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Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:20 GMT 11:20 UK

Maybe we could just tax tabacco products to the tune of £3.20 per packet of 20 (over £1K per yr for average smoker). Oh hang on they do that anyway.

What I would like to know is if it expensive to care for smokers who as a rule die quite young how expensive is it to care for all the non smokers who go on to live long enough to get problems associated with old age?

Or how about the people who are unable to put down their fork and end up on Dialysis at a cost of thousands of pounds a year?

John knight, Manchester

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:11 GMT 11:11 UK

I'm a non smoker & I think this is ridiculous. The NHS is there to look after the health needs of the nation, it is not there to judge lifestyles. Besides, arn't smokers net contributors to the NHS already?

Colon the Librarian, Croydon, United Kingdom

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:18 GMT 11:18 UK

Smokers contributed £8 billion in tax last year by smoking. So they cost the NHS £5 billion? Not really, they made a net contribution of £3 billion to the country and by dying earlier they also reduced the pressure on pension funds and other resources!

Smokers have been shoved outside already, while smoking is still legal, just leave them be!

Brian, Plymouth

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 11:45 GMT 12:45 UK

Ok, I smoke, I also served in the forces for 22 years, Have never been unemployed, so have paid tax and NI for 32 years. I have never had an OP, vary rarely seen my GP. So what cost am I. Ask yourself, How much does it cost NHS to Operate on non uk nationals, that disappear back to their country without paying. Cost of Medicine for Junkies, Alcohol for alcoholics, treatment for Fat people. Treatment for Immigrants who never pay anything in, but take. The survey is one sided and jaded.

gordon Coates, York

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:15 GMT 11:15 UK

I, personally, hate smoking, I think it's a filthy, dirty addiction. Having said that, I'd like to know what the tax take is because if these addicts are paying full wack for the cost of their treatment what have the rest of us got to complain about? Are we going to ban Mountain Biking because people end up needing treatment because of injuries? There's no tax on Mountain Bikes. Same goes for amature sports like Rugby, Football, et al. There needs to ba a fair approach to this.

Tio Terry, Epsom, United Kingdom

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:32 GMT 11:32 UK

As a non-smoker I still strongly believe that smoker's should not have to pay for treatment.
The NHS tends careless drivers, pot-holers, mountain climbers, drinkers etc. so why pick on smokers.
They pay tax to the government every time they buy their cigarettes.
To choose not to help sick smokers would be the thin edge of the wedge and soon we would all be de-selected for some reason or another.

Shirley Thomas, Rayleigh, United Kingdom

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 11:39 GMT 12:39 UK

This really is disingenuous rubbish.
Smokers pay £8bn in tax and cost £5bn in healthcare and today's news would have us believe without smokers the NHS would be £5bn better off.
1. We'd lose £3bn tax revenue
2. Non-smokers would die of something else requiring medical intervention and costing more or less £5bn as well
3. Living longer they would take up more pensions and benefits.
There may well be moral, ethical & health reasons to be antismoking but there are no financial reasons.

[Foolfighter]

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 11:45 GMT 12:45 UK

I'm a smoker and I'd pay for my health care should I develop smoking related illnesses - but if I'm doing that I'm certainly not paying my taxes for cigarettes. And surely then it would be fair for drinkers to pay for their health care? Or as I never will have children then why am I paying for all these people to have kids - they should pay for that themselves. Or drivers paying for driving related injuries, people who have unprotected sex paying for treatment for STIs, and so on.

Ade

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 11:45 GMT 12:45 UK

The tax on cigarettes goes somewhere...so smokers are probably already paying for their health care.

Why pay twice?

W Gabriel

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:13 GMT 11:13 UK

Excuse me, but I thought it was still legal to smoke????
As such I pay a heafty amount to the government in tax, the same as someone who drinks does! On top of that I pay for private health, private pension etc! I take nothing from the state either in the UK nor in The Netherlands. So until it is totally illegal to smoke/drink, I will continue to do so at no extra costs to the Governments!!!!!!
I suppose all the anti smoking fachists will be out to kill me on this!!!!!! Going for a smoke!!!!

AJ Wilson Briggs, Amsterdam (ExUK), Netherlands

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 11:44 GMT 12:44 UK

Make smokers pay more (I do not smoke)
Make drinkers pay more (I rarely drink)
Make the obese pay more (You got me)

While we are at it I would like to add a few others to the list.

Make pregnant women pay more (I did not get them pregnant)
Make sportsmen/women pay more (Why should I pay for their self inflicted injuries)

Make ?????? pay more

I could go on but once you start charging or barring people from treatment you destroy the foundation of the NHS

Michael Lincoln

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:20 GMT 11:20 UK

Besides, arn't smokers net contributors to the NHS already?

Quo Vadis, Cardiff, United Kingdom

In a word yes. Tobacco taxes raise about £7.5 billion a year.

Colin Shepherd, Farnham, United Kingdom

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:31 GMT 11:31 UK

"No, Druggies, Alcoholics,Smokers and possibly the grossly Obese should be denied NHS treatment THEY ARE NOT ILL, they have self inflicted injuries,why should we pay?
No the revenue from tobacco and booze does not cover the cost of treatment.

Steve Day"

Complete nonsense. Steve, please learn to count!

Revenue from tax on cigarettes = 8bn, cost to NHS = 5bn. So who and what exactly are these "We" you talk about?

Smokers more than pay for their own treatment.

Jon, UK

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:19 GMT 11:19 UK

You can't discriminate against any one group. If we go down this route we are one step away from the american system. Who will be next? Obese people, people with drink-related illnesses? The only people who should pay are non-UK citizens; e.g. foreign nationals who travel here for free treatment, illegal immagrants etc. Smokers may costs the NHS >£5bn but how much do they contribute to the government through cigarette taxes? It is not a one-way street!

Geoffrey Burn, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Added: Tuesday, 9 June, 2009, 10:20 GMT 11:20 UK

5BN seems small beer compared to the billions spent bailing out rougue bankers, if that money was available why not use it for the NHS?

V