# The odds of a smoker dying from smoking **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2018, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-odds-of-a-smoker-dying-from-smoking/809114 "2018-02-19T12:37:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-odds-of-a-smoker-dying-from-smoking/809114/41 "2019-05-09T20:06:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Indeed, I do. > Ok, then complete strangers. > Or maybe \*your \*smoking doesn’t kill anyone but yourself. Still, \*\*second hand smoke kills 50000 American non-smokers a year. > \*\* That figure is a gross extrapolation based on really bad science. Meta analysis, as was employed in the case of second hand smoke studies, should never be used draw firm conclusions. It may be used to indicate the need for further research, but that is not what was done. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-odds-of-a-smoker-dying-from-smoking/809114/42 "2019-05-09T23:27:26Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Well, they should probably stay away from smokers then. 🙂 This isn’t really feasible, as smokers tend to exist in the same society as others. Example: my next-door neighbours on both sides smoke. Only on their property. However, I am exposed to the second-hand smoke when I go outside: I have to breathe it if I want to, say, mow my lawn. If I open my windows, in it comes. (Each spends a LOT of time outside smoking.) There’s other situations where I have no choice but to weave through a crowd of smokers: public sidewalks, public transit, public… you get the picture. Is it going to kill me? Probably not. But there’s literally no way for me to avoid it, and no way to address it that would be effective. I’d just look like a jerk. I doubt whether my perfectly nice neighbours have given more than zero thought to how their smoke affects anybody: they’re outside, so it must have no effect, right? But collectively in any city there are thousands upon thousands of smokers emitting smoke into the air, and it doesn’t just vanish. Any given smoker’s contribution is negligible, but collectively, it must be non-negligible. If I’m misunderstanding the science here, I welcome corrections, but my simplistic understanding is that the Bad Stuff in smoke travels and can be breathed in by others. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-odds-of-a-smoker-dying-from-smoking/809114/43 "2019-05-10T15:52:51Z")
Old thread. It’s still easy to sum up, if you smoke you are guaranteed to die sooner and experience a lower quality of life than if you don’t smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-odds-of-a-smoker-dying-from-smoking/809114/44 "2019-05-10T16:13:56Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > But collectively in any city there are thousands upon thousands of smokers emitting smoke into the air, and it doesn’t just vanish. Any given smoker’s contribution is negligible, but collectively, it must be non-negligible. If I’m misunderstanding the science here, I welcome corrections, but my simplistic understanding is that the Bad Stuff in smoke travels and can be breathed in by others. If this is true, then we should immediately re-ban smoking marijuana in cities as well. Since the change in the law in DC, there isn’t a day that goes by without smelling marijuana. Is this increasing my risk of dying? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-odds-of-a-smoker-dying-from-smoking/809114/45 "2019-05-10T16:39:05Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > If this is true, then we should immediately re-ban smoking marijuana in cities as well. Since the change in the law in DC, there isn’t a day that goes by without smelling marijuana. Is this increasing my risk of dying? I don’t see how the smoke from marijuana would be any different from the smoke from tobacco. Or house fires, or campfires, or barbecues, any other source of smoke. (I know there are particularly nasty things in tobacco products, but I’m not clear whether they are still an issue with secondhand smoke, or if it’s just the fact that it’s fine particulate matter in the air.) I’m not calling for a ban on anything, by the way. I’m just pointing out that claiming a smoker has no effect on others is not true, even if the individual’s contribution is only a small part of the aggregate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-odds-of-a-smoker-dying-from-smoking/809114.md?page=2)