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Usually smoking and obesity don't go hand in hand but in this case, both cost the public in various ways especially in insurance premiums that we all have to bear.
As a pack of cigarettes cost $6.29, why does anyone smoke? Yesterday there was an obese gal in front of me who was purchasing 4 packs of cigarettes. She was trying to figure out which pack had the longer cigarette so that she could get that one extra puff. The total cost was astronomical and shocking. Not having smoked in 30 years, I have not been paying attention as to what has been happening in the tobacco industry.
"Annual health care costs are roughly $96
billion for smokers and $147 billion for the obese, the government says.
These costs accompany sometimes heroic attempts to prolong lives,
including surgery, chemotherapy and other measures.
Faced with the high cost of caring for
smokers and overeaters, experts say society must grapple with a blunt
question: Instead of trying to penalize them and change their ways, why
not just let these health sinners die prematurely from their unhealthy
habits?"
Read more... from the medical writer from the Associated Press.
6 comments:
Wait just a second. It only mentions two. What about the druggies? What about the people that get cancer because of there gene`s. Breast cancer, prostrate cancer and skin cancer. What about the food maufacturers and the junk they put in our food. Our bodies are not perfect. Everybody is going to die, some sooner then others. Dont put the blame on smokers, drinkers and overweight people. And of course the whacko`s. You can find fault in just about everything and everybody.
it is taking down our health care system--and creates a high cancer rate---
The last time I looked, cigarettes and food were both LEGAL!People who puff away on illegal drugs are "cool". People who smoke cigarrettes are treated like criminals. Sad.
Smoking is a nasty habit. Yet, according to Wikipedia, the taxes on cigaretts pay for many things.
On February 4, 2009, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009was signed into law, which raised the federal tax rate for cigarettes on April 1, 2009 from $0.39 per pack to $1.01 per pack. The purpose of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is to provide aid for impoverished children. With the increased revenue from tobacco taxes SCHIP can now afford to include families with up to three times the federal poverty level as well as children from high-income families in New York and New Jersey. SCHIP will also be able to cover dental benefits and treatment of mental illnesses where it previously could not. In addition to providing these services for U.S. citizens, SCHIP is also expanded to cover immigrant children and immigrant pregnant women.
Isn't this like the pot calling the kettle black?
I mean come on Lynn your in that obesity category.
haha--you must be smoking funny stuff too along with eating all that sugar.
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