To smoke or not to smoke? Smoking and tobacco kill. Everybody knows it. So why would anyone in their right mind and aware of the penalties take up this habit in the first place? Are they plain stupid? No. Plenty of smart, intelligent people smoke.
Do more and more people, particularly youngsters, have a death wish? I'm sure suicide is not on their minds. The reasons are as diverse and complex as life itself.
Peer pressure plays a big factor: Teenagers and young people wanting to fit in with the "cool crowd" and their peers will take up smoking, rather than risk being a social outcast. I've talked to people who profess not to smoke, unless they're in a social situation.
"When I see my friends lighting up, I'll join in," they admit. When asked why, the most common reply was, "Because it's better to suck in firsthand smoke than passively breathe in second-hand smoke."
I could scarcely believe it when I heard this line of reasoning coming from a healthcare professional (and social smoker)! Was it a case of extremely twisted logic? Lack of education, perhaps? Or - just an excuse to smoke?
Many tobacco-lovers will confess, "I smoke to relieve stress." It's true that high-stress professions, such as the military, have higher numbers of smokers.
But some experts argue that it's the process of inhaling deeply that relaxes a person, and not the nicotine itself. In which case, deep-breathing exercises should help to reduce one's stress, minus the cigarette in hand. Yoga, anyone?
It's a widespread, misconstrued belief that smoking somehow makes a person more glamorous, thanks to modern celebrity pop-culture, which glamorises smoking. If youngsters wanting to be seen as "cool" see their favourite big-screen movie star or pop star smoking, then why not follow their idol's example?
Some of the very naïve and misguided even smoke in the hopes that fame and fortune will follow. No doubt, this is a powerful motivator to light up for some, in substitute of actual talent or hard work, in order to get to the top.
Some are also under the impression that because cigarettes suppress appetite, they can stay "supermodel thin" by consuming tobacco in place of proper meals - appearance being top of many people's lists, in today's beauty-conscious society. If you'd rather starve your body instead of nourishing it, then that's your right as an individual.
If the above isn't contradictory enough - what about those hardcore fitness fanatics who light up after their workouts? We all know them: They go to the gym, jog, and play sports.
One can only assume fitness and health are a priority - until they light up. I would ask: Do you want to maintain your health or ruin it? You can't have both. Eventually, the consequences of one habit will catch up with the other - right?
So what motivates most people to get off the smoking bandwagon? "Family" tops the "Reason to Quit" list for many former tobacco-lovers. Many ex-smokers confess that it was their children and spouses who motivated them to drop the habit.
It can't be easy for a parent to see an asthmatic child suffer, thanks to their smoking. Unless perhaps, some aren't savvy enough to see how the two are linked. Health, or the prospect of losing it, is another powerful fear factor that prompts others to kick the habit.
No doubt as cigarette prices soar - some of the more strong-willed (or more frugal) will quit, in order to save money rather than squander their hard-earned cash. After all, what's the difference between smoking and setting your dollar bills alight before watching them burn?
Cigarette companies basically have a licence to kill. They rake in millions, and as old customers die, new ones are lining up to take up the habit. Women, though still lagging behind their male counterparts in terms of smoking, are the new, favourite targets of tobacco companies. Ladies beware: Pretty packaging may be a tactic to get you to light up.
On the flip side, Australia will soon be the first nation in the world to sell the killer sticks in plain boxes. Cigarette companies aren't happy. Anti-tobacco groups may argue that cigarettes should not even be allowed on sale for public consumption at all. Why not outlaw tobacco like its fellow toxic substances - cocaine or heroine?
Unlike those other drugs though, tobacco does not exclusively affect the smoker. Just one smoker can expose his or her entire family to second-hand smoke every day, making loved ones involuntarily passive smokers.
There's also the much scarier "third-hand smoke". New studies say it gets trapped in curtains, clothes and carpets, posing a risk, with children being the most vulnerable. Young or old, rich or poor, famous or not - smoking-related diseases don't discriminate.
My father, recently at the hospital for a check-up, sat next to a healthy-looking young man. The teen's fit and strapping appearance masked his true condition. At the tender age of 17 years, he confided that he had lung cancer contracted from his multi-pack-a-day habit, which he'd begun at 14.
An acquaintance of ours was also struck down with lung cancer, though he'd never touched a cigarette in his life. After years of exposure to smoke in his workplace, where the majority of his colleagues shared the habit, he lost his life. His family lost a husband and father.
The above example is one reason to be thankful for the recent smoking bans, which prevent smokers from lighting up in public areas. (Though smokers affected by these bans may grumble.) Remember - the next time you light up, you may have the right to poison yourselves for your own pleasure - just not the people around you.
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