Opinion

The post-millennial generation does know better. We have had endless amounts of education telling us why that puff and drag isn’t worth the Pinterest aesthetic. Yet at almost every social event, whether a party or just out to dinner, there’s always one 20-something-year-old who pulls out a dart and instantly ruins my mood.

The smell of tobacco makes my skin crawl and the thought of someone else’s bad decisions also affecting my health angers me. I love the fresh air and living a healthy lifestyle so when someone else’s passive smoke goes into my lungs, they’re increasing my chances of cancer, at no fault of my own.

I can’t even finish a cup of tea on my balcony without some selfish person sending tobacco smoke my way.

Do smokers realise how inconvenient it is for everyone around them?

You smell!

I’m just constantly asking myself why?

Why when you know the consequences of all kinds of cancers, speeding up your aging process, heart disease, stroke and endless more, would you still choose to inhale it?

One third of smokers die 20 years younger than they statistically would have.

They’re also making themselves physically less attractive. Yellow teeth, bad breath and skin problems and if you’re cute and you pick up a cigarette, you’re not cute anymore.

Also, Australia is the most expensive place to buy a pack of durries and that price is continuing to increase, going up again by 12.5 per cent on September 1, 2020.

A pack a day smoker will now spend over $10,000 a year to fund their disgusting habit.

When I voice my opinion to smokers their response is always “well what’s it to you?” To this I say, well when you’re in the hospital with your self-inflicted illness, my tax has to pay for you.

In Queensland, the cost of smokers for the community is estimated at $6.3billion per annum.

So yes, it concerns me.

In Japan, people are forced to smoke in smokers’ boxes away from the general public. Australia should do the same. Let’s put them all in a box of shame to poison each other and not have them poison us.

I would love the government to just ban it all together but realistically they are addicted to the revenue they get off people’s smoking addictions.

The total federal revenue from tobacco products in 2019 was $12,147million.

There is some good news. The rate of adult daily smoking has decreased by 3.9 per cent per annum since 2009. It’s still not enough. Especially young adults, who have had it drilled into them in schools and through TV adverts that smoking kills.

Please just quit.

Quitline: 13 QUIT (13 7848)