I'm a smoker. I'll admit it. I enjoy it. I don't mind having to step outside to do it.

The folks at Wallethub have released a new study breaking down the cost of smoking over a lifetime. I had to dig in.

When I saw the $1,778,428 price tag for a person in Texas who smokes, I lit one up and decided to see what kind of shenanigans the study was up to.

The study assumes a "lifetime" of smoking is 51 years, and that the price of a pack-o-smokes isn't going to change too much.

Here is the breakdown for the state of Texas according to the study:

The Financial Cost of Smoking in Texas (1=Lowest, 25=Avg.):

  • Out-of-Pocket Cost per Smoker – $115,413 (Rank: 27th)
  • Financial-Opportunity Cost per Smoker – $1,270,127 (Rank: 27th)
  • Health-Care Cost per Smoker – $142,370 (Rank: 13th)
  • Income Loss per Smoker – $232,768 (Rank: 30th)
  • Other Costs per Smoker – $17,751 (Rank: 51st)
  • Total Cost Over Lifetime per Smoker: $1,778,428
  • Total Cost per Year per Smoker: $34,871

The price total includes not just the price of smokes, but healthcare costs, and "other" expenses.

One of the things I would like for this study to expand on would be the statement:

...in a perfect society, smokers would also pay the costs related to the harmful smoke that tobacco releases into the air.

I do pay for it, with the tax increase I see almost every, single, year.

I get for non-smokers, smoking is gross and terrible, and that secondhand smoke is more evil than getting your kid vaccinated.

All I ask is that the same standards I'm held to as a smoker, and the scrutiny, is attached to other lifestyle choices that are unhealthy and create a supposed burden on society.

I know that it isn't healthy, but a lot of things aren't healthy and yet we keep on doing them. Plus, if you're wanting people to quit something you probably shouldn't attach such a heavy tax to it making something else dependent on our dependency. When you do that, you're pretty much taking my bad habit and making it my civic duty.

Go team USA.