Smokers can cause themselves serious health problems. The choice to smoke is made freely and with knowledge of dangers. Smokers should, therefore, expect to pay more for medical treatment than non-smokers. v.1

Smoking is scientifically proven to be harmful to both active and passive smokers. Governments all over the world have enforced strong regulations to curb its usage. While the initiative to charge more for medical expenses of a smoker is laudable, but I believe that this will be a clear discrimination of people's right in a democratic society. There are many situations where a medical problem has nothing to do whether a person smokes or not. For instance car accident where the injury is largely due to mistakes committed by either driver and has no relation with smoking. People in these cases should be treated with equality. Another example is viral flu or allergy where is smoking is not the root cause and it happens due to sudden changes in environmental conditions or can be caught on the fly. However, tobacco addicts should be penalised where the illness is closely related to tobacco intake. For instance lung cancer, this is caused due to the uncontrolled usage of tobacco over a continued period of time. In many countries, cigarette advertisements often flag message to caution its consumers against the harmful effects of its intake. Governments also arrange awareness programs and the world celebrates tobacco free day. But still these warnings and messages are ignored by chain smokers and they continue to ruin their own life and damage the ecosystem. To conclude, I believe that smokers should pay more in medical cases related to smoking only and they should be treated and charged with equality for any other disease. This will ensure their rights being a citizen of a democratic society.