The president, who ran what many consider to be one of the most disciplined, effective campaigns for president ever, struggles with smoking.

It is not about the discipline. Smoking, for many, is not something they do socially. It is a persistent craving, even an addiction, for those most affected.

It was not clear, until smoking became so socially undesirable one could not smoke in many restaurants, how many hard core smokers there were. Hard core smokers have to work hard to stay off cigarettes. Addicted smokers could not resist nicotine, no matter what they tried.

Nicotine now is understood to be highly addictive among the group of known addictive substances.

That is why it is much easier never to start.

People don’t know whether they are among the ones who are more prone to nicotine addiction until it is too late.

There are many smoking programs, new tools, such as medications, which can help. No patient should give up trying. Second-hand smoke also poses health risks to families and friends. Smokers have powerful reasons to keep at this, as hard as it is.

The effects of cigarettes on the body are many. Smoking increases the risks for heart disease and cancer, to name only two.

If you smoke, do not get discouraged. Find a doctor who will work with you until you can win back your freedom from Joe Camel, that cool devil.

Washington Post

“White House press secretary Robert Gibbs would not say yesterday, but he acknowledged that the president continues to struggle to control his habit.

“I would simply tell you I think struggling with a nicotine addiction is something that happens every day,” Gibbs told reporters.

“On the campaign trail last year, Obama talked about his fight to kick smoking, and he has admitted to sometimes falling off the wagon. As he campaigned for president, he was often spotted chewing Nicorette gum, which helps controls the craving for nicotine.”

….”The question arose after Obama praised Congress yesterday for passing legislation that would allow the federal government to regulate tobacco more closely. In his remarks in the Rose Garden, Obama decried the “harmful, addictive and often deadly effects of tobacco products.”

Source: Washington Post, June 13, 2009