YP Letters: So why isn't smoking finally banned outright?

Is the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses offset by the amount of tax paid when purchasing cigarettes?

I’M glad to say I have never smoked in my life (The Yorkshire Post, January 30). I see smoking is adding more than £150m a year to care costs in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Some care commissioning groups in the area are considering restricting healthcare to smokers who develop smoking-related illnesses.

I have a few questions which  I would be grateful if anyone could provide informed answers to.

Why does the Government allow life-threatening tobacco products to be sold to the public?

How much money does the Government make from tax on tobacco products sold in this region? If it’s more than £150m, it puts an interesting slant on the question.

Some smokers claim the  tax they pay on their smoking habit covers their NHS care, is there any truth in this? How much tax do they pay  nationally? Is this just another urban myth or is there some truth in it?

The sale of tobacco is like many other things that are wrong in the world.

They work on the logic, we know it’s wrong, but it’s been done for so long so we’ll carry on doing it.

What kind of logic is that?