Started in 1955 - when I was about 11 - going up to the little shop on the corner and asking for 5 "Woodies" and a match, cost 9d (that's nine OLD pennies n Uk currency). "Woodies" were Wills Woodbines - cheapest crap on the market. Stopped smoking cigarettes one morning at work around 1969 - just looked at the things and the thought of smoking one made me feel sick. I flirted a little with a pipe, some years later, and had the very occasional Havana cigar - more for the flavour than the nicotine because I never inhaled (like Bill Clinton) - but stopped it all completely when the smoking ban came in over here.

So it's been over 40 years since I smoked regularly - thank heavens...

But - I do believe that some people are born with an "addictive" gene which makes it more difficult for them to quit, and others (like me) don't have this gene. I stopped with no difficulty whatsoever. Whether medical research bears this out or not, I have no idea.