A Consideration of Public Policy to Reduce Smoking

784 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Banning smoking in public places

A Consideration of Public Policy to Reduce Smoking

Government justification for its attempts to reduce smoking are based

around the key points that:

* Smoking damages health and increasing the price of a packet of

cigarettes will reduce the number of smokers.

* Revenues raised from the tax on tobacco will help to offset costs

to the National Health Service from smoking related illnesses.

a) Price elasticity of demand measures how much quantity demanded

responds to changes in the price. The price elasticity of demand for a

packet of cigarettes is about 0.4, this is an example of a product

with an inelastic demand (because p.e.d<1). If the government wants to

reduce smoking by 20% then the price of cigarettes must be increased

by 50%. The price of cigarettes is currently £2.00 (50% 0f £2.00 is

£1.00 ), meaning that the new price should be £3.00. The method of

calculating this increase in price is shown below along with an

example of an inelastic demand curve.

[IMAGE]

b) If the Government permanently increases the price of cigarettes,

the policy will have a far greater effect in five years time than in

one years time. This is because cigarettes are a drug that are more

addictive than many illegal drugs. Products with an inelastic demand

are considered to be a necessity rather than a luxury which further

emphasises the point that smokers simply cannot live without

cigarettes. The inelasticity of cigarettes shows that there are few

close substitutes, only rolling tobacco, pipe tobacco and cigars are

currently available as alternatives and, like cigarettes, are

extremely bad for your health. This means that they too are likely to

have their prices increased alongside cigarettes. An increase in the

price of cigarettes, however, is definitely not going to entice more

people to start smoking and it is here that the real benefits of an

increased price will be seen. If less people start smoking now, then

in only a few years time we will notice a drastic decline in the total

Show More
Related

  • Annotated Bibliography: Cigarette Smoking Bans

    1570 Words  | 4 Pages

    Renneboog, R. M. (2016). Cigarette Smoking Bans: An Overview. Canadian Points Of View: Cigarette Smoking Bans, 1.

    Read More

  • America’s Reliance on Fossil Fuels

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1908, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) predicted that the total future supply of U.S. oil would not exceed 23 billion barrels. In 1914, the U.S. Bureau of Mines predicted that only 5.7 billion barrels of oil remained. In 1920, the USGS proclaimed the peak in U.S. oil production was almost reached. In 1939, the Department of Interior declared that there was only 13 years of oil production remaining. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter claimed, “We are now running out of oil.” Despite these predictions, the U.S. has produced over 200 billion barrels of oil since the early 1900’s. (The Futurist, 1997)

    Read More

  • Smoking Case Study Essay

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    Smoking is terrible, or science has yet to discover any medical advantages connected with it. You'd have a hard time discovering somebody that would contend against this thought. While most normal individuals comprehend this idea, there is Surgeon General the United States, who has a message stamped on each tobacco item sold in the country. On the off chance that stopping is the point then we as a general public need to go for the proverbial jugular, and that is smoking tobacco is fatal. In promotion crusades and print ads we see numerous obstructions that would ideally keep individuals from smoking cigarettes. From "not being cool" to "yuck, you possess an aroma similar to cigarettes", what's being sugarcoated is the moderate demise that every drag from a cigarette brings on the human

    Read More

  • A Critique of Arguments Against Taking Future Generations Into Account

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    it is a matter of how we are able to live over the next couple of

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Isolation In Various Literature

    2525 Words  | 6 Pages

    Compare this to the 2000 the year before. I hope there is still time to prevent

    Read More

  • America’s Dependence on Foreign Oil

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every year the demand for oil grows, and the amount the U.S. produces decreases while the amount of oil America imports increases. In 1994 the oil imported from OPEC members was about 1,400,000 thousand barrels in 2008 it was about 2,200,000 thousand barrels. The amount of American oil imported from non-OPEC members was roughly 1,700,000 thousand of barrels to 3,000,000 thousand barrels. According to eia.doe.gov the U.S. imported roughly between 4,000,000 and 4,500,000 thousands of barrels of oil in 2010. All this boiled down means that the U.S. imports more than half of all its oil. And at the current rate the U.S. spends roughly $13 million dollars on oil per hour. Furthering its impact on our economy the NRDC found that roughly 1/5 of our trade deficit stems from imported oil. Every day the U.S. loses $390 million to foreign oil, money that could be spent on the United States’ infrastructure, or helping to get the U.S. out of its recession. This is money that is most likely not going to be reinvested in America and will only further our deficit. Another problem outside our spending is the fact that we are importing from some highly unstable nations...

    Read More

  • Witchcraft

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    In those two hundred years it has been estimated that anywhere from 200,000 to 9,000,000 peop...

    Read More

  • Public Health Issue: Smoking

    2016 Words  | 5 Pages

    This essay is aimed to explore, analyse and discuss smoking in adults. Smoking is a public health issue as such is one of the major contributors to high mortality and ill-health in the adults which is preventable (Health and Excellence Care (NICE) (2012). The United Kingdom (UK) is known to have the highest number of people with a history of smoking among people with low socio-economic status (Scriven and Garman, 2006; Goddard and Green, 2005). Smoking is considered a serious epidemic in the UK and the National institute for Health and Excellence Care (NICE, 2012) stated that 28% of adults with low economic status are tobacco smokers compared with 13% of those with economic status or having professional incomes. Furthermore almost 80,000 people died in England in 2011 as a result of smoking related issues and 9,500 admissions of children died due to being second hand smokers (WHO, 2005). This essay focuses on definition of smoking, the aim is to underline the relationship between smoking and the determinants of health and then, the size, prevalence, and morbidity trend of smoking will be explored. Furthermore, some public health policies introduced to confront the issues around smoking will be investigated and finally, the roles of nurses will identify health needs the public so as to promote good health and their wellbeing.

    Read More

  • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

    3909 Words  | 8 Pages

    This would seem to be an astounding figure, but when the figure of the total

    Read More

  • A Proposal to Ban Smoking in Public Areas

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every year, there are over 400,000 smoking-related deaths in the United States. A large percentage of these are due to lung cancer, whose leading cause is smoking. However, not all deaths are smokers themselves. Anyone in the vicinity can fall victim to second hand smoke. These people, through no action of their own, can have their lives threatened.

    Read More

  • Banning Cigarettes

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    This year alone cigarettes will kill over 420,000 Americans, and many more will suffer from cancers, and circulatory and respiratory system diseases. These horrible illnesses were known to come from cigarettes for years. Recently the Food and Drug Administration declared nicotine, the main chemical in cigarettes, addictive. This explains why smokers continue to use cigarettes even though smokers are aware of the constantly warned about health dangers in cigarettes. Some researchers have also found out that smoking by pregnant women causes the deaths of over 5,000 babies and 115,000 miscarriages. The only way to get rid of the suffering and loss of life by cigarettes is to ban them. . For years cigarettes have been known to cause cancer, emphysema, and other horrible illnesses. The deaths of over 420,000 of Americans this year will be do to cigarettes. With all the other causes of deaths, alcohol, illegal drugs, AIDS, suicide, transportation accidents, fires, and guns, cigarettes still count for more deaths than those do combined. We can’t stand and watch people die because they smoke cigarettes. Thousands of smokers try to rid themselves of cigarettes but can't because of additive nicotine. Nicotine was recently declared addictive by the Food and Drug Administration, which explains why many smokers continue to smoke despite the health warnings on cigarette smoking. Nicotine makes it almost impossible for cigarette smokers to quit smoking because of its addictive nature, and with the cigarette manufacturers putting just enough nicotine in the so they cant be outlawed. The benefits of outlawing cigarettes greatly outnumber the disadvantages, for example, many scientists believe a link between smoking and a shortened life span exists between the two, a ban on cigarettes could increase life spans. Many studies suggest that billions of dollars now spent on smoking related. Smoking related illnesses could be reduced by outlawing cigarettes, families could save money by not purchasing cigarettes, and accidental fires costing millions of dollars caused by cigarettes would stop. Although a complete ban on cigarettes currently remains almost impossible, several organizations recently helped create a bill that could control cigarettes much in the same way the government now controls drugs. One such organization, the Food and Drug Administration, headed by David Kesslar drafted a major part, which would require manufacturers to disclose the 700 chemical additives in cigarettes, reduce the level of harmful chemicals, require cigarette companies to warn of the addictive nicotine, restrict tobacco advertising and promotion, and control the level of nicotine cigarettes contain.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech: Solar Power

    1587 Words  | 4 Pages

    A. Scientists predict that in the next several decades the world will run out of oil. According to the article How Fast is the World Running out of Crude Oil by Umut Newbury accessed from the EBSCO Host database states that

    Read More

  • Informative Speech: Recycling May Be Bad For the Environment

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    a.     Firstly, we are not in danger of running out of landfill space. According to Jay Lehr PhD, in the April issue of public policy magazine, Intellectual Ammunition, ?all the garbage we will generate in the next 10 centuries will require less than 35 square miles to a height of only 300 feet.? Also, according to Daniel Benjamin of PERC Reports, ?the United States has more landfill space then ever before.?

    Read More

  • Smoking Ban - Smoking In Public Places

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    Have you ever been in your favorite restaurant and just as you are about to take a bite of your favorite dish, your lungs are filled with a cloud of smoke which has drifted to your table from the smoking section just a few feet away? This is a common complaint of many patrons who enjoy dining at restaurants. While it is true that the smoke from cigarettes causes many health problems, is it fair to take away the freedom of Americans who wish to smoke? Even as compromises can be made on this subject, the majority of people stand by their strong opinions on whether smoking should be allowed in restaurants.

    Read More

  • The Debate Over Banning Smoking in Public Places

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Debate Over Banning Smoking in Public Places In my opinion I think smoking should banned from public places. My reasons for this are; People who smoke should be considerate of that fact that not only are they damaging their own existing health but also they are harming the others around them who are only breathing in the tobacco smoke. During the past ten years of tests, experiments etc. on the effect of smoking both directly and passive, there is now enough scientific

    Read More

More about A Consideration of Public Policy to Reduce Smoking

Open Document