Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6 618 Firstly, in the quantitative analysis the “enjoyment” motive reached similar levels among poor and other smokers. But in-depth interviews reveal that the pleasure poor smokers derived from smoking is quite specific: they frequently considered cigarette smoking as the only pleasure they can afford, as the one thing that offers them “a little moment of happiness”. This is probably not the same pleasure among wealthier smokers. Moreover, according to the common understanding of addiction, dependent people just take their drug because they need it to relief withdrawal symptoms. In other words, they need to smoke because they are dependent. But that is not what interviewed smokers said. On the contrary, from their point of view, they are rather tobacco-dependent because they need cigarettes to satisfy essential needs that cannot be met otherwise, because of their deprived condition. This remark echoes a previous qualitative study conducted by Jason Hughes in the United Kingdom [26]. According to Hughes, some smokers endorse a dual conception of dependence. On the one hand, they admit to be enslaved by cigarettes. On the other hand, the meaning of dependence seems to involve the idea that tobacco is something that smokers can depend upon, a reassuring emotional resource that will always be there for them. Finally, our findings suggest that harsh living conditions generate socioeconomic stress that drives poor smokers to keep on smoking tobacco. Previous qualitative studies support this interpretation [27,28]. Conversely, other studies suggest that smoking relapse frequently occurs after divorce or redundancy, while successful cessation is associated with positive life changes [5,29]. Thus poor smokers may be less successful in quitting smoking because they lack such positive changes in their existence. Nevertheless, one could assume that using tobacco to manage stress is a culturally shaped behaviour. In other words, poor smokers may be more prone to report such use not only because they endure more stress than wealthier smokers, but also because they have learned to do so during their socialisation. Indeed, smoking used to be a deep-rooted and highly valued habit within the working- class culture [30]. Besides, during the 1970s, French trade unions fiercely opposed the increase in cigarette prices, claiming that cigarettes were a legitimate antidote to the strains endured by workers. This assumption is also supported by the fact that some interviewed smokers explicitly linked their smoking habit to their harsh living conditions (see Didier‟s quotation supra). We believe this topic deserves further investigation. More generally, further research is needed to better understand the cultural shaping of smoking motives. 5. Conclusions In France as in many other developed countries, there is an increasing social differentiation of cigarette smoking. Despite a sharp increase in cigarette price during the early 2000s, the smoking prevalence barely decreased among manual workers and even increased among unemployed people. Acknowledging the attractive and pleasurable aspects of smoking experienced by poor smokers helps to understand why anti-tobacco policies in general, and the increase in cigarette price in particular, are unlikely to deter many poor smokers from smoking. Moreover, raising cigarette prices is likely to impose a disproportionate burden on those poor smokers who do not quit. Non-smoking specific interventions that would contribute to improve poor smokers‟ living conditions (for example, facilitating their access to leisure activities and re-weaving the social fabric in their neighborhood, to