You are correct about correlation, but I am not merely making a statistical pronouncement. It is quite clear, and has been for some time, just exactly what damage occurs at the cellular level in smokers in the lungs, and elsewhere in the body. Medicine knows exactly why smoking is bad and why is causes disease. The stats only back this up. Lung CA only hits about 13-14% of the poulation, but 80% of this cohort are smokers. Japanese, as a population, get hit with other disease due to smoking.
The single biggest determinant for health problems is genetics, followed by diet.
You are right bad genes and diet do create health problems only to be exacerbated by other stressors such as smoking
So in some cases people should be willing to live with the consequences of their personal choices, but in others they don't need to be willing to live with the consequences of their personal choices.
As I said before having a family and smoking are fundamentaly different, if you disagree, then I'm not going to convince you on a political forum. One produces a family, one produces harm.
Fact: Smokers pay higher health coverage premiums out of their pockets. Fact: Smokers pay a little over $1 Billion in California. Fact: Smokers pay higher product costs as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement.
AND all this is still not keeping up with health costs for cigarette smoking realted illnesses - fact.
The way I interpret your statement is that you propose the employer pay the $500 for the non smoker and make the smoker pay their total $750. In essence you are advocating lower compensation for smokers.
Yes, you are correct.
Hmmmmm, do you advocate government mandated diets?
No I do not, but eating is fundamentally different than smoking - no equvalent. Furthermore, I would support not hiring obese cops as well because of the related costs. People who are obese - with a few notable exceptions (folks with metabolic abnormalities) - are lacking in self-control. Their eating is just as much an addiction as smoking, and shouldn't be rewarded.