Yes, there was support in Victoria from an additional tobacco tax to buy out tobacco sponsorships. But these were mostly small sponsorships. The big end sponsorships just swapped to other big sponsors. Perhaps he could tell us how taxpayers stepped in to pick up the shortfall with the end of the Winfield Cup, Benson & Hedges cricket and Marlboro Australian Open?

The “alcohol in moderation” argument is often based on studies which show benefits to cardiovascular disease from daily moderate consumption. This conclusion took a bit of a battering with the publication of a meta-analysis challenging the benefits of moderate drinking. Quoting from a BMJ report: “The meta-analysis of 54 published studies from the past 38 years says that classing people who had reduced their drinking or stopped as abstainers invalidates the results of most studies showing the benefits of moderate drinking.

“Cardiac protection afforded by alcohol may have been overestimated,” reports the study, which was published online ahead of print publication in the May 2006 issue of Addiction Research and Theory (doi: 10.1080/16 983).

The researchers, from the University of California at San Francisco and the University of British Columbia, said that most of the 54 prospective studies were flawed as they included as abstainers people who had reduced or stopped drinking, which people often do because of ageing or ill health. Abstainers thus seemed to be less healthy than light drinkers and had a higher risk of death.

After considering 57 variables the researchers found just seven of the studies to be free of error and to include long term abstainers. Analysis of these studies showed no reduction in mortality among moderate drinkers in comparison with abstainers. Only studies containing the “abstainer error” showed protection against death with moderate drinking.”

His argument also prosecutes, yet again, the health thought police tactic of equating alcohol with tobacco. There is nothing to be said for tobacco consumption and it should be eliminated if possible. There is much to be said for alcohol in moderation and its contribution to society. encouraged.

That fact - like the fact that Australian alcohol consumption has been falling for 20 years along with our per capita consumption world ranking - doesn’t suit the PR campaign he and his colleagues are conducting.Professor Chapman should indicate whether he believes tobacco and alcohol are identical in their social and health impacts. If they are not, he should stop using the analogy.

Noel Turnbull