I understand what you're saying...I mean with all the public awareness these days regarding the ills of smoking, it's hard to believe anyone with a vegetable's sense would still even think twice about lighting up. But the truth of it is that if you're not a smoker, haven't been a smoker, and/or aren't really, really aware of how the addiction works, it's hard to appreciate just what it does to a person's physiology.
Case in point: the very people you mention. The "educated." Now many of them, no doubt, are probably still driven by the illusion that smoking is in some way cool and that they won't fall victim to the effects of their decision...eventually. But many of them know better, and simply can't quit. If you want to take it a step further, I can use as an example many of MY fellow classmates, who are future physicians themselves and I can personally vouch for the brilliance possessed by many of them...and yes as absolutely moronic and ironic as it sounds, many of THEM smoke. They started before they knew better and when they felt the indestructibility of adolescence would never give way to the perils and inevitability of reality. Now they know it's stupid, they know it's gonna kill them, and they learn just like all the rest of us how bad it is and how to help people figure out how to quit. They just can't get it to work for themselves.
Understanding what I've just said without feeling a great sense of confusion can be difficult...unless (again) you really have an appreciation for what goes on with a person's body once they're addicted. Many people, once they start smoking, find that their capacity to function physically and mentally simply deteriorates unless they can get their fix. These people have the very worst physical addictions that, although different from the nasty illegal drugs that gain the spotlight and attention of law enforcement, work in the same general way. Withdrawal can be painful, is prolonged, and can all go away with a simple puff. It's like a furring trap...once you're in, every time you struggle, you get clamped a little tighter. Many, many people who know better but still do it fall into this group.
I get the impression, blue, that you don't really appreciate this based upon your response, and your reasoning isn't flawed, it's just missing important information. Now I also get the impression that you put far less blame on the cigarette companies than I do, which is more than fine and more than your God-given right to do...but let me hit you with an example...
What kind of 'gun do you shoot? I'll just draw something out of a hat, say a Shocktech Bushmaster for example. You love this 'gun, and it's been sold to you as the cream-of-the-crop, makes you look cool, and has no adverse side effects aside from draining your wallet. But let's say that six months from now, a study comes out that demonstrates with statistical significance that there's a link between using the Shocktech Bushmaster and the development of a rare, lethal kind of bone cancer. Let's say you call Shocktech about this new development and they assure you that it's all ludicrous, hogwash, and that they're in the process of developing studies of their own which demonstrate that there's NO association at all between your 'gun and this rare cancer. So you say "Great" and keep on keepin' on.
Now fast foward another six months. Researchers from Johns Hopkins, Duke, Harvard, and several other highly respected medical research foundations reveal the results of similar studies which show an undisputable statistical link between your 'gun and this new rare cancer. Once again, in response Shocktech adamantly denies it and fights the findings with their own "data." But low and behold, right in the thick of it all, there's a development...a former employee of Shocktech comes forward to claim that not only does Shocktech KNOW that there IS, in fact, a link between the Shocktech Bushmaster and this new rare cancer, but that they've known about it since the 'gun was in its development stage and they simply suppressed the evidence.
A month after this incredible series of events, you return from a doctor's visit where you've just been told you have developed this new type of bone cancer. Interestingly, the prevalence of this cancer is 99.9% restricted to users of the Shocktech Bushmaster.
What is there to say?
Naturally, the Shocktech Bushmaster does not cause cancer. But you get my point.
~Justin Owen~
PS...no disrespect meant in any part of this message...I hope it doesn't come across the wrong way; naturally, I just feel really strongly against them (the companies) and can't help but voice my objections.
