Reply #54: The only source there...

[MellowDem]

linked to an MSNBC article that said that smokers MAY not cost society as a whole, but it didn't provide any solid evidence, it was just a theory based on the fact that smokers die sooner than other people. I suppose I could also make an argument that many smokers die in their working years and that their smoking can hurt their productivity if they develop illnesses from it during their working years. The blog also was talking about how preventative medicine isn't really all that great and seemed to be a rant against universal healthcare. Yet somehow the cost of healthcare in the US, where we have among the least amount of preventative care, is double that of other industrialized nations. The whole blog reads like a right-wing idea of healthcare.

Since there is no solid evidence, I would have to say that IMHO smoking does cost society as a whole, and therefore the taxes on cigarettes are justified.