- OBR: smoking tax take is c. £8 billion p.a.
- NHS: smoking, alcohol, and diet-related maladies cost the NHS alone c. £11 billion p.a.
Pardoning the "back of a fag packet" analogy, I'd say it is appears from the above alone, that smoking is a net contributor to the NHS.
However, it doesn't take into account the loss of productivity in the economy, for those people who can't be "on top of their game" through the effects of smoking, drinking, and obesity.
And that is while they're alive.
IIRC, half of "long-term smokers" are likely to die before 70 yrs of age, compared to a fifth of non-smokers.
Apart from being useful as worm food, their productivity will then have definitely ceased.
In short, it is probably not feasible to determine with any accuracy, whether smokers are a benefit, a drain, or cost-neutral.
- NHS: smoking, alcohol, and diet-related maladies cost the NHS alone c. £11 billion p.a.
Pardoning the "back of a fag packet" analogy, I'd say it is appears from the above alone, that smoking is a net contributor to the NHS.
However, it doesn't take into account the loss of productivity in the economy, for those people who can't be "on top of their game" through the effects of smoking, drinking, and obesity.
And that is while they're alive.
IIRC, half of "long-term smokers" are likely to die before 70 yrs of age, compared to a fifth of non-smokers.
Apart from being useful as worm food, their productivity will then have definitely ceased.
In short, it is probably not feasible to determine with any accuracy, whether smokers are a benefit, a drain, or cost-neutral.
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