Death And Taxes

41 Pages 10133 Words

ce or early adulthood. Even when they have been given information, young people do not always have the perspective or ability to make sound decisions. Most new recruits seriously underestimate the future costs of smoking—that is, the cost of being unable, later in life, to reverse a youthful decision to smoke, in part because of nicotine addiction. Societies restrict young people in various ways, for example mandating minimum voting and driving ages, and most could justify restricting young people's freedom to smoke and to become addicted to a behavior that carries a very high risk of premature death.
Third, smoking imposes financial as well as other costs on nonsmokers, including health damage and nuisance and irritation from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. In high-income countries, smoking-related health care accounts for between 6 and 15 percent of all annual health care costs, and nonsmokers bear a significant share of these costs. In any given year, the cost of health care for smokers will exceed that for nonsmokers. Recent st...