We tend to think of smoking as a tug-of-war. On the one side we have the fear that it’s killing us, costing a fortune and making us a slave and an addict. On the other side, it’s our pleasure or crutch. It never occurs to us that these perceived ‘benefits’ of smoking are really just more thinly disguised fears: the fear that I won’t be able to have fun, relax or handle stress without the cigarette. Of course both sets of fear are caused by the cigarette. And I hardly need to point out that non-smokers have none of these fears.
