Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6 616 (paradoxically, some smokers believe they save money by smoking), conversely they remembered that they used to smoke less when they had a job; they also smoke because they feel lonely, in order to compensate for an emotional break-up or for redundancy, or to relief withdrawal symptoms after having stopped „hard drug‟ use. In other words, many interviewed smokers considered that smoking is „all they got left‟. I’m so intoxicated. (…) Okay, smoking gives cancer, but it also gives happiness, not a great happiness, but a little bit of it (…) I need my cigarettes because I don’t have spare-time activities, I’m broke, I don’t get out, I don’t go to the movies (…) There’s nothing here, we are miles from everywhere and there’s nothing to do. This place is dead and so are we. We should use our energy on other things than smoking and all that shit. (...) What do you think there is to do here? Going down to the pub? Meeting the same people, repeating the same bullshit, smoking cigarette after cigarette? (…) We’re like zombies here because we’re miles from everywhere. Look, a swimming pool, it would be great to have a pool nearby... If there was a pool, I would go swimming every day. Instead of smoking, I would go swimming, for example. It may sound stupid, but it’s not that stupid, actually (...) I haven’t got a car, and I couldn’t afford the petrol anyway (...) I’m not going to hitch a lift to the swimming pool, am I? (Camille, woman aged 60, retired) Smoking, yes it costs me more than 100 € a month... That’s a lot. It makes the budget rather tight, but thanks to my partner’s job, we practically manage to get to the end of the month - some months a least. Anyhow, cigarettes are a definite item, there’s no arguing about that. (…) I would like to stop smoking – um, because of the dough – to do other things with all the dough we spend on cigarettes. But it’s not easy. It’s all we have left, since we’ve stopped going out and we’ve given up booze. It’s our only pleasure these days. (Melina, woman aged 54, unemployed) If you’ve got no money, you just stay at home and don’t budge. Smoking is my only relaxation. Going places, eating out, having fun is too expensive. Look at the people who go to football and rugby matches. That costs as much as a pack of cigarettes, if not two or three times more. (…) Plus the cost of getting there. Smoking is all we have! It’s our only way of relaxing. (Joseph, man age 50, unemployed) When I used to work for a building firm, I smoked less. But now it’s hard to find a job. (…) Smoking helps me. When I wake up in the night I can’t sleep anymore. So I smoke. What else to do? Nothing. I smoke. And if I ain’t got cigarettes, then… That’s bad! (…) There is also loneliness. Loneliness makes you smoke. (Clement, man aged 51, unemployed) Smoking. Sometimes I tell myself it’s all I have. Why? Because there was a big upheaval in my life. My smoking increased because of that upheaval (...) I was smoking already, but the upheaval made it worse: suddenly being myself on my own. Cigarettes keep me company. If I haven’t got any, I feel a craving, and they do actually keep me company. They are there, they are there. That’s it. When I smoke I’m less alone. Well I mean... it’s hard to admit, but I feel less lonely. (Solange, woman aged 49, unemployed) I started smoking when I stopped cocaine. (…) I restarted smoking when I lost my job and found myself out on the street. (…) I had no income so I cadged off people. Smoking calmed me down. (Karine, woman aged 28, unemployed)