The Cost of Cigarettes is Killing Me
Ellie Slee
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Name:Ellie Slee
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Title: Trends BloggerJoined: Sept 2011 Occupation: Gallery assistant at the TateEllie's Full Profile
Here’s a fantastic statistic for you. At Sainsburys, you can buy five custard donuts for sixty pence. Five donuts. Five. For sixty pence. That’s a grand total of 12 pence per donut. Just one of these five donuts contains 234 calories, which, as a woman, is more than a tenth of my daily calorie allowance. Also at Sainsburys, a packet of the same cigarettes that I started smoking at 16 (when they cost £4.90 a packet) costs £7.04. Divide £7.04 by 20 and you get… Yep, 35 pence for one ultra light cigarette. Or, to put it into context – three donuts for one ultra light cigarette. And if we’re trading our cigarettes for donuts, then for my packet of cigarettes, some morbidly obsese Biggest Loser candidate could buy 11.7 packets of donuts. Serious. I used a calculator and everything.
Photo by Ta Duc
I’m not an idiot. I have extremely honourable ideas about giving up smoking before I’m 30. Obviously, I know I’m not harbouring the healthiest habit in the world, and yes, it’s probably killing me. So have a little compassion for a dying woman, please. All smokers know that they trade a slice of life for a couple of minutes’ pleasure. We don’t need to have constant mockery thrown into the bargain. Because that’s what a £7.04 20 pack is. A massive piss take. The cost equivalent of lighting someone’s cigarette provided they pull their pants down and bend over.
Add the standard vilification of smokers worldwide into the bargain and it’s a wonder I ever leave the house. Sometimes people look at me as if something really unsavoury has happened to me, like a bit of poo is smeared on my forehead, or half my nose has gone to join Daniella Westbrook’s in an unmarked grave. And really, it’s nothing like that, not terrible a hygiene anomaly that encourages me to defecate and then rub it on my face, nor a cocaine addiction; it’s my grown up choice, like choosing to have children, or choosing to wear a poncho. Not everyone likes children and ponchos, you know, but do you see me glaring in disgust at your screaming toddler/inability to move your arms? No. It’s your choice.
That being said, I don’t see you being openly laughed at for making your choices. I don’t see you being charged for wearing your poncho, and until the fashion police start fining fashion criminals, I don’t think I will. And you parents? Nobody comes up to you on the street and says “Hey, have you paid for that baby?” do they? No, I heard you get given money for having children, so don’t look at me as if I’m poisoning your air. If you’re having trouble breathing it’s probably because there’s a great big silver spoon in your mouth, paid for by the inordinate amount of tax that I’ve thrown at the government in my seven years of fairly happy smoking.
Although I can accept that some people have children and others wear ponchos, and would never wish the level of discrimination that I, a smoker, daily receive upon those people, I must admit there is one type of person that I cannot abide. A person whose addiction goes untaxed for reasons unknown. That person is the person who regularly buys the aforementioned five Sainsbury’s donuts for 60 pence. Dr Chantal Simon notes that ‘obesity is set to take over smoking as the number one preventable cause of disease in the UK.’ Now, I’m not expecting tobacco taxes to be lifted. At the moment, smokers more than pay for the medical treatment they will inevitably need. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay 82% tax per packet just so that someone who doesn’t know when enough whipped cream is enough whipped cream can spend their final artery clogged days in an NHS bed. No way.
I am calling for the fabled fat tax to be slapped on donuts, oven fries, chicken dippers, pizza, Iceland in general, that sort of thing. That’s not me being horrible; it’s me being realistic. As stated in the Guardian, “the tax would earn the Treasury £38bn a year, enough to cover much of the interest on the national debt or pay for one-third of the NHS.” Hello? Keep taxing smokers and pretty soon we’ll all piss off to Egypt where, yes, there is serious political unrest, but a packet of fags costs a healthy £5. And that’s not English pounds; it’s Egyptian. Quick currency conversion? A packet of local cigarettes in Egypt will set you back fifty English pence. It’s time to tax someone new, and I vote the overeaters. I know that when you think ‘smoker’, you think Cruella Deville; you think ‘fat person’, you get Roseanne Barr, but come on; not all smokers are puppy killers and not all fat people are funny. If every fat person was like James Corden, I could understand why the fat tax might be shelved; there would have to be some kind of correlation, right? Well, wrong. The truth is, Rik Waller exists, which brings me to the conclusion that fat people must pay.
At the end of the day, if we’re doing something silly that’s going to put us in hospital, whether it’s smoking or eating rubbish or paragliding, we deserve to pay hospital rent. For the paragliders, that’s insurance. For the smokers, that’s tax. For the fat ingesters, at present, that’s nothing. So why not try charging 82% tax on a five pack of donuts and watch as our smokers are finally vindicated, our fatties are finally thinned and our once great economy finally flourishes? On that note, I think I need to calm down. Anyone got a light?
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But you can easily eat a doughnut and not get fat but smoking a cigarette will increase your chance of cancer, you can reverse the damaged caused by getting fat but not from smoking and eating doesn’t hurt other people unlike how secondary smoke can.
what a stupid article. keep giving your money to the government and the tobacco industry, idiot!
so cigarettes cost too much, i wonder what the soloution could be? maybe stop smoking? nothing wrong with the occasional doughnut, but if you eat 30 a day, then summats wrong
The reason you are taxed so much for your disgusting habit is probably to put you off ruining the lungs of others as you blow your foulness into their faces. At least those with children don’t spray their snot in your face, and those wearing ponchos don’t make you wear one too. You however, force breathing problems onto innocent bystanders, who would otherwise have enjoyed their fresh air without having coughing fits. Fat people don’t make you eat their food, so why should you make us breathe your dirt? Don’t defend your disgusting habit unless you don’t force it upon others. Here’s an idea, stop buying fags!! Then not only will you stop ruining my air, you can also stop moaning. And if you’re in that desperate a situation that you can’t go more than 7 paragraphs without a cancer stick, you’re probably about as bad as a coke addict anyway. This article is ridiculous.
People don’t like smokers because passive smoking is harmful. People with food addictions get fat but they’re only hurting themselves in the process – and eat food because everyone has to to survive, rather than smoke because it’s a ‘choice’.
The fact that you decided to smoke regularly (and at 16, it wasn’t an adult decision) despite the knowledge about the dangers of it just proves that you should be vilified, because – quite frankly – you are stupid. Also, you’re addicted, so I doubt you still ‘choose’ to smoke. If you CHOSE to smoke, you could choose to just stop, but you have to ‘give up’. But you decided entirely of your own volition to take that first cigarette, then the second.
You took on a habit you knew was going to be bad for you and others. You’re harming yourself and anyone that is around you and breaths in the smoke; you know it but you continue to do it. That is either deliberate stupidity or simply weakness. If you smoke indoors you’re harming people even more due to third-hand smoke. I would just say to wait until you got home so that you could smoke in the garden or out the front, but I’d be putting a lot of confidence in the ability to smokers to wait that long without feeding their craving. Nicotine addiction is far more similar to cocaine addiction than you led me to believe in your article.
Unfortunately, I realize moaning at you is just going to help your argument. “Hey, this guy doesn’t like smokers and he’s an asshole, see what I mean? This just proves my point!” Still, the fact that you wrote an article defending smokers means I can write a response attacking them, even if you think it’s less valid of an opinion than yours.
How can you be proud of smoking? It’s just a dirty habit that affects you and affects the people around you, even if you can’t see it affecting them. 2nd hand smoking is just as bad and the smoke pollution is all in the atmosphere – and you don’t care?
In my opinion, these ‘fatty foods’ shouldn’t have more tax put with them because already, you’ll find many people who aren’t obese struggle already with daily food shopping and some doughnuts every now and again for a treat isn’t bad is it? I’m sure all you smokers have a doughnut every now and again. This isn’t going to stop obese people from eating less fatty foods. I’m not fat and i eat chocolate frequently but i burn it off, like many others, however some just don’t for different reasons. I’m not willing to pay more tax to pay for your healthcare because you chose to take on a habit which you fully well know is simply bad for you and other people. People who are obese do not affect the environment and atmosphere, yes they take up more space on the bus (public transport is good anyway) but in reality, they do no harm;only to themselves. Besides, some of them may have an underlying health problem that needs to be dealt with medically whereas in smokers, it was your deliberate choice to smoke and your fault if you have a medical issue due to this.
I think that exercise needs to be promoted more. In this way, obese people can loose weight and their habits, people who smoke can cut down and even quit by pursuing an activity that they can replace by the relieving feeling of smoking.
Smoke roll ups! Way cheaper!
So you’re saying that a cigarette is Worth the two minutes of pleasure? I really do respect your choice but I personally think that there are so many other ways to get a bit of pleasure in life and if you don’t agree with this, you’re either boring or addicted to smoking.
Anyway I think the worst part about smoking is not that it’s killing you, but the fact that you can be so addicted to it that you’re ready to spend a lot of money on it, your time on it and as cliché as it sounds, your health. In addition I feel terrible for those who stay outside in -10°C just to smoke their cig and I feel even worse for those who simply can’t go out for a cigarette and immediately become very grumpy and start to feel physically very bad. It’s usually people who are very addicted to smoking and don’t realise it themselves that also defend it a lot and don’t think about the downsides. I just think it’s funny how people still like to talk about it, I personally never get new point of views.
I like the article, even though I am a non-smoker.
Here is an idea, if everything is taxed more, it is great for the economy because, much like the argument on fizzy drinks (I swear it was on for an hour on radio 2 at least) – people who overeat will continue to spend highly on rubbish food, no matter how highly priced it becomes (unless there is an instant impact) because they have a craving for a certain item. Like you Ellie who have a craving for cigarettes.
If there is an instant impact – you would stop buying something. For example a chocolate Freddo used to cost 10p, the gradual increase has hit the price to 25p. Does it stop people eating Freddo’s – well no.
It doesn’t stop people buying the chocolate, but to tax beyond a certain price causes the buying of that item to stop altogether.
Cravings are the killer. Ellie the long term affects of Obesity are actually about the same as the long term affects of smoking on the NHS and tax payers money. Both things are cravings/obsessions both cause damage in the long run. So BOTH sides cause damage and the balance isn’t there. Stop the item existing altogether or take the risk.
One thing does confuse me – I do actually have asthma, mine’s got better since the smoking ban (probably because of age increase)… yet there has been a 75% increase in children with asthma… is this something to do with the food/drink consumed or something strange happening to the atmosphere in general? – If anyone knows the definitve answer to this – please contact me.
I absolutely love the way you write and put this argument out there, it’s about time someone spoke up about this very Issue.
As an ex-smoker I agree with you about the stigma attached to smokers, should be left alone etc. But at the same time I worry about where the boundaries are. People choose to smoke, so in fairness the tax is relevant. But not everyone chooses to be fat right? Sometimes it’s genetic and so on, I won’t go on about it. I think there’s enough tax on food already, in fact the overall price of a weekly shop is absolutely sky high. Also, I really don’t think slapping a tax on a pack of donuts is really going to stop an obese person, just like the rise in tax on cigarettes hasn’t stopped smokers.
BRILLIANT. funniest and most cleverly thought out argument for smoking I’ve heard in a long time.
1) Smoking should be completely banned everywhere other than in your own home
2) The price should be something like a minimum of £2 for 1 cigarette – so yes, a minimum of £40 for a pack of 20.
3) The age at which you are legally allowed to buy and smoke should be raised considerably. E.g. to 25.
4) Fine, all move to Egypt – go ahead!!
Fantastic piece, and I for one am sick of people stating there disgust of the smell while walking down a street, amongst the car fumes, vents on buildings and occasional unhygienic smell of people walking past you can hardy say that smokers are the worst perpetrators!
I’m afraid I cannot agree. Food is a necessity for everyone, and sometimes that results in an addiction that often people do not have the strength to control.
You smoke. This is never necessary, it’s entirely your choice to start, entirely your choice to quit.
A person who fancies a doughnut is not necessarily fat. A person who eats fatty food is not necessarily fat. I am a cyclist, of athletic build, and sometimes the only sensible food to eat when on a long ride (like my last, of around 400 miles) is fatty, sugary, full of protein and generally, for those doing no exercise, extremely unhealthy in larger doses. To assume that all people who eat doughnuts are fat is frankly ignorant, and completely untrue. People, who eat in moderation those things you vilify, are likely not fat either.
You know what I would like? For people to stop smoking around me. I would like to stop having to walk past clouds of smoke, or stand at bus stops or in queues for plays without being engulfed in a cloud of smoke. It smells foul, the stench sticks to my hair and my clothes and it’s not good for my cyclist’s lungs at all. I find it very inconsiderate when people insist upon damaging my health by smoking near me, and frankly I think they should charge you £100 per pack – maybe then you’d stop making everyone else experience your foolishness, and acting like we’re the inconsiderate ones for not wanting to breathe your cast-off, killing smoke.
Thankyou. And to those moaners about street smoking if we could smoke inside we’d not be bothering you! Also, fat people take up just as much room on the pavement for longer, are more likely not to walk so produce more pollution from the buses/cars they use than we ever could with a cig and generally get a lot less stick about it in case it damages their inevitably fragile self-esteem and makes them reach for more fat. I’m trying to lose weight but not stop smoking, if i die fat coffins cost more because they have to be bigger if I die from smoking as least i die on a nicotine high. I can’t lose – we all die eventually and i’d rather do it smiling. That is all.
It couldn’t have annoyed me more when my mum always used to say ‘it’s my choice’, it IS your choice. So why can’t you keep the disgusting fumes from your choice away from me?! True, you’re not allowed to smoke in a public place anymore but now everyone stands right outside the door, a lovely cloud of smoke engulfs you when you walk past.
Smoking kills. Which is why they don’t allow it anywhere nowadays.
And I beg to differ with your point about fat people being let off, they are slaughtered in my College regardless of any medical condition they may have. The fat tax would punish all and why should everyone be punished for their habit?
The problem with a so-called “fat tax” is that it wouldn’t be able to target a specific group, which in your case, refers to the obesity group. A more likely result if this were ever implemented would be widening inequality as the less privileged have to pay more for “fatty foods”, which are most of the time, the cheapest foods available. How would you justify them paying for your healthcare benefits?
Ah this is so refreshing. I 100% absolutely and wholly agree. People who smoke are tarnished with the “oh that’s a filthy habit” brush, where as ‘fatties’ get off guilt(isn) free. Simply not fair. Fab article.
You are IMMENSE!
Definite agreed, I’ve been buying my cigs from abroad when I go on holiday for a year now but I’ve almost ran out which means I’ll have to head to Costco, and tbh they’re cheaper in bulk than by the packet but tbh they’re still going to be at least twice as much as I could get them for from a foreign tobaccanist
“So have a little compassion for a dying woman, please”
you forget that ‘people’ do not have compassion for people perceived to be self inflicting their problems
(sadly)
you obviously care less about your money than your habit, otherwise you would have stopped
as much as you raise some interesting points about obesity, dragging others into frustration with you will not solve your problems. This couple with you immature approach seeks to undermine your argument regardless of anything you may have gotten correct.
Complaining that you are not as bad as ‘X’ will not get you anywhere.
Good luck with quitting
Great article!
You’re just upset that you pay tax because other people don’t want to deal with your terrible habit that does affect other people. That’s why you can’t smoke in a bar, because it does affect other people. You’ll never see a ban on fat people in bars because their habit doesn’t hurt anyone else.
I loved this article, I cannot agree more that fatty foods deserve a tax!
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I’m not overly sure about cigarette taxes going down it seems like we cause ourselves enough health issues from smoking may as well be happy in our NHS bed, 100% happy we have paid most if not all of the cost of us being there
But, yes I’m sick of people being able to stuff themselves silly then blame it on everyone but themselves, there’s one thing we can control and that is what we eat and we should no when enough is enough!
I also love how you comment on children and ponchos. I despise when someone either says “you don’t look like a smoker?” or gives me some health spiel and when someone finds out that I smoke all of a sudden it’s like I’m a different breed I’m no longer human. I could turn my nose up at some of their habits too!
I had to give up smoking recently after starting at 16. I had to for an operation on my throat – non smoking related. It was easy… Buy a rechargeable electronic one in Sainsburys for £9 it’s comparable to 10 cigarettes. The refills are £6 for 6. So 60 fags (straights in size) for £6. And trust me, they’re harsher on your throat than any cigarette has ever been, and you’ll give up quickly.
I too am a smoker, and I would perhaps be less infuriated with the ludicrous amount of tax I pay for my habit if I could be sure that it genuinely contributed to healthcare. However I would also like to point out that not every overweight person deserves to be ridiculed or punished – a large majority of those who are overweight are in said condition due to other underlying health issues which go un-diagnosed by GPs (e.g. hypothyroidism), and lets not forget that (as has already been pointed out) junk food is the cheapest food available, and those living in reduced circumstances often have to resort to eating it, or not eat at all. And if you are one of these people, you probably can not afford the gym either. So surely the best way to tackle the obesity issue would be to pressure the supermarkets selling this low priced junk food into also selling healthier foods at cheaper rates. I for one have never witnessed a Sainsbury’s basics salad. Maybe if the government funded gym memberships for those people who are not earning enough to join those who frown on them for not taking regular exercise in overpriced leisure centres.
(disclaimer: obviously there are people in the world who are just plain lazy and eat way too much, I am not in anyway advocating this behaviour.)
Overall however, I agree, stop hating on smokers, we pay enough to do it, it is our health and our free choice as human beings in a democratic society. For those people complaining that we pollute your air: we dont smoke in bars, restaurants or shopping centres. Nor is it as if smokers strategically place themselves on every street corner waiting for the approach of a non smoker. There is plenty of air in the world not being polluted by us, and whats more, if you wish to complain about pollution, I believe car and air plane fumes are bigger contributors to this issue. That is all.
‘I am calling for the fabled fat tax to be slapped on donuts, oven fries, chicken dippers, pizza, Iceland in general, that sort of thing.’
I hope that if the government do this, they have a little more sense of what the actual fatty foods are. Oven fries (the bigger ones) actually contain less than 5% fat. Iceland sells lots of things that are low in fat. Fat tax in general could make most of the nation scream ‘well, I’m skinny, so do I have to pay fat tax because I fancy a pizza?!’
If you really want to get people losing weight and therefore not using up the NHS beds, make gym memberships cheaper and people who don’t exercise at all pay a ‘lazy because they’re sat at home all day’ tax. Just so that the ones of us who do fancy a pizza once in a while don’t get burdened with a tax that would be a convenience for a large chunk of the population.
I don’t fancy complaining about smokers in general today, plus I think Ella managed to put across a pretty good point on September 25th.
I don’t care that your habit is killing you. I care that it’s killing me. I hate that your selfish choice pollutes my air. It means that on a sunny day I can’t sit and enjoy a picnic outside, because you are there puffing poisons into air. Your selfish habit seriously affects my health. I’m asthmatic, something I didn’t choose to be. I did choose not to smoke and yet you and your kind think it’s fine to subject me to your filthy, disgusting, selfish habit. Even if I wasn’t asthmatic, having chosen not to smoke, why should I have to put up with your choice to smoke? Fat people suffer from their choices but at least they don’t subject that suffering on anyone who is unfortunate enough to leave the house. I don’t care that you don’t like spending a little bit more, if it angered you that much you wouldn’t spend it at all.
Totally agreed glad someone said this, this is a ridiculous article!
You sound insanely stupid. get off your high horse, idiot.
I agree it’s ridiculous to complain about the price, however suggesting others can’t have free will is ridiculous. I used to smoke and am glad myself that smoking in public areas is now banned, however outside the majority of smoke shouldn’t effect you unless people are smoking very close to you like your friends or people who you’re with. If this is the case politely ask them to move away, explain your situation if you need to since I understand asthma is very bad, and likewise they should understand too, if not you know what the only thing to do next.
First time commenting, hopefully this works as an actual reply not a statement.
The fact that you have asthma is a sad thing, however, smoking does not directly impact you or your health (second hand smoking at least). There are multiple diseases that you could say is effected by a “selfish” habit. Quite frankly I don’t think that second hand smoke to an asthmatic reaches the bar, yes it’s a horrid thing to have nothing against that but you can’t really point fingers at smokers and claim we are causing you health problems. I smoke around people who are asthmatic (yes, I asked first, I’m a smoker not impolite.) and I happen to have a friend who is asthmatic who smokes. So if an asthmatic can directly inhale smoke not even second hand and be fine, I’m sure others can too.
Sorry but that’s just generlising one case to the whole population. (Hope this replies to the right comment btw.) I’ve friends who’s asthma never effects them and others who can’t run 100 meters without them being in serious danger of an attack, and their aren’t fat in the slightest. I’m completely against this article. I believe that if yopu want to kill yourself and then come crawling back to the state when you need health care you should have to pay for it – especcially if it was your own decision. And thinks about whoa fat tax would hurt the most, not fat people, the poor. People who rely on cheap foods to tide them over on their small income. Think before you speak and look at all sides of the argument before you persent a case in such a ignorant manner.
i mean when i go for a cig i try my hardest to find a family enjoying a picnic to smoke towards but surly thats not every one ,your vendetta against smoking is cause by one person smoking on you.
i am fine with paying stupid amount of tax to get my fix i want to know the whole world cant enjoy their life tax free either.
Yes, of course the fat person in front of me who takes up all the pavement is doing me no harm at all by making me have to walk on the road to get around them because i need to be somewhere and i didn’t factor the human roadblock into my travel plans (!)
Surely the low hanging fruit (no pun intended) would be a change to the VAT rating on some of these fatty products (a la George Osbourne’s infamous pasty tax).
A quick look at the HMRC website shows that everything from processed ready meals to cakes, chocolate spread, tortilla chips, cream gateaux and marshmallow teacakes (but not “snowballs”), is zero-rated.
And while we’re at it, let’s not forget the 2000lb bison lurking in the room: all meats are zero-rated, even though their over-consumption is probably costing the NHS at least £1.2 billion a year.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/excessive-meateating-kills-45000-each-year-2110289.html
Then again, if you’re the conspiracy type, you might think this is all part of HM Treasury’s dastardly plan to kill us off before we require pension benefits.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9138230/Red-meat-is-blamed-for-one-in-10-early-deaths.html
Regardless, the reality is that, among the indulgent democratic majority, I suspect that there is probably limited support for standard-rating these food-stuffs.
However, I would be interested to know whether the writer would be less aggravated by the high taxes on cigarettes if the funds were genuinely ring-fenced for the NHS?
I personally prefer the carrot to the stick. If we all paid ring-fenced health insurance premiums, one could presumably find clever ways to incentivize healthy behaviour.
Or perhaps Tesco clubcard users should have their points doubled if their monthly basket of goods contains a healthy proportion of fruit, vegetables and unprocessed foods…
I agree with this…mostly.
It is absolutely criminal to let the obese people have NHS funded treatment to cure a disease which is entirely preventable. But, you can’t just outright cut those treatments, not in this day anyway. It’s too cotton wool for that. But, there has to be something done to stop this horde of junk eating spongers. I don’t buy into the low self esteem issues and the comfort eating, it infuriates me.
But, the fat tax I don’t think would work. You would end up paying a substantial amount of welfare to the people who cannot afford to buy anything other than these foods. They are the cheapest foods you can buy so that is why a large percentage of poor people are obese. It happens. There needs to be something to tackle the moderation in which they are consumed. Restrictions on the amount of food one can buy or something less simple and more realistic than that.
As for smoking, I suppose that it is profit making for the Government. It’s not an elastic product so if you cannot afford to pay the premium then you have to quit smoking: simple as. The argument could correspond to other heavily taxed products such as petrol/diesel. If you can’t pay at the pump you have no choice but to take the bus or walk. That is how the market of elasticity works and that is how it will always work.
Your point about smoking can only be viable when in comparison. To state that it is too heavily taxed alone is just does not hold up. You make it seem all too easy by comparing it to something that should be taxed heavily and something that will evoke a response in your readers but I don’t think that is responsible.
It’s a good argument but it is cast in ambiguity.
This ban on smoking in pubs is equally as stupid. You’re killing yourself just as quick with alcohol so you might as well smoke as well.
love it, i can’t bear the judging snotty looks i get! anybody else hate the phrase ‘you don’t look like a smoker!’ people treat smokers as ‘bad’ people – how is the vice of smoking any worse than chosing to coat your arteries with layers of saturated fat? we all have bad habits and we should all be taxed equally for them!
spot on, love it!
fair comment…
Absoloutely adored this piece!
Interesting
Really enjoyed this article and I agree with the comment stating the Government know people won’t just ‘stop’ smoking…. surely if it was that easy, they wouldn’t need such advertising campaigns! Strange how England gets free ‘help quit’ packs, just Scotland doesn’t??!! Do we not deserve to help our health too?
The Government would crumble if people stopped smoking and drinking alcohol…. they are the most taxed after all!
Scotland gets free NHS prescriptions, England doesn’t.
Great article, very funny, interesting and thought provoking.
I would like to put it to you that some people who looks at you in disgust doesn’t like the health implications you are inflicting on yourself (or them perhaps) – albeit I don’t do this myself, I ensure that the smokers I’m friends with understand I’ll never stop trying to make the stop.
I think the same about smokers, obese people, heavy drinkers. Also, as smokers smell of smoke and obese people often smell of BO because of their perspiration your comment about hygiene is perhaps a tad off . Where as ponchos and children don’t do anything that shortens lifespan, again albeit I look a baby factories and people who live off the state in a hell of a lot more disgust than a smoker.
Anyway, I agree with the fat tax, it’d help me give up eating so much crap I’m sure – although I’ll never become obese.
I enjoyed reading this article; sometimes I don’t like to admit to people right away that I smoke, for fear of being judged. And yet I feel if I was no longer addicted, I would still do it, because I just really enjoy it. ^^
This article is hilarious! I wish I could write as good as this. Favorite part: “The truth is, Rik Waller exists, which brings me to the conclusion that fat people must pay.”
I think they should introduce a law along with the new price increases whereby people have to thank smokers for giving so much to the economy. I think we should also put photos of extremely naked fat people on fast food, and we should probably start telling fat people that we meet in the street that they are in fact fat, and that it’s disgusting and that they should stop being fat immediately. As a smoker the government recieves about £3000 a year from me from all of my cigarettes, that’s outrageous money, but you know what, I don’t care because I like smoking. You hear so much about ‘passive smoking’, but how about ‘passive obesity’? How about all the children who are obese because their parents are, because mum can’t be bothered to cook? Smokers don’t give little junior a cigarette at the end of the day, but fat people give ‘little’ junior a nice greasy portion of whatever rubbish they themselves want to eat. I want to see a fat tax come in, how about an 80% tax on everything not healthy. And why don’t we put those nice few billions that we make into farm subsidies and support for British growers so that the price of healthy food comes down.
When it comes to smoking you have a choice of smoking, or not smoking.
When it comes to eating you have a choice of healthy food/non healthy food.
If the government want us to quit so badly (which, by the way, they don’t because they quite like our money which just happens to amount to a lot more than our own health bills) why don’t they introduce a healthy version, and make it cost less?
The government think that by raising tax on cigarettes will lead to people stopping smoking, therefore not needing the expensive NHS treatment.. that’s bollocks. The government are sly, they know as well as the rest of us smokers that it isn’t that easy to give up smoking, so people will pay ridiculous prices to do so. It’s all a massive con. Why don’t they trade in their fancy ass cars for crappy little bangers? I don’t see politicians going without the luxaries that we have to go without, I am pretty certain that they wont have even touched their pay! The government are greedy, robbing bastards and they’re running this country into the ground!
I think its agood thing that cigarettes are highly taxed by the government because the fact is that the Carcinogens, and toxins that lead to cancer and Cardio vascular disease end up putting a huge bill on the NHS when it could all be avoided. You can eat donuts and burn the calories off through exercise however many people dont. I feel that too much of the taxpayers money is being wasted on treating people with illness’s and diseases related to smoking and obesity.
Both should be highly expensive in order to get money to the NHS!
I have never smoked and have never seen the point in it, it’s expensive, makes you smell, causes many breathing related problems and shortness of breath when exercising. and at the end of it all is that your chance of death increases dramatically. I cannot see one upside to it!
The government could make alot of money whilst preventing people from having health issues later on in life if both unhealthy foods and cigarettes were taxed.
Whilst I admit obesity is a bad thing, it’s bad for individuals and it’s bad for the economy, fat isn’t anywhere near as bad as tobacco. Statistically (yes okay I should look these up but seriously, it’s such a huge difference I’m not sure it’s necessary) a lot more damage can be done from smoking a pack of cigarettes than eating a pack of donuts. When you smoke, you don’t just put your own health at risk, but the health of those around you as well – I’m sure you’ve heard the terms before, passive smoking or second hand smoking. On top of that, smoking is the biggest cause of heart disease (that I do know, being a biology student and all that) in our country by miles and on top of that it can lead to other diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer, all in all, a huge drain on NHS resources which, lets face it, are strained enough as it is.
Now asides from those facts, what are the benefits of smoking a cigarette? A few minutes pleasure I’ll give you that (once you get past the initial choking stage from your first experience) and I’m not out to get all smokers, we’re only human and none of us are perfect, but other than that, there are none. Besides perhaps that it’s an appetite suppressant, but there are far better ways to lose weight.
Now maybe we shouldn’t always be eating fatty foods but as part of a balanced diet, there’s nothing wrong with the odd donut. Five sainsbury’s custard donut’s for 60 pence? A nice treat for when your chidren have friends over for tea perhaps without blowing the budget. And while this the addictiveness of fatty foods is debatable, they don’t contain any addictive drugs, so it’s not quite the same thing.
The fact is, whilst taxes on tobacco maybe debatable in how correct they are (and slightly corrupt/immoral in their reasoning for keeping the tax as opposed to other routes of tackling smoking?) a fat tax is even more absurd.
Such a tax penalises people who eat in moderation as well as the obese few. Poorer people will obviously choose cheaper food for financial reasons so they are not entirely to blame. Rather than increase food price, a decrease is needed in healthy diet options. Also we as a society are in general eating way too much meat, most diets have more meat than fruit and veg, which is ridiculous. We are not tigers.
Eating is a necessity whereas smoking is a totally optional thing to do in life, which brings no benefit, so complaining about tax seems perhaps a bit silly, or talking about moving to Egypt. I think that simply shows how painfully addictive this unhealthy habit is.
NHS should offer dieting leaflets similar to the stop smoking ones, ad offer support for losing weight like there is for quitting smoking. With this in place, the NHS can then justify refusing expensive treatment to obese people like it does to smokers. Obviously the line must be carefully placed though. There’s fat through mental issues, and obese through simply not trying.
Basically people often choose cheap food because it’s cheap, so reversing the roles would help. Smoking is entirely optional and if you ask me, a pointless waste of money. I just don’t think these are comparable.
I suppose an ideal would be, if a tax was introduced for unhealthy foods, then that money should go to reducing the costs of better diet options, so that provided people choose those options, the total cost of their diet does not change much, rather than simply increasing the price of cheaper food and expecting people to cope financially. When this is true, then there is no excuse for being fat and the NHS has a better right to refuse service. Being fat through financial necessity (or perhaps mental problems) is one of the reasons people could be sympathetic. Being obese through greediness is not.
As well as that, the other culprit is simply are overindulgence in meat, even ‘healthy’ meat we eat way too much of to be natural. Perhaps just as much an issue as McDonalds. Many fat people eat surprisingly normal seeming diets, you know.
I also think that the issues behind obesity and poor diets is far more complex than smoking.
TL;DR: Society eats too much meat in general, prices of good and bad food should be swapped/balanced rather than general food price hike, NHS offers weight loss programs so can justify refusing service to the obese as it does smokers (mental cases like depression perhaps need accommodating somehow though).
I have to say I agree with some kind of tax…with that donut example..even if you were asked to pay £1 rather than 60p..its still ONLY £1!!! or imagine what 5p stuck on every packet sold in a year could earn the NHS. I do also think though that the cost of fruit and veg is crazy. Trying to get 5-a-day is impossible, when 5-a-week is a struggle sometimes. Maybe just enforced food tech and nutrition lessons would have been a better option or something. As for the smoking…I don’t smoke. If you do it’s up to you. Living in London, I’ve definitely breathed in worst stuff.
I totally agree with you I love your article, mainly becuase they choose who to tax rather than wieghing out the statistics i did a similar article. The Japanese have the lowest obesity rate and the highest smoking rate but also have a higher life expectancy and less deaths per year per 1000 than the uk.
Also if you go into sainsburys and pick up a brocoli its 2.10 whils you can get two pizza for £2, so no wonder everyones getting fat.
Tax on Fatty foods would promote healthy eating where a brocoli will be cheaper than a burger amd the government will get more money and the ‘obese’ people claiming there to fat to work can work lol
I agree, taxing fatty foods is a good idea, taxes should also be decreased on healthier foods. I would also like to point out that no one has ever suffered from second hand poncho wearing; not a great comparison.
Creating new taxations is not the answer, we are taxed enough as a nation and it won’t stop obesity. The solution is getting to the root probem of why people smoke over eat. Jus to put things into perspective. Those doughnuts cost sixty pence but a measly few raspberries cost three pounds so where is theencouragement to eat healthy. I try to deliberately eat clean and it is not cheap i can tell you. However here is more food for thought, no pun intended. At least when some fat person is eating doughnuts at the bus stop at least its not affecting, me unlike with selfish smokers where i have to smell the repugnant stench of the little tube of niccotine that they are sucking on like a parasite getting their fix. Not only that but also breathe in their smoke when i do not smoke myself and deliberately try to live healthy. In this respect smoking is blatantly anti social and really annoys most non smokers. As a smoker you talk of vindication, sounds like a dose of sour grapes to me. If you don’t like the cost simply stop whining get a back bone and stop smoking.
Adam, I take it you have never been to a city, refuse to walk along the side of a road, and live in Mauritius or the Seychelles? Frankly, if the previous statements aren’t true, then you’ve been breathing in far worse chemicals on a daily basis than smokers are to blame for. Walking down a street in any town or city smells more repugnant than cigarettes and is probably wholly worse for your health. In conclusion, and this goes for all self-righteous non-smokers, move to the Seychelles or pipe down.
I live in the suburbs, which normally smell just fine until some selfish idiot lights up next to me. I don’t think smokers realise how large a radius of stink they produce. It’s your choice to smoke, so please go and do it somewhere that doesn’t affect other people.
Interesting perspective. Putting tax on calorific products might be a good idea, and may make people think twice before buying. However, I do wonder how many people will actually stop as a result? It might be like smoking/drinking/buying fuel, where even though it has a high tax, people carry on buying. I was going to say that the government should do a survey, but then realised that will be a cost in itself to the taxpayer. Maybe some independent organisation should do the survey?
Surely the point isn’t that people will stop, although it will undoubtedly have some effect, it’s that it will make the country some more money.