Comments about ‘Study: Quitting smoking increases life span up to 10 years’

Then what does the inversion and pollution in the air do?

Maybe all of those "let's outlaw guns" weirdos will figure out that there are way more scary things in America than guns. Smoking kills more Americans than guns do every year, and unlike guns, whether they kill you this year or later in life, it's almost certain they will kill you. I've lost tens of number of close family from cancer due to these horrible cancer sticks, yet I've never lost even one distant relative or close relative to a gun. The problem is the Big Tobacco companies donate way too much money to politicians (both sides) so they will never have the guts to outlaw cigs. That my good people is the real tragedy.

Addressing air pollution and tobacco use are not mutually exclusive. Fix both of them, but don't confuse the issues. Cigarette smoking a personal choice. Breathing, even if it's polluted air, is a necessity. The cocaine farmers in Columbia, Helmand Province of Afghanistan and the tobacco farmers in the US have the same problem, they need an alternative to growing their deadly crops.

We approach a lot of these causes of preventible death in different ways, for different reasons. We get apoplectic and puritan about alcohol, but defiant about freedom when it comes to guns. Smoking, on the other hand, causes more preventible deaths than all other causes combined. Yes, including guns, alcohol, you name it. When a smoker dies, however, it doesn't make the news. As a strong advocate of single payer health care, I feel that such a system would go hand in hand with serious tax increases on cigarettes, because of the direct link to problems caused by smoking and to fund the system to support the victims of such damage. User pay. It would also be part of a strategy to reduce smoking, long term.

@joseywales

Why not outlaw both? Guns and cigarettes have one thing in common: They both exist to kill people. Outlawing one does not preclude us from outlawing the other. So let's outlaw both...I could certainly get behind that idea.

@ Brave Sir Robin

Outlawing guns won't stop the James Holmes of the world. In fact, it will increase public shootings. If these psychos knew that nobody was armed, they would go on more rampages. Bottom line is that if the wrong person wants to get their hands on a gun they will. Outlawing guns, sadly, will not make our nation safer.