#NewZealand stopping #smokingBan - some thoughts:

• #smoking gives most governments tax income
• follow-up costs of smoking are covered by health insurances and/or individual cost for #health care
• smoking often goes along with average lower education and/or psychological problems getting off addictive substances (or not starting with them at all)

To put it together my impression is that politics are corrupted by the tax income from selling cigarettes. The additional tax money is paid by people needing help, because they do not understand how bad smoking is for there health or they are not able to get away from the #addiction by themself. For each Cent tax incoming from cigarettes politics are willing to let shareholders of cigarette companies take their share. All the bill in the end is paid by the health systems.

This all seems like a scheme to take money out of the health system and divert it to shareholders and tax.

The suffering of the people getting ill from smoking is not even part of this equation.

I bet taking a closer look at who pays most of the costs for smoking by money and lifetime and who gains from the things financed by states with the additional tax money does even paint a darker picture.

That the dividend paid to shareholders can only make the riches richer is the obvious part.