HOW MUCH DO SMOKERS COST SOCIETY?

The only way to claim smokers cost society anything is to ignore the taxes they pay into the system and to deny that they do statistically die a few years earlier, thereby saving society the extremely costly end-of-life nursing home care as well as social security benefits.

THE CHART BELOW USES FIGURES FROM 1994. TODAY THE TAXES ARE FAR HIGHER IN COMPARISON TO COSTS, EVEN THOUGH COSTS HAVE RISEN AS WELL.*

"Increased health care costs of smokers accounted for about 49 cents per pack, 7 cents for excess life-insurance premiums, 3 cents for fire-insurance premiums, and about 12 cents in Social Security and Medicare taxes lost because of premature death.  Offsetting savings: 6 cents per pack in nursing home cost and 33 cents per pack in reduced Social Security benefits. At the time (1994), the sum of federal, state, and local cigarette taxes was about 50 cents per pack,  32 cents more per pack than costs."

"Cigarette Taxes to Fund Health Care Reform and Economic Analysis." (CRS, Library of Congress, #94214 E ), Jane Gravelle and Dennis Zimmerman, Congressional Research Service

�Cigarettes are always self-financing from the standpoint of costs to each state. The extent of the cost savings is less than at the federal level. However, smokers' higher medical costs are outweighed by reduced nursing home expenditures, lower pension costs, and excise taxes, where each of these factors alone usually exceeds the medical cost effect.�

Professor W. Kip Viscusi, Journal of Law and Economics, Volume 42, Number 2 (October 1999)

* A report in 2002 from the CDC claimed smokers cost society more than $7/pack. When asked if they compared smoking to other lifestyle behaviors such as being too heavy and getting no exercise, Terry Pechacek said no. When asked if they considered taxes paid or the fact that smokers statistically die earlier and save on end of life care. Pechacek admitted they didn't. --Associated Press, April 11, 2002, 2:48 PM EDT

IF TRUTH IS ON THEIR SIDE, WHY DO THEY LIE?