Maybe
People who live into old age do cost a lot. However, being poisoned isn't cheap either, even discounting lung cancer. I'm not a physician but I know they tell people to stay away from smoking. Nicotine, amongst others, is not a nice substance. Poisoned people aren't as productive and this is bad for taxes in general.
It could be the maths favours people smoking and slowly dying before their time, though I doubt it. Is it likely that President Bush commissioned a team of physicians and economists to consider this smoking tax? And the high cost of people smoking less, living to old age and being a healthcare burden is his reason for the threatened veto?
Matthew Greet
Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?
- Mark Renton, Trainspotting.