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  • The Ingredients Of Cigarettes
  • Nicotine Addiction: Is It Real?
  • The Threat of Secondhand Smoke
  • Passive Smoke and Children
  • ADHD and Smoking
  • HPV and Smoking
  • Public Smoking Bans
  • Future Science Smoking Cessation
  • Smoking Cessation Products
  • Stop Your Children Now!
  • Your Psychological Loss
  • The Fear Of Gaining Weight
  • Smokers Defence Tactics
  • Setting Your Quit Date
  • How To Beat Nicotine Withdrawal
  • Tip: Keep A Craving Journal
  • You Have To Quit For You!
  • One Great Reason To Quit Smoking
  • The Positives of Quitting
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Smoking kills. We've seen this statement often, on news reports, health articles and even health warnings on the side of cigarette packs. Still, there are approximately 45 million adult smokers in the United States. 45 million!! Why haven't these people taken notice of the health risks, or the medical experts' advice? Smokers, like others with addictions to alcohol or drugs, find excuses to justify their actions. These excuses, not reasons, have many facets, ranging from the basic myths to the more ridiculous justification. Most of these though, are based around three main aspects; health, money and social behavior.

Smoker's defense tactics on health:

The main thing to realize here is that smokers are addicted to nicotine. People who have addictions, whether it is related to smoking, drinking alcohol, or drug use, have one thing in common - denial. Smokers deny to themselves that the health risks affect them, or indeed others around them. They know that there is a likely prospect of having health problems, or premature death, but it's not enough to make them stop smoking. Here come the excuses; "Everyone is bound to die sometime"; "I could get struck by a bus tomorrow"; "My grandmother never smoked a day in her life and died of a heart attack".

Smoker's defense tactics on money:

People who smoke are often not aware of how much the cost of buying cigarettes affects them and their families. Again, denial comes into play here. If, however, smokers are confronted by someone in their household, their defense is usually something like "I only smoke occasionally" or "my cigarettes cost less than your cosmetics/golf club membership/cable subscription".

Smoker's defense tactics on social behavior:

This is probably the most wide-ranging source of excuses. There are many and varied ways for people to justify their smoking habit, commonly stating that "smoking helps me relax" or "smoking passes the time". Worse still the younger generation still think that "smoking makes me look cool".

Admitting that these are just excuses, and not valid reasons for continuing to smoke, is a major step towards success in giving up smoking. For every excuse, there's a stronger counter-argument. Smokers who want to quit only have to look at the reality behind their denial, and realize that their brain has trained itself into believing these myths, possibly over a long period of time. Changing these ingrained "beliefs", by examining the way they look at the health problems, financial issues and social aspects, can really help people to want to stop smoking. Quit the excuses to quitting smoking!