2008 is the fortieth anniversary of my entry into the field of tobacco control and I thank the editor for allowing me to indicate by this letter that I intend to die with my boots on.

The publication of the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg) 1 with a summary of all their meticulous detail and necessary caveats, together with a pair of editorials2 3 by two of tobacco control’s best intellectuals, offers the much needed opportunity to clarify what TobReg is really talking about: the regulation of tobacco smoke constituents and the mandating of maximal limits of toxicants.

Chapman2 welcomes this event as a contribution to a necessary debate, Kozlowski,3 albeit lukewarm in thinking TobReg’s ideas should “probably” be implemented, unsurprisingly and properly sticks to his long-held belief that we should tell the public the truth. He also focuses, as a higher priority, on the realistic prospects for tobacco control offered by lower risk cigarette alternatives such …