You provide a valuable service to the city of Calgary. Nonetheless, something has bothered me for a while and I must say something.

A recent addition to your magazine is the inclusion of full-page tobacco advertisements. I find this to be a poor editorial choice. If the cause is the "economic downturn," the solution may be to trim other content (such as colour) rather than to sully the magazine with tobacco advertisements.

This being said, I am not against smoking, nor am I even against the advertisements per se. What bothers me is the Fast Forward Weekly readership comprises many young readers, and the presence of the tobacco ads seems to be a conscious decision to market cigarettes to young people. By young I do not mean the 18-to 34-year-old persons that comprise 39.8 per cent of your reading audience. By "young" I am referring to the percentage of your readers that is under the age of 18.

Reading your media kit, it seems that 99.9 per cent of your readers are 18 years old or over and the other 0.1 per cent do not exist. This seems to be inaccurate. Calgarians do not abstain from reading Fast Forward Weekly until the age of 18, then turn 18 and start reading Fast Forward Weekly. Many persons younger than 18 do read your magazine.

Please inform your readers (and potential advertisers) what percentage of your readers are under the age of 18 and please explain your conscious decision to market cigarettes to minors.

KIRK RAMDATH,

CALGARY