why is it that whenever smoking comes up..

[R1Geezer]

some numpty always says - "if everyone gave up today where would the government get the tax revenue from" - When it's patently obvious that smoking costs gazillions more than it brings in?

[Ankou]

andy i disagree and agree in equal measure. however alcohol is concerned with the extremes. when it is taken to the extreme then it affects others as well as yourself. i sip a glass or two on a friday night in the comfor of my own home. why should i be banned ?

smoking effects others in small measures. instantly. i am quite happy for a smoker to puff away in the comfort of their own home and wouldn;t wish to ban that.


but i'm not rally sure you can (or should?) draw parallels between the 2. next it'll be, no sex please we're british!

[DeadEndStreet]

R1Geezer people who are smoking today may not become ill for many years so your short term argument is rubbish.

The government want to stop smoking slowly over a number of years so that they still get some revenue in from tax on cigs to pay for those that are ill now.

If they truly wanted to stop smoking they would just ban it.

This in itself would not stop all smoking as there is a flourishing black market in cig sales in this country due to the very high tax payed on tobacco products but it would cut it down by a very high amount.

Then you would have to think about people going into Europe to buy them unless we pull out of Europe.

[ChuckFickens]

There are loads of things that would never be permitted if they were discovered/invented today.

Alcohol
Tabasco
Internal combustion engines.
Plastic packaging
food additives

the list could probably go on and on.

[ChuckFickens]

God damn spell checkers sometimes!

Tobacco

[DeadEndStreet]

I have reported Chuck to the club

http://www.tabascofanclub.co.uk/

[andy-hughes]

Ankou - i entirely take your poiint - and it does seem harsh that my option would prevent the responsible drinkers from enjoying their pleasure.

That said - and i stress that this is on the basis of a concept, rather than an actual concrete wish - i think the greater good overcomes the loss for the fewer involved.

I have no axe to grind - I'm tee-total - now if someone wanted to ban chocolate ...

LOL!

[Ankou]

i'll be calling you taliban andy next!

[R1Geezer]

deadend, doing an impression of Docspock there, the health argument is irrelevant. House fires caused by smoking would stop immediatey for example.

Prohibitionm doesn't work, the government know that.

pulling out of Europe......now there's a thing!

[sherminator]

What I find hilarious is smokers defending their habit because of the tax raised?

What so you like that your money is going to the government? how very noble of you?

I better not see any of you complaining about fuel price increases!

[rov1100]

As on average the smoker dies earlier think of all the contributions he has made during his shorter lifetime into pension funds and national insurance which will never be paid out.

[Ankou]

but it probably will be paid out. to treat all the people affacted by 'his' smoking.

[rov1100]

Maybe you have a point Ankou

///Breathing other people's tobacco smoke is the cause of one in every 100 deaths worldwide, but is a risk over which its victims have no control, researchers have announced.


Demanding tougher restrictions on smoking, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva says the toll is heaviest on women and children who account for three-quarters of the 600,000 global deaths a year.

In the UK, almost 3,800 deaths a year are attributable to passive smoking and, given that enclosed public smoking is banned, most of these will have been as a result of exposure to smoking at home///.

[anotheoldgit]

/// It is handy for pensions. Smokers tend to drop dead a bit earlier, meaning the pension pot has less strain on it (i.e. less to pay out to). Smokers are just doing their bit for the pension crisis - as is anyone having a mid-life crisis who takes up a dangerous sport.///

-- answer removed --

If only.