(28) Quit Smoking
VIDEO
Why did it take so long to determine that smoking was addictive?
Without going into the enormous details on the history of the tobacco industry and its attempts to present tobacco use simply as a matter of choice with no conclusive ill health effects, the answer lies simply in the nature of addiction and dependence.
Tobacco smokers appear to share little in common with what most people consider addicts. The idea of a smoker struggling with a “bad habit” is more plausible on the surface. Smoking does not affect behavior in any negative way in the same way as other addictions.
The smoker continues to function as any nonsmoking individual would. This occurs even when the smoker abruptly stops smoking. There are no overtly physiologically measurable effects of withdrawal.
The behavioral effects are general and can be seen in anyone who forgoes a habit, whether it is considered “good,” or “bad.” The smoker does not end up on the streets resorting to crime to feed his or her habit, nor in the hospital in a state of acute withdrawal.
Smoking does not affect behavior in any negative way in the same way as other addictions. The smoker continues to function as any nonsmoking individual would.
