Vengeance, the math is bogus. You cant just sum an income stream or expenditure stream over 10 years to estimate its value. For example the mortgage payments on a house over 30 years add up to much more than the principal value of loan. So $10/week is NOT the same as $520 either at the start OR at the end of the year. Its a messy calculation involving interest rates. Sure it does add up over time, though not as quickly as you estimate but so does everything else. For a grownup to spend $6 per day to do what he wants is perfectly reasonable (assuming your family is not poor). What about all the $$ you are going to spend on weed from now till you are , say , 50? Its big bucks Ill bet. Your Dad is addicted to nicotine but weed is not addictive so whats your excuse? Have you gone through all the nickel and dime expenditures in your house to make sure they are absolutely necessary or did you just land on cigarettes because it supports the Church Lady's agenda? Its quite possible to manage on a diet of beans and rice - keep your house at 50 deg in the winter, 90 in the summer, walk or use public transportation and get all your entertainment from the TV or the public library. You'd be a wealthy man by the time you are 40 - where are you on this thrift plan? I smoked for 18 years before I was able to quit. But after quiting (now 20 yrs ago) I never noticed that I had any extra money to spend. This kind of comparison is a scaling trick - a mathematical sleight of hand. Its also done the other way. The encycopedia salesman will tell you that the cost is less than a cup of coffee a day.

Then there's the health issue. Of course you are concerned for your Dad and good on ya for that! But he knows the facts. And I am sure they bother him. Yet he doesnt stop? What good do you expect nagging to do? It just makes him feel bad and I dont think you get a kick out of it either. Smoking or not he is not going to be around forever - why not enjoy his company and make his life pleasant instead of being a PITA? I am not saying you shouldnt try to get him to stop - but nagging is not the way. Even if your dad was a crackhead, nagging is NOT the way.