You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
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. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer 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.
Sample Answer 2:
Smoking addicts possess themselves with severe health issues. Most of them choose to smoke independently and with being aware of health threats. Thereby the awareness of it has to induce them to pay attention to their health. A vast number of patients are getting ill unwillingly, the smokers, on the other hand, are getting ill knowingly. Hence it is justified that they should be charged more for their treatment. This is mainly because it would at least give them a reason to quit smoking.
Smoking is one of the most crucial perils to humankind. This poison does not expose at first times of using it. The invisibility of it makes it difficult to perceive if suspect consumes it by the people of their environment. The only obvious effect is the bad odour of cigarettes. Although companies have found out a way to solve this problem by putting a gum at the end of each cigarette to chew after smoking, by this way the unpleasant odour has been refused easily. Unfortunately, dangers are not gone by the odour. With the passage of time, smoking occupies lungs, then kidneys, heart and all the system. This poison takes the victim to the hands of death slowly and patiently.
In spite of all the notions and warnings of government, hospitals, televisions the person of abuse wants the more when he smokes the more. There should be a strict regulation so that smokers are inspired to quit smoking. Imposing a higher treatment fee can be one of such initiatives that would force the smokers to quit their nasty habit.
Nonetheless, the government and hospitals have to do their jobs and continue to make awareness of hazards of smoking. As the well-known saying ‘prevention is better than cure’ teaches us that being able to prevent the people from smoking is far more beneficial than charging more for their treatment.