Tobacco.org

• LEVY: Smokers already are paying a high cost for their habit 

More ammunition for the anti-smoking crowd will soon be released in a new book The Price of Smoking (MIT Press). According to pre-publication reports, the authors -- Duke University economist Frank Sloan and four colleagues -- estimate the actual costs of smoking at nearly $40 per pack. That includes roughly $33 for reduced life expectancy and tobacco-related disabilities; $5.44 for the costs of secondhand smoke, and $1.44 for pooled-risk programs like Medicare, Medicaid, group life insurance and sick leave.

Regrettably, the data will be exploited by zealots to stop the rest of us from making our own decisions about cigarettes. That's why it's important to understand the $40 cost and the public policy implications of Sloan's work. Assuming the numbers are accurate, their principal utility lies in helping private parties make rational choices, not in promoting yet another anti-tobacco crusade. So let's dissect the data. . . .

In a nutshell, then, Sloan and his colleagues have identified three types of costs: Private internalized costs can be eliminated by choosing not to smoke. Externalized costs of secondhand smoke can mostly be redressed by recognizing private property rights and providing for smoke-free areas on government property. Externalized costs of pooled risk programs can be remedied by permitting rational discrimination against smokers who impose those costs.

Yes, there may be some residual cost for which smokers should be accountable. But don't forget that state and federal excise taxes already yield revenues of 76 cents per pack and smokers have been socked with a quarter-trillion-dollar cost payable to state governments under the terms of the Master Settlement Agreement. In short, smokers more than pay their way.

Jump to full article »