daylia, there are a couple of inherent problems in your stance.

*Smoking 10 or fewer cigarettes a day simply ensures that each cigarette will taste better, imo. It's very difficult to give up something that tastes that good to you. And something that tastes that good to you is a teaser to smoke more of them. (I tried a number of times to cut back; it never worked. Only cold turkey did it for me.)

*A young person's immune system can ward off diseases that older people's faltering systems may not be able to. And when an older person's system is already dealing with heart disease, cancers of various types or high blood pressure, or more, it's another blow to also have to give up something at the same time.

One of the saddest things I have read was by a man who was diagnosed with lung cancer. He said that what amazed him was how easy it was to quit smoking when the damage was already done, and he wondered what on earth made him think quitting was impossible.

I have a brother who smoked very heavily most of his life- 3 or 4 packs of Luckies a DAY. I swear he prided himself on it. Now, he is 70 years old, and in and out of the hospital with emphysema that keeps him from walking 20 steps without having to stop and gasp for breath. 'Tain't purty.

I grew up in a religious household; only my four brothers and I ever smoked. Until I faced the fact that smoking or not smoking was a health issue, not an issue of rebellion, did I start to feel bad about smoking.

Sorry for my rant. But my 'rebellion' button was pushed. For god's sake, rebelling against whom?? Yourself?