if the goverment really want to stop people smoking why dont they stop selling them?

Answer 1

If they did that, the taxes on everything else would go up and the day trips to Calais would increase at much the same rate!

Answer 2

The recent adverts showing people with a hook in their mouth, a metaphor for being physically hooked on cigarettes, have been plastered wholesale in many magazines, newspapers and by other advertising means. They have cost the government (using taxpayers money) a fortune.

Any grown adult who does not already know the dangers of smoking must either be completely stupid or have been living on a different planet for the last 40 years (warnings such as the unambigious 'Smoking kills' have appeared on cigarette packets for years).

This is emblematic of the 'nanny state' whereby grown adults are treat like children. It assumes that adults are irresponsible, which quite a few are partly as a consequence of the fashionable abdication of moral responsibility during the last century.

The adverts are, of course, totally hypocritical and, therefore, a disgusting waste of money, for if the government really wanted to stop people smoking it would ban smoking. They won't because they make more money from taxes on cigarettes than they do on this adverts made by over-paid advertising agencies.

Answer 3

Because ultimately, a lot of the tax revenues in this country come from the tobacco industry. If they stopped cigarettes from being sold completely, the Treasury would lose billions of pounds, and that would be a disaster for the NHS.

Let's face it, they don't really want to stop people from smoking entirely. People who smoke heavily and die at an earlier age save the country plenty of money in social security and pensions which don't have to be paid out for as long/at all.

Answer 4

I am a smoker and pay stacks load of money to the tax man, I won't put a so called smoking related illness strain on the NHS as I have private medical treatment (which I pay for)!!!.
They won't stop selling cigs as it generates a lot of money for them and the anti smoking people ought to think who will make up the tax the government will lose if they do stop selling.
What ever happened to freedom of choice!!!!.
I DONT smoke in restaurants or in the presence of children, I'm a tax payer and have the same rights as everyone else.
Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Do you really want the government to control everything? Do you want them to have the power to shut down businesses, to tell people what they can and can not buy? Next, should they shut down McDonald's because it makes some people fat? What about free will? What about personal responsibility? If I keep smoking even though I've been warned about the health risks, then that is on me. If I eat too much, get fat, and die of a heart attack, that is on me too. Do you really want to live in a country where the government controls your every move? I don't.

Answer 6

The high taxes on the cigarettes now goes to the government. If they were to stop selling cigarettes, they know they would be sold on the black market and not get taxes they receive now.
Then they would have to figure out another way to get the revenue and that MY FRIEND WOULD BE ON THE BACKS OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. So at least let it be fair and be on the backs of the smoker.

Answer 7

Personally, the government only want you to think they want people to stop smoking, but just think of how much money they'd lose on tax from it. Cause its a drug, they cant just take it off the shelves as ther'd be anarchy, probably worse than an PMS, hehe

Answer 8

They actually don't want people to stop smoking, because then they wouldn't be able to get the taxes on the cigarettes. It's all a big charade for political gain.

Answer 9

The government makes money from taxes. The government can boost economy by paying for research and giving out grants. Doctors make money treating related diseases. Farmers make money growing tobacco. Marijuana is illegal but people still smoke it. So, why not keep it legal, raise taxes on it even higher and make more money.

Answer 10

In fact government should stop production of all types of productions by cancelling licence. At the cost of public, they are getting revenue in form of execise, which they do not want to loose. There is no patriotism in government policy. Every minister and ministries, want money from any corner of life, person whether it is injurious to the people or otherwise.

Answer 11

1. Revenue loss, 2. Revenue loss, 3. Retail business sales reduction and possible legal repercussions. 4. European Human Rights legislation. I am a smoker who has a hell of a time trying to give up and apart from 3 or 4 days "cringes" in the offing would embrace the "if you can't buy them you can't smoke them" policy.