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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: average joe who wrote (95869)	2/16/2005 3:48:39 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

While it is true that smoking is an addiction and should be treated as an addiction, nicotine is so addictive that most smokers will not quit unless there is a lot of social pressure to do so, and smoking becomes very inconvenient and is not perceived as "cool." Every society that is trying to eradicate smoking is doing essentially the same thing--raising the cost of smoking, making smokers smoke outside, socially ostracizing them, prohibiting smoking in restaurants, bars, buses, trains, public buildings, and now in some parts of California, in parks and at beaches. All of this makes a lot of smokers feel bad enough and uncomfortable enough that they start perceiving their habit as a nuisance rather than a pleasure, and motivates them to seek help in quitting. At the same time, prohibiting smokers from fouling the air for nonsmokers cuts the health risks of second hand smoke and makes them social outcasts, which dovetails with wanting to quit. The huge taxes on cigarettes also make it financially punitive to continue smoking, and help pay for today's very effective stop smoking programs.