[the truth]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

Thats untrue actually. Smokers pay in a lot more than they take out, as a whole. They die younger in general too..which means less expensive 24/7 care that comes with age related diseases is needed for that particular group. Oddly enough, its the same for obese people too..cost the NHS less than the average 'healthy' person. I suspect its probably the same for alcoholics too..

come off it vicky , there is no way on the planet you could get close to proving that enormous sweeping statement. you can calculate in an insteant how much is lost from the deaths of millions of people through smoking in lost productivity, GDP, work at the workplace, at home, raising kids, paying taxes , national insurance contributions, they too could have acted as carers for sick people too, you just have no idea how to measure the opportunity lost from millions of these people either dying younger or suffering premature serious health issues etc etc over decades?

clearly we need to get rid of this absurd advertitisng , save thousands maybe millions more lives, get a healthier society, capable of working and producing far more for far longer. the issue of pensions and care is a timebomb for a different day. and the way to try and help tackle that is NOT to carelessly allow or even actively encourage people to kill themselves with tobacco