I remember looking at the figures ages ago for a different country and if you netted everything out smoking saved the government money. For example here is som

I remember looking at the figures ages ago for a different country and if you netted everything out smoking saved the government money. For example here is something from the UK from the IEA: https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2017/08/smoking-and-drinking-save-public-purse-money https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2017/08/smoking-and-dri... The Smoking and the Public Purse report argues that the government spends £3.6bn treating smoking-related diseases on the NHS and up to £1bn collecting cigarette butts and extinguishing smoking-related house fires. The government saves £9.8bn annually in pension, healthcare and other benefit payments due to premature mortality, the IEA said. Meanwhile, the government brings in £9.5bn a year in duty paid on tobacco, the IEA said. Suggesting this means smoking produces a net saving to public finances of £14.7bn a year, at current rates of consumption. I think people just assume automatically smokers are a drain on the healthcare system but I wouldn't assume this without having a deep look at the figures.