It is probably an issue with in-depth set culture, there is definitely less stigma here than in the US, although not for the goverments not trying.
In most EU countries, anti-smoking campaigns are frequent, packs must show huge labels with death warnings, advertising is illegal, as well as smoking in public enclosed spaces.
I agree - considering that Europeans are generally on a positive track for health related statistics, it always surprises me to see how much more common smoking is there. Even in Sweden which has an image of being a healthy country, I have seen many more people smoking than in the US.
> Very disappointed in EU here! Such a disgusting habit that kills and leads to large quality of life loss later in life
I agree in part but the libertarian in me thinks that people should be free to do what they want to their bodies provided it is not at the expense of society as a whole. For example banning smoking in offices, public buildings, spaces, etc is a good thing. Banning people from smoking in their own garden is not.
> Seeing 15 year olds smoke is a huge societal failure.
Yes and no. General trends suggest they are smoking less and drinking less alcohol compared to previous generations. It probably just stands out more relative to the general population. Alas, youth is lost on the young :-)
> the libertarian in me thinks that people should be free to do what they want to their bodies provided it is not at the expense of society as a whole
society is burdened in the 50% chance scenario that they develop lung cancer, alongside other medical problems which smoking exacerbates as well as being a contributory factor to others.
People die of something. It costs no matter what that is. So there's some extra cost since they're dying sooner (maybe?) It's more complicated than 'Hospital costs!' since those are pretty unavoidable no matter how you die?
We generally don't shoot people in the head when they've been diagnosed with lung cancer so society doesn't save any money there. So the extensive treatment required to treat lung cancer is greater than somebody not getting treatment because they don't have lung cancer.
To be more succinct, there's a large difference between a person requiring lengthy treatment for lung cancer(hospital + morgue) before ultimately dying compared to somebody dying due to old age(morgue).
In most EU countries, anti-smoking campaigns are frequent, packs must show huge labels with death warnings, advertising is illegal, as well as smoking in public enclosed spaces.
Still, the trend is downward in all countries.