People underestimate the hold of cigarettes.  Many, who don't smoke, simply think it is as easy as putting the cigarette down and walking away from it.  They can't understand why smokers, with the price of cigarettes being at an all-time high, can't simply put the pack down and walk away from them for good.  The answer is simple.  Cigarette smokers are addicts.  That's right, they are addicts and just as a drug abuser continues to purchase their drug of choice, despite the cost of consequences, cigarettes smokers are chemically dependent as well.