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Comment by barbazoo | Hacker News Reader

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barbazoo·

What would you do differently to solve the problem?

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With 8% of NZ smoking and that number apparently falling, can you state the problem?

Lower tax revenues and tobacco profits?

> She added that the legislation could close the life expectancy between Maori and non-Maori citizens. The overall smoking rate for Maori citizens is at 19.9% - down from last year's figure of 22.3%.

8% among general population but 19.9% among Maori.

And falling rapidly.

Could you point me to the numbers that suggest a rapid fall over time or are you implying it based on the change over the course of one year mentioned in the article?

The latter.

Yes, the dark people can't look after themselves, we know better.

That link of thinking has always gone very well in the past.

For me, the only way to reduce smoking and drug usage is through education -- prohibitions just end up increasing the black market, violence and incarceration rates.

Educate educate educate. Don't even try to solve this within generation, this is something which need to be really through generations. Educate people how bad cigarettes are for them and others and you can use also soft propaganda as painting smokers as bad people in media etc instead straight up banning smoking, you can just make smoking extremely appalling.

There isn't a problem.

There is a huge problem.

Young people are still taking up smoking in large numbers.

It is not uniform: The children of smokers are much more likely to smoke.

I am unsure this is the correct approach, but the health and economic impacts are huge.

What problem?... that 8%?

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