[Sunny_01]

I used to be a smoker (and had a recent blip) and cant believe some of the things being said here.

As a taxpayer in the higher tax bracket I am taxed on what I earn and when I smoked I was heavily taxed on the cigarettes I smoked. 89% of the cost of a packet of cigarettes goes to the treasury in this counrty. So when I was a smoker I MORE than paid for my right to recieve NHS treatment. Smokers actually put far more in than they take out. In fact, when you compare tobacco tax revenues with the alleged cost of health treatment, the former far outweighs the latter. In the UK, for example, tobacco tax revenue currently stands at £7 billion a year compared with the £1.5 billion it allegedly costs to tackle 'smoking-related' diseases.

So when slating smokers think about what they pay into the system before assuming that they are a drain on resources