Pinchas -“Health, in tenth grade, my friend smoked one cigarette at our Rebbi’s house on Purim. That lead to many more cigarettes and at age 26 he was dead (by lung cancer). So, I personally see something very wrong with it.”
My point wasn’t that Purim can’t be a starting point for a smoker – obviously it can be. Same with taking a Chosson cig. or taking because the crowd/clic are all smoking. I was talking about s/o who is pretty sure if they take that Purim or Chosson cig. they won’t be taking another one for a very long time.
But your post brought up an interesting side point:
“yitayningwut -I have been told by a real doctor that a smoker will generally not do significant long term damage if he quits before the age of thirty.”
I think the stress in this line is “generally”, but our Torah Assurs the possibility since it’s Not a far away possibility and your friend Lo Aleinu is an example. Being a smoker on a regular basis is Ossur at any age.