The wages of smoking

Occasionally I get patients or parents who refuse to believe that smoking is really harmful to them or their kids; they apparently believe it is all some sort of conspiracy.

I'm not sure this will convince them either, but I got a solicitation for insurance by virtue of being a University of Chicago Alumni. For a 39 year old man like myself seeking 1 million dollars of life insurance, premiums for non-smokers range from $43 to $61 per month for non-smokers and start at $220 monthly for smokers. Or 3-5+ times more. Here is the online quote engine

What I think it even more interesting is that based on $3 per pack, an upper-middle class pack-a-day smoker would pay more for increased life insurance premiums than for the cigarettes.