Smoking - killing civillians, to support our economy. (Smoking in general)

Member Name: topherbenn

Product:	Smoking in general
Date:	26/05/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Our economy would crumble if the millions of smokers just stopped.

Disadvantages: Health issues, the draining of NHS resources.

Smoking is an awful habit, and it's a real shame that some people get hooked and suffer traumatic experiences. Smoking destroys not only lives but families. For those that have to witness the death of a family member due to the act of smoking, it can change the way you look at life, and the way you perceive other people.

Those that are unfortunately hooked on cigarettes and do not make the attempt to quit are only putting their lives at risk and potentially causing pain to those around them. It's true that not every smoker will die from smoking, but are you prepared to take the risk?

There will be people that say smoking should be banned completely, to prevent people suffering and wasting their lives. Millions of pounds each year go towards transplants and surgery to repair failed organs through the act of smoking. I'm not saying that these people shouldn't be allowed these life saving operations, but should it not come with a price? It's all too easy to get addicted to smoking, and know that as long as it doesn't kill you out right, there are methods in place to help those failing organs.

Though there's the argument against the banning of smoking purely down to the economy of our country. To comprehend how much tax the government get from smoking is hard in itself. More money goes towards tax, than does to the manufacturer for every packed of cigarettes. Even though we take pity on those that are smoking, and hate the idea of it, if everyone stopped smoking, how would our economy look? Would we see more poverty due to taxes being raised to compensate for the fact that the government no longer received great sums of money from the tobacco industry?

It's a vicious circle.

In an ideal world the images on the cigarette packets would prevent people from buying them at the counter. The problem is that smokers realise exactly what could happen to them and the reminder doesn't stop them buying the packet. It's after you've asked for a packet of cigarettes, because of course they have to be bought over the counter, that you actually see the image. How hard then is it to resist not smoking a cigarette when you are holding the paid packet of cigarettes in your hand and have the cravings? Yes the scheme was a step towards helping reducing smoking, but it's effectiveness is questionable.

Smoking is going to live on, but maybe the recession will help reduce the amount of cigarettes smoked by anyone one person per day or week. We can only hope.

But as bad as smoking is, could this argument not be the same for alcohol? I don't smoke, but I drink. In this day and age, is it not alcohol that is causing more accidents and issue with health due to the accessibility of the stuff? In one night of over drinking, the ability to drink excessive amounts of alcohol and comatose one's self is so much easier than smoking a number of cigarettes in the same amount of time. Alcohol could be a bigger drainer on the NHS, and yet smoking gets more stick. I'm not advocating either of the two, but clearly something more needs to be done to help those that really wish to stop smoking.

Summary: In an ideal world smoking wouldn't exist, but this isn't an ideal world.