How ASH have changed their views/reports.

[jeffc]

Hi Peeps.

Just read the relevent chapter & Page.


Bloody hypocrites, keeping themselves in employment, backed by BIG TOBACCO


Please re-read Chapter 8 P62-> www.ash.org.uk/beyondsmokingkills … Goalposts moved by 2013 ? WHO by and Why ? T only recent addition !


item 2 especially. independent experts and CIVIL SOCIETY.

[DiscoDes]

After reading that it seems to say you are more likely to smoke if you're a CHAV

[toots]

That report totally backs the pure nicotine products such as patches and gum, so now that e-cigs have come on to the market in a big way they should in theory be backed by ASH, but will they be?????!!!!!

[kibbster]

ASH contributed with MHRA to come up with the proposed E-cig legislation and we know MHRA are Big Pharma puppets so it's not hard to imagine that ASH don't want E-cigs.
Or more their evil Pharma overlords don't want E-cigs and the tail wags the dog in health.

[xs2man]

I know that we are all ex-smokers in here, and so what I'm about to say is really an argument from a smokers point of view, but...

It REALLY PISSES ME OFF in documents like this where they use the NHS's costs of smoking related procedures and help to justify their point. And when medical professionals use it as justification of their point that smokers should be lower down the priority list as a result of their habit.

That document, for example, states a £2.7bn per year cost to the NHS. No mention of the £21bn in taxes raised by smokers (assuming 20% of the population of England smoke, and between them average 20 per day, thus £5 per head in taxes every day). Or the £5,700 the Government save in state pension every year ONE smoker dies prematurely. (Thats £69bn per year when you account for every smoker, and as they are meant to die 5 years earlier than a non smoker, that's an extra £345bn in the Government coffers, JUST from not having to pay state pensions). These are not insignificant sums of money here.

To use finances as justification for stopping smoking is obscene. Smoker are what keeps this country going.

[barrynorton]

The HMRC say their revenue from tobacco excise and VAT was 9.5 and 2.6b respectively

[xs2man]

Fair enough, I made the assumption that the average smoker smoked 20 a day. But didn't account for imports / black market etc...

Still, 12bn is still 4 times what it's costing the NHS, and there is still the pension money. Anyway you cut it, the smoker pays their way.