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I don't think you can paint all smokers with the same brush but a lot of them seem to turn to the habit for the purpose of stress relief/escape and then they get hooked. The key point is the same: neither cohort benefits from being shamed by a judgey peanut gallery that reduces things to black and white, like the one in this thread. They benefit from engagement with supportive personal contacts and professionals who can help them resolve the underlying issues. The judgey peanut gallery can actually make things worse.

Some people have addictive personalities.

There is a difference, a major one. You have to eat and you don't have to smoke. Food is everywhere, cigarettes and smokers can be avoided.

That’s good to hear, I live in a poor area with my family who smoke heavily (along with the majority of our neighbors, friends, people who serve us at the restaurants I eat at, people who we serve at the restaurants we work at, etc).

I will just simply avoid almost everyone I know (and don’t know) from now on, thank you.