the one thing i have noticed reading through this thread is that no one is even mentioning the reason why so many people smoke: IT IS ADDICTIVE. sure, most people start because they think it makes them look cool, or peer pressure, or whatever. but most continue to do so because they are addicted. and most smokers aren't complete idiots, we know what it does to our health, and i would say that if you ask most smokers, they want to quit, but they can't. we're talking about a substance that is more addictive and harder to quit than heroin here.
i see a lot of talk about intelligence, that it isn't intelligent to smoke. i would agree but i have a question for the non-smokers here: how many of you smoke marijuana on a regular or semi-regular basis? you do realize that weed smoke is just as damaging to your lungs and your health as cigarettes, right? people like Militant, who talk about how much they enjoy smoking, are in the minority. most smokers know what they are doing to themselves and want to quit. hell, i've tried to quit more times than i can count, but i still smoke, and i'm still trying to at least cut down or quit altogether.
the one thing that surprises me is how quickly smoking turned from something that was accepted, to non smokers treating smokers as though they were lepers or some shit. in the US, the MPAA is seriously considering making smoking a guideline when rating movies. so if a film that would normally be rated pg-13 has a scene with smoking in it, or characters that are seen smoking, the film will get an R rating, which is the most ridiculous thing to me. sex and violence? sure! people smoking in movies? hell no, we have to think of the children!