£12.50 a week incentive to stop smoking in Dundee

[charliecat]

No £12.50 for the people who didnt start smoking in the first place

for those of you who haven't been to Dundee recently but feel fit to berate it - there have been huge improvements in recent times and yes, like anywhere else there are less desirable parts but I don't think the fact they're getting to try an incentive first should put them up for public flogging

how will they pay for the additional years and years of keeping people on benefits now that they're not gonna die of smoking related diseases?

false economy.

If they really wanted to do something pro active they would add 12.50 to the cost of cigs - that would bring a reduction. Prob cost more that 12.50 a person but would do something.

Flashman - I would pass a weekly carbon monoxide test - because I'm a non-smoker!

Well really, I see no merit in cigarettes being legal.
But they are. I would hate to see smoking become something that poorer people are priced out of because they just cant be trusted to make their own decisions.
If it's wrong, it's got to be wrong for everyone.

yes well when they took your start measurement it would show that you were not a smoker so why would they give you the extra cash?

Oh I'm sure I could manage a few fags first to get my £12.50!!!

By iCod on Sat 21-Jun-08 19:24:32
they cna save it yup to ge thte next train out of there

that should be quote of the week.....pmsl

i dont know how to do a link, its on the bbc news website, poor people will be given a card that will be credited with 12.50 for 12 weeks to use on groceries but not on fags and booze, another non starter me thinks

Message withdrawn

am sure it was but need I point out that was 30years ago and its been improved since then?

it has the world renound Welcome Trust Centre/ Ninewells Hosp/ two universities, its one of the leading places for Cancer Research - not forgetting Dolly the Sheep even the BBC finally recognised a city in Scotland north of Glasgow and Edinburgh by bringing one of its Big Weekends here 2 years ago/ surrounding areas hold very famous sporting and music events on an annual basis

I won't bother going on as I can see some won't be altered in their opinion which is a shame

erm. diz - the dundee bit is totally circumstantial - it could be basingstoke...

(stands back and waits for someone from basingstoke to get the wrong end of the stick)

I know Romy but its hardly a cultural desert with every person on benefits and smoking their lungs out either

was just trying to even it up slightly as those who hadn't been may have been given a false impression about it

fair play.

no particular issue with dundee here.

do object to general tossing of cash towards people who choose to smoke though.

Well if it comes in down here me and dp are both going back to the doctor and telling her we've started smoking agiain.

Thats £100 of shopping free a month - too good to pass up!

Dp and I talked about this last night

We considered taking up smoking

also if people have an extra £12.50 to spend on fresh fruit and veg, then they save existing £12.50 to spend on fags and booze so I reckon that £12.50 of their existing benefit should be credited to this card so they can't spend it on fags at all.

There are some very clever and devious devils out there that will abuse the system and those of us who work hard to make ends meet will continue to feel disadvantaged...

Anyway, I do hope it works and that those who want to give up but are finding it hard can find this incentive of benefit.

There is a lot going for Dundee, as well as the downsides, which you will find in any village/town/city

Yeap, me and DH too. We thought we'd take up smoking, and while we're at it, we'll split up. He'll go live in a flat along the road, I'll go part time so I can claim benefits, oh and dd will get her EMA, that's £30 a week, so she's laughing. And the kids can pop along the road between the two of us, so we can each get evenings out when it's our turn to be child free.... hey anyone want to join me in playing the system?!

I don't know whether or not this will work - but surely we have to try different approaches to smoking cessation? Dundee has one of the highest smoking rates in the country, and from public health point of view anythings worth a try. We already spend millions on smoking cessation schems which don't work - the £ for this is a drop in the ocean.

I do worry about folk abusing the system though. CO monitoring isn't particularly sensitive.

yes, we need to try different approaches to smoking cessation, but paying out to smokers shouldn't be one of them.

why not? Any other bright ideas?

because it's just asking for abuse, nervousal. and it's rewarding people who chose to participate in behaviour they knew could result in ill health when they took it up.

i used to smoke a pack a day. DH still smokes.

i think more of a stick approach is called for.

stick approach - what like charge them a fortune for it, ban then from doing it in public, turn them into social pariahs? Might work i suppose...

apparently, the ban's been causing levels of smoking to drop.

if you believe The Scotsman.

and, of course, shopkeepers are also going to have to hide cigarettes under the counter next year.

cigarette sales and vending machines to be prohibited in licensed premises as well.

I'm not saying that stick approaches don't work - just that we're already trying them. I think its worth a try - but think that it could be open to abuse.

There has been enough information in the public domain for years to enable people to realise that smoking is really bad for them. The generation who were conned into thinking that smoking brought health benefits must surely have coughed their way to an early grave by now??
People know it's bad for them. They choose to take it up. I agree with expat that rewarding them for this is hardly sensible! My understanding too is that the smoking ban in public places has caused a reduction in smoking. And even if it hasn't, it makes life a hell of a lot pleasanter for the majority who choose not to smoke, and don't want to smell of it either.
I'm all for trying new ideas - but this is a bloody joke; it's inviting abuse and is treating people as though they are incapable of taking a single ounce of personal responsibility.