Well, there ya go.

My doctor back home enjoys fine cigars up at elk camp every year. He will have one on other special occasions too. He always shares with the rest of us, and his tastes in fine tobacco are excellent. He agreed that an occasional smoke won't do any more to you than the background pollution level will. Did I mention he's also an former Navy Seal? He's 63 and can still beat my butt going up the hills. He knows as much about taking you apart as he does about putting you together. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Anyways, I think the point is nothing in excess. A little nip on the bottle once in a while, or a good stogie, or a nice juicy steak with all the trimmings just ain't gonna make the end that much sooner or worse. It is when our indulgences become habitual and turn into vices that we start having problems, regardless what our knack may have initially been.

I quit smoking cigarettes 14 years ago. At one point I was up to three packs a day. One day my 3 year old wanted to climb up in my recliner with me and snuggle, but I was smoking a cigarette at the time and told her she couldn't. That was the last cigarette I smoked since then, although I've puffed a pipe for a few weeks here and had an occasional cigar with my pals. You can have all the fancy gimmicks and chew a bucket of gum. You won't quit smoking until you make the decision in your mind to quit, and then you won't need a crutch to do it. To this day, I crave a cigaretter as bad as the day I quit, and everytime I am around smokers I want to light up again. I don't because I made the decision that I had smoked my last cigarette habitually, and I don't have need to ever smoke another. The pipe was a pacifier test for this place. It didn't work, so I pitched it after about 4 weeks of smoking maybe a pipeful every other day (I've never been able to inhale pipe smoke, so just puffing on it didn't do anything for me).

What was the topic of this thread again? I fogot...