Smokers Rights And Health

Over the last few months the issue of whether smokers should be allowed to have surgery or not has arisen. On the face of it, it sounded like a good idea, however everyone has the right to health care.

One of the arguments put forward is the "extra" cost associated with providing health care to smokers due to smoking related illnesses. But this actually got me thinking - from a different angle. How much is the government actually collecting in taxes from the cigarettes people buy? And where is the money going? With the average pack of cigarettes now over the $10 mark, a lot of it is comprised of taxes.

In the interests of Truth, Justice and the Aussie way [lol], I did some research and found some very interesting results.

During the 12 month period up to June 2002, the government tax [on average] was 37c per cigarette in Australia. Or, to put it in a different perspective, approximately 69% of the price of a pack of cigarettes is government taxes.

In Australia, the government taxed some 22,613 billion cigarettes during the 12 month period up to June 2002. That's 22,613,000,000 cigarettes - quite a lot of cigarettes and hard to imagine, but true. Now, with my trusty little calculator, the tax on these cigarettes came to a nice tidy sum of $8,368,810,000 ... or $8.36 billion!

Now to my logical thinking, if the government collected $8.36 billion in taxes from cigarettes, where is all this money going? And, if smoking related illnesses is such an issue, why is the government not putting that money back into health?

From my way of thinking, if one smokes, one pays taxes for those cigarettes - and it's quite a tidy little sum for the government. So if a smoker falls ill, the argument being put forward regarding withdrawal of health services, is not only ludicrous but also an injustice and prejudicial action. Sure, smoking does cause health problems, no one is denying that. However every person is entitled to health care regardless of whether they are smokers or not.

If the health system is under funded, it is not because of the smokers but a government decision. Further, if smoking does cause extra pressure on the health system, then maybe the government can put that cigarette tax back into the health system!

And on a final point - and correct me if I am wrong - but when one used to graduate from medical school, it used to be customary to take the Hippocratic Oath. In layman's terms, it simply states that a physician [doctor] will treat one and all regardless of who they are. Or has that belief in providing health care gone out the window and doctors are now more money orientated and judgemental?

Where will it all stop? Are some doctors going to turn around and say that they won't treat patients because they are drug users, or drinkers, or - god forbid - of the wrong race?

Come on, let's get back to the basics here. Health care is for all people, and doctors are there to get us back to being healthy. If smoking is so bad, then maybe the government should take the path of banning cigarettes and their sale, and provide Nicorette patches to all smokers. Or is the nice tidy sum of money coming into the Federal coffers too much for the Government?

James

PS: The figures provided in this article are from the Federal Government's own Bureau of Statistics and the QUIT organisation.