It is a very slippery road you are going. Yes, you can be a social smoker and not get addicted, but you won't even realize when you do get addicted. You should also understand that nicotine addiction is a physical process, not will-power related, very similar to Cocaine addiction (although less destructive) since it also stimulates the mesolimbic pathway. Nicotine is an active chemical that has a very powerful effect on the brain and circulatory system. Do not take it lightly, since the ease of obtaining nicotine, it's strong social acceptance and deceivingly non-destructive effects make it one of the most difficult addictions to shake off.
The surest way to an addiction is regular smoking. Doesn't matter if it's one pack a week/month/day, regularity will get you addicted. I'd advise you never to smoke if you're stressed and want relief, nicotine acts on the reward system of the brain, and if you smoke when you're low, your body will demand nicotine every time it feels low, and that's the most treacherous part of the addiction, since the more you fight it, the more you want it.
As for the health effects, why do you care about other people shoving big macs down their throat? That's their problem, their health, you should worry about yours. Just because there are worse things out there, doesn't make this a good thing. First off you very likely know that it will fuck up your lungs. What you probably don't know is that it also fucks up your arteries (nicotine is a cardio-vascular stimulent) and it releases cholesterol and fat in your bloodstream. Basically what will happen if you smoke is you will gradually become physically weaker. Less lung capacity, weaker circulation. Again, don't think that after 2 smokes you will be weak as a kitten, that won't happen. But after a while you will be weaker than you would normally be.
In the end my biggest advice to you is to do some serious research in the matter, since you have some major misconceptions about the whole thing. Just to name a few from your posts:
"but surely its all about willpower, if I dont let myself have more than one a day max, and stop myself from having any more than that, i'll never develop any dependancy on them." The problem is not from stopping yourself from smoking more. Unlike cocaine, you don't develop much of a tolerance to nicotine, so there's no need to up the dose. The problems come when you'd rather not have that one a day, but end up not being able to. Also as I've mentioned above, it's not that much down to willpower.
"I dont crave a cigarette anymore than I "crave" a drink during a hot day, or "crave" hitting the nightclubs on a saturday after a tough week. Bad examples, but its not a dependancy, it's just something I enjoy doing."
Again, you should read up about nicotine dependency. Yes, you enjoy it because it directly stimulates the pleasure center of your brain. It actually makes you enjoy everything more because of that. Conversely when you try to quit, you will enjoy everything a lot less during withdrawal, and you will ALWAYS remember how good that one smoke a day was even after you've shaken off the physical addiction.
I tell you this out of personal experience. I used to be a social smoker, then a regular smoker, than a 2-pack-a-day smoker, and finally quit. Also as a warning, even if you manage to quit, you will NEVER see a smoke and not want it afterwards. It will be a constant will-check for the rest of your life.
P.S. Don't take the fact that I'm contradicting you as trolling. It's up to you if you smoke and I personally have nothing against smokers. It's misinformation that I dislike, and the fact that you are going into this without knowing anything about it. You started this thread to get information, and that's what I'm giving you. What you chose to do with it however, none of my concern.
