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Number of Smokers in England Drops to All-Time Low

posted by martyb on Tuesday September 20 2016, @04:19PM   
from the How-much-did-folks-at-Stonehenge-smoke? dept.

Appalbarry writes:

In a sign that maybe there is hope for the survival of the human race, The Guardian reports that the number of cigarette smokers in the UK has dropped to less than 17%, the lowest number in half a century.

In 1974, over 50% of men in Britain were smokers; that had fallen to just 19.1% in England in 2015. Similarly, just over 40% of women smoked back then; last year it was only 14.9%.

There are now just 7.2 million adults in England who smoke. They are far outnumbered by 14.6 million ex-smokers. It is the first time that under 17% of the population are smokers and is down from the 19.3% seen as recently as 2012.

Interestingly the success rate for people trying to quit has jumped from 13.6% to around 20%.

Some of this may reflect the price of smokes - which look to be between £8 and £10 ($13 US) for a pack of twenty. (Canadian prices are sitting around $9-10 CDN)

And, in the interest of what passes for "balance" these days, there are groups that will dispute the health risks of smoking tobacco.

Disclaimer: Smoked for twenty+ years, mostly plain Camels. Yummmm..... Quit cold turkey.

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Original Submission

• Re:Fags Re:Fags (Score: 2) by MrNemesis on Tuesday September 20 2016, @07:42PM

  by MrNemesis (1582) on Tuesday September 20 2016, @07:42PM (#404432)

  Before cigarettes were sold in boxes/packs here, they were sold in cricular bundles wrapped in string or paper, later in tins. These resembled almost exactly bundles of firewood/sticks, or fascines which descend from the same root.
  https://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/html/images/Peru-Trip-13/cigar_bundle.jpg [cgarsltd.co.uk] (cigars only I'm afraid, couldn't find one of actual fags)
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascine [wikipedia.org]

  From the TVTropes definition linked below:

  Fag: Slang for a cigarette. Don't be alarmed if someone says they're going outside to "suck on a fag" or to "smoke a fag". The term stems from the word "faggot", one of its meanings being a bundle of sticks for firewood. These resembled the tied bundles of cigarettes commonly seen in tobacconists before cartons came into being. The Latin root of the word, fascis, means "bundle".

  The "British English" sections of some fantabulous online resources are also helpful for anyone feeling like reading more, or understanding how to use the term "wanker" correctly:
  http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/BritishEnglish [tvtropes.org]
  http://effingpot.com/chapters/ [effingpot.com]
  http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/f.htm [peevish.co.uk]

  (Full-time ex-smoker and part-time reader of etymology dictionaries here so I'm rather fond of the term. I've never heard the "loose piece of cloth" thing before and suspect it's incorrect)

  --
  "To paraphrase Nietzsche, I have looked into the abyss and been sick in it."

  Parent

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• Re:Fags (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @12:46AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @12:46AM (#404595)

  So cigarette smokers are fascists, then.

  Parent

• Re:Fags (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 21 2016, @03:13PM

  by FatPhil (863) <reversethis-{if.fdsa} {ta} {tnelyos-cp}> on Wednesday September 21 2016, @03:13PM (#404803) Homepage

  A friend, on landing in the US - "hey, can I bum a fag?" ("escuse me, may I request the donation of a cigarette, please?")

  --
  Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves

  Parent