To increase the healthcare expense for the smokers.

We often see that health and wealth are compromised when buying cigarettes and smoking them despite dire consequences. Although smokers are risking their lives, I tend to wholeheartedly disagree with the idea of overburdening smokers for their medical care due to the following reasons. First, tobacco production and smoking both seem to have legal protection. Resultantly, tobacco companies are producing billions of cigarettes, possibly attracting aspiring smokers and ultimately leading them to fatal health diseases. Even if the financial penalty is in place, it may never stop smokers from quitting it. In most countries, even though the cost of smoking products seems extravagant, the number of smokers tends to be drastically increasing every year since they are legal and conveniently available. So, only targeting the end-users with the financial burden for their treatment may seem unfair. Similarly, smokers are the ones who may pay more taxes to their government on every purchase of cigarette packs, which may not be the case with non-smokers. The government usually receives billions from these taxes for the welfare of the country. Hence, smokers should be a liability to the government to receive medical care as equally as non-smokers receive from state-run hospitals. In many countries, the proportion of taxes on smoking products is between 50 and 200 percent. It may mean more health liability for them. Finally, not only smoking but alcoholic drinks could also be responsible for any fatal diseases. Only victimizing smokers with an extra-financial penalty may be unfair on moral grounds. We often see both smokers and alcohol consumers falling into some diseases like cancer and may require similar treatment. So, any financial discrepancy for smokers can become a human right violation. To conclude, it is imperative to understand that any social discrimination does not seem like a solution to smoking. I think such an act will do more harm than good.