Benignuman – just want to make it clear that I was not arguing about the halacha. I was just pointing out that I felt that that sentence had to be clarified. I don’t know the statistics, but it seems to me that most people who smoke do not die from smoking before the age of around 70 which is considered a normal life span, so if one is going to say that 50% of people who smoke die from smoking it has to be clarified that what you mean is that they lose a few years of their life (in most cases). If that is the case, it may not be in such a different category from any other unhealthy activity (as opposed to a dangerous activity).
Just to be clear, I am not recommending that anyone smoke! Just being “medayek” in the loshon.