What an intense read from start to finish!

I think that while the rate of death from smoking is low enough that we all know someone who has smoked their whole life and not died, it's doesn't mean that they don't have a terrible quality of life. My grandma used to make the weirdest wheezing noises every time she sat down, and that was some 20 years after she quit.

Thankfully for me, smoking makes me incredibly anxious, which was enough reason to stop.

Also from a psychological perspective, the fact that you can't actively see what's happening inside your body means that you don't worry about it as much. Out of sight, out of mind. Combined with the fact that there are so many other things out there waiting to kill you, including alcohol, pollution, the wrong kinds of food, nuclear war, reckless drivers, people kinda have a 'well whatever, i'll die eventually' attitude.