Five dollars? You yanks have it so cheap!!
Try $13 in the UK!
(Apparently)
If that doesn't answer the question about how addictive they are, nothing will. If you live in North Carolina, the tobacco center of the world, they are about $4.50 a pack. You can get them cheaper in discount outlets along the I-95 corridor. But, comparatively cheap and cheap are two different things. When I started, back in the dark ages, they were 20 cents a pack. When the prices started to go up, I vowed that if they ever got to $2.00 per pack I would certainly quit. I didn't. The desire was just to strong. I'd guess it is the same thing that gets people to spend huge amounts of money on cocaine and pot. It's all for the buzz. The buzz stops when COPD sets in, but, the need doesn't.
Having stopped (with difficulty), started again (missing brain cells) and stopped again, I am aware very acutely, about what the mental anguish is all about. When I hear someone say... "just ban them" or "I don't want to die because I walked near a smoker", I just want to smack them, figuratively, of course. When someone accuses others of being insensitive because they are smoking, I have to ask, where is your compassion or does their suffering mean nothing to you. It is a nasty, unhealthy and shame producing (now) habit. However, it isn't controlled by flipping a switch and like magic, the need is gone. On top of that, I can tell you that no smoker has ever stopped because someone got in their face and told them what disgusting human beings they are. My experience with such a thing, at the time, was to light another one immediately. Way to help the cause folks!!
Early in WDW's (and I'm sure Disneyland) history people and probably the majority of people, smoked "right down the middle of main street. Disney had special crews that hid in the shadows and scurried out when ever someone dropped a cigarette on the street. (which was constant and probably why the place was a lot cleaner back then) In a very brief amount of time (less then 30 years) that situation has changed, but I can assure you that it wasn't from anyone wagging their nicotine free fingers in anyone's face and telling them how much that they individually disapproved. When I started smoking there were no large scale programs telling of the evils of smoking. All we were told is that we were either too young or we were old enough to smoke if we wanted. Education and a constant repetition of the message that smoking will kill the user along with taking reasonable measures to separate smokers from non-smokers made the difference. Now that's not even good enough. It must be all or nothing. Well, alcohol, chocolate, fast foods, vehicle exhaust and 47 million other things kill people, when it gets to the point where they hit upon everyone's individual disgusting habit shouldn't that be the time to go after those things full on.
The thing I find hypocritical in Disney parks, particularly Epcot, but all, is the absolute promotion of alcohol. Anyone ever heard of liver disease, pancreatic cancer linked to alcohol or for that matter the second hand results of alcohol usage such as the death of innocent people due to driving while intoxicated? I am not a teetotaler, I have an occasional drink, but, when I see or hear the phrase "Drinking around the World" it makes me cringe. But, let's get those damn smokers.
