I'm defending both my addiction and logic, boys. Did I say smoking was good? No. Neither is a pound of arsenic. However, living in a house with walls painted with Paris green does not necessarily kill you, even though the paint was laced with arsenic. Workng in a building built using asbestos as a fire retardant is not a good thing-- but it does not necessary give you a death sentence. Joey, the blanket statement "Smoking causes lung cancer" is incorrect... because it is not 100% true. "Smoking has been found to be a causitive effect in triggering cancer in some people"-- yep, that is true and verifiable. But it's so much easier to use the simplified & not-always-true version as a slogan. And that was the point. Back to aspartame: there does seem to be a large amount of serious data negating the extraordinary claims stemming from its detractors. Some of these studies were funded by the manufacturers, which makes the results suspect-- but not all of them. Therein lies the gray area.
Sugar (refined white sugar) is just as bad for you, if not worse.
I know. JK, why do you think I turned to other sweeteners in the first place?