bombmaniac, a smoker is not necessarily an idiot. He or she is in the grasp of a powerful drug which chemically alters the brain and impels the smoker to seek out the drug even though it is known to be harmful. We are talking about an addiction which is more difficult to shake than heroin or cocaine. Further, some of the best minds in psychology spend their entire professional lives figuring out how to make the addiction emotionally fulfilling, an essential part of the addict’s self concept.
It takes a truly great degree of strength to fight this.