Quote:
Originally Posted by kronenborg
the real choice is whether to start smoking or not.
to the addict (whether it be to nicotine, or any other drug), choice may be less relevant.
there are quite a lot of smokers out there who, if pushed, would admit (if they are being honest with themselves and with others) that they would much rather be free of their habit, if they felt they had a choice. why would someone choose to be tied to something which controls them to the point that they undergo social ostracism at every turn, and forces them out onto the streets in the cold and rain, and even then to have people complain at them. and thats before even throwing in the fact that most know it is likely to significantly shorten their lives.
the choice is there in the absence/before addiction. whether it is a real choice thereafter is debatable.
to be clear, im not talking about people having their "right" to smoke removed. im just saying that for many addicted smokers, to say they are making a conscious "choice" to continue really isn't true. they may say that, but the reality is they are addicted, and by saying they choose the path of continued smoking is better than the alternative of being labelled weak-willed or an addict, or any other of a number of adjectives which are all associated with failure.
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I contend it's a choice. It's a choice to start smoking. It's a choice to continue since there are numerous forms of smoking cessation from which to "choose". During the years of my addiction, I frequently said how much I wished I could quit, but I didn't really have the motivation needed, thus I continued to choose smoking. I could go for days without smoking but then choose to smoke again.
Smokers who are truly motivated to quit will make the choice to do so, by choosing any of the cessation forms on the market.
Is it an addiction? Yes. By choosing to smoke, one chooses addiction. There is no denying that. I chose to end my addiction to cigarettes. And I still miss it. But while the addiction still exists, I have overcome the manual habituation that is often the hardest to overcome.
The act of removing a cigarette from the pack, and tapping it gently to pack the tobacco firmly in the tube, and reaching for the lighter, or striking the match, and the initial inhale. Smoking is as much about the act as it is about the hit to the brain.
One must choose to smoke just as one must choose not to smoke.