I smoked for 15 years, and it's been 10 since I quit. I'm glad I did. That said, I hate it when I hear the "don't make the same mistake I did" stuff from ex smokers, especially ones who obviously enjoyed smoking and for whom it was a big part or their identity - certainly this was true for me, and it appears that way for CD.

Keeping on the theme of "science denial" - it reminds me a lot of the developed world lecturing developing countries about pollution. Yes, from the hindsight of maturity and comfort it's a bad idea, but when you have other immediate concerns, the calculus is very different.

Smoking is unhealthy, but people have to make their own mistakes.