Smokefree by Hook or Crook

England has socialized healthcare in the form of the National Health Service, or NHS. As a result, when you get lung cancer from your lifelong smoking habit, taxpayers get the bill for your treatment. One way to take strain off the system and lower taxes would be to outlaw smoking and other forms of tobacco. That seems a bit overbearing, though, so England is just going to make it really, really inconvenient to smoke and hope that people quit out of frustration (really, really expensive didn't cut it).

"On July 1st 2007, England introduced a new law to make virtually all enclosed public places and workplaces in England smokefree. A smokefree England ensures a healthier environment, so everyone can socialise, relax, travel, shop and work free from secondhand smoke."

Basically you can only smoke on the street. Two of my classmates here are heavy smokers, and they intend to quit today. They're going cold turkey, except for a few bummed cigarettes when the cravings get too tough. I realize that's not really cold turkey, but it sounds more macho this way, so work with them here. I hope this great nation has imposed enough annoyance to get them passively aggressively off their addiction.

I'm just poking fun though, this plan is probably the best way to improve national health without creating another blackmarket. If you can't convince children that it's ridiculously foolish to start smoking, you don't have many other options. Besides, the concerns about unpleasant second hand smoke seem pretty legitimate to me, so I don't think they're being completely underhanded about this. Kudos to the NHS.