Cutting the number of smokers 50% by 2020

[Rusty Arches]

Just watching the news at the moment and heard the Government thinks putting cigs in plan packaging could help. Apparently they think it's the packaging that gets and keeps people smoking

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8490490.stm
"Measures being considered include removing branding from packets"

Is it just me or would this actually be POPULAR with people, after all, you could doodle on your fag packets and create your own brand! Brilliant idea!

[Tangent Police]

Why don't they just BAN the fking things?

(rhetorical question)

Either ban it or just admit that it's a great cash cow. You'd probably stop smoking if the government laughed at you and told you the truth....

Edited by Tangent Police on Monday 1st February 16:48

[andy43]

I'll have 20 plain brown wrapper please.
How, exactly, would the smokers know what brand cigarettes were in which boxes?
Duh.

[CRA2Y]

They'd ideally need to take off the brand names - so no more Marlbrough, Silk Cut etc. Instead ther'll be 'BRAND A', 'BRAND B' etc. And the great thing is, the Government can auction off the new names, and maybe get a billion for A!

[crofty1984]

Do you have any idea how much smoking related diseases cost the NHS??



I don't have the fugures to hand but I'm sure I read it was significantly less than the tax take from cigarettes.

[Tangent Police]

crofty1984 said:

Do you have any idea how much smoking related diseases cost the NHS??



I don't have the fugures to hand but I'm sure I read it was significantly less than the tax take from cigarettes.

Which is why they wouldn't just ban it.

Come on, nanny state knows best and acts in every other area.

[tank slapper]

crofty1984 said:

Do you have any idea how much smoking related diseases cost the NHS??



I don't have the fugures to hand but I'm sure I read it was significantly less than the tax take from cigarettes.

Cost to the NHS of treating smoking related disease is approximately £2.7 billion. Tax income from tobacco is circa £10 billion. It is a similar story for alcohol.

It is neo-puritanism, except substitute the state for God.

[tom2019]

just imagine if everyone stopped smoking , where would they raise an extra 7.5 billion pounds?

[KaraK]

tom2019 said:

just imagine if everyone stopped smoking , where would they raise an extra 7.5 billion pounds?

Exactly.. if stopping everyone smoking really was as big a priority as they claim then they would just out and out ban them.

[B17NNS]

I'm a smoker, I know it's bad for me, will probably kill me in fact. I stink as well.

However the governments approach boils my piss. They don't want us to stop, think of all the lovely cash they would loose. Everyone living longer, costing them more in pensions, NHS etc.

Hypocrites of the highest order. They know what it does, ban it totally.

Creosote was banned because it potentially caused cancer. SMOKING IS PROVEN TO CAUSE CANCER - why not ban it?

[Tiggsy]

£££ aside, they couldnt just ban smoking anyway. People are addicted, millions of them. You think they'd all go cold turkey because the Gov said so?

What is happening is the right way to do it...less and less people will smoke and the fiscal impact will be spread over the years. In 20 years i doubt anyone will take it up...thats the goal.

Not sure why anyone would really care tbh....if you dont smoke then why would you care? if you do smoke you're a bit of an idiot so would prob do better to worry about yourself before getting in a state over what the gov wants your packet of fags to look like.

[FourWheelDrift]

"Cutting the number of smokers by 50% by 2020"

Won't 50% of the smokers be dead by then anyway?

[snorky]

yes but lots more addicts will have been born...

[Spiritual_Beggar]

I wish this government would stop trying to 'Social Engineer' the populace and just let us live our lives.

[Killer2005]

tom2019 said:

just imagine if everyone stopped smoking , where would they raise an extra 7.5 billion pounds?

They'd recover them by raising the taxes on driving

[cazzer]

Agreed.
They banned it in public places.
Just leave us the fk alone now.

Crack on with getting alcohol banned.

Then decent cars.

Won't be many us left gloating then.

[Rusty Arches]

Tiggsy said:

Not sure why anyone would really care tbh....if you dont smoke then why would you care?

Because next is alcohol, takeaways or what ever else nanny thinks is bad for us.

[FourWheelDrift]

Killer2005 said:

tom2019 said:

just imagine if everyone stopped smoking , where would they raise an extra 7.5 billion pounds?

They'd recover them by raising the taxes on driving

They would tax the cigarette substitute. Non-chocolate covered biscuits. The last bastion of tax theft.

[Jasandjules]

tom2019 said:

just imagine if everyone stopped smoking , where would they raise an extra 7.5 billion pounds?

Fuel tax.

So let's keep on getting the young to take up smoking.....

[thinfourth2]

I don't smoke

I've never smoked

I fking hate being around smokers

I welcomed the smoking ban in pubs

But even I am getting seriously hacked off with all this anti smoking crap jesus christ is there nothing they don't want to stick their noses into