Anti Smoking Cuts Could Cost Lives And Money

this is a false economy which should be resisted

New York which leads the way in smoking cessation initiatives for its citizens is having to cut back on its anti tobacco crusade because of financial considerations to balance the state budget deficit. Ten million dollars is being cut from the program used to fund anti smoking programs which is likely to mean an end to advertisements on television and billboard advertising.

A lot of people are saying that by cutting the advertising budget they will cost the city more in health care and therefore this is a false economy which should be resisted. For example the Center for a Tobacco Free New York warned that if funding for nicotine replacement therapy and other smoking cessation aids was cut more people would start smoking again and this would lead to more illnesses.

On the other side of the argument the New York City Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment claimed that these smoking cessation initiatives had not proven to be of any serious benefit. In fact they are wrong because research shows that thousands of people have quit and therefore lives have been saved in New York directly as a result of the anti smoking legislation brought in.

Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of illness in the western world and costs economies millions of pounds every year not only in increased health care costs but also in lack of productivity due to illness. Possibly what the New York health commissioners should be doing is looking at ways of spending their budget more effectively but cutting back on measures which prevent illness may save a little bit of money in the short term but will always end up costing more money in the long term.

New York City was one of the first places in the world to ban smoking in public places and under Mayor Bloomberg has one of the most aggressive anti smoking campaigners.