But cancer treatment costs hundreds of thousands of pounds. I'm not sure any smoker ever spent that much through tax.
My friend, Joe, was a professional singer before he fell ill. He sang at a lot of smoky bars and clubs.
And I'm sorry if I made it sound like I was getting at you for saying that people who don't smoke aren't entitled to treatment. That wasn't my aim. I was simply pointing out that the NHS doesn't work on the basis that "right, you've paid your tax... nobody can complain about us treating you!" because under such an economy nobody who claimed welfare would be entitled to NHS treatment. You can't quote one side of it, and imply you aren't associated with the other.
I mean, I'm not saying I agree with freeloaders (not that all people who claim welfare are freeloaders, but there's no denying a minority of them are!) but I couldn't stand back and watch them suffer because they haven't paid their taxes and therefore have no entitlements.
Anyway. Why this thread caught my attention?
I am a smoker. Not a particularly heavy smoker but a smoker none the less. If I were to have children, I would quit. No questions asked.
If I had children and for whatever reason I could no longer care for them? I would prefer that they went to a non-smoking home. Maybe that's just personal preference. But it is a known statistic that children whose parents are smokers are more likely to become smokers themselves. And usually before 16 too.
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