NZ Politics

While personally against the loss of the ban, this reminds me of when I once heard that, from a purely economic point of view with no regards for human life, tobacco and other unhealthy products are a net positive for the economy.

The reasoning is that people who smoke will die younger, usually after their "productive lifetime" has concluded (where they consume more than they produce), thus being a burden to the state less time.

This is the same way of thinking as people who throw trash into the streets, saying they're benefiting the local economy because it has to employ more sanitisation personnel. Which is stupid.