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Originally Posted by Salu
You're right about the impact on A&E depts regarding drinking. I have spent many Saturday nights sewing up drunkard's heads and other parts; however don't underestimate the level of illness that smoking brings to A&E. Asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia, COPD etc etc. We are very busy with many many respiratory diseases and a large proportional of them are smoking related.
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I fully appreciate what the affects of smoking and passive smoking may be. Most deaths,around 75%, that may be a result of smoking and passive smoking in this country are in the over 65 year old category and we should hopefully see a reduction in line with the percentage of the population being smokers in years to come. One of the problems with a total ban on smoking in all public places including all pubs is that smokers may choose to stay at home where they can smoke and put other members of their family, particularly their children, at more risk.
The problem with banning smoking on health issues because it may be the single pursuit that causes most premature deaths is that something else takes it place as the highest killer. That may be alcohol so do we then ban alcohol from all public places and pubs then only serve non-alcoholic drinks?
Many things in life pose a risk to your health and we cannot ban them all. What we can do is choose whether to participate or not. No one is forcing people to smoke or be in a smoky environment, traffic fumes excepted.