Australian Grandma's Post About The True Cost Of Smoking Goes Viral

An Australian grandmother has gone viral on Facebook after sharing a post that shows the true cost of a cigarette smoking habit.

Judy Lawson, from Tasmania, shared a photograph of a packet of cigarettes and a food shop next to one another for comparison.

When you actually physically see the amount of stuff that you can get for just the price of 20 fags, it really brings the point home.

In the pile of food, there's a multi-pack of crisps, a bag of spaghetti, different kinds of meat, and plenty more.

According to her post, that's breakfast, lunch and dinner for the entire family, for the same amount of money that it costs for a pack of smokes.

That's because a pack of 20 cigarettes in Australia costs AUD $56.85 (£29 / US $38). The entire job lot of food in the other picture set her back AUD $56.95.

Wow.

Sharing the post to her Facebook page, Lawson wrote: "Cigarettes v Food... grandchild commented on how much cigarettes are after watching someone purchase them, so we made a challenge.

"Grandkids and I tried to purchase the most value for money 'basic' food items and the most popular cigarette brand."

She continued: "They were surprised at the amount of food you can buy for the same monetary value."

I'll bet they were. It's a surprising comparison, to say the least.

Lawson concluded: "Must say I hope this exercise has made them aware of life's choices, and not to take up this habit."

Well, they'd only need to take a quick glance back at this post in future if they ever needed a reminder.

Anyway, it seems as if the message has got across, because since Judy shared the original post it has been shared 17,000 times and been commented on more than 9,000 times.

Naturally, a lot of people checked in to register their shock at the different between the two shops.

One person said: "I hope this message gets through to smokers and encourages some to stop,"

Another wrote: "That is awesome. What a great example!! Both for young people and adults alike.

"Now they should make this into an anti-smoking advertisement."

Honestly, there needs to be more stuff like this going on, because smoking is still a massive problem for healthcare.

In the UK, 78,000 people die from smoking related illnesses each year, according to the NHS. The same website also claims that smoking is responsible for seven out of every 10 cases of lung cancer.

Read the post and take heed, folks. Smoking kills.

Featured Image Credit: Facebook

Topics: Science, Interesting, Health

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a LADbible journalist and Twin Peaks enthusiast. Despite having a career in football cut short by a chronic lack of talent, he managed to obtain degrees from both the University of London and Salford. According to his French teacher, at the weekend he mostly likes to play football and go to the park with his brother. Contact Tom on [email protected]

@TPWagwim