Despite all the physical (cancer, emphysema) and emotional (what disease steals from us, and often way too soon) harm to the contrary, Americans persist in looking for "safer" ways to smoke tobacco, with hookahs and e-cigarettes being the most popular lately among urban hipsters.

I wonder, however, if our younger ones would be so quick to light up if they knew a pack of cigarettes cost them more than $100, instead of the $4-7 they pay at the "convenience" store? After factoring in the risk of premature death, according to a cost-benefit analysis done by Spanish researchers, that single pack of 20 cigarettes escalates in cost to about $105 for women and $149 for men.

Among the variables that affected the actual costs: The economic impact of lost retail sales and wages and social issues, not to mention soaring health care costs. Interestingly, the differences in dollars between the sexes have to do with the disparity in wages between women and men in addition to how many cigarettes the dedicated smoker burns in his/her mouth every day.

Smoking, along with obesity, were cited as two of the main contributors to shortening the average American's lifespan in a recent report by the Commonwealth Fund. Although the authors said obesity and smoking couldn't explain those reductions in survival rates completely, I'm wondering if the persistent presence of both in a person's life could…

Toronto Sun October 8, 2010

ScienceDaily October 7, 2010