choices

What a cheek Don Brash has to present us with the stark choices facing New Zealand (Waikato Times, February 6). He should be reminded New Zealand, along with many other countries, is struggling to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. This was caused by the greed and incompetence of the world's top bankers which led to the collapse of numerous previously strong and well-established financial institutions.

Before entering politics overtly in 2002, Dr Brash was governor of the Reserve Bank of NZ for 14 years. Although there is no reason to think that he was directly culpable for the 2007-8 collapse, either as an adviser or a regulator, nevertheless it was the mindset of his successors that led to our current situation.

Dr Brash is too myopic to be trusted; he seems incapable of thinking beyond economic growth and catching up with Australia.

Recent items in the Times point to more serious problems. Too many youngsters leave formal education without the wherewithal to get a meaningful job and take their place in society.

Career criminals were highlighted on the front page (February 6) and Russel Norman alerted us to the pollution of our rivers (February 9). Dr Brash's remedies will do nothing to solve these problems; indeed they are likely to increase inequality and make them worse. (Abridged)

DAVID COY

Hamilton

Spray poisons

I am not sure what is going on in "green, clean" New Zealand, but everybody is hell-bent on harming themselves at the moment.

Everywhere I go I see these white canisters above kitchen cupboards and every few seconds they let out an ominous hiss.

It's supposed to be really safe and only kill flies. What I've found from lots of research is that anything that kills anything will eventually kill everything.

I feel I am becoming the chemical canary. Every time I enter a house and this spray hits me, my nose starts to itch, I sneeze a lot, my eyes get sore, sometimes water, and I have a funny taste on my tongue.

If you have any of these symptoms, I don't believe they have anything to do with hayfever – they are caused by these insecticide sprays.

If you feel having a few flies in your house – I use flypaper which is harmless – is unhealthy, think twice, you might be slowly killing yourself.

SIGGI HENRY

Hamilton

Preserving nature

Thanks to Federated Farmers, for showing their true face, and debunking that myth about farmers and their caring about the environment (Waikato Times, February 9).

They are not speaking for all though, are they?

If New Zealand wants to preserve its natural environment – its fascinating forests and tussock-lands and alpine gardens, as well as the bush remnants and coves in proximity to its urban centres (to name just a few examples) – it needs to resource that preservation. Take the Conservation Department out of the equation and who is left to do that task? Individuals who spent money and time and energy on submissions and hearings from the goodness of their hearts; souls who believe that there is intrinsic value in each plant and animal and insect, and that their living together with us puts them into our responsibility; environmentalists who acknowledge our dependency on natural resources – provided by, and shared with, functioning ecosystems, not patches at the margin.

Does anyone want to rely on the might of goodwill, the benevolence of governments, the insight of Federated Farmers?

GISELA L FABER

Te Aroha

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