However, at least some of these deaths are due not to smoking itself, but to the lifestyle choices that smokers make. Smokers tend to eat fattier foods, drink more alcohol, use more illegal drugs , and exercise less. When such factors are taken into account the difference in life expectancy between a smoker and a nonsmoker decreases significantly. Genetics, diet, and socio-economic status all can surpass moderate smoking in their effects on our longevity. Not so much as they are generally over-emphasized elsewhere.
Recent studies indicate that most people vastly overestimate the health risks of smoking.
If one derives enough enjoyment from smoking it is not at all irrational to balance that enjoyment against the risks and continue smoking. On the other hand, those who smoke purely from habit might do well to give it up and enjoy the health benefits of not smoking. Since the 1960s most doctors and public health organizations have believed smoking to be a primary cause of lung cancer and pre-mature heart disease. Acting on this belief they urged everyone to give up smoking. In the early 1970s radical Antismoking groups like ASH and GASP began increasing pressure on mainstream health groups like the American Lung and Heart Associations .