The only evidence here is Dave "moonlighting" for the tobacco industry Mafia.

Give it up Dave, its gross.

Dan

There's no need for 'new thinking' or any other thinking on smoking. I gave it up 25 years ago without nonsense from ex-senator Lionbreath, help from taxpayers, politicians, quangos, ngos, plain packaging, patches, vaping. People need to start looking after themselves - if they are not already enslaved.

ttbn,
c'mon, you seriously don't expect people to be responsible for themselves ? That'd go totally against the academic-led indoctrination of recent ! Whole Departments are dedicated to dumbing-down people to make them utterly dependent & you want all this money & effort wasted by making them think or worse, make them responsible ?
You'll have the Leftists come down on you so heavy you won't know what hit You ! ;-)

Agree with Dan. David does appear to be a spokesperson for an addictive, health-harming, carcinogenic product/tobacco mafia.

Time for new thinking David!? Really that'd be a novel new experience, for you, wouldn't it?

And in your case may lead to a strange burning smell, as previously unused cerebral circuits are forced to function and a change from engaging mouth before putting brain into gear? Or broken record rhetoric endlessly parroted!

As for your favourite cigars? They're just not feeding the horses they way they used to.

If some folk want to double/treble their chance of stroke or heart attack that's their call!

But, do not have a right to impose that outcome on others via passive smoking.

Smoking is a filthy, dirty, disgusting, rotten non-cool habit!

When I see a typical smoker, their lungs rotten with emphysema, gasping for air with more urgency than an amateur climber, on top of Mount Everest, truly can one say, there's a sucker on the end of every one of those!

I agree with the tax and even increasing it further to pay for the vastly increased health care costs imposed by the addicted smoker on themselves and virtually all other passive smokers! Some with their natural term reduced by a decade or more by the disgusting filthy habit of the most selfish self-centred folks on Gods earth.

The addicted smoker, who just will not see the harm they do should suffer, with even higher and higher taxes and far harsher penalties for buying contraband and all the other negative outcomes they impose their filthy dirty disgusting rotten habit on.

Left to me as the cohort of smokers reduce, I'd maintain the revenue base with even higher taxes! So, if you won't stop? Then pay the tax hike! No sympathy!
Alan B.

What is gross is this huge rip off of the smokers, to satisfy the bleeding heart brigade, & the treasury.

Every smoker 1 know is an age pensioner, who has been smoking most of their lives. Giving up smoking now is most unlikely to have any useful effect on their lives, & from a few 1 have disguised it with, smoking is one of the few pleasures they have left.

A couple have given up a beer with dinner, & another few have virtually given up food, so they could still enjoy a few cigarettes.

We spend a fortune on drug addicts, addicted to illegal drugs, particularly when their illegal activities lead to aids, then rip off the poor old buggers addicted to totally legal drugs like tobacco & alcohol. Perhaps it's time for doctors to prescribe tobacco free of tax for those poor addicted souls.

As the book said, Their a Weird Mob.

It is quite simple, make cigarettes a chemist only product (like so many other drugs) and you need a doctors script.

This will stop young people from starting to smoke and a lot of people will think , its all too hard to see the Dr every time.

The stop smoking support products (patches, gum etc) should be subsidized.

So, each time you want to by cigarette/ cigars you have the Doctor telling you how bad it is.

You are never going to help the chronic addicted smokers , but you will make it nearly impossible for anyone new to start smoking. (Weed excluded)