Smoking, when will.....

[R1Geezer]

...this disgusting habit finally be consigned to history?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7771210.stm do you think this latest initiative will help? I know that smoking is being actively encouraged in 3rd world countries/eastern bloc etc so do you think that's just the death throws of an industry or are we in danger of having a non smoking western world being shocked by this "strange" habit when they visit up and comming nations? it's almost getting to the stage now for me when I see someone in the street smoking I get a sort of "How strange" feeling!

[888sally888]

Oh for gods sake!! Lets hide alcohol, chocolate, fatty foods blah blah blah.

[sleepyj]

hide the choc from u sally lol

[The Sherman]

For once R1Geezer i agree with you. I am looking forward to the day when you can't smoke outside like in America.

[888sally888]

Oh no sleepy - caught me out!!

It just makes me cross when people are out boozing and eating cr@p and taking up more time and money from the NHS by liver disease and heart problems!

[4getmenot]

even when I smoked I didnt like people smoking in street and hated following someone that was smoking. I have given up 2 months now but I'm still used to seeing other smokers, would be weirder without them

[jake-the-peg]

Oh Geezer, Sherman you surprise me

Aren't you two normally part of the "Damn Labour Nanny state telling us what to do" brigade?

[MrBounty]

Yeah, i cant wait until smoking is banned outright.....and then see the government hike up every tax they can, and maybe invent a few new ones, as they wont be getting anything out of the smokers.

Think of it this way - i was in Tenereife a month or two ago.
A pack of 20 smokes cost me around about �1.75.....for the same pack of smokes over here, it's about �5.15.
If �3.40 of ever pack of tabs is going to the government, what do you think is going to happen when there is a complete stop to it??

I'll be waiting for the "oh, increased taxes wont bother me" argument, but i guarentee, every single tax payer will be up in arms at having to pay so much more!!

[4getmenot]

thats why I gave up bounty, I went to lanzarote and got loads of cheap fags and then once I smoked them I refused to pay over fiver a pack

[MrBounty]

I'd love to give up the tabs, but i do, usually, still enjoy it.

What i do hate is all these non-smokers who berate smoking, not fully realising just how much money is taken in by the government taxing cigarettes, and just how much of that money taken in saves from them paying higher taxes!

[jake-the-peg]

Trouble with the tax argument is you can extend it.

If smoking's OK because of the tax revenue - lets legalise canabis and tax it - we can raise even more.

How about cocaine - they're all rich media types - legalise and tax.

It's hard to argue the cigarette tax angle and the anti-drug angle consistantly

[R1Geezer]

Yes jake normally you are correct, but in the case of smoking I don't want to breath their foul *****! Ok I go out for a pint but I don't go round pouring it down the neck of strangers.

ahhh MR Bounty, bless, the old tax argument, complete and utter b0llucks, smoking costs far more that it brings in, try again. Not just the direct stuff try adding up all the indirect costs. OK it would take time to feed through but hey the amount is tiny. Total income from smoking pays for the NHS for about a fortnight. The goverement guarenteed 10 times as much to the banks in surety the othet week.

[R1Geezer]

anyway I wasn't really looking for a smokers v non smokers row, I was more interested in the future for smoking etc, will it die out eventually? Will out descendants look upon it with amusement in the future? It's interesting to note that SciFi shows of the 60's 70's etc show people smoking, so they clearly thought it would be around.

[Quinlad]

Well said, jake.

Nothing should ever be banned unless it harms others. If there's an argument that smoking outdoors does that, then fine - make it illegal. But if it's just to protect people from themselves, that's not what the law is for. That's Nanny government.

I hate smoking, it's disgusting. But I don't hate it more than I value liberty.

If suicide is legal (which it is), how can we start banning things because it's harmful to the people doing it?

[Gromit]

Even if smoking was banned, many people would still do it. It would be impossible to ban, especially in a free country.

No, the ban on displaying cigarettes will not make any difference at all. Just as banning TV commercials, or newspaper advertisements has made no difference.

Only 16% of the UK population now smoke. Unfortunately, the figures of new young smokers taking up the habit is rising. 450 children start every day, and they will be hooked for many years, if not the rest of their lives, so your smokefree utopia is many years away.

[jake-the-peg]

Geezer

Actually smoking taxes do raise more than the smokers cost.

The NHS does spend a lot on cancer treatment but smokers still die earlier so they don't spend so much on treating geriatric diseases for smokers

It's drink that causes more damage than the taxation raises - alcohol related accidents are a huge cost, alcohol related violence even more.

I know you're not a fan of canabis users but I can't ever remember meeting anyone who was violent on it

Quinlad
There is a delicate balance to be struck between libertarianism and public health.

It's not in the public interest to have large numbers of smokers, heavy drikers or drug addicts.

Add that to the fact that many of them actually want to quit and it becomes a government issue to try to stop people starting and help those who want to stop.

We should introduce mandatory ID for cigarettes and booze - doesn't matter if you're drawing your pension you still have to show it.

If we did a special one your booze rights could be withdrawn if you're drunk and disorderly

[R1Geezer]

perhaps he thought he could fly eh jake:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/22 48849.stm

[VHG]

There was a very funny Yes Minister that covered this whole "smoking" issue: taxation, NHS, health etc.

Funnly enough, some of the "wild" suggestions put to ban smoking in pubs etc have now come true.

You can watch the whole show in 4 parts on You Tube

Part 1
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwZIOePzXls

Part 2
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=y2udBL1R2_U

Part 3
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-tLbzQCmOEI

Part 4
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Py2Lyq1E7O8

[R1Geezer]

Jake, have you been in a cave? there are plenty of cases of violence committed under the influence of the fluffy bunny wonder drug:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-233 69774-details/Review%20of%20cannabis%20laws%20 as%20drug-fuelled%20violence%20spirals/article .do

http://www.stolenchildhood.net/entry/cannabis- use-causing-rise-in-violence-among-children-an d-teens-in-uk/

a quick google is all that's needed.

[redcrx]

even if smokers didnt pay more in tax than they actually cost, where would the money come to treat all those people suffering effects after they quit. Or to pay for those people living longer?

the money would still have to come from somewhere.

[kinell]

Of course with an ageing population the problem of paying out state pensions for many years has already caused the age of retirement to be extended.

There would be a massive financial benefit if the government were to scrap tax on tobacco and actively encourage smoking.

We do really have to act now to lower the average age of death in our country....