Rlyss

Hi everyone.

Has anyone else noticed that there is an enormous double standard between drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes?

Most of my friends drink. And when I say drink, I mean if we have a night out at a bar, or a party, many of them will have a few beers, have a good night, and then think nothing of it.

I drink like that. Every now and then I'll have a beer if I've finished a heavy assignment, or I'm having a BBQ, or if I'm at a bar. Nobody sees any problem in that, do they?

But I also smoke. I'll have a cigarette if it's a nice day outside, if I'm at a bar, or if I particularly feel like one. So perhaps on average I have two or three per cigarettes per week.

I don't know how to get around accusations of denial about being addicted. Many of my friends say the scriped 'You're in denial!" when I say that I'm not addicted, and that I can quit any time I want. The fact is that I regularly go weeks without even <i>thinking</i> of a cigarette, and the thought is not constantly on my mind. Occasionally I'll have one if the situation is right. And occasionally I'll have a drink if the time is right.

I suppose here I'll have to say the cliche 'I'm not addicted, I can quit any time I want, but I don't want to right now.'

But many of my friends think this is not good enough. They drink alcohol, and nobody sees that as an addiction. Yet, as soon as me, or a friend, lights up a cigarette, it's suddenly an awful thing, and accusations of addiction fly.

After this rant here, has anyone else noticed any form of double standard between drinking alcohol at a bar, and having a cigarette at a bar? Why is drinking seen as socially acceptable, yet smoking seen as either 'you <i>never</i> smoke', or 'you're addicted', and nothing in between?

Has anyone got any thoughts on this?