Smokers should pay more: survey

A new YouGov survey of more than 2,000 people has revealed that 62 percent believe that the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) should not bear the full cost of treating the self-inflicted damage done by smoking, according to a story in Scotland’s Sunday Post.

John Quail, managing director of claims.co.uk, which commissioned the research, believes the results are indicative of the public’s protective stance on the NHS.

“Despite the fact that the tax on cigarettes theoretically creates more than enough revenue to pay for the healthcare costs generated by smoking, the British public still believes smokers should be held individually accountable for their habit,” he said.

And while 62 percent believe smokers should contribute to the estimated £3.2 billion cost to the NHS; that figure rises to 73 percent among those 25-34 years of age.

However, Shelia Duffy, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health Scotland, said smokers should “absolutely not” be penalized for being addicted.

Tobacco companies were using their customers as human shields.

“Most adult smokers start as kids and were drawn in by tobacco companies advertising their glitzy products,” she said. “They are hooked on them before they know what’s happening.

“The companies make obscene profits from their customers and we should be demanding money from them, not from the people who are hooked on these products.”