Harawira takes on smoking giant due to Maori deaths

[Mudfart]

You should have to attend a 3 day seminar at your own expense, then sit a test to show you bothered taking in the information, then you should be given a license to buy ciggies.
The seminar will include a session, "how MUCH non smokers really HATE smelling your shit".
And two of the three days will be on "how not to smoke around non smokers", "living with leprosy", and my personal favourite, "your going to get punched".
The license with photo ID will have to be shown to buy smokes, it will state that "fuck no", you are not an organ donor, and the license will also exclude you from the public healthcare service should you be dying of smoking related illnesses. Considering you probably aided the deaths of 10-20 people during 30yrs of smoking yourself. Fairs fair.

[avgas]

I am not too concerned with BAT/Phillip Morris/Altria......they do this on a daily basis and have the best lawyers in the game.
Hawera will come out smoking some Marlboro.
My only concern is how much of our money he will waste in his attempt.

[bogan]

And you are amongst the majority of teenagers. Well done you. (From ASH)
• Most New Zealanders begin smoking before they are 14.6 years old.
• 12.8% of youth aged 14-15 are regular smokers2, 10.6 percent among boys and 14.9 percent among girls.

My points are based upon frustration at the "If you make a mistake in life you can go fuck yourself, it's your fault" attitude. Does this apply to someone who has an accident while participating in their sport, motorcycling, skiing etc etc? Kids get hooked before they are considered responsible enough to drive, drink, vote or screw. Why are they lambasted as adults for the mistakes they made in their adolescence. And please don't respond with "well as adults they should just give up" It's a highly addictive drug, if it wasn't everyone would give up. Or at least only smoke when they choose to (as most of us do with alcohol) and not all the time.

Its not a if you "make a mistake go fuck yourself" attitude (cept for that hone fulla, he can go get fucked anyway), its a "if you make a mistake take some responsibility", so you smoke and are addicted and will likely die early, blaming somebody else aint gonna help at all, in fact its probably an out for when trying to quit gets too hard.

Sorry for my diversion - No he's a self serving tosser who cannot grasp that we live in a multicultural society (and are the better off because of it) I agree that some sectors of our society have a rougher deal of it and something needs to ensure opportunities are open to all.
Erect a statue to the smoking dead? Why FFS? He has just latched onto a headline grabbing idea and like obedient little puppies the journalists give him the publicity he craves which will guarantee him a few more Maori votes.

Stay alive till 25 - No smoking till aged 25 - I feel a campaign coming on

hmmm, i am generally against the 'nanny state' ideas, but this one has merit, tis proven smoking is harmful, those young uns arent deemed responsible to drink, drive, have sex, so smoking should be added to the list i reckon.

[Genie]

i recently gave up smoking but have always said that I think it's disgusting that one 'chooses' to smoke.
I started at 12 and really didn't have a clue, didn't realise it was addictive and certainly didn't know the damage it could cause. It hit me when i was about 25, by then I was well and truely addicted.
I've beaten it (after a few attempts) and it wasn't that hard. I made a choice to be a non-smoker.

Anyway, what I get quite peeved about, and this was true while I smoked, was that if I choose to contunue smoking knowing it can kill me, knowing it is going to cause problems to my unborn child, knowing it can cause health issues for my children, then I'm an idiot. I make the choice to be a smoker, and in making that choice I should negate all rights to medical care when I start to have issues due to my smoking.
How much does it cost our country to nurse a patient through lung cancer? How much does it cost for the asthma inhalers our children need due to the smoking of the parents? the medical costs incurred due to smoking must be horrendous. I know there is already a huge tax on cigerettes but it should be higher.

and the real cost, life.

[pete376403]

Maybe because the pollies can see that if they ban smoking now, they forgo the taxes raised but are still stuck with the health costs until the current smokers die.
At present they get the taxes to help offset the health costs.
Easier to leave it till it becomes someone elses problem

[Mudfart]

The more good news about ilegallising tobacco growing, production, selling, is that it opens up a whole black market for the gangs, and hopefully would reduce their production of more serious antisocial drugs such as P. That shit is REALLY fucked. I've seen people absolutely raging mad on it.

[FJRider]

At present they get the taxes to help offset the health costs.

But the health board's budget, does not go up when they raise the tax ... just like all road tax is not spent on roads ...