Interestengly enough, it has been argued (not by me) by some economists that smokers actually sav the government money by dying younger so the gov does not have to pay out the retirement benifits thus keeping the countries old age security viable longer. So the increased expenditures in Health are offset by the savings in pensions. I wish I could remember who it was that wrote those papers. I could use that argument myself whenever someone digs at me when I light up.
Saw a complete refutation of this. It's a straw man. It's on a skeptic website, but have to be a member.
I can't recall the whole thing, but something like that they use up the extra saved off aged pensions by extra medical and hospital care on medical pensions. They retire earlier from ill health, and thus, contribute less, leaving more widows and kids on social security. Something like that. Anyway, it's spurious.
