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  Smoking tobacco is extremely bad for you.  Essentially, it's an expensive form of assisted suicide and is responsible for most cases of lung cancer.  Smoking causes around 20 percent of all cancers and about 30 percent of all cancers in the United States.  Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States.  Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of all deaths in the United States, accounting for 1 in 5 deaths every year.  It also increases the risk of the following cancers:  Mouth cancer, larynx cancer AKA voice box cancer, pharynx cancer AKA throat cancer, esophagus cancer, kidney cancer, cervix cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer, colon/rectum caner and also increases the risk of acute myeloid leukemia.  Cigarettes, cigars and pipes can all cause cancer.  There is no safe form of tobacco smoke!

  * Most of the information in the above paragraph was from one of the more well-known cancer research sites.  If you have an issue with it, take it up with them.

  Why isn't it illegal in the first place?  The short answer: It was set up that way to not be considered, even though it fits the criteria of a Schedule I drug of the Controlled Substances Act.

  The criteria of a Schedule I drug or substance is a high potential of abuse and no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and a lack of accepted safety for use, while things like marijuana which isn't anywhere nearly as addictive as nicotine (and many have said nicotine is many more times as addictive as heroin) and actually does have medical uses such as treating anxiety, PTSD, nausea and pain and those with muscle spasms, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, HIV/AIDS and glaucoma have found it helpful, but, oddly, marijuana AKA pot AKA weed is illegal on the federal level.

  Will that ever change?  Considering the fact that many of the lawmakers are controlled by lobbyists and receive large bribes . . . er, 'contributions' and many of them then feel obligated to take the side of those who gave them the most money, I have doubts that'll change any time soon, if ever.

  As for the Controlled Substances Act, itself, it was set up in 1970, when there was a lot of social un-rest going on and those with power believed that many of those involved with the protests, marches and riots used drugs and Richard Nixon signed it into law.  Would it have passed if it included things such as tobacco and alcohol?  Very doubtful.

  Tobacco prohibition is coming.  This is how it will happen:
 
 
 

  #1:  By making it illegal to smoke it anywhere in public, work, any type of private vehicle or public transport.  It will start being prohibited in certain areas like your office buildings, then slowly but surely become prohibited in certain public buildings and restaurants within counties and states.  After that, it becomes prohibited in government buildings, and the rest is rather anti-climatic.

  #2:  By raising taxes on it, so fewer people will want to start up smoking, and more will quit as the prices climb steadily upwards.

  #3:  By making it harder to advertise anywhere.

  No, I don't smoke or like the smell of cigarette smoke but that doesn't mean I believe that others have the right to punish someone because they have an addiction.
 
 

  My advice:
 

  Either quit (yeah, I know it's hard, but it's doable.  And knowing that something can be done is the hardest part.  Why do you think the government is so scared of letting people know what kind of technology they've really got?  Oops.  Maybe I shouldn't have said that...) or find a few trusted suppliers.  I strongly advise against growing your own because the government has some rather sensitive equipment (FLIR (Forward - Looking InfraRed) is just the tip of the iceberg.  Think at least 60 years in advance of what you know they have and you'll start getting the idea.  No, I'm not kidding!  Details on some tech that's been around since 1905 that would surprise you is found on the Repressed Tech page.  It'll give you an idea of what I mean).  If you're gonna quit, the best time to do it is right after you wake up.  Just don't light up.  Find something to keep your fingers busy like chatting on-line, doing e-mails to your friends, or making Web pages.  Even playing video games or PC games should help keep your mind off lighting up.  If you need more help, just try holding the cigarette in your fingers like you normally would, but don't light it or look at it too much.  If you don't have a cigarette, you can always substitute an ink pen or small marker of equal size and weight.

 
 

Update:
 

  I wasn't expecting my predictions on tobacco prohibition to start coming true so quickly, but if you've been paying attention to the news, you'll no doubt see that a lot of this stuff is already happening, mostly I think because of the settlements of the tobacco trials.

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