Written by Marty Coffey

In this day and age, we have a lot more health information available to us than we did even just twenty-five years ago. Today, no one disputes the cold hard truth that smoking kills. So it may look like there is no reason for anyone to still be smoking. But that’s only one side of the argument. Smokers themselves have a slightly different outlook. They may agree that smoking is dangerous and stupid, but they also know that it’s addictive. Most smokers surveyed say that they would stop – if only they could.

Far too often, non-smokers see the issue in black and white. Only smokers may see the grey areas. Non-smokers may say there’s no excuse for such dangerous behavior and move to ban it all together. Unfortunately, as long as there’s big money to be made in tobacco, it will likely stay around in some form or another. This means that each individual smoker must make his own individual choice.

Many of today’s smokers began when they were uneducated. They knew it was a bad decision, but they weren’t fully aware of the deadly consequences. Now that such information is public knowledge, they’re expected to drop the habit immediately, with no consideration for the fact that nicotine addiction has long since held them trapped in its grasp.

But there is hope. Through other scientific breakthroughs, we now have patches, gums and other devices to ease the transition away from nicotine. I cannot stress enough the importance of trying all of these methods to find what will work for you. Smokers, you know the risk you’re taking every time you light up. You know that you don’t want to die a slow death and leave your family behind. You also know that you don’t want to be the person blowing second-hand smoke all around and endangering innocent people who aren’t bringing it on themselves. You know all of these facts that have been brought to your attention in so many public service announcements.

Please stop knowing and starting doing. Do something about it today. Don’t be another statistic on a news report. Be one of the people who kick the habit. Do whatever it takes. Help is available. All you have to do is ask for it.