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I'd love to see an actual study somewhere, even if it is true and not an article planted by the tobacco company, I'd still love to see the data.



I've seen this before, legit, not an industry plant.

Smokers not only don't last as long, they have fewer medical issues and hospitalizations. Nonsmokers hang around a lot longer (on welfare), are more likely to get Alzheimer's, need lengthy nursing home care, etc. Smokers often die before running up those bills.



This is the part that I disagree with. I do know that is a theory being floated out there, I just don't believe it is correct.

All of the top causes of hospitalizations and many of the top causes of ER visits are either directly or indirectly related to smoking. Smokers are more likely to be uninsured and underemployed, so their medical bills are more likely to be a burden on the public.

Smoking is a risk factor for hypertension (which itself is a risk for heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, blindness). It is a primary risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Medical interventions for heart attack and ischemia is one of the biggest cost items in American health care (e.g. bypass surgery, angioplasty, inpatient nonsurgical medical management). Stroke is one of the biggest ticket items for debilitation, loss of ability to continue to work, and need for home health or nursing home placement and Physical therapy or rehab. For non-cardiac chest pain prompted ER visits and Cardiology referrals, GI sources of chest pain are the most common diagnosis and smoking is the most commonly ingested agent that leads to GI complaints.

During fall and winter months, exacerbations of COPD, asthma, and bronchitis are the most common reason for hospital admission in many parts of the country. Smokers are more likely to need hospitalization for community acquired pneumonia than nonsmokers, require longer hospitalizations, have more complications, and have more frequent episodes than nonsmokers.

Smokers having elective and emergency surgery for reasons completely unrelated to smoking are much more likely to have poor wound healing, prolonged post op courses, intra operative problems with ventillation, require ICU stays post op, suffer cardiac and respiratory compromise, develop post op infections, and require longer rehab time due to poor conditioning and decreased respiratory reserve.

Smoking is the most commonly identified risk factors for many types of Cancer (not just lung CA) requiring prolonged chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy.

I know that there is much I am leaving out here, but my point is that I suspect the people claiming smokers are not as much of a burden on our health care system as non-smokers are being selective in what they count as a health care cost related to smoking and what is not.

I am willing to admit I can't prove this, and I may be wrong, I'm just not gonna take the word of an AP reporter without some hard data.
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--Some of us look for The Way in opium and some in God, some of us in whiskey and some in love. It is all the same Way and it leads nowhither.