Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 151 posts

Re: Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

#111

Post by burfog »

mabbo wrote: post #4

The only measure that has ever been shown to work to reduce smoking is to make smoking less affordable. Tax cigarettes and people smoke less. Tax them highly and kids sure can't afford them. It's more politically easy to put money into paying celebrities to beg kids not to smoke, but it's not actually effective. It's just theater so politicians can say they tried. Here, Greece is seeing the affordability fall just be…

Other stuff works too. Australia mostly killed branding by enforcing plain packages, and they added images of what smoking can do to you. It worked.

Varying the images matters, so that people don't tune them out. It is best to focus on sex appeal: wrinkles, erectile dysfunction, nasty teeth, etc. The next best thing is to focus on the harm to children, both unborn and living in the house.

Re: Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

#112

Post by elorant »

The one thing the article fails to mention is that electronic cigarette usage in Greece has skyrocketed the last years. E-cigarette shops are popping everywhere, I know at least four in a mile radius from where I live.

And while cigarette taxes have raised considerably, the prices aren't that high because many people smoke tobacco which costs around 7,5 euro for a pack of 30 grams that lasts for days.

Re: Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

#113

Post by tmnvix »

DanBC wrote: post #87
thatcat wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nicotine can act as an antidepressant/antipsychotic; cigarettes are a cheap, widely available form that requires no additional equiptment except a lighter.

People with psychosis tend to die 20 years earlier than the general population. One of the reason is that people with some types of psychosis smoke a lot. They smoke more cigarettes, and smoke them more deeply, than they general population. If they're medicated the hydrocarbons in burnt tobacco interact with antipsychotic medication, making it less effective, meaning they need more meds. And antipsychotic meds can be…

> People with psychosis tend to die 20 years earlier than the general population. One of the reason is that people with some types of psychosis smoke a lot.

Is this a significant reason relative to suicide amongst psychotics?

Re: Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

#114

Post by perseusprime11 »

mabbo wrote: post #4

The only measure that has ever been shown to work to reduce smoking is to make smoking less affordable. Tax cigarettes and people smoke less. Tax them highly and kids sure can't afford them. It's more politically easy to put money into paying celebrities to beg kids not to smoke, but it's not actually effective. It's just theater so politicians can say they tried. Here, Greece is seeing the affordability fall just be…

Still cant understand why we cant simply ban them.

Re: Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

#116

Post by newbie912 »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #58
WalterBright wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two or three decades back Canada tried high cigarette taxes to reduce smoking. A black market promptly appeared, complete with smuggling across the border and drive by shootings, until the tax was lowered back. (During WW2 which had extensive gas rationing, a black market for that appeared as well, and (you guessed it) drive by shootings.) Of course, today we have the failed war on drugs, with drive by shootings. The…

The high cigarette tax works in Australia. Smuggling across the border is a bit difficult being an island and guns are relatively rare.

Cigarette taxation in Canada depends a lot on provincial jurisdiction and with no inter-provincial borders it makes enforcement against smuggling tough

Re: Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

#117

Post by Hasz »

yesenadam wrote: post #100
Hasz wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easily, although maybe I should clarify. I probably should have written "objectively positive". People's enjoyment is entirely subjective. What I enjoy and what you enjoy are probably different sets.

Well, I don't think that's clarifying so much as saying something different. So you don't include pleasure in your list of positive things? That's..odd. "Apart from it feeling good, there's nothing good about experience X" can probably be applied to most things in life. Sex. Music. Art. Ice cream. etc. The question is, why would you want to exclude pleasure? "What I enjoy and what you enjoy are probably different set…

I don't include pleasure in my list of objective positive things.

"What I enjoy and what you enjoy are probably different sets." is relevant insofar as pleasure is subjective, which is the opposite of objective.

When I wrote the original comment, I was not specific enough too include objective, which I should have.

Didn't downvote you by the way.

Re: Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

#118

Post by fjsolwmv »

oAlbe wrote: post #74
Gustomaximus wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many countries now have rules where the packets of cigarette show people suffering serious health concerns. This is also said to work well. I'm also sure no smoking indoors or on public streets laws works to reduce smoking well too.

It doesn't. A packet cover (yes, they make cigarette packets covers) costs 2 Euros, and smokers don't seem to be concerned about the disgusting images they put on the packets. With all the added benefits that everybody at the table with a smoker gets to enjoy the view of a gangrenous foot with a missing finger or a black lung destroyed by tar and nicotine whenever the smoker pulls out the packet and places it on the…

For a nonsmoker, the smoker himself is far more disgusting than the picture on the packet. It's a bit backtaking to be reminded that there are still backward places where smoking is legal in public.

Re: Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

#119

Post by fjsolwmv »

perseusprime11 wrote: post #114
mabbo wrote: post #4

The only measure that has ever been shown to work to reduce smoking is to make smoking less affordable. Tax cigarettes and people smoke less. Tax them highly and kids sure can't afford them. It's more politically easy to put money into paying celebrities to beg kids not to smoke, but it's not actually effective. It's just theater so politicians can say they tried. Here, Greece is seeing the affordability fall just be…

Still cant understand why we cant simply ban them.

Fundamental civil rights? It's wrong to punish someone for anything beyond harming other people's

Re: Greeks are abandoning cigarettes in record numbers

#120

Post by codefined »

twic wrote: post #108
copper_think wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Her Majesty's Revenue Collector ?

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Roughly speaking, revenue being taxes on what you earn, and customs being taxes on what you buy. There used to be separate departments for each, but they were merged years ago. This was a slightly odd move, as the revenue were people who were good at doing very detailed analysis of paper trails, whereas customs were people who were good at kicking down smugglers' doors.

Isn't that a logical move? Allow a single department to both gather and act on the information, rather than disparate departments that have to try to work together?
Post reply on HN