Smoking Is Not The Biggest Threat To The Health Of People In This Country.

[10ClarionSt]

By far the biggest threat to the health of people is without doubt, alcohol. The burden on the NHS to treat alcohol related diseases exceeds smoking causes by 1000%. Think about it. Death on the roads, absenteeism, domestic violence, town centre violence, lots of alcohol related illnesses. They all exceed the effects of tobacco by miles. But the action taken against alcohol is nothing compared to action against smoking.

[EDDIE51]

All alcoholic drink containers already have a health warning and tell you how many 'units' of alcohol it contains along with the recommended daily/weekly consumption.
Unlike tobacco there is a minimum limit for alcohol use, as long as you stay within the limit there are no harmful effects.
Due to this there will never be restrictions on packaging and sale of alcohol as there are with tobacco.
In one way alcohol is already more restricted than tobacco. The legal age for purchasing alcohol is 18, it is 16 for tobacco.
I have often said that raising the legal age for sale of tobacco products to 20 0r 21 would solve the smoking problem once all the current generation of smokers have killed themselves!
VERY few people start smoking after their teenage years!

[ummmm]

Eddie, you have to be 18 to buy cigarettes.

[Old_Geezer]

Health is not the only factor for getting rid of the antisocial habit anyway. But it's the only one folk might take notice of.

Who should care if it is or isn't presently the biggest health threat ? It still has to be tackled, and health issues are not tackled in series but in parallel. We don't ignore all issues but the top one; surprisingly we have more sense than that.

[EDDIE51]

Ummm yes you are right the law changed back in 2007.
I was getting confused as a police officer can still confiscate tobacco products from a person under 16 , a throwback to the old law
(3) It shall be the duty of a constable and of a park-keeper being in uniform to seize any tobacco or cigarette papers in the possession of any person apparently under the age of sixteen years whom he finds smoking in any street or public place, and any tobacco or cigarette papers so seized shall be disposed of, if seized by a constable, in such manner as the police authority may direct, and if seized by a park-keeper, in such manner as the authority or person by whom he was appointed may direct.

— Children and Young Persons Act 1933, Section 7 – Sale of tobacco, &c. to persons under eighteen
Scotland[edit]

[EDDIE51]

^ that law should have been repealed or updated but it slipped the net and so still applies.

[goodgoalie]

EDDIE51 - I can think of one beneficial effect of smoking:
keeps the midges away!

[EDDIE51]

Ok I'll give you that one. But you can buy mosquito repellent 'incense sticks' that are more efficient as they are designed for the job!

[EDDIE51]

Cheaper and smell better as well!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Incognito-Anti-Mosquito-Incense-Sticks-10g/dp/B009M3OP84

[MallyJ]

Would agree...apart from damage to the individual drinkers health alcohol is often a factor in road accidents and person to person violence, including violence to children. I am also concerned about the effects on children of drunken behaviour in the home even if it does not involve physical abuse.

[EDDIE51]

^True, but all those involve the 'overuse' of alcohol above the safe limits. As said there is a safe limit for alcohol, but there is no such limit for smoking it is 100% harmfull no matter how small the use.

[andy-hughes]

The main issue with alcohol is the same issue as guns in America - both are deeply embedded in the culture of the country, so stopping them is not possible, and curtailing them is political suicide, so - as with guns in America - successive governments fail to address the health issues of alcohol.

[Garaman]

The oldies are the problem, again. Youngsters are cutting down on drink but pensioners are drinking more.

[Old_Geezer]

Pensioners tend not to get violent after a few. And have little else to enjoy. So are not part of any problem. Even if their consumption shot through the roof, all they'd tend to do is fall asleep. It is the youthful generation that feel a need to prove themselves to the rest.

[Togo]

//Youngsters are cutting down on drink but pensioners are drinking more. //

Yeah they are all dropping mandy bombs and smoking spice, cheaper than a pint of best.

[Garaman]

You are no doubt right, Togo, though I have no idea what a mandy bomb is. However, it is the oldies who drink too much and who are loading our struggling NHS with drink related diseases.

[Togo]

You just wait till "the youngsters" get to a certain age Gara, the NHS will be in proper meltdown and the mental health departments will be chokka. Guaranteed .

[Garaman]

You are no doubt right again, Togo, though the NHS is nearly at that stage now. In any case I am just addressing the problems caused by alcohol as that is what the thread about, and is only one of those that I could comment on anyway!

[maggiebee]

If tobacco and alcohol were introduced today I very much doubt if they would be legal substances.