Smokers a blight on society, and worse when quitting

Razor says:

11:34am | 13/01/10

I don’t know when, but soon they will be banned.  A governemnt just neds to get up the courage to do it.

SM says:

11:35am | 13/01/10

What a breath of fresh air it would be if, just once, when a politician made a mistake, he simply said “sorry, I got that wrong”.

H of SA says:

11:47am | 13/01/10

SM, hear, hear. A politician could gain so much respect from me if they said that.

Oh yes and smokers needing a little extra inspriation, just think of the words of Dr. Bob Kelso from Scrubs:

“Nothing worth having in life comes easy”

Scott Glennon says:

11:53am | 13/01/10

Haha banned? A government will never ban the sale of the cigs, you and each other Australian makes too much money out of them. From memory raising the price 20 cents per pack was going to fill a 1 billion dollar black hole over 3 years.
I agree SM, there is nothing wrong with being wrong occasionally.

SLF says:

11:53am | 13/01/10

As an ex smoker, but thankfully not one of those Born Again Breather types endlessly evangelising about it all, my advice to anyone trying is this: give up when you have one of those fabulous 3 day hangovers, you know the sort when you can not even bear the thought of food for the first 24 hrs.  When you finally become human again you have gotten rid of the worst of it.

Agree though the hands are the hardest, even now I still feel unbalanced without a ciggie in one hand and a beer in the other.

@Razor…governments ban them…and miss out on all that tax revenue? Yeah right.

Neil says:

11:56am | 13/01/10

You can’t be serious? These guys just don’t have a clue is more like it.

Caroline Overington says:

11:57am | 13/01/10

`It’s not hard to quit smoking. I’ve done it hundreds of times!’ - Groucho Marx

Mickey says:

11:59am | 13/01/10

I hope they dont ban it. When did we become such a nanny state? Personal choice,personal responsibility. And to those that would argue against it as they are dangerous, so is sugar. So is salt. So is alcohol. What do you think will happen after smokes are banned? The social watchdogs will move onto the next fad. Alcohol probably. They wont be happy until everyone is dressed in the one type of jumpsuit and living in dormitories. And by the way, i am not and have never been a smoker. Just worries me to see so many bloody do gooders who feel they can run other peoples lives. If its so bad, then make it illegal. Until then, HANDS OFF!

Bob H says:

12:17pm | 13/01/10

He is in fact correct.  8% is the more accurate figure, after the dodgy stats manipulations, fanciful trends, collection errors and fairyland fantasies from the figures.

yas says:

12:53pm | 13/01/10

Addictions of any kind, be they to chocolate or coffee or alcohol or whatever, should be taken seriously. these habit often become an integral part of a persons way of life and identity, so that in addition to the withdrawal symptoms one might suffer chemically, there will also be psychological and emotional symptoms as well. I know many people who use substances ranging from sugar to what would be considered gate-way drugs by most standards to not only cope with what may be a ‘difficult life” or “emotional crises”  but also from a genuine dependency on the idea that these things somehow make them over come their perceived sense of limitation. Some people truly believe that a chocolate/sugar/food is a pivotal factor, even performance enhancing, in surviving life…
As a non smoker and an open minded person, i have given smoking a try many times; my main motivations were fitting in and the privilege of being able to say “yeah, been there, tried it - i still think it’s disgusting”.

Steve of Cornubia says:

01:31pm | 13/01/10

The smoking ban in shopping malls was a great idea, but now that all the gaspers have been made to stand outside while they chuff away on their cancer sticks, I can’t get out without walking through a dense, choking fog of second-hand tobacco smoke. Cough. Wheeze.

Brando says:

01:46pm | 13/01/10

I don’t smoke, drink very little alcohol and very rarely gamble but I simply love people who do all three. The perfect Australian is a someone with a fag in one hand, a schooner in the other and still managing to feed $50 buck notes into a poker machine.

The massive amounts of tax these people pay saves me a fortune every year. So feel free to light up fellow Australians, sink a few beers and head down to the TAB. I and many of your fellow citizens salute you.

Mickey says:

02:02pm | 13/01/10

Steve, i guess you’re right. I mean how dare anyone do anything that bothers anyone in any way. I have yet to see a cloud of smoke outside a shopping centre, never mind a dense fog. Where the hell are you shopping? If you are so “aware” of smoke, what do you do when the bush fires are around? Careful, once the Social Police have killed smoking, the next thing they target may be something you dont want to lose. Get ready to fall in line…..

H of SA says:

02:06pm | 13/01/10

Brando, not sure about gambling but I think you will find smokers and drinkers taxes go straight to the health care provided for smokers and drinkers. Its user pays for their health care not the healthy get rich off them.

Mickey says:

02:33pm | 13/01/10

H, i think you’ll find the taxes go into general revenue. Would be interesting to compare how much is made from those taxes versus what it costs the health system to treat them.

H of SA says:

02:44pm | 13/01/10

Hey Mickey,

Yes they would go into general revenue rather than being secured off, but the vast majority of public funds ( i believe its around 60%) go to health and the vast majority of expensive health interventions are alcohol and smokes related (i think its 75% of all patients in hospital are smokers). Then there are the non-health spending on alcohol (police) and I reckon that we don’t have much if anything “left” out of the smokers and drinkers tax to spend on other stuff.

I agree research into taxes versus costs would be wonderful, though it would be a pretty ambitious project.

Mickey says:

03:26pm | 13/01/10

H, i believe the cost of smokers/drinkers had already surpassed the revenue recouped. Would be interesting to see after a decade of public brow beating, what the deficit was today. I’m thinking the costs would be significantly higher than taxes brought in. Especially since the tobacco companies struggle to gain new customers and their existing customer base is dying off for some mysterious reason.Now THAT is a reason to look at banning. But that is not a decision for the vocal special interest groups, but for our elected Legislators and informed public debate.

bella starkey says:

03:40pm | 13/01/10

The vast majority of H’s stats (i think it’s 100%) are made up

H of SA says:

04:06pm | 13/01/10

Could be Mickey, I reckon when you factor in the hard to nail down cost of alcohol like lost productivity at work then costs to the country would exceed the revenue.

Yeah I agree it would be a very worthwhile public conversation.

SLF says:

05:01pm | 13/01/10

Would the costs in healthcare be more for smokers than the costs of keeping them alive into a ripe old age?

We keep hearing of the impending doom of healhcare due to people living longer, so is it possibole that the darwinism of smoking is actually beneficial to the public purse? Lots of tax and people dying early admittedly with some healthcare (supported by insurance) costs?

Zeta says:

05:37pm | 13/01/10

“I smoke. If this bothers anyone, I suggest you look around at the world in which we live and shut your f***ing mouth.” - Bill Hicks, a quote for every occassion.

Earl says:

08:19pm | 13/01/10

I find that most people giving up smoking have all the sweetness and disposition of a rabid hyena.

Q.E.D. says:

10:19pm | 13/01/10

I am all for informed choice; If people want to smoke, I think that’s fine - but I don’t want to breath in the smoke myself.

It really is a crazy system where you leave a public building for a breath of fresh air and choke at the door step! That has to stop.

How about smoking rooms, as in airports?

On the same theme, there was some research into why nursing home residents tended to lose weight, often becoming underweight and sick. A quickish survey found that the goody-to-shoes dietitians had stripped the food of salt and fat, presenting residents with tasteless food!

If you want salt and your blood pressure and kidneys are OK, go for it! Public health activities tend to take the perspective of the system, rather than of the individual, and I think some work needs to be done there too.

Bob H says:

11:09pm | 13/01/10

@Zeta - great though Hicks was, he died of Pancreatic Cancer which has strong links to smoking.

TB says:

03:19am | 14/01/10

SLF, the only way smoking would reduce the health care burden would be if smokers were denied treatment for ailments caused by their smoking. I imagine treatment for all those cancers can’t exactly be cheap. You’re simply substituting one form of costly health care (aged care) for another (oncology).

If any government genuinely gave two shits about wanting people to quit smoking they wouldn’t simply just tax cigarettes into oblivion like they have been doing for all these years. The Brits have the right idea - the NHS subsidises nicotine patches. My mum has said repeatedly that the only reason she hasn’t quit is because it’s cheaper not to (then again, she gets most of her smokes duty-free).

On a somewhat related note, I’ve just discovered a disturbing common ground between smokers and emos - both whine incessantly about stupid shit while engaging in self harm.

S.L says:

05:21am | 14/01/10

Quiting smoking is the hardest thing to do. I’ve done it twice. The first time when a pack of Marboros reacked $1.15 a pack when I was 20. After 6 clean years I started seeing a lady who was a smoker. She lasted 6 months but my renewed habit lasted 17 years. Now I’m with a commited non smoker who would shoot me if I even thought about taking it up again!
I haven’t touched a smoke this time for 5 years and to be honest the cravings have only recently passed. I find the only successful way to quit is cold turkey. All the quit smoking programs are a money grab in my view. It’s all in your head.
So I sympathise with Nick Sherry and wish him good luck.
P.S I believe another political quit smoking attempter is President Obama!
@Caroline Overington your famous quote is usually attributed to Mark Twain.

craig says:

08:15am | 14/01/10

Bella….I’m in love.  Well said.  Thanks for making me smile.

Zeta says:

01:23pm | 14/01/10

@ Bob H - ‘Pancreatic Cancer has strong links to smoking’... Like the way Iraq had ‘strong links’ to Al-Qaeda? After all, the same people who tell us smoking is lethal tell all kinds of other lies too. Hicks also said ‘I don’t do drugs anymore…. than say, the average touring funk band.’ Pancreatic cancer probably has links to heavy drug use as well. He didn’t wring his hands and complain that no one informed him that smoking was going to lead to his untimely death. A cocktail of nicotine, prescription medicine and illicit drugs, apparently, leads to cancer and eventual death. Unless you happen to be Keith Richards, in which case it helps you live forever.

Terry Wright says:

02:25pm | 14/01/10

Like most anti-drug zealots, anti-smoking groups will accept nothing less than a smoke free world. I read the other day that the electronic cigarette cuts back the nasties by 98% but no health group will support or recommend it. Instead they push total abstinence and making life as tough as possible for smokers.

The “War on Drugs” has many fronts and is a playground for self righteous moral crusaders, politicians and the religious right. Smoking is just another front with the same rhetoric and political games. Have you noticed how militant anti-smokers can be?

In a nutshell, Australia could at least halve the costs treating smokers if we smoked via an e-fag. We would also save at least 10,000 lives a year. BUT, the anti-smoking groups refuse to promote any strategy unless it’s totally smoke free.

Now, can you see the link to the “War on Drugs”?

Cracklier says:

03:10pm | 14/01/10

Spare me blaming lost producitivity at work all on all the smokers.  Try facebookers , the office gossips who have to bore half the office with their inane chatter throughout the day ,  or the know-it-all plebs who spend half the day commenting on website stories.        Though once finished on smoking you all do know “THEY” will come after drinking ,then gambling, then violent video games , then contact sports & on & on & on until we all attend church with them.

S.L says:

05:16am | 15/01/10

@Cracklier….. You’ve hit the nail right on the head! Yes the facebookers and the lovestruck psuedo teenagers on the phone to their latest love interests continually during the day are far less productive than a smoker taking the occasional break outside for at least when a nicotine addict is back at work they are working not thinking about what to write about or say next!
A quick word of advice too, if you have to go get medical attention for whatever reason DO NOT say you are or have been a smoker because medics will blame the “gaspo’s” without looking for the real cause of your ailment…...

Billy says:

09:48pm | 15/01/10

Allan Carrs Easy Way to Stop Smoking. I smoked for 22 years from the age of 10 to 32, read the book in 2 days and stopped. No patches or gimicks, cold turkey a couple of weeks of mild withdrawal and i can honestly say that I have had no desire to smoke in the last 2 years since I stopped.  Smoking is a BIG FAT CON!! And it’s not the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, thats a lie and a con too!!!