Breaking a nicotine habit can be one of the most difficult things to accomplish and it's a struggle that can go on for many years.

Non-smokers (those who have never touched a cigarette in their life) may not be able to identify with this, but ask your average heroin or cocaine user and they might possibly empathize. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and with regards to dependency, many experts rank it ahead of alcohol, cocaine and even heroin.

Of course, you won't find a tobacco addict in the same dank alley as a crazed crack junkie at 3:00 am looking to score his next big fix because cigarettes are readily available in most convenience stores and are perfectly legal. Then again... when the craving hits, just like any other substance abuser, you do what you have to!

The futility in advertising

Nowhere in the world of advertising are dollars spent so ineffectively on any other product or service, as they are on smoke-free ads. Smokers are confronted daily with cigarette packages adorned with images of rotted teeth and diseased lungs; magazine and on-line ads constantly hound you about the perils of tobacco and second hand smoke; and of course let's not forget all those useless t.v. commercials that we don't watch anyway because we're too busy racing-out-back in order to grab a quick puff before the regular programming starts.

Anyone who has ever cared for a cancer patient can tell you that most of those ads are rather pointless. If you've ever had to sit with someone vomiting intensely after chemotherapy, or had to hold bandages over an open wound after a stomach tube became dislodged, or even held the hand of a loved one as they lay struggling for that final breath, then you know that most of us have already become desensitized to meaningless campaigns that strive to play on our sympathies. If such a personal experience wasn't enough to make you stop right then and there, then a smoke-free commercial about a little boy lost in a train station and crying because he's been separated from his mother (the inference being that it could be forever), certainly isn't going to do the trick.

Jumping on the morality bandwagon

Perhaps what is even more annoying, is the reformed smoker (usually a family member) who walks around with a superior attitude and who routinely insists on making disparaging comments designed to humiliate you into quitting. If they truly believe they are being helpful, then someone ought to remind them that their personal attacks serve only to antagonize and will eventually gain them nothing but a loss of respect. A more supportive approach might be to offer childcare for a few hours, on a day when trying to manage the stress from withdrawal is too much for one person to handle.

Individuals addicted to nicotine can experience mild to extreme withdrawal symptoms for weeks, including irritability, anger and other emotional mood swings, depression, insomnia, headaches, coughing and weight gain. But while most of these are only temporary, the craving itself can last for months or even years. Like chronic alcoholism, it can take numerous tries at quitting before you succeed, if at all. Relapse is common.

And just in case you haven't already guessed, smokers are fully aware of the health risks associated with tobacco. We're not stupid, We're addicted! There is a difference. If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem. Smokers need real support, not abject criticism!