Should doctors have the right to refuse to refuse surgery on patients who smoke and will continue to do so? There are many arguments that support each side of this issue. Smoking is an extremely unhealthy habit. If continued over many years of a person's life it can lead to many undesirable effects, such as lung cancer. The surgery smokers may require is very expensive, but in most cases its results are potentially life-saving. Lung cancer is poised to take over breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in Victorian women.
24% of the population (One in four adults) smoked in 2001. 22% of these were regular daily smokers. Statistics gathered by the ABS show that more males than females were current smokers (28%, 21% respectively). For males and females the popularity of smoking was higher in younger age groups than in older groups. The graph shows the popularity of smoking in different age groups.
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