>As I understand there have been some studies that disprove this assertion. May I ask where you get your numbers from please or are you just repeating a sort of urban legend.

I was going to reply on this thread yesterday with some statistics on tobacco/alcohol/illegal drug related deaths, I had just come across the figures in a book I'm currently reading. I believe the figures come from a 10-12 year old report, I don't have the book with me today, I'll try to remember to get it tonight/tomorrow & let you know the exact source. I couldn't remember the exact numbers quoted, hence the vagueness of my numbers.

(Just had a quick look at the report you gave me the link to. That relates specifically to breast cancer. The figure I quoted was for lung cancer & heart-related diseases. But point taken, there is still disagreement)