lc: “And, yes, as originally posted, I find nothing wrong with finding fault with a claim of healthy smoking”
The issue is the context. This wasn’t a thread about whether or not it is a good idea for any of us posters to take up smoking. If it had been, I probably would have been posting much different things. The thread was about how those of us who DON’T smoke should view those who do. More specifically, the OP was that anyone who smokes is OTD. That is what I had an issue with. I have no problem with your view that no one should ever smoke. I do have a problem with someone being so judgmental against those who do, and not being able to acknowledge both that there may be other points of view and that no one is perfect and everyone has to make his own cheshbonos.
btw, just for the record, when my friend’s son made the statement that his Rosh Yeshiva said that it’s healthy to smoke, I had the same reaction as you, and I said, “How can anyone use the word healthy in the same sentence as smoking?” (although I think I really did understand what he meant, but as someone who is very opposed to smoking, the idea of putting the word smoking in the same sentence as healthy sounded strange).
When I said that, the kid looked really hurt, and his father immediately rose to his son and son’s Rosh Yeshiva’s defense and explained what the Rosh Yeshiva meant. “Es chatosai ani mazkir hayom.” I felt really badly because he did look really hurt (I hadn’t realized he would be so sensitive about the topic), and I felt bad for being so judgmental, and that is why I reacted so strongly to some of the comments here that also sounded judgmental to me about boys that smoke. I also have to work on not being judgmental about it, because I also grew up that smoking is really bad, but it is not fair for me to be so judgmental of those who do, especially when they are much more careful about so many things that I am not as careful about that are probably much more important.