Niall Hunter speaks of a new trend in the US that may be on its way to being exported to other nations . . . smokers who won’t quit sacked. More and more companies are concerned with the rising cost of healthcare for their employees (US health insurance is predominately supported from the workplace rather than from public or governmental concerns) and are banning smoking by employees not only on the job but off the job in the privacy of their own homes as well:

A US company has caused controversy by banning smoking among its 200 employees, not only during work but even when they are not at work. Weyco Inc. in Michigan recently sacked four workers after they refused to submit to a smoking breath test in light of the company’s new policy that bans tobacco among its 200 employees during work and outside work. The company has said that people can smoke if they choose to but they cannot be hired or continue to work for Weyco, a medical benefits administrator, if they smoke. However, Irish employers say it is unlikely that such a strict anti-smoking policy will be introduced here,even though we were the first country in the world to introduce a smoking in the workplace ban. Two years ago Weyco decided it would no longer hire smokers and told current employees who smoked that they had 15 months to quit. It offered cessation classes and paid for treatments such as hypnotism and acupuncture. Following this, it banned smoking from its property and began doing breath tests to see if employees smoked. If they tested positive, they were fined if they were not enrolled in a cessation programme. Recently, the company tested all its employees again; four people opted not to have the test and were let go. The company.

At least the company offered to pay for stop smoking program options as employees scrambled to stop before the deadline which would cost them their jobs.

This is a two-edge sword. It demonstrates the huge cost in healthcare that smoking causes (the number of illnesses linked to smoking is staggering) but it also begs the question of right to privacy and employer control over our private lives. Is the refusal to hire a smoker discriminatory or good business sense.

Smoking is a nasty habit . . . really . . . and pretty much any adult in the modern world is at least in some way aware of the health risks . . . but the single best way to stop smoking is to not start in the first place. If young people would just stay away from the damned cancer sticks they wouldn’t be faced with the health issues later and society at large would benefit. Of course, that also means massive changes in how we view things and media and advertising and movies and music and all sorts of stuff that goes on in culture and society that actually encourage smoking . . . not to mention the evil tobacco barrons trying to shove cigarrettes down the world’s collective throats with no thought of longterm consequences. Grrrr.

In any case, smoking can be stopped. If you’re interested in a hypnotic option, see my webpages and then contact me or a competent hypnotist near you.