The Watchtower, “Questions From Readers”
“So Jehovah’s witnesses strongly discourage its use, and they view as spiritually immature any Christians who continue to use tobacco.”
Answering ‘What is the attitude of Jehovah’s witnesses toward the use of tobacco?’, the magazine says the Bible does not comment on tobacco directly, argues from Bible principles that the habit is unclean, and says a user would not have the reputation required of an appointed servant. It gives practical advice on quitting. It does not say that a baptised member who continues to smoke will be expelled.
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Provenance and verification note for The Watchtower, Questions From Readers
Confidence note. Document opened on the Watchtower Online Library and re-opened for audit on 19 September 2026 and read in full; the quoted sentence sits after the page 126 marker. The tobacco answer ends on page 127, before the next question in the same column, which is where the page 128 marker falls. The absence of any expulsion provision was checked by reading the whole answer.
Notes. The published position four years before the 1973 change.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-p-w-1969-0215-qfr-tobacco