Man Alive

Can We Give It Up? (1971x6)

Air date: Feb 10, 1971

Nobody disputes our democratic right to poison ourselves, if we choose to, with nicotine. But have we any choice in the matter? For every £1 spent on telling the public about its harmful effect, £180 are spent suggesting the contrary - cigarettes are glamorous; with coupons, even profitable. The weed kills 27,000 smokers, between 35 and 64, every year. They and the survivors contribute £100 million, every year, to the Treasury. The national sickness caused by nicotine pays for the National Health. This programme is not a debate about whether or not smoking causes cancer or kills people. That's no longer a real argument. This is about persuasion and its problems. Can we give it up - can we afford to give it up? Can we be sold into stopping the habit that kills - but is hard to break - cigarette smoking?