Coping with the stress of living while poor is not an excuse; it is an absolute reason. If I didn't smoke, I'd have landed in jail many times before now. I'm lucky, in that I've had no problems connected to my smoking or vaping. I started vaping, thinking it'd wean me away from cigarettes, but then they started coming down hard on vaping and I thought "what the hell?!" So... I'm 69 now, and I've got relatives who lived way over 89 who smoked without any of the major problems they attribute to smoking. Frankly, while I don't recommend the habit to anyone, I think a good portion of the "bad" stuff is dependent on environment and genetics... like most everything else. This will probably get my butt kicked but good here, but it started as a way of coping and through the years it really did help to keep me sane. And yes, I remember when a -carton- was $9.00 at the BX. I also live in a state that absolutely refuses to talk about making even medical marijuana legal. I figured the R's would want to go after the tax profits from it, but they seem ideologically opposed to it (shrugging shoulders).
I always sidled up to the group of smokers in the rec areas of work, even when there were others. For the most part, if you wanted really good conversation and a fun break, the smoker's group were who to be with. Maybe because we were truly relaxing on break.
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