National smoking day

The anti-smoking group ASH is claiming that “Treating smokers costs the NHS in England £2.7bn a year, compared with £1.7bn a decade ago”. As such, they have policy suggestions to nudge, embarrass and generally slap smokers about the face until they wield to the unquestionable god-given will of those that would rather you didn’t.

However, that £2.7bn is not the whole picture, as smokers pay in excess of £9bn per year in taxes. Thus, instead of deriding the cigarette lover for using NHS resources, we should all gather round and thank them wholeheartedly for ploughing £6.3bn per year for the running of the state. So next time you are walking down the street and you hear the wheezing cough of a 40-a-day man, doff your metaphorical hat and thank him for helping the sick of this country.

In fact, in recognition the great work that smokers do, I suggest that we have a national smoking day in which we celebrate these great state benefactors. Perhaps our rulers will be kind enough to open up the doors of the once populated pubs of this country, allowing smokers to partake of that quaint pastime of smoking a cigarette while drinking a pint.

If not, I fear rebellion. The smokers of this country could demand a tax rebate of around £700 every year, and why not? If such a situation arises, may I suggest the government takes the much criticized ID Card scheme and transforms them into smokers loyalty cards to be accredited at newsagents and supermarkets with every purchase. At the end of the year these points could be turned into cash.

Alternatively, the government and ASH could simply leave the good smokers of this country alone.

...
written by HJ, October 08, 2008

Of course, ASH have got it the wrong way around. While I tend to the view that people should do what they want with their own health, provided they pay for the consequences and don't expect the general taxpayer to pick up the tab, I have to say that Philip Salter is talking rubbish in claiming that smokers pay well in excess of the costs they incur.

Smoking is not such a large contributor to tax revenues as Philip Salter imagines. If people weren't buying cigarettes, they be buying other things with the money and we'd get some of the 'lost' cigarette tax revenues back in VAT on other goods. Smokers also take many more days off sick - and this is also a loss to employers and the taxman. Smokers are also more prone to long term chronic conditions that require other care costs. Sure, they die earlier (so take less in state pensions) but all the evidence is that those that have poor health cost more overall, because they live far more years in poor health. Those who look after their health tend both to live longer and consume less in medical and care resources over their lifetimes.

The we have to look at other costs. For example, smoking is a significant contributor to the incidence of fires, both at work and at home and drivers are more likely to have accidents whilst lighting up.

Not as simple as Philip Salter makes out. Of course, I'd rather smokers made their own decisions, but also directly bore the consequences and costs of those decisions.

Not only risk based costs
written by JABITheW, October 08, 2008

"The we have to look at other costs. For example, smoking is a significant contributor to the incidence of fires, both at work and at home and drivers are more likely to have accidents whilst lighting up."

There's that, but smoking is also profoundly unpleasant for those around who are non-smokers. Smokers also tend in my experience to be less than courteous about their habit, littering, failing to extinguish and blowing smoke into your face and stinking out your clothes and hair(though none of the above are deliberate or malicious). The actual costs (from risks or from extra laundry and hot water) are of course negligible. That doesn't stop a smoker putting a crimp in my day.

Great American Smokeout
written by andyinsdca, October 08, 2008

Here in the colonies, we have the "Great American Smokeout" which is the Thursday before Thanksgiving - this year it's 20Nov. My friends and I make a point of going to a cigar shop or bar with a smoking patio and doing our contrarian part. Does the UK have a similar event (ours is led by the American Cancer Society, among others).

Perhaps you need to have a similar anti-event?

...
written by Oli Rhys, October 09, 2008

Face it - smokers, like motorists are what keep all those authoritarians in funds to allow them to feel self righteous!

Pointing out the reality that smokers are fully funding their habits just winds up these anti smokers even more. Personally, I see nothing wrong in smoking -especially when you realise that 'passive smoking' has a such a low level of danger that its effects are undetectable by machines. We, as smokers, have let the health nazi's bully us for years - even when we see their healthy heroes dropping dead from their health choices (James Fixx is a good example of a smoker gone bad!)
The statistic that does it for me is that if an 80 year old was to give up smoking, they have a 16% chance of dying of a smoking related disease - or 84% chance of dying of something else!
For this, smokers pay a 75% rate of tax - that is going to take a lot of vat sale at 17.5% to get back!
Now, if they could prove that non smokers didn't die - that might make it worth while to stop smoking ....!