Smokers are panicking nowadays. They sense that there is a change in  society. Smoking is now regarded as  an unsociable habit, even by smokers  themselves. They also sense that the whole thing is coming to an end. Millions of smokers are now stopping, and all smokers are conscious of this fact.
Every time a smoker leaves the sinking ship, the ones left on it feel more miserable. Every smoker instinctively knows that it is ridiculous  to pay good money for dried leaves rolled up in paper, to set light to them  and to breathe cancer- triggering tar into his lungs. If you still don't think it is silly, try
sticking a  burning cigarette in your ear and ask  yourself what the difference is. Just one. You cannot get the nicotine  that way. If you can stop sticking cigarettes in your mouth, you won't  need the nicotine.
Smokers cannot find a rational reason for smoking, but if someone else is doing it, they do not feel
quite so silly.
Smokers blatantly lie about their habit, not only to others but to  themselves. They have to. The brainwashing is essential if they are  to retain some self - respect. They feel the need to justify their habit, not only to themselves but to non - smokers. They are therefore for ever advertising the illusory advantages of smoking.
If a smoker stops on the Willpower Method, he still feels deprived and tends to become a moaner. All this does is to confirm to other smokers how right they are to keep smoking.If the ex - smoker succeeds in kicking the habit, he is grateful that he  no longer has to go through life choking himself or wasting money.  But he has no need to justify himself, he doesn't sit there saying how  marvelous it is not to be smoking. He will do that only if he is asked,  and smokers won't ask that question. They wouldn't like the answer. Remember, it is fear that keeps them smoking, and they would rather keep their heads in the sand.
The only time they ask that question is when it is time to stop.
Help the smoker. Remove these fears. Tell him how  marvelous it is  not to have to go through life
choking yourself,  how lovely it  is  to wake  up in the morning feeling fit and healthy instead of wheezing and  coughing, how wonderful it is to be free of slavery, to be able to enjoy  the whole of your life, to be rid of those awful black shadows. Or, better still; get him to read the book.It is essential not to belittle the smoker by indicating that he is  polluting the atmosphere or is in some way unclean. There is a common  conception that the ex - smoker is the worst in this respect. I believe  this conception has some substance, and I think this is due to the  Willpower Method of stopping. Because the ex - smoker, although he has  kicked the habit, retains part of the brainwashing, part of him still  believes that he has made a sacrifice. He feels vulnerable, and his natural  defensive mechanism is to attack the smoker. This may help the ex - smoker, but it does nothing t o help the smoker. All it does is put his hack  up, make him feel even more wretched and consequently make his need for a cigarette even greater.
Although the change in society's attitude to smoking is the main  reason why millions of smokers are quitting, i t doesn't make it easier  for them to do so. In fact, it makes it a great deal harder. Most smokers  nowadays believe they are stopping mainly for health reasons. This is  not strictly true. Although the enormous health risk is obviously the chief  reason for  quitting, smokers have been killing themselves for years and  it has made not the slightest difference. The main reason why smokers are stopping is because society is beginning to see smoking for what it  actually is: filthy drug addiction. The enjoyment was always an illusion; this attitude removes this illusion, so that the smoker is left with nothing.

The complete ban on smoking in London's Underground system is a  classic example of the smoker's dilemma. The smoker either takes the attitude:' OK, if I cannot smoke on the train, I will find another means of travel,' which does no good but merely loses London Transport valuable revenue, or he says: 'Fine, it will help me cut down on my smoking.' The result of this is that instead of smoking one or two cigarettes on the  train, neither of which he would have enjoyed, he abstains for an hour.
During this enforced period of abstinence, however, not only will he be mentally deprived and waiting for his reward but his body will have been craving nicotine - and, oh, how precious that cigarette will be when he  is eventually allowed to light, up.Enforced abstiences do not actually cut down the intake because the smoker just indulges himself in more cigarettes when he is eventually allowed to smoke. All it does is to ingrain in the smoker's mind how precious cigarettes are and how dependent he is upon them.I think the most insidious aspect of this enforced abstinence is its  effect on pregnant women. We allow unfortunate teenagers to be bombarded with massive advertising that gets them hooked in the first place.  Then, at what is probably, the most stressful period in their lives, when  in their deluded minds they need cigarettes most of all, the medical  profession blackmails them into giving up because of the harm they a re  causing the baby. Many are unable to do so and are forced, through no fault of their own, to suffer a guilt complex for the rest of their lives.  Many of them succeed and are pleased to do so, thinking, 'Fine. I will  do this for the baby and after nine months I will be cured anyway.' Then comes the pain and fear of  labor, followed by the biggest 'high' of their  lives. The pain and fear are over, and the beautiful, new baby has arrived  and the old trigger mechanism comes into operation. Part of the  brainwashing is still there, and almost before the cord has been cut,  the girl has a cigarette in her mouth. The elation of the occasion  blocks the foul taste from her mind. She
has no intention of becoming hooked again. 'Just the one cigarette.' Too late! She is already hooked.
Nicotine has got into her body again. The old craving will start, and  even if she doesn't become
hooked again straight away, post- natal depression will probably catch her out.
It is strange that although heroin addicts are criminals in la w. our  society's attitude is quite rightly 'What can we do to help the pathetic individuals?' Let us adopt the same attitude to the poor smoker. He is not smoking because he wants to but because he thinks he has got to, and, unlike the heroin addict, he usually has to suffer years and years of mental and physical torture. We always say a quick death is better than a slow one, so do not envy the poor smoker. He deserves your pity.

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