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"1999 was years after the US surgeon general changed the definition of addiction.

And anyway - addiction is different than dependence which is different again from habituation."

You aren't suggesting that cigarettes aren't physically addictive are you? If they are only "habituating" then how do you explain the strong physical withdrawal symptoms I have personally experienced?

No offense, but I just don't get your strong defense of that nasty death causing habit. Do you work in or somehow profit from the tobacco industry or are you just trying to justify your own bad habit? I mean, you argue that the 450,000 number our government gives us as being the number of folks killed each year is exaggerated. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they exaggerated it, but how many hundred thousand does it have to kill a year before it's a bad thing?

Geez, it rots your teeth and gums out, causes cancer and major cardiovascular problems. It ruins your stamina, smells bad, costs too much, hurts your sex life, and on and on and on. It's just a rotten awful indefensible habit. If you want to smoke, go ahead and smoke. If you want to fight against anti-smoking legislation, more power to you. But trying to convince the non-smokers out there that smoking isn't such a bad thing isn't going to win you any points. It will only backfire and lessen the effectiveness of your arguments.

Funny, lots of people, me included, like the smell of cigarette smoke. Not everyone considers it a nasty awful habit at all. I'm not convinced by the research that says it causes cancer. After all, dogs fed enough saccharine get cancer. I don't think most people get sick from smoking without having a predisposition to that particular illness, heart disease or cancer or COPD (the most commonly linked to smoking). I think a lot of environmental factors that are INESCAPABLE and overlooked are much more responsible for most of the illnesses. One that is totally neglected is the presence of processed rubber in the air--it's everywhere. Has anyone done any studies about the impact on the lungs of breathing in microscopic particles of rubber all day every day? I'd like to see such a study--I'm allergic to latex.

I don't agree that it is addicting, either. I can take cigarettes or leave them. I usually smoke a pack in five or six days, some days I don't smoke at all. Six years ago, I smoked a pack and a half a day, I cut down when it became inconvenient. I still like smoking. I don't plan to quit. And I think you lose a lot of credibility when you get all emotional.

The entire country, in my opinion, has fallen for the biggest lie of all: that tobacco has anything to do with the death rate in this country. There are some families that get cancer at the drop of a hat--my own particular family, from my grandparents to the infants--have never had cancer, with the exception of my mother, who got an extremely rare form of cancer (Krukenberg tumor) and died from it thirty years ago. I have over 20 biological aunts and uncles none of whom have had cancer. None. None of my over 50 first cousins has had cancer.

Over 50 percent of us smoke, at least occasionally.

If your post was correct, every smoker everywhere would be sick from something to do with smoking. Since you aren't saying anything quite as foolish as that, I can only imagine that you are arguing from emotion, not facts. You don't like it, ergo, it's bad.

Well, I have news for you: You're wrong.

But trying to convince the non-smokers out there that smoking isn't such a bad thing isn't going to win you any points.

You have obviously not read many of my posts, because I have never done any such thing.

You aren't suggesting that cigarettes aren't physically addictive are you? If they are only "habituating" then how do you explain the strong physical withdrawal symptoms I have personally experienced?

You apparently have a different bodily chemistry than I do, I have never had any physical withdrawal symptoms whengoing without smoking. In fact I find it more difficult to go without my moring coffee than going without a cigarette.

It seems that cigarettes were addictive to you, but are not to me. Isn't it amazing what propaganda can do to one's thought processes????

Do you work in or somehow profit from the tobacco industry or are you just trying to justify your own bad habit?

Not that it is any of your business, but the answer to your inquiry to my financial stake is a resounding NO. But it is nice to see that you acknowlege that smoking is just a "bad habit."

My arguement against the 450,000 number has nothing to do with whether smoking is a good thing or a bad thing - my arguement is that I have a problem with the government, that I am paying for, is lying in order to promote and justify behavior modification of law abiding adults. If you think the government (in whatever form) is justified in lying about smoking, I have to assume you will go along with any other lies the government promotes in its effort to control behavior. But I so do despise making assumptions.