Heavy smoker here, usually 3-5 packs a day, been smoking since I was 16. I picked it up back then because, like everyone else, it was 'cool'. I thought about quitting, then I took the time to enjoy a good smoke, and found it to be a most satisifying experience. It sounds stupid to non-smokers, but for me, it helps get rid of stress, anxiety, headaches, nausea, hunger, and a handful of other things. After a good meal, a cigarette is great. A cigar with friends and a glass of scotch is legend. Watching a sunset with any form of liquor and a pipe filled with, in my case, black cavendish, truely epic. For me, smoking is a social evernt, it helps break the ice (asking for a light, offering a cigarette). It is a thinking event, writing papers. It is a doing anything event (can't start my car without one), one before bed, one before I get up, handfuls throughout the day, whenever I have to lecture co-workers/students I have one, whenever I'm just shooting the shit with someone I have one.
But, I do know all the risks. I'm young still (20), and I occasionally cough up blood. I rarely run, and when I'm out of cigarettes, may god have mercy on whoever is in my way. A wise man told me this, and I'll pass it on.
"Because the packs have things written on them, everyone who smokes knows these things. They know it causes emphisima, lung cancer, low birth weight, fetal injury, premature birth. They know it limits your activity, is addicting, and is now a socially bad habit. It costs alot of money, and will most likely kill them. The truth is, not a single smoker cares."
It is a non-smoker world now, we are doomed to stay huddled outside in the snow with our friends, smoking.