In 1999 taxes made up over 80% of the price of cigarettes in the UK. For some reason I don't think the percentage has dropped much since then. The average smoker consumes maybe a pack a day. Say, for simplicity's sake(I don't really know what they cost in the UK) that a pack of cigs costs 3 GBP where 2.4 of those are taxes. Now, say the smoker has been smoking since age 20 and croaks from smoke-related illness when he's 65; that's 2.4*16425 days = 39420 GBP in tobacco tax alone.
Of course, if he keels over from terminal lung cancer the day he turns 65, you can bet that he didn't just 'catch' it the night before, out of the blue. The smoker would likely have spend years deteriorating first, unable to work and support himself, relying on public support.
He likely would also have cost the public healthcare system many hundreds of thousands or even millions in expensive diagnostics, extensive chemotherapy, medication, taking up hospital resources, etc. Hint: The insurance company doesn't print their own money in their basement -- all of these very real costs are being payed by society as a whole.
Your taxes and insurance premiums are a lot higher than they could be, partially thanks to smokers and other 'risk takers' that 'aren't hurting anyone else'
The expenses are orders of magnitudes larger than the supposed 'profit' generated by these kind of taxes. It is amazing just *how* expensive a major illness can be. My son was born premature, and had to spend the first 5 weeks of his life in the hospital. The total bill for that alone came to somewhere around $200.000. (No surgeries or extraordinary procedures were required)
By comparison, cancer can drag on for years, requiring insanely expensive treatment methods. It's really not unusual for treatment plans to end up costing millions.
It's the same reasoning as to why there are laws against things like driving a motorcycle without a helmet -- at first sight, it looks silly, who are you hurting there? It's just your own neck on the line, right?
Of course, but that little bit of legislative prevention saves society many millions, since it greatly reduces the chances of you getting near-fatally injured if you have an accident. Thanks to a helmet law you are much more likely to recover and remain productive, rather than lay around as a vegetable for another 40 years while taking up millions in resourses.
But anyway, my main gripe with smoking is that it stinks to high heavens, and the smell clings forever to you even if you just pass by.
Time for just one more analogy. Hypothetical question to smokers: How would you feel if a random bullemic person would throw up all over you from the next table over in the restaurant, and then tells you "Don't worry, it's just second-hand food. It probably won't kill you."? Same difference.