Originally Posted by
pacificaslim
You're in luck. Studies have shown that smokers have lower health care costs than non-smokers. They die sooner of known problems that hospitals don't waste tons of money on.
Show me those studies. Lung/mouth/throat cancer, pulmonary disease, asthma, emphysema, et al are NOT fast killers, hell, some are not killers at all. "Best" case scenario, at least from a public moneys standpoint, is that a person suffers no real ill effects up until the point where they suffer a heart attack and die.
In America, heart attacks are only fatal 40% of the time. 60% survive, but will require some form of medication, surgery, physical therapy, or all three. This costs MONEY. So does asthma medication, treatment for emphysema, and cancer treatment, which can go on for years and years and years.