Originally Posted by codyward
i have not been to the hospital recently and have never been for cigarettes. and I pay for MY OWN cigarettes so who's to say i cant smoke? but how exactly is it straining the health system and government? if anything they are both benefiting from it. i pay for my own cigarettes and it is very rare i go to the hospital but i dont have insurance so how would me going to the hospital and paying for my own medical bills take money from tax payers?
Just because you haven't gone to hospital yet doesn't mean that other smokers don't and it doesn't mean that you never will. You can't ignore the cost of smokers to the health system and to society as a whole. An old(ish) 2004/5 report by the Victorian govt. had this to say about it:
Smoking resulted in over 750,000 days spent in hospital and cost $670 million in hospital costs in the financial year 2004–05.
Additionally, this link, reviews the research of Australia-wide costs of smoking for the same period with a wider scope than just the cost to hospitals. It found that in total, the cost of smoking to society was over $31 billion.
I'm sure you could do your own research and find out what the cost of smoking is in your area too.
Originally Posted by codyward
my point is how would you feel if the government starting stripping away your freedoms? not too pleased i would assume.
I already said that I get your point about the freedom of action. I acknowledged that. What I'm doing is getting you to open your eyes about the costs of smoking to society.
Originally Posted by Ele
Just because you haven't gone to hospital yet doesn't mean that other smokers don't and it doesn't mean that you never will. You can't ignore the cost of smokers to the health system and to society as a whole. An old(ish) 2004/5 report by the Victorian govt. had this to say about it:
Additionally, this link, reviews the research of Australia-wide costs of smoking for the same period with a wider scope than just the cost to hospitals. It found that in total, the cost of smoking to society was over $31 billion.
I'm sure you could do your own research and find out what the cost of smoking is in your area too.
I already said that I get your point about the freedom of action. I acknowledged that. What I'm doing is getting you to open your eyes about the costs of smoking to society.
i respect what you are saying, you are right on the costs, but imagine how much it would cost if it became illegal. Think about it tax payers are constantly losing money to incarcerations of harmless crimes like smoking weed. Making tobacco illegal would only fill up more prisons of people who are only guilty of having a substance, leaving less and less room for the serious criminals.
So what do would the solution be? fill up more prisons and taking money from tax payers and reducing the number of people with health problems from smoking? or leave things as is, which also takes money from tax payers? perhaps it could be a problem that solves itself.
in all honesty smoking is destined to die out someday with all these e-cigs vape pens and other safer ways of getting nicotine coming into play. it is also fact that the number of cigarette smokers are reduced because of those products. I would get a vape pen myself but i'd rather enjoy a real cigarette.
By the way, sorry for not paragraphing earlier i was quite drunk lol
Last edited by codyward; Feb 25, 2015 at 12:20 PM.
weed + fire= happiness
Originally Posted by protonitron
I think that perhaps minimising the number of people smoking will adverts to raise awareness (as the government is doing) seems to be the solution you are looking for. So yeah, maybe those aren't a waste of the taxpayers money afterall.
yeah i thought about that after i posted, i was ranting a bit i hate the anti smokers wanting to take something i love away from me. But yes the anti-smoking ads have discouraged some from smoking cigarettes, but i dont feel like they have the right to make it illegal, which i dont think it will in america.
fun fact: North Carolina (my home state) has been one of the centers of the US tobacco industry. North Carolina ranks first in the United States in the production of tobacco, with 2006 annual farm income of $506.2 million. So tobacco doesn't just cost the government money, they make a lot from it. This also is the reason i dont think tobacco will become illegal here, my state was founded off of it.
weed + fire= happiness
I honestly think that there should be a public place where smokers can smoke. I find it really annoying that, I have a smokers cough and I have never smoked in my life. Turns out it's because the people around me are smoking and emitting second hand smoke everywhere I go. I cant even go to the store with out walking past someone smoking on a damn cig. Also annoying getting random ass addicted people who can't afford their dumb habbit to come and ask me for cigs all the damn time.
If you are going to smoke keep that shit to your self, if you want to ruin your lungs do so on your own time away from others. Cause second hand smoke is just as bad as reg smoke/
If you are going to smoke keep that shit to your self, if you want to ruin your lungs do so on your own time away from others. Cause second hand smoke is just as bad as reg smoke/
