Smoke and Mirrors?
The Australian Federal Government has increased the tobacco excise by 25% (yay!) and is also legislating that cigarettes must be sold in new, “plain” packaging stripped of trademarks and pretty colours. The reasoning is that by making cigarettes more expensive, and less pretty, it will be less attractive for people to take it up. If you have a look around in some of the comment threads on news stories, you’ll see that some folks are saying that if we do this to tobacco, we should be doing this to alcoholic drinks as well. You’ll also see folks saying that if we’re not going to do it to alcoholic drinks, we shouldn’t be doing it to smokes as well. Should we be treating them the same? Is tobacco blinding us to another very real danger? What are the stats on Alcohol Vs Tobacco, and their cost to society? If you take up smoking in your late teens (as many do, legal age 18), and keep going throughout your adult life, you’ve got a 50% chance of DYING from tobacco related illness, such as heart disease, respiratory illness, cancer, or any other number of the lovely full-colour conditions we see on cigarette packets. In 2001, that was estimated at 7,820. 45% of deaths are from cancer, and 37% of deaths are from various types of heart disease. in 2004-2005, smoking cost us $669.6 million dollars in hospitalisation.
Let’s contrast that with the consumption of alcohol. If you take up drinking in your late teens (as many do, and again the legal age is 18 here in Aus) and keep going through your adult life, what’s your chance of dying from an alcohol-related cause? Well, according to the Alcohol and Drug Information Service, over 3000 people died of alcohol related causes. This, I presume, is everything from your liver packing it in, to being shitfaced behind the wheel and running into a stobie pole. According to the gummint, hospitalisation costs $1,555.3 million in the 2004/2005 financial year.
So, about twice as many people die from smoking each year than do from alcohol-related causes. Smoking costs us a lot less in hospitalisation than alcohol does. You know what? About 75-85% of the country’s population over 14 drinks. It’s between 20% and 30% for smoking. So, smoking is about half to a third of the number, but kills twice as many people. It costs half as much, but if we convert that to a per percentage of population (using the lower end of the bracket for each) we end up with $18.3 million per 1% of the population hospitalised for alcohol, and $33.48 million per 1% of the population for smoking. Drinking costs about 55% of what smoking does, per person.
This is where we ask is it possible to consume either of these substances responsibly? Yes, or no? Well, yes for alcohol and a bit of both for smoking. If you drink responsibly you might be lowering your blood pressure and improving your wellbeing. For example, I have a glass or two of wine maybe two to three times a week before and during dinner, and I might have a very small bourbon (usually only a half shot) if I’m feeling really indulgent, but that’s maybe once a fortnight or when we have company, which is even less often. My “big night out” is usually Friday night, where we go to the pub, and I’ll have a pint or two of beer, and maybe a bourbon. We’re talking about 5 standards here: I’d call this responsible drinking. I have reformed much in the last few years. I’m not putting my health at risk, and I’m not putting my safety of that or anyone else at risk by drinking so much that I can’t make sensible decisions. Mind you (and this is where it all falls down) – a lot of people choose to consume alcohol irresponsibly. This is because they are nongs, and will always do things irresponsibly.
Can you consume tobacco responsibly? Well…. tobacco is chock full of carcinogens (just one example), and every time you smoke you’re raising the risk of developing cancer. I have been known to smoke the odd cigar myself, and feel that the risk I take of developing cancer by smoking a cigar every six months or so is comparable to that of being hit by an out of control bus when I walk down the street. In that sense, it is possible to consume tobacco “safely” – one cigar every six months is unlikely to kill me. It might, but it’s unlikely.
So, a glass of wine every other night? Probably not gonna kill me. If I smoked a cigar, or a cigarette every other day? That’s getting dangerous. And this is why, ladies and gents, tobacco and alcohol get treated differently.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Emma Muhlack. Emma Muhlack said: Learning Leet:: Smoke and Mirrors? http://www.actualresultsmayvary.com/blog/2010/05/02/smoke-and-mirrors/ [...]
Hi there can I use some of the information from this blog if I link back to you?
Yeah, cos that’s gonna happen…