Certainly the direct costs are huge, probably in the tens of billions of dollars or pounds per year. But it's quite possible that the shortened lifespan saves e

Certainly the direct costs are huge, probably in the tens of billions of dollars or pounds per year. But it's quite possible that the shortened lifespan saves even more money by lowering spending on the chronic diseases of late life, etc. <blockquote>However, smokers die some 10 years earlier than nonsmokers, according to the CDC, and those premature deaths provide a savings to Medicare, Social Security, private pensions and other programs. Vanderbilt University economist Kip Viscusi studied the net costs of smoking-related spending and savings and found that for every pack of cigarettes smoked, the country reaps a net cost savings of 32 cents.</blockquote> https://medicalxpress.com/news/2009-04-smokers-society-money.html https://medicalxpress.com/news/2009-04-smokers-society-money...