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Full disclosure: I was until recently a smoker. I maintained a half a pack per day habit for over five years. I have recently decided to stop smoking because the benefits now outweigh the costs for me. My reasons for starting were my own, my reasons for quitting were my own. If I start again in the future, my reasons for resuming the habit will be my own.
I don't want accolades or pats on the back for quitting. I didn't shout it from the rooftops. I don't tell people that I've quit unless the subject specifically comes up in conversation. Frankly, quitting was nearly as easy for me as starting was. I just stopped smoking cigarettes. My big secret? I waited until I was ready to quit. The cravings sucked, but I had good reasons not to give into them, so fighting them wasn't that hard.
I'm fairly liberal and am of the belief that so long as you're not hurting anyone else you should be entitled to fuck up your body in whatever way you deem fit. Heroin? Go for it. Cocaine? Why should I care? Marijuana? Caffeine? Whatever. The fact that I don't do these things doesn't mean I'm about to get high and mighty on folks who do. It's your individual choice.
'But second hand smoke kills!' all the naysayers cry. And if smokers are in an enclosed public space where other individuals are forced to be, fine. That argument has merit. Out of doors, away from entrances and exits? Please. You're telling me that the half-second breath of tobacco smoke is going to eviscerate your children? I'm not buying it. Similarly, if a bar or restaurant owner decides that he's going to allow his patrons to smoke in his establishment, I reckon that should be the proprietor's choice. Don't like it? Vote with your feet.
Of note, when I was a smoker I made a habit of getting the go-ahead from my companions before I lit up. Whether we were outside or not, I generally asked and tried to be conscientious about it. Being a smoker does not automatically equate to being good-for-nothing, being a lowlife, being stupid, or whatever other association you want to make. All it tells you about a person is what bad habit they have.
Personally, I'm not particularly bothered by cigarette smoke. Maybe I need to be off the cancer sticks longer before that part kicks in, I don't know. But even if I were, I'm not about to get down on people who are making reasonable accommodations. Smoking outside and out of the way is reasonable. Expecting everyone to quit because you don't like it or didn't make that particular choice is not reasonable. I don't like drinking. Alcohol is a factor in thousands of deaths every year. It's certainly not good for you and has the potential to kill not only you but innocent people around you. Should we ban drinking? Or should we maybe simply expect drinkers to make reasonable accommodations, such as not driving while drunk?
The people who really bothered me when I was a smoker and continue to do so now are the ones who think that quitting entitles them to hassle all current smokers about their habit. Some smokers don't have the willpower to quit. Some just plain don't want to. There are people out there who actually enjoy the habit. I say this with confidence because I was one right up until the day I quit. Even now, I'm quite sure I'd love nothing more than to light up a smoke, but I have better reasons not to.
Of all the evils of this world, smoking is definitely not the worst. It's far more productive to turn your attention to issues that truly matter, rather than turning people into scapegoats due to a habit they chose, regardless of what you think of it.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said
- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame
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