Wednesday 7 July 2010

Filthy Smokers Cost NHS Billions

Hounded on the street, discriminated against in society, excluded from public places, refused life saving medical treatment – I’m not going to talk about how smokers have become the last
true minority – we know. We’ve read it repeatedly, can see it for ourselves and the only people that actually disagree are the self-righteous, holier-than-thou white knights rushing in to save us from everything from red meat to carbon emissions. Well, them and people too intellectually devoid to trust anything other than the mainstream media’s paid for position that we’re continually spoon fed. These people I consider one and the same – they are the congregation to the Self-righteous’ church, lapping up every word like holy jism slipping saltily down the throat in the vestry of St Absurdio’s.

What really pisses me off is that I consider myself to be a considerate smoker – by which I mean I won’t blow it in your whiney little face, even if it seems incredibly tempting – and yet still there are those who feel they can tear into me for enjoying a smoke.

My usual response to these people is that I’m harming only myself, I do it away from them and I pay my fucking taxes, so you can fuck right off. And we all know the response: Some half baked idea that the amount that we, as smokers, cost the NHS is far greater than the amount of tax revenue generated by tobacco sales.

Well, according to the Governments own statistics, smokers are costing the NHS £2.7bn
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8490490.stm while the revenue generated by the tax on tobacco products is around £8.8bn! http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_receipts/table1-2.pdf

I’m not going to get into a complex economical debate but I hardly fucking have to!

This is the reason why the government will not make smoking completely illegal. The money they make from it is just too fucking attractive. They’ll demonise those of us who still haven’t quit, who stand in the rain when everyone’s enjoying the warmth of the pub while our mates enjoy the ‘smoke free environment’ (personally I call it a lack of fucking ambience, but there we go) and they’ll cross the street to avoid us like the plague but they’ll still take our cash, thanks . . . and still plough our taxes into advocacy groups:
http://fakecharities.org/pages/posts/action-on-smoking-and-health-ash5.php

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