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Smokers' Burden on Society: Myth and Reality in Canada | André Raynauld, Jean-Pierre Vidal
Article Published: 1986

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Type: Articles and Dissertations

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Smokers do not cost to society. Non-smokers do. This holds true even (and especially) assuming that the disinformation spread by the antismoking propaganda is true.

“…we noted that many authors evaluated the ‘economic consequences’ of smoking as one huge sum, which subsequently has been interpreted as a burden smokers would be imposing on others.”

“We have shown instead that the net additional external costs borne by non-smokers worked out to $244 million for Canada in 1986. However, smokers are responsible for a much larger transfer flow in the other direction. In the pension area alone, non-smokers benefit from a transfer of $1.4 billion mainly because smokers tend to die before non-smokers do if we use coefficient established by the medical profession. Overall, as Table 5 indicates, smokers make a net overall contribution of $4.3 billion to the benefit of non-smokers.”

“Whatever the degree of risk or danger attributed to tobacco, the validity and direction of these conclusions remain unchanged”.

Please note that this dates back to the distant 1986, when taxes on cigarettes were a small fraction of what they are today.

As a reward for bearing without complaint the longer and more parasitic existence of non-smokers (more parasitic because, of course, the longer life is in the old and unproductive advanced age), smokers are accused of being a burden, and despised by misguided non-smokers who should say “thank you” instead.

If one takes antitobacco propaganda at face value, non-smoking is indeed a tremendous cost to society: in addition (at least according to the “public health” propaganda) of living several unproductive years longer and draining and destroying our pension systems, they pay no tobacco taxes, thus bringing their parasitism to much higher levels.

It follows that logic and the sense of right and wrong have been turned on their heads by the healthist ideology: it is the smokers who should despise the non-smokers, not the other way around. An alternative: appreciation and mutual respect amongst all. Get rid of healthism and we can get that back.

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