Should smokers and binge drinkers be charged for using the NHS?

[ono]

Oh, come on now!

When you go to Yahoo they give you the choice of Guardian, Telegraph and the Daily Mail...I can't help but skim through them all. I can assure you all that I am not an avid Mail reader and often find myself at odds with their views when I do read. I thought this one might spark a little debate though and it has.

TBH it isn't an issue I have thought about too much, but on the surface can definitely see the merit in the view that if you drink 10 pints of beer plus shots and then need to go and get your stomach pumped, that you should fork out for the treatment yourself. Smoking I can kind of see a similar thing. Maybe smokers should pay higher NI premiums.

I can see the arguments on both sides and agree that it is a complicated issue, but it is clear that excessive alcohol consumption is a serious social problem in the UK. I wouldn't like to see anything banned myself, but Ono is right. You can walk through any large city in the UK on a saturday night and it is like a zombie filled apocalypse. It can be quite gruesome. I like to get drunk sometimes, but I'm not picking fights with anyone nor getting taken to the emergency room. I just go to bed and the people doing that are just fine and shouldn't need to concern themselves with medical costs and what have you. But those who overdo big time should probably shoulder some of the responsibility because they are just being foolish.

Now now Miles, don't be ashamed of your right-wing tendencies. No one will hold it against you. Lyle will be proud to have you on board.

As for the point in bold, how often do you walk through cities in the UK on a Saturday night? You live in Korea... do you have one of those machines from The Fly or something?

Would you say City centres on a Saturday night are pleasant places to be? Do you live in Narnia?

[BIG H]

miles,

should anorexics be treated on the NHS?
should depressed people be treated or just be told to snap out of it?

I think anorexia is a more complicated problem than the habitual drinker who gets drunk to oblivion 3 nights a week with his friends. Anorexics aren't costing the taxpayer 3 billion pounds a year and you can sympathise with their condition. It's difficult to sympathise with the habitual binge drinker. I don't regard myself as sick and I wouldn't expect anyone else to either. I regard binge drinking as more a social problem rather than a medical condition. Two nights a week is my limit and no more than half a dozen beers these days. To an extent I regulate myself and think other drinkers should too. To not do so is a bit silly.

In terms of depression, I think people should have access to medicine and pay towards it, but it's a relatively common condition. To an extent I do think people with depression should try to sort it out themselves, but if they want medicine then they should take it. Personally, I would choose not to. Life is what it is and you just have to deal with it, but that's my approach and am not suggesting that is right for everyone.

you mentioned obese people not being treated so I countered with anorexia. Both in my opinion are mental health issues and not just about someone being greedy or someone having a sulk and not eating.

in many instances people can help themselves but they have to have the tools and motivation to do it.

Miles, I think you'd like this book. Takes a really interesting view of some of the issues you raise and that others are bringing.

The Rainbow Machine by Andrew T. Austin

So true - petty that so few people acknowledge that!

[JazMerkin]

Would you say City centres on a Saturday night are pleasant places to be? Do you live in Narnia?

No, Lewisham

Anyway, shut it Billy-No-Mates, your loner views aren't wanted here

Anyway, I just find it interesting that Miles offers up an opinion on a country that he hasn't been in a couple of years. It's not so much this issue, more that his view is garnered off second hand sources, I thought something similar when he was talking about immigration over here.

Anyway, not that it matters, as the right-wing dictator he is he has no need to answer to me, the little man

[Gandalf]

Would you say City centres on a Saturday night are pleasant places to be? Do you live in Narnia?

No, Lewisham

Anyway, shut it Billy-No-Mates, your loner views aren't wanted here

Anyway, I just find it interesting that Miles offers up an opinion on a country that he hasn't been in a couple of years. It's not so much this issue, more that his view is garnered off second hand sources, I thought something similar when he was talking about immigration over here.

Anyway, not that it matters, as the right-wing dictator he is he has no need to answer to me, the little man

But the country wouldn't have changed that much in the few years I have been away. Excessive drinking has been a problem in the UK for as long as I can remember, and I was part of that for a time. I have seen the havoc myself and a news article simple reinforces my views in that regard, even if it is the Daily Mail. You can go to the BBC and see similar articles about Brits drinking to excess too. The problem exists and I don't see why you are taking issue with my perspective.

[JazMerkin]

Would you say City centres on a Saturday night are pleasant places to be? Do you live in Narnia?

No, Lewisham

Anyway, shut it Billy-No-Mates, your loner views aren't wanted here

Anyway, I just find it interesting that Miles offers up an opinion on a country that he hasn't been in a couple of years. It's not so much this issue, more that his view is garnered off second hand sources, I thought something similar when he was talking about immigration over here.

Anyway, not that it matters, as the right-wing dictator he is he has no need to answer to me, the little man

But the country wouldn't have changed that much in the few years I have been away. Excessive drinking has been a problem in the UK for as long as I can remember, and I was part of that for a time. I have seen the havoc myself and a news article simple reinforces my views in that regard, even if it is the Daily Mail. You can go to the BBC and see similar articles about Brits drinking to excess too. The problem exists and I don't see why you are taking issue with my perspective.

I didn't say I disagreed with you on this, there is a binge-drinking problem, however of course a country changes. Also the media will always play things up, do you really think there's paedophile Islamic fundamentalists waiting to stab grannies to death & record it on their mobiles?

I actually think one benefit of the recession is that it has decreased marginally the 'booze Britain' behaviour, as a lot of them can't afford to go out to a city centre & get pissed & violent. They're doing at home on the cheap now

[Gandalf]

No, Lewisham

Anyway, shut it Billy-No-Mates, your loner views aren't wanted here

Anyway, I just find it interesting that Miles offers up an opinion on a country that he hasn't been in a couple of years. It's not so much this issue, more that his view is garnered off second hand sources, I thought something similar when he was talking about immigration over here.

Anyway, not that it matters, as the right-wing dictator he is he has no need to answer to me, the little man

But the country wouldn't have changed that much in the few years I have been away. Excessive drinking has been a problem in the UK for as long as I can remember, and I was part of that for a time. I have seen the havoc myself and a news article simple reinforces my views in that regard, even if it is the Daily Mail. You can go to the BBC and see similar articles about Brits drinking to excess too. The problem exists and I don't see why you are taking issue with my perspective.

I didn't say I disagreed with you on this, there is a binge-drinking problem, however of course a country changes. Also the media will always play things up, do you really think there's paedophile Islamic fundamentalists waiting to stab grannies to death & record it on their mobiles?

I actually think one benefit of the recession is that it has decreased marginally the 'booze Britain' behaviour, as a lot of them can't afford to go out to a city centre & get pissed & violent. They're doing at home on the cheap now

No, I don't believe that there are too many peodophile Islamic fundamentalists to be worrying about. One of the first things I will do this summer when I come home is to go downtown at 3am for a kebab and check and make sure that there are lots of drunk people. I might even count them. I will also be on the lookout for thieving Romanian gypsy children which I have never seen before. I heard about them in a BBC documentary and they seem to be a new thing that has developed in my absence. Not to keen on the sound of them. I think the scariest thing about Britain would have to be the traditional indigenous children. Apparently they roam the streets like packs of wolves and eat old ladies.

[Gandalf]

I always recall drinking to be a serious social problem when I last lived in the UK, but since I have been away the Guardian tells us that hospital admissions for alcohol related issues have actually icreased 69%. That's huge. I can't believe people are resistant to the idea that people should take responsibility for their own drinking or else pay an additional cost.

Soaring levels of alcohol consumption and obesity mar Labour's NHS record | Society | The Observer

[ono]

Would you say City centres on a Saturday night are pleasant places to be? Do you live in Narnia?

No, Lewisham

Anyway, shut it Billy-No-Mates, your loner views aren't wanted here

Anyway, I just find it interesting that Miles offers up an opinion on a country that he hasn't been in a couple of years. It's not so much this issue, more that his view is garnered off second hand sources, I thought something similar when he was talking about immigration over here.

Anyway, not that it matters, as the right-wing dictator he is he has no need to answer to me, the little man

[awdleyfuturehalloffamer]

Should idiots who came up with this bs be jailed.