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Re:Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed by mytailorisrich on Tuesday April 21, 2026 @12:20PM (#47850948)
In the UK taxes on tobacco earn more than the (socialised) healthcare financial cost of smoking. So this argument is a fallacy.
Re:Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed by d1sxeyes on Tuesday April 21, 2026 @02:27PM (#47852545)
I don’t think the argument as a whole is a fallacy, it’s true that the exact cost to the NHS is more than covered by tax, but most estimates of wider cost to the economy (e.g. lost productivity, disability benefits, etc) is higher. https://fullfact.org/health/farage-smoking-revenue-nhs/
Re:Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed by mytailorisrich on Tuesday April 21, 2026 @02:32PM (#47852599)
It's equally a fallacious argument to try to fit "cost to the economy", whatever that means, to the healthcare cost (usually this is done to inflate costs to fit the narrative). By that logic, ban everything and allow only what allows individuals to maximise their productive labour... what a nightmare.