Lighten Up
Brit “License to Smoke” proposal makes a lot of sense, considering that the individual Brit’s health is the property of Her Majesty’s Government, and it’s the business of Her Majesty’s Government what people do with it.
Smokers could be forced to pay £10 for a permit to buy tobacco if a government health advisory body gets its way.
No one would be able to buy cigarettes without the permit, under the idea proposed by Health England.
Its chairman, Professor Julian Le Grand, told BBC Radio 5 Live the scheme would make a big difference to the number of people giving up smoking.
But smokers’ rights group Forest described the idea as “outrageous”, given how much tax smokers already pay.
Professor Le Grand, a former adviser to ex-PM Tony Blair, said cash raised by the proposed scheme would go to the NHS.
He said it was the inconvenience of getting a permit - as much as the cost - that would deter people from persisting with the smoking habit.
“You’ve got to get a form, a complex form - the government’s good at complex forms; you have got to get a photograph.
“It’s a little bit of a problem to actually do it, so you have got to make a conscious decision every year to opt in to being a smoker.”
Surber may want to mock the do-gooder Brits by singing old jingles, but that is a very interesting proposal. I’d suggest it might be cheaper and more effective to mandate that tobacco companies start planting little “exploding cigar” bombs in every sixth cigarette. Maybe mix it up with stink bombs.
As commendable as the concept of annoying people to health may be, there are other issues do-gooder Brits will need to think about. If the cops are busy stopping people to check their smoking licenses, how are they going to have time to keep up with all the people violating Sharia law? What about foreign tourists? Shakedown after the passport check at the airport might drive tourist $$$ to smokier destinations. Then there’s the danger posed by crazed nicotine addicts who forget to renew their licenses. Creating a new layer of bureaucracy sounds like a great employment program, but the Smokers Registry Office sounds like a place at high risk of people going postal.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:01 am on Sunday, February 17, 2008
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February 17th, 2008 at 9:11 am
[...] UPDATE: Jules Crittenden sees an upside in this. [...]