I am European and heavily against punitive justice. But I think one year of prison for a crime almost universally considered among the worst is not enough for rehabilitation, and I find this opinion validated by the lack of understanding or even remorse shown by the guy in public statements

He did barely a year of prison… I personally don’t quite think it’s enough for raping a kid, but hey that’s just my opinion

He was Education minister before this, despite never setting foot in a public school, and heavily criticised protesters during the very unpopular pension reform while he was already a millionaire at 25 even though he never worked a day in his life. But hey, nice for us that he’s young and openly gay !

Actually, a LOT of studies do show that no, in most countries, taxes are far from enough to cover the cost of tobacco induced diseases.

If you do that, then you should also forfeit your right to use publicly funded hospitals that already struggle enough with people suffering of conditions they did not ask for voluntarily. Smoking is not just a cost for your body, but for society as a whole, hence the justification in a ban