Dear Editor:
Tobacco use is the current leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, alcohol is the third cause of preventable deaths in the nation. In the Jan. 19 issue, the journal states that tobacco causes 18.1 percent of American deaths, and alcohol causes 3.5 percent.
Tobacco is also the leading cause of preventable death for Kentuckians. There is no way that alcohol use could be blamed for causing more deaths than tobacco.
Jessica Brandenburg
Stanford
