Well, both my parents smoked, but even back then, they told me smoking was bad and if they caught me smoking, they would KILL me. hehe!
I wasn't going to smoke, but one day, at lunch from High School, over at my girl friends house with 4 other girl friends, all smoking.......they finally talked me into it.
Been smoking ever since, and that was when I was 16.
So, it wasn't smoking parents that got me to smoke......or the ads on TV or the Bill Boards........but my peers.
Maybe I should sue? Beer made me smoke! Maybe I should try to bring back prohibition? That always works well!
The tyranny of the majority is in full view now, and they don't even understand the blatant unconstitutional laws they are making.
Little minds have a very real capacity to make the world hell. "Useful idiots" is indeed a very good term to describe these folks.
My story is very similar to yours.
I no more blame my smoking parents for me smoking, my younger brother never smoked, than I blame them for the fact that I only drink beer and wine, which are pretty much the only alcoholic beverages they drank on any kind of a regular basis.