I’m pretty glad I gave up when I did… mainly cos’ I just couldn’t afford it, the fiance had a cancer scare from second hand smoking a few years ago and I’d never be able to go back.
Although giving up the herb… that’ll never happen even if I have to toke outside when she’s home.
Who said banning?
I don’t think banning anything works. I’m for legalizing all drugs. If the government doesn’t tax heroin and cocaine, why should they tax cigarette’s?
People are free to make their own choices. I think education is the key to dissuade people smoking. That and some concerted funding for support and therapy/meds etc for people trying to stop. After some period (5 or 10 years) I’d also not issue any medicare funding to people who are suffering or dying from smoking related illnesses. Tough love perhaps, but given the current cost and hypocrisy of revenue generated through tax I think it’s only fair at some point in the future to say “I told you so”.
As it is, so little funding is spent on anti smoking campaigns compared to other drugs of which have relatively little impact on the greater society. Smoking and alcohol do the most damage, but receive trifle funding for preventative measures.
This v
A Commonwealth Report on the costs of drug abuse shows that tobacco represents 67% of the total costs of drug abuse, yet federal funding for drug control directs a mere 6% of funds to anti-smoking controls. Illicit drug strategies receive 94% of federal drug control funds (for the period 1997/8 – 2001/2).
Currently, the govt spends 10 times less on anti smoking campaigns than it generates from underage smokers in tax revenue. They’re actually profiting from school kids. Absurd.
17.3 The costs of smoking to Australian society - Tobacco In Australia
The cost of smoking in Australia
I suppose I didn’t consider that you wanted to go the other way. The government doesn’t tax illicit drugs because they are illicit.
So they should remove the tax on cigarettes but increase the medicare levy? I.e. spread the tax burden to everyone and not just the smokers?
Alternatively, they should legalise all drugs and tax them all?
Your links suggest that in 2004-2005, the total social cost of smoking was $31 billion.
And that the Total excise revenue (from cigarettes, cigars, smoking tobacco and other tobacco products) was $5.2b
Who is profiting?
Who is funding the difference?
On education: apparantely you can’t teach some people that they will be sorry when they die at 45 of pancreatic cancer.
People are free to make their own choices.
I think you need to understand just how stupid people can be.
To think that drug abuse and its negative effects is concentrated to just the individual is a bit blind.
Straight edge society, no drugs, no alcohol, no smokes. People might actually enjoy their life, friends, family.
Maybe it suits them just fine that this segment kills themself off early, take their money when they are working and have them die young before they claim too much pension.
Think about how stupid the average person is, then consider that half of the people are even stupider.
Makes me sad.
LOL
Yet 95% probably think they are smarter than average. Me included 
(Remember that stat the some large % of drivers thought they were better than average?)
This, if you are crap at doing something you are poor at assessing how good you are at it…
ttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10626367
It’s actually incredible how such a minority of smart people organise/run the world for so many stupid people.
Half the people would be stupider than the median person :p.
That’s how they get away with it.
I’m not so sure of that some days, I would say there is a fair share of stupid people running the world too.
Also, Dylan stop smoking
Alternatively, and to compound Jono’s point, more than half the people are stupider than the average person.
Love a bit o’ skew in me distribution.
LOLWUT? so ppl who drink/smoke/take drugs don’t enjoy their life, friends, family?
sounds like some straight-up SXE propaganda horseshit…
however i’m all for banning smokes. if you’re gonna tax it, vilify its users etc then just ban it and accept the tax loss
Grow your own tobacco. You might still get emphysema or lung cancer, ot have to talk with an electronic voice amplifier, or not, but it’ll cost a farkload less and you might learn something in the process. With the price of smokes these days you might even make a little money.
i’m more concerned by the implication that i’m enjoying my life because i’m straight edge. fuck that! i’m enjoying my life because i’m a fucking bona fide kicking rad individual. sXe is only a small part of that.
Stop forcing your lifestyle choices on me maaaaaan!
Stop forcing your lifestyle choices on me maaaaaan!
Whats the difference between someone who doesn’t drink and smoke and someone who is xXStraighEdgeXx? Is it that edgers are just fuckwits that feel hard done by and have to proclaim it to the world via blog?