554 



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an addictive drug and that, therefore, smokers are drug 

 addicts. I object to the premise and to the conclusion. 



Many people like to smoke. Some people like the 

 look and feel of the pack or the smell of tobacco. Some 

 like to hold and fiddle with a cigarette. And, of 

 course, there is the taste and aroma of the tobacco, and 

 the sight of the smoke. 



Cigarettes contain nicotine because it occurs 

 naturally in tobacco. Nicotine contributes to the taste 

 of cigarettes and the pleasure of smoking. The presence 

 of nicotine, however, does not make cigarettes a drug or 

 smoking an addiction. 



People can and do quit smoking. According to the 

 1988 Surgeon General's Report, there are over 40 million 

 former smokers in the United States, and 90% of smokers 

 quit on their own, without any outside help. 



Further, smoking is not intoxicating. No one 

 gets drunk from cigarettes, and no one has said that 

 smokers cannot function normally. Smoking does not 

 impair judgment. No one is likely to be arrested for 

 driving under the influence of cigarettes. 



