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Very few people can quit smoking through will power alone... last statistic I read was somewhere between 3-5%. Most people need additional help in the form of medication and counseling if they are serious about it. Long-term smokers, such as adults who have been smoking since adolescence, will have a much harder time quitting than people who are relatively newer to smoking.
The smoking cessation industry accounts for $3 billion per year in the U.S. alone. If it were easy to quit this industry would vanish over night. Your suggestion that people simply take personal responsibility is insufficient. The vast majority of smokers start at a young age which is the age group that the tobacco companies target (unless there is legislation to prevent it). It is also incredibly difficult to quit, as a long-term smoker, if you are constantly running into other smokers in your life, like at your work, at restaurants/bars, or even just walking down the street.
I don't think you truly grasp the gravity of what addiction is, which is why you think it's somehow an easy matter to toss a substance abuse problem out the window. Even people who have quit can have cravings years and years after the fact. The same goes for hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, etc. Maybe if smokers were having serious withdrawl symptoms that require hospitalization like with hard drugs, people would take their addiction problem more seriously?
Addiction is addiction and it should never be minimized as it can negatively effect the lives of those ailed and all those who know them.
The smoking cessation industry accounts for $3 billion per year in the U.S. alone. If it were easy to quit this industry would vanish over night. Your suggestion that people simply take personal responsibility is insufficient. The vast majority of smokers start at a young age which is the age group that the tobacco companies target (unless there is legislation to prevent it). It is also incredibly difficult to quit, as a long-term smoker, if you are constantly running into other smokers in your life, like at your work, at restaurants/bars, or even just walking down the street.
I don't think you truly grasp the gravity of what addiction is, which is why you think it's somehow an easy matter to toss a substance abuse problem out the window. Even people who have quit can have cravings years and years after the fact. The same goes for hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, etc. Maybe if smokers were having serious withdrawl symptoms that require hospitalization like with hard drugs, people would take their addiction problem more seriously?
Addiction is addiction and it should never be minimized as it can negatively effect the lives of those ailed and all those who know them.
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