POLICY AGAINST SCIENCE - THE CASE OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO-SMOKE

The grounds for official policy claims that environmental tobacco smoke is a major health risk remain speculative. In scientific terms, the evidence is compatible with either a slight increase or a decrease of risks, but is impotent to certify either conclusion. Official advocacy of unproven hypotheses presented as valid scientific conclusions raises serious ethical questions, and threatens the credibility of risk assessment as a legitimate policy instrument.