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The OP was not out of line with his comment. His friend was somewhat out of line with his response, but as anyone who ever worked in a customer service position will understand, the reaction wasn't directed at the OP. It was more likely a reaction to his own inability to deal with the issue on his own.
And that has led to the discussion of the addiction/choice comments here. Many years ago, in another life, while working on my Psychology degree, my Behavioural Modification prof was a smoking-cessation specialist. He ran clinics pretty much all year-long to help people stop smoking, evaluating different programs.
One thing he did mention is that nicotine IS addicting in the same manner as heroin. It permeates every cell in the body, and those cells become dependent on. It is a physical addiction, not merely psychological. The craving that smokers feel is a real, physical sensation caused by the leaching of the nicotine from the body. Because of that, his programs were designed to deal with both the physical and psychological aspects of quitting.
Partly because it is legal and still (at least marginally) socially acceptable, and largely because it is an insidious physical addiction, giving up smoking is horrifically difficult. This is especially true for those with any sort of addictive personality tendencies (and more people suffer those than you might think). The recidivism rate for smoking is generally higher than that for heroin or cocaine. So saying it's a life choice is a bit simplistic.
The many, many people who do give up smoking know how easy it is to start up again. Personally, as a lifelong non-smoker, I tend to like the "don't give it up forever, just give up the next one" philosophy. That has worked for me for over 27 years of drinking. The problem is that what works for one person won't for another. That's why there are so many different programs to help smokers. If you want to give it up, you just have to keep trying until you find the method that works for you. But like any psychological addiction, nothing works without the addict WANTING to give it up.
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