I have never, ever smoked. The reason I have never smoked was when I was in 5th grade, we took a tour of a cigarette manufacturing facility as part of our state studies unit (major state industry). When we got to the filter manufacturing area, they had these large vats that looked like huge cotton candy machines, spinning the filter material. The tour guide explained that the steel vats had to be replaced every six months because the filter material ate through the steel and weakened it. If the filter was supposed to be a good component of the cigarette, it was a little scary that it could eat through stainless steel.
The second reason that I never smoked was that I noticed that people seemed to be controlled by their smoking habits. The addiction is a control. I had very controlling parents, and the idea of being controlled by something that was not interested in my best interests was not appealing.
That being said, both my daughters smoked and have quit. My oldest said that she has a strong oral fixation, and even before she started smoking had dreams about smoking. My youngest started as a way to keep her hands busy and control her frustration at waiting.
All that being said, there is an excellent, excellent book on the topic, Cigarettes are Sublime by Richard Klein that explores smoking as a culturally embedded ritual. It’s a fascinating read, for both smokers and non-smokers alike. Smoking does provide a calming effect for people; they were handed out to soldiers in WWII and that is when engineering the chemical composition of cigarettes began as an industry standard.