smoking costs the NHS in scotland £140 million a year.
21% of people smoke in scotland (about 1'500'000 people) This means
If the 21% all smoke an average of 10 cigarettes a day which would cost them about £2.20- they are paying £1.50 of this as tax - then they will be paying £2'250'000 a DAY to the government- the majority of which goes straight to NHS funding. This means that the government is making almost 9 BILLION pounds a year from smokers in Scotland......dont you think they are paying their own health costs as well as contributing to others?????????
2006-09-14 21:53:57 · 7 answers · asked by Catwhiskers 5 in Health ➔ Other - Health
Yes, and so would the Govenrnment with the amount they extract from tobacco as tax. Same goes for booze. These bad habits are what pay for our tanks in Iraq.
2006-09-14 22:11:02 · answer #1 · answered by Michael E 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
No. But then your figure for smoking costing the NHS £140 million a year is misleading. Smoking actually costs about 18 times more- £140 million is for disease directly caused by smoking, but smokers are much mroe likely to get almost every kind of disease there is. ALso, children of smokers are sicker, needing more from the NHS. Smokers take longer to recover from operations, suffer more infections, more pregnancy complications, more infertility, and are more likely to remain in hospital long term. If everyone stopped smoking tomorrow, there might be a bit of a shortage in the NHS for a while, but the government would find the money from other sources (they spend lots of mony on stop smoking services and advertising, so there's a big fat chunk or revenue released) but eventually it would more than pay for itself.
2016-03-17 21:30:26 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Health Costs of Smoking
£1.7 to £2.5 billion is spent by the National Health Service treating diseases caused by smoking a year.
The state also pays sickness/invalidity benefits, widow's pensions and other benefits for dependents
Every day an average of 9,500 beds are occupied by people suffering from smoking related diseases.
Every year 285,000 people are admitted to NHS hospitals to be treated for diseases related to smoking.
British industry loses at least 50 million working days every year from smoking related sick leave.
Plus of course just coz people smoke does not mean to say they will not need treatment for other illnesses.
So the answer is a big no. The benefits of people stopping would far outweigh income from tax
Ken
2006-09-14 22:10:30 · answer #3 · answered by keo 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's true that smokers more than contribute enough in tax to cover their own healthcare. That doesn't mean that they should carry on, though. There are a number of other reasons they should stop.
1. It's bad for them: Surely they don't want to die of lung cancer, heart disease, stroke or peripheral vascular disease?
2. It's bad for the health of people near them
3. It smells disgusting and is antisocial as people drop their cigarette butts everywhere they go - especially out of car windows -yuk! Why is it somehow acceptable to smokers to drop a butt on the street but not other litter. It's the same, isn't it?
4. It costs the smokers a lot of money. Think what they could be spending it on!!!!
2006-09-14 22:04:04 · answer #4 · answered by Silver Fox 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes the NHS would crumble if everyone were to give up smoking. Tax burgers instead!
2006-09-14 22:01:33 · answer #5 · answered by andham2000 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
omg
2006-09-14 22:07:39 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Damned right we are. (spit).
2006-09-14 21:59:56 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋