Cigarettes and naked art

I saw people smoking cigarettes on television last night. Really. Not only that, I have seen people smoking and carrying on excellent conversations almost every day for the past several weeks. The first time, I was so amazed that I wondered if they would get away with it. No problem. The television shows were recorded between 1978 and 1981. It was a time in which everyone knew that smoking could cause health problems, but there was no multi-billion dollar antismoking lobby for tens of thousands to get rich on. Smokers smoked, the others did not. No one was so silly as to suggest that the recipients of second hand smoke faced a greater danger than smokers themselves. Some of those who I have been watching in those TV interviews are artists or  fans of outstanding art. I have seen some show their collections and others their own art,  including pieces that depict frolicking, seductive or otherwise erotic, naked persons who had not yet reached the arbitrary age of 18. I dare not think what would happen if the same art were shown on television now.