According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, over 20% of US citizens continue to smoke. While the study does reveal that the number of smokers in the US has been in steady decline for years, the fact that 1/5 of our population knowingly chooses to shorten their own lives demonstrates a high level of stupidity amongst our population.

It has been over 40 years since the US Surgeon General warned Americans of the significant health risks posed by cigarette smoking. The fact that some continue to light up well into the 21st century is absolutely disgusting. No one alive today should be allowed to seek damages from a tobacco company or related entity for damage to their health, that is unless that company forcibly compelled them to smoke with no hope of stopping. As we have stated the health risks are well know. Anyone, therefore, who has taken up smoking since 1964, should not be allowed to profit from their suicidal habit.

It should be noted however, that we at The Phalanx, oppose government efforts to ban smoking or limit its use by adults. If these people choose to waste their lives away, it is their choice. There is one, arena, however, where the government should be involved: parents who smoke around their children. Such individuals are no better than parents who physically abuse their children. Parents are suppose to protect their children and keep them safe from harm, not introduce carcinogens into their system causing harmful damage to their health. In such circumstances parents forfeit their parental responsibility and should not be allowed to raise children.

The study by the CDC was telling not only because of the high number of smokers in America but also because who these smokers are: the poor and the uneducated. In other words, those who have done nothing with their lives away, categorically demonstrating that those who smoke in this day and age are indeed among the dumbest people on Earth.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-11-10-smoking-rates_x.htm