That question was answered years ago when smoke was banned in pretty much every indoor and outdoor space across America.
Would take a pretty big effort to reverse that now. Not saying it couldn’t be done, though
If we could somehow silently reduce Polonium-210 in tobacco while also lowering smoking in general, that would be ideal.
Japan did it. [0] Why can’t the rest of the world?
Smoking is huge in Central and Eastern Europe still. Sadly, I smoke sometimes out here. Wish I could find a brand with lower radioactivity for those times.
People have the gear to test for this. A brand comparison would make for a great citizen science Patreon funded video.
The difference is dramatic! Healing happened and I am in great shape today. Hard to tell anything now.
Regulate it so people can find safe vapes.
And no blame and shame. Everyone knows we sell death sticks to people for profit. Vapes are tame by comparison and offer many possibilities beyond nicotine too.
For the non-familiar its not uncommon to go through a pack per day between the ones you personally smoke and the ubiquitous people around too cheap to buy their own pack but happy to bum one or more of yours. So lets just say $20 x 6 days a week for $120/week. Thats about $480/month to continue being an active smoker. Take a years worth of that spending and you got yourself a pretty nice vacation.
We need to define what to optimize for. Cost-wise, a society with smokes makes sense to some.
“Well cigarettes aren’t that bad really when you think about it,” Devine said. “It might shorten a couple of years off the end of your life, but that’s a good thing. That actually saves money in the long run for the health system.”
https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/37343/do-smokin...
Edit: and also another sticky situation that we’ve gotten ourselves into…
> Donorcycles: Motorcycle Helmet Laws and the Supply of Organ Donors
This is a sensitive issue. If you were in charge of public health, would you focus on making cigarettes “safer” or on smoking cessation?
I would argue both, but I can see the conflict from a health standpoint.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36895991