'£10 licence to smoke' proposed

[Gan]

Smokers could be forced to pay £10 for a permit to buy tobacco if a government health advisory body gets its way.


No one would be able to buy cigarettes without the permit, under the idea proposed by Health England.

Its chairman, Professor Julian Le Grand, told BBC Radio 5 Live the scheme would make a big difference to the number of people giving up smoking.
But smokers' rights group Forest described the idea as "outrageous", given how much tax smokers already pay.

Professor Le Grand, a former adviser to ex-PM Tony Blair, said cash raised by the proposed scheme would go to the NHS.

He said it was the inconvenience of getting a permit - as much as the cost - that would deter people from persisting with the smoking habit.

"You've got to get a form, a complex form - the government's good at complex forms; you have got to get a photograph.
"It's a little bit of a problem to actually do it, so you have got to make a conscious decision every year to opt in to being a smoker."

more....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7247470.stm
__________________________________________________ ___

LOL

I wonder if they'll make you take your photo with a fag hanging out of your mouth.


:lol:

http://thesituationist.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/scarlett-johanson-smoking.jpg

[Stanley Burrell]

Smokers could be forced to pay £10 for a permit to buy tobacco if a government health advisory body gets its way.


No one would be able to buy cigarettes without the permit, under the idea proposed by Health England.

Its chairman, Professor Julian Le Grand, told BBC Radio 5 Live the scheme would make a big difference to the number of people giving up smoking.
But smokers' rights group Forest described the idea as "outrageous", given how much tax smokers already pay.

Professor Le Grand, a former adviser to ex-PM Tony Blair, said cash raised by the proposed scheme would go to the NHS.

He said it was the inconvenience of getting a permit - as much as the cost - that would deter people from persisting with the smoking habit.

"You've got to get a form, a complex form - the government's good at complex forms; you have got to get a photograph.
"It's a little bit of a problem to actually do it, so you have got to make a conscious decision every year to opt in to being a smoker."

more....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7247470.stm
__________________________________________________ ___

LOL

I wonder if they'll make you take your photo with a fag hanging out of your mouth.


:lol:

http://thesituationist.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/scarlett-johanson-smoking.jpg

I think...

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0427944/dvd52455r.jpg

Not.

Scarlett Johanson sucking a stogey like a pro does sort of make me want to break my 5-year nicotine sobriety.

[radamanthys]

Isn't that what a Driver's License is for?

[Sean of the Thread]

Isn't that what a Driver's License is for?

No. That's what taxes are for.

[Clove]

How clever. I'm actually not opposed to this. Annoy people away from behaviors you want to discourage.

[Gan]

My parents smoke. They've smoked since before I was born, tried to quit a few times and failed miserably.

I remember when they used to buy a pack of marlborros for 2 bucks a box. Now its up to like $5 a box?

If taxing the hell out of it (sin tax) wont drive the addiction away - nothing will.

[Sean of the Thread]

My father smoked so much when I was young the roof was yellow above his chair. But that somehow seemed normal back then. Hell you could smoke on planes and whilst walking around the mall.

Anyways I think the cigg industry got around that tax so far by offering buy one get one deals. So you get two packs for $4 something which is basically what it used to be a pack.

I'm down to two ciggs a day. One with the morning paper before my shit and one after lunch or dinner.