lizard

I like smoking, I enjoy smoking. Yet again we have been stung again in nanny state, big brother New Zealand. They will not ban the f@#king things though will they? oh no. Some people will stop because of the price increase. But the people who continue to smoke will cover that with the increase in duty. And the politicians will say "it is working people, more and more are stopping, hurray to us, we are so clever' bollocks. Behind closed doors " guys we are actually getting more cash"

And the thick as pigshit maori MP (you know the guy, he is the one with f@#k all behind the eyes, yes thats right the racist pig) from up north wants the increase to be even higher.

Increase them all you want and wait for the illegal stuff to start circulating.

Its not me thats changed, but how come in todays society doing something that is LEGAL, you are made to feel like a twat. You may as well say " I like shagging animals"

Now they are talking about legalising dope, yeah right. This country just want to control every aspect of peoples lives. Much worse than Britain.

NZ is a little America, normal hard working people are made to feel like shit if they like a drink and a fag after work.

Yes bombard us with all these stupid infomercials, drink responsible, don't smoke, wear a seatbelt, slow down, don't smack your kids, domestic violence its not ok. The list goes on and on and on.

The worst offence is SMOKING. Funnily enough its not killing your own kids, no you don't even get a f#@king fine for that. You just let off because no f@#ker will say anything to the cops.

Society getting more intelligent. Yeah right. more like Logans run. Mindless clones obsessed with reality tv tripe. You used to go out to the pub to watch live acts, have a drink and socialise.

You know on American Idol they have to keep the studio temp down real low so Steve Tylers face does not melt. What happened to a great rocker? the coke should have finished you off in the seventies.

Anyway - low impact budget during these tough times. Those poor poor bach owners.

I am now off to the Cook Islands for some cheap fags and have a smoke inside a bar. Yes you can still do it there

hazeandsteve

Lovely, lovely, rant mate

Hawk13

+1

Jan n Neil

I smoked for 20 years it stinks, but i think you should be allowed to stink if you wish ! there going to be that expensive soon that armed gangs will be holding up dairys

Neil

sparkytoad

Quality rant !

I used to smoke, agree they should just ban them, end of.

sparkie down under

An interesting view point.

Can't agree with everything you say, but I can see that once again a social minority are 'set' upon by a headline seeking Government.

The facts about smoking, and drinking for that matter, are well known. In general, smokers and drinkers cost the health service way more than is recovered in taxes, but no Government, here or back home for that matter want to grasp that thistle

As a non smoker I enjoy going out in public places and not having to breathe in smoke. I don't however enjoy having a drunk puke up next to me

Personally I think we are just a few years away from black market fags, and like Jan n Neil said armed hold-ups for fags. It's already in the UK.

Robbie2010

Grow your own! .... perfectly legal as long as you don't try and sell it.

http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct...VDJDPSYDZf0vYw

Charismatic

Since public wanking was banned (and, incidentally, there is no research to show you'll go blind so it can't even be justified on health grounds) this country has been on a slippery slope. Robbed of our liberties by the gubbernmint.

Leither

My bold: are you sure about that? If so, please post some relevant links. Not lookig for a cyber fight but I think you are wrong on this one.

theghostofdustybin

Niether am i.

If you look at the total costs to the country, including health care, lost working days due to illness, lost productivity due to smoke breaks, lost working days due to people dying, the effect on families and other social factors, etc etc the list goes on.
The tax raised is but a drop in the ocean.

I recently gave up and to be honest it had nothing to do with tax, just it was the right time for me.

I'm all for freedom so as long as you want to smoke and you live in a country that allows it, go for your life.

Trish M

I work on a head and neck ward and I'd say 95% of the my patients are there due to drinking and/or smoking - head and neck cancers, diabetes, innocent people getting their jaws or cheekbones broken because some drunken thug didn't like the look of them and wanted a fight

sparkie down under

Was going to do a bit of a trawl for you, but haven't the time, (v busy day today). However there is a great deal of research done in both cases.

I believe that the amount thats taken from the 'tax pot' for the heath system in the UK is about 20% and the average income tax on an average wage is about 4K. So assuming you are average (?), just 800 quid of your personal tax goes towards the health service.

Now factor into that going to the doctor is free, and your medication is subsidised, you start to see that even relatively healthy people soon use up that 800 pounds.

Now you may disagree that smokers are more unhealthy, but again there is a lot of research into this, but given that smokers do make greater demands on the health system, I can't see how any tax raised on fags, or booze, offsets the increased costs.

I suppose a lot of my thinking on this is more empirical as my mam spent the best part of half her working life nursing and 7 years of that in A&E, where she came face to face with the ugly side of drinking. Back in the early 2000's the average A&E patient cost on a weekend was 300 pounds. That was costed on time taken to 'repair', materials needed to 'repair', security (?) and staffing costs and follow ups. Add to that the astonishing figure of at least 85% of cases were drink related!

Long before her A&E stint mam was a palliative care nurse for amputees. She was astonished that the majority of cases were smoking related illnesses, so much so that she gave up smoking.


So I am not actually against anyone smoking, or for that matter getting pissed, I just think they choose to do that then they must also choose to pay for the consequences of doing so. After all my ACC levy must surely be one of the highest in NZ, I farm, the most dangerous profession in NZ apparently, I'm also an electrician, again the most dangerous building trade profession, (apparently), I ride a motorbike, (dangerous), I fly, (dangerous), and I pay for it all - big time - so how come smoking which is harmful doesn't get the same treatment?

simonmarkellis

So if by 2016 tax on fags is going to rake in $1.4 billion (http://m.nbr.co.nz/article/budget-20...rket-wb-119544) and year on in more each year, what's going to happen by 2025 if NZ is totally Smoke Free? If there is no tax revenue on cigarettes, where will the money come from? Will health service spending go down. I just have this fear that if smokers aren't 'coughing it up', then the rest of us poor schmucks will being do so instead. Or have i got this wrong?

alanmacc

bet you dont love a fag as much as michael barrymore

Catchafire

The self justification of a drug addict

I would like to see a big corporation introduce a highly carcinogenic and highly addictive drug onto the market, that provides zero benefit to it's users apart from making feel "relaxed" once they have got your fix.

Personally I am glad that NZ has taken this stand, it is one of the few social polices that is going in the right direction.