Yes, this is very good news.
First, because it has happened without smoking or tobacco products being made illegal.
Second, because it means a huge percentage of the money we spend today on Medicare and Medicaid will likely not have to be spent for the next 50 years.
There is a myth floating about that smoking saves healthcare dollars because smokers die younger and use less medical resources.
This may once have been true but today we spend a tremendous amount on medications, oxygen, CPAPs and BPAPs and Nebulizers and inhalers and gawd knows what else to keep failing lungs functioning, often in long term institutional settings, such as nursing homes and VA hospitals.
Those exorbitant costs promise to nosedive quickly as the chronic smokers pass and the new aging population is made up of people who either never smoked or quit long years prior.
Yes, this is very good news, unless you deal in tobacco for a living.
That was not my post.
Think of it this way: the lawmakers use the smoker's tax dollars to balance their budgets and to keep their pet programs running. If everyone quit smoking, guess who they will be coming after? YOU.
Hey! Someone has to make up for all of that lost revenue, right?!
"Those exorbitant costs promise to nosedive quickly as the chronic smokers pass and the new aging population is made up of people who either never smoked or quit long years prior."
Yep, because we all know that non-smokers are in perfect health. Right? Without tobacco everyone would live forever!