License to smoke

Ever seen a headline of a person who has had to many cigarettes to smoke and beaten their wife? beaten their children? driven under the influence of cigarettes and crashed? become violent towards others and started fights under the influence of cigarettes in pubs etc? Smokers are only the victim of this very same media that made a very hefty profit from the advertising of cigarettes only a few years ago, now these very same people this media targets are treated as criminals. Just imagine if instead of smokers as the group of people it was Racial, based on colour or culture, would this sort of behavior still be tolerated in today's "advanced" society? Australians should be ashamed of themselves, this is what our parents and grand parents fought for all those years ago..... disgusted.

'Someone' is trying to stir the pot! The government (maybe) or a bored magazine journo?........

License to smoke, I wonder what the criteria will be , how well you do the draw back , can you *** smoke rings? minimum height requirements before you start? this is not the joke the joke is the labour govt criticising the liberals for taking donations from Tobacco companies, like they havn't!!, if Julia and her mates want to get fair dinkum and have the overwhelming evidence then they need to grow some and outlaw cigarettes. Surley that is what we have government for to protect us from ourselves. Ooops sorry smokers are still allowed to vote ! *** better leave them alone! Party First!

We pay a ridiculous amount in tax for every packet of cigarettes we buy. People who whinge about the cost of smoker's on the health system should consider that we have already paid for our medical costs (should we need them - if they are smoking related). And if it weren't for smoker's, taxes would be raised on other items. So, shut up and leave us alone !

HERES AN IDEA,ALL SMOKERS BUY A PACK,FROM THEN ON THE AMOUNT OF CIGARETTES YOU GET DEPENDS ON HOW MANY BUTTS YOU BRING BACK. PRETTY SOON YOU'D SEE SMOKERS PICKING UP BUTTS INSTEAD OF THROWING THEM ON THE GROUND

People don't realise that we are talking about PROHIBITION in Australia. If you can justify prohibition against tobacco products, then you can justify prohibiting just about anything. More than 99.5% of smokers in Australia aren't killed by so-called 'smoking related illnesses' and more than 99.8% of smokers don't develop lung cancer. Seen the rotten mouth photo used on the cigarette packets ? .003% of Australian smokers develop head cancers IN TOTAL ! And I don't even trust the figures that these calculations are based on. I would assume that around 99.5% of drivers aren't killed or arrested for misusing a motor vehicle but according to the mentality of the Nanny brigade of neopuritans, the current road toll should be enough to demand the abolition of privately owned motor vehicles and powerful motorcycles. The same goes for cola drinks. And what about horse riding ?

I am in my seventies, and can remember sitting at the Doctors surgery, looking at the Dr, with a cig in his hand, telling me to smoke, to help with stress.!! That is why a lot of people still smoke now. My husband still smokes.

I am a smoker, and have been for years. But I NEVER smoke when I am with non-smoking friends, and I DO NOT smoke in my house. If I am outside smoking, I always watch which way the smoke is blowing, so that it does not go in other peoples faces. I respect non-smokers views. But they should respect mine as well.

In reply to all the comments about paying your taxes to support smokers - by all means, have your opinion but get your facts right first.....smokers pay astronomical taxes through the purchase of cigarettes (and so they should). It will be an interesting exercise to gauge if taxes paid through buying cigarettes actually cover smokers medical expenditure but remember also that most smokers also pay regular income and other taxes. Time to think of another argument to denigrate smokers people.

It doesn't bother me so much about a smoking licence. Its when they try to issue a non-smoking licence that I'll be a little worried.....