Yep, interesting.
Another story re smoking, from Australia.
About 15 years ago the Victoriian State Health Commission decided to commission a report on the cost to the community of smoking related illness.
The Health Commission zealots at the time expected a damming report on smokers and tried to make sure of that by using government statiticians and health researchers.
When the report was finished the Victrian government tried to supress the findings but it leaked and was widely circulated.
At the time of the report the total government taxes and excise on a packet of cigarettes amounted to about 40% of the wholesale price of a packet.
What the report found was that the total taxes and excise paid by the average smoker in his/her lifetime covered the cost of medical care from the discovery of terminal illness to death, four times over.
They also indicated that the average smoker with lung cancer could expect to live about twelve months from the time of discovery and initial medical intervention.
Those who had smoking related heart attacks often did not expend any of their "paid for credit".
At the time of the report, 25% of Australia's population smoked therefore, by extrapalation the smokers had funded the health care of 100% of that part of the population that was in permanent health care and hospices etc for at least 12 months.
Today, 16% of the population smoke and the tax/excise component has risen to approx 90% of the wholsale price of a packet of cigarettes and the revenue to government from smokers is currently about $8.5 billion a year.
The average Australian is living longer than they did 15 years ago but more significantly a far greater percentage of the population eventually die of diseases other than those caused by smoking.
Those other diseases take far longer to run their course before fatality and therefore the health budgets in the entire country are constantly blowing out and increasing at alarming rates.
Eg. My own father developed Parkinson's disease and had it for 12 years, the last 5 years of which he was in a nursing home and required complete 24/7 care before he passed away.
So,,a type of consequence of the anti smoking push is a vastly increased health care cost and as the government stack on even higher taxes on tobacco, more people quit, live longer, die slower and the govt gets less revenue.
Not sure that the above was unintended consequence but what is, is the fact that one of the best investment opportunities in Australia today is aged care facilities because they are largely goverment funded, and you will have a never ending and increasing client base.
Cheers.