You&#x27;re comparing a statistic of one population (smokers) with a different stat of another (general population). There&#x27;s no conclusions to draw from that.<p>E.g. healthcare costs go up with age because that&#x27;s when people start dying. Smokers die at an earlier age, so they experience those costs earlier. Is this correct? Who knows, but it&#x27;s one of the many ways in which the argument you wrote could be invalid.