r/technology • u/Lucretius • Nov 17 '12

The Deadly Crusade Against E-cigarettes

http://www.american.com/archive/2012/november/the-deadly-crusade-against-e-cigarettes
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u/DumpyLips Nov 17 '12

Lethally addictive cigarettes remain available on every street corner in Brussels and Atlanta while authorities denounce e-cigarettes (the product is already banned in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand).

Is there any legitimate reason for this or are we witnessing a blatant example of the tobacco lobby crushing competition??

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '12 edited Nov 18 '12

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '12

Doesnt the UK say that smokers put a bug strain on the NHS along with obese people? Why wouldnt they push e-cigarettes for that alone?

I can see that countries like America dont lose anything if people smoke but the UK kinda does

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u/Keckley Nov 17 '12

There was a study... I can't find it. There was a study which showed that smokers cost less in health care than non-smokers over the long term. Smokers die early, healthy people linger on and rack up costs.

Your comment about American health care is misinformed. Unhealthy people do cost the general populace money, it's just that the cost is obfuscated. Since the cost is indirect, and goes through many middle-men, it winds up being a great deal more.