I smoked about a pack a day from ages 17 to 30 (started out of a combination of peer pressure and curiosity). Tried half-heartedly to quit a few times (N.B. quitting for a girl typically will NOT work). I ended up quitting for good because of a minor health scare (I was lugging some heavy stuff up a LONG hill and wasn't doing such a great job oxygenating...I more or less passed out).

I didn't have a terrible time quitting. Had one cigarette about two months after at a party, and that was it. Stopped having cravings after a few more months.

Nonetheless, I MISS smoking terribly, and still identify as a smoker. Not only, or even mainly, the social aspect. My favorite smokes were usually walking down the street alone thinking about stuff, or else coding at night (yes, my room got to smelling pretty gross...a side "benefit" of smoking is that it wastes your olfaction pretty badly). I loved the ritual of taking out a smoke, digging for a light, the first deep draw & exhale.

The current vilification of smokers makes me pretty mad. I get that it affects other people, but probably not as badly as alcohol, on a widespread social level.

I've also smoked pot and hash a bunch over the years, although I quit those as well a few years ago. The paranoia, as they say, will destroy ya.

So yeah..."I'm Diakronik, and I'm a smoker."