In the United Kingdom people complain about the health service. Not enough GP's and sometimes there is a need to wait for weeks for an referral appointment. The NHS (The health service in the UK) spends every year £1.4 and £1.7 billion on smoking related illnesses. Every day 1000 patients are admitted into hospital because of smoking related illnesses. Just imagine how many beds it would free up if there would be no smokers anymore. I know that if they would stop smoking that it would not immediately make things better but eventually it would. It would free up the health service in the UK and other countries.
So why does the government allow smokers to continue. Well for the start because in the UK the government collects every year £9 billion an tobacco duty. But with the cost of smoking rising in the UK and the flights into eastern European countries falling many people actually buy cigarettes abroad for which the government actually doesn't get any tax duty.
On tobacco plantations children as young as 3 are working every day to provide the tobacco needed for cigarettes. I personally think that this is a disgrace and the tobacco companies should be fined for this. But often they blame the contractors and avoid any responsibility.
Smoking is also one of the biggest polluter. In a cigarette there are around 4000 chemicals and 400 toxic substances. These chemicals and toxic substances are then filtered and what is done with the cigarette filter? Its thrown away. Often simply on the road and eventually ends up in landfill sites.
There are so many other reasons why smoking should be banned some of them are:
- Non smokers suffer under the smoke especially children.
- Smoking is addictive.
- It is more likely that smokers use other drugs than non smokers.
- Smoking is a fire hazard and starts thousands of fires which fills thousands of people every year
So lets all get together and try to get the governments to declare tobacco as illegal substance.
-ryenne