A professor in Australia believes smokers should be forced to pay for licences that limits the amount of tobacco one can buy in a shop. So what’s all this about?
What’s the story with smokers needing a licence to smoke? Is that actually becoming law?
Luckily for the Smokey Joe’s out there the idea of needing a licence in order to smoke is just a proposal that’s come from a leading Australian professor. Simon Chapman, professor of public health at the University of Sydney, has come up the new radical idea that’s aimed at giving people a practical disincentive to stop smoking.
So you’ll basically need a licence for permission to smoke?
Well, not quite. Not having a licence won’t see you getting arrested for smoking, but it will stop you from purchasing cigarettes from a shop. The licence restricts the amount of tobacco that one can purchase over a given period of time. So Professor Chapman’s idea would mean licence holders would be restricted to buying just 50 cigarettes a day, or less. You’ll also have to renew your licence every year and there’s been no word of how much exactly that would cost.
Oh right. But how is it going to stop you from smoking? What’s the ‘practical disincentive’ you were talking about?
Well the practical disincentive is the fact that you’ll have to jump through smoke hoops just for a cigarette. However, the biggest incentive that the scheme has to offer is your money back. Chapman’s idea would mean those who quit, and who could prove they were off the smokes for good, would get their licence money back once they surrendered their licence.
What kind of hoops will you have to jump through?
Before your given a licence you’ll need to sit a theory test… yes, like your driving test. You’ll be quizzed on the health risks associated with smoking and you’ll only be given a licence once you show that you truly know the dangers involved. If you pass you pay the licence fee and you’ll then be given your ticket to a fresh box of 20.
Is it likely to become law?
We wouldn’t put it past the Aussies. They’ve been trying to clamp down on tobacco use for the past number of years now and if they planned this idea right it could very well work. We’ll just have to wait and see…
