Smoking costs and health impacts

[david1212]

Back in time the costs were much lower and the health risks hidden by many other factors leading to a shorter average life span e.g. working conditions, diet, air quality particularly in conurbations from both industry and domestic coal fires. However many current smokers must have started after both the health risks were well known and in real terms the cost already higher. Also from 1991 on the packets TOBACCO SERIOUSLY DAMAGES HEALTH then from 2003 SMOKING KILLS.

The building adjacent to where I work is occupied by a social care provider. Most of the staff are female, younger and at least 50% are smokers.

Just looking at Tesco's website packs of 20 start at around £9 so 10 a day is over £30 per week. If £300 a week take home pay that is over 10% or £1500 a year.

For a couple each smoking 20 a day then over £6500 a year ..... equate that to rent / mortgage, holidays etc.

 

[C J Snarzell]

I used to smoke regularly up until 2007, when it was first banned in pubs. I then smoked on & off until around 2017 until the packets of ten were discontinued. I very often had the craving to spark up after a few beers.

I find smoking now is extremely expensive. I used to smoke Marlboro Lights which I think now sell at £13 a pack. They are one of the more expensive brands though - Sterling King Size can still be purchased for just under a tenner.

Its strange - I found that after I finally quit smoking, I suddenly became revolted by the taste and smell. I used to get quite nauseated and lethargic for a few minutes after a ciggie, before I finally decided to quit. However, like drug addicts, there is something in your brain that still pushes you to light up and inhale even though the other party of your brain doesn't enjoy it and you do want to quit for good.

From a health perspective - I've never been unfit but after I finally gave up smoking, I did notice I had that little bit more energy and staminer. I also believe regular smoking increases anxiety and this again has been greatly reduced since I quit properly.

I am finding that smoking is now seen more & more as a taboo with more people quitting or reverting to vapes. Even vaping seems to be on the decline in recent months. Fewer people seem to be standing outside bars & restaurants now than in 2007 and I very rarely see others purchasing cigarettes over the counter now if I am in the local paper shop or the Tesco Express.

The only time I now see smoking in full flow is outside the local hospital. For some reason, NHS workers smoke in their droves outside the main entrance (as it is not allowed on the grounds anymore) and the volume of disgarded cigarette butts I see is disgusting.

CJ

 

[yorksrob]

I used to smoke cigarettes and loved the nicotine buzz and that satisfaction of a cigarette and a beer or the smoke after a meal.
Two things got me to stop. Price and my children being born. When they reached £3 a pack I got twitchy but when my daughter came along it was time to stop.
What helped an awful lot was a smoking cessation course at work via Occ Health. They gave you free patches and tested you every week with a breath test to see if you had been cheating.
This is the sort of thing the NHS should be doing for everyone. It was the testing that drove me along, knowing I had to answer to a rather formidable nurse every week if I slipped.

All the more effective if said nurse had a dissapproving Hattie Jaques type demenour no doubt !

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Oct 2020 ==

I used to enjoy the odd cigar in the pub now and then as part of a particularly heavy session, but other than that, I've never been into tobbacco. I do kind of miss having the option though.

On the very odd occasions I tried a cigarette, I never liked the taste or smell.

 

[Westcountryman]

In the 90s I worked with someone who smoked, as did his wife. He once told me that he calculated that they smoked the equivalent of a Ford Escort every 3 years. He never stopped though!

 

[peteb]

And that helps. Have a goal in mind and try and put the money you would have spent aside. When I quit in May 1983 I bought 10 pounds of Premium Bonds every month as a reward and that helped motivate me to keep going. A 14 Day 1st Class All Line Rover would certainly motivate me!

You quit when I first quit, i.e. when ciggies reached £1 a pack. Hated the fact that you had to search for a no smoking carriage in those days, or risk being showered with ash even in an empty compartment as soon as the window was opened.

 

[Butts]

Pure Gold from Benson and Hedges.... 40 Years and counting.

Smoking occasionally has advantages particularly in Italy where I am at the moment !!

It's masks 24/7 apart from eating, drinking and yes smoking. - I'm temporarily on 80 a day !!

Will be stocking up on a £13 UK priced product for 6 Euros per pack.

As a footnote just pray we never evolve to constant mask wearing, it honestly makes you appreciate the UK regulations.

 

[peteb]

I used to smoke regularly up until 2007, when it was first banned in pubs. I then smoked on & off until around 2017 until the packets of ten were discontinued. I very often had the craving to spark up after a few beers.

I find smoking now is extremely expensive. I used to smoke Marlboro Lights which I think now sell at £13 a pack. They are one of the more expensive brands though - Sterling King Size can still be purchased for just under a tenner.

Its strange - I found that after I finally quit smoking, I suddenly became revolted by the taste and smell. I used to get quite nauseated and lethargic for a few minutes after a ciggie, before I finally decided to quit. However, like drug addicts, there is something in your brain that still pushes you to light up and inhale even though the other party of your brain doesn't enjoy it and you do want to quit for good.

From a health perspective - I've never been unfit but after I finally gave up smoking, I did notice I had that little bit more energy and staminer. I also believe regular smoking increases anxiety and this again has been greatly reduced since I quit properly.

I am finding that smoking is now seen more & more as a taboo with more people quitting or reverting to vapes. Even vaping seems to be on the decline in recent months. Fewer people seem to be standing outside bars & restaurants now than in 2007 and I very rarely see others purchasing cigarettes over the counter now if I am in the local paper shop or the Tesco Express.

The only time I now see smoking in full flow is outside the local hospital. For some reason, NHS workers smoke in their droves outside the main entrance (as it is not allowed on the grounds anymore) and the volume of disgarded cigarette butts I see is disgusting.

CJ

What I find curious these days is how do people decide which cigarette brand to smoke? I have to admit it was tempting to try the various brands when you could see the packets on display. And some packets were as iconic in design as say the Campbells soup tin, but alas the contents were far more deadly. But now packets resemble the illustrations in the medical students books I recall seeing in Foyles!

 

[Butts]

What I find curious these days is how do people decide which cigarette brand to smoke? I have to admit it was tempting to try the various brands when you could see the packets on display. And some packets were as iconic in design as say the Campbells soup tin, but alas the contents were far more deadly. But now packets resemble the illustrations in the medical students books I recall seeing in Foyles!

Quite simple, buy them in Luxembourg or Italy where they still have most of the original branding in situ and more importantly are less than half the price.

 

[najaB]

Quite simple, buy them in Luxembourg or Italy where they still have most of the original branding in situ and more importantly are less than half the price.

Or, alternatively, don't buy them at all.

 

[C J Snarzell]

I went to Thailand a few years ago and smoking there is rife. In fact e-cigs are completely banned - if you are found with one, the cops would probably treat you less favourably than if you had a gun! Does anyone know if this is purely down to the tax laws in Thailand? (An e-cig is cheating the state out of it's tax).

CJ

 

[Butts]

Or, alternatively, don't buy them at all.

Not an option if you are a smoker !!

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

@peteb
I have been doing some work with tobacco history
Cigarettes differ very little, that is why brands with different images were created. Zillions of collectors cards were issued to try to achieve brand loyalty
I remember the cards, 'famous locomotives' for example

 

[peteb]

@peteb
I have been doing some work with tobacco history
Cigarettes differ very little, that is why brands with different images were created. Zillions of collectors cards were issued to try to achieve brand loyalty
I remember the cards, 'famous locomotives' for example

Ah, interesting, I have some of those cards inherited from my grandfather. Also a nice little tin which had Wills Woodbine in it, maybe rolling tobacco though not cigarettes?

 

[52290]

I'm 76 and I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. What is it like?

 

[najaB]

I'm 76 and I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. What is it like?

According to the late George Burns now's the time to take up the habit - all the studies show that smoking is a factor in developing lung cancer, heart disease, etc. at a young age. So you should be fine.

 

[Butts]

I'm 76 and I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. What is it like?

Pure nirvana - especially the first one of the day

 

[Bald Rick]

Pure nirvana - especially the first one of the day

Does it Smell like Teen Spirit?

 

[Cowley]

Being addicted to smoking is like wearing a pair of shoes that are too tight, just for the feeling of taking them off now and again. *

* A quote by Allen Carr who after giving up smoking heavily started writing self help books on quitting smoking.

 

[Butts]

Being addicted to smoking is like wearing a pair of shoes that are too tight, just for the feeling of taking them off now and again. *

* A quote by Allen Carr who after giving up smoking heavily started writing self help books on quitting smoking.

Was he the one who dropped dead jogging ?

 

[Cowley]

Was he the one who dropped dead jogging ?

No that was Jim Fixx.
Allen Carr died of lung cancer many years after quitting smoking unfortunately.

 

[MattA7]

I’ve often wondered if the smoking ban was repealed (never going to happen I’m just being hypothetical) if any business would permit smoking again. I imagine that the vast majority of them would stay smoke free as a matter of company policy.

 

[Journeyman]

I’ve often wondered if the smoking ban was repealed (never going to happen I’m just being hypothetical) if any business would permit smoking again. I imagine that the vast majority of them would stay smoke free as a matter of company policy.

I think it would take a brave company to try it!

 

[HSTEd]

I’ve often wondered if the smoking ban was repealed (never going to happen I’m just being hypothetical) if any business would permit smoking again. I imagine that the vast majority of them would stay smoke free as a matter of company policy.

I know a bar manager who ran a pub back when it came in, he had already banned smoking to protect his high end projector that was his major selling point at the time,.

 

[Journeyman]

I know a bar manager who ran a pub back when it came in, he had already banned smoking to protect his high end projector that was his major selling point at the time,.

I remember smoke free pubs were starting to become common before the ban was actually enforced, and I wonder how far that trend would have continued without legislation? Quite a long way, I think. Widespread indoor smoking is something we'll thankfully never be subjected to again.