People start "because it's cool" (that's the power of marketing combined with the pathetic 'emasculated' weakness of modern man's will ... seriously guys, grow up, be a man, a real man does not go "ooh tobacco companies tell me what to do and I'll do it" at great expense to himself).
Once they start, they continue smoking because nicotine is not just chemically addictive, but HIGHLY addictive, one of the most addictive drugs on the market (+/- 60 times more addictive than cocaine). Because it's so hard to stop, smokers then "rationalise" their addiction in order to justify it rather than admit they are addicted, e.g. making absurd claims such as that there is an amazing "buzz", or that they "could stop anytime", or that they don't care about dying of lung cancer because "when you gotta go you gotta go" or saying it can't be bad for you "because my granddad smoked till he was 90" blah blah blah - we've all heard all these silly claims before - fact is, when a smoker talks about smoking, you know something dumb is going to come out of his mouth. Let's admit it.
In reality there is a "buzz" initially only when you start smoking, because (as I understand it) nicotine mimics dopamine (neurotransmitter in your brain) which your brain produces naturally; however your brain lowers its dopamine production in response to the excess. This is why new smokers have to start smoking more and more to get the same "buzz". After a while things usually sort of level off at some point, your brain no longer produces enough dopamine naturally, but you no longer know what it feels like to be "normal", so what you perceive as a "buzz" is actually basically a LOW combined with nicotine returning you to NORMAL (for non-smokers). That "buzz" you feel is, roughly speaking, how non-smokers feel naturally, all the time. That's why you feel so crap when you stop smoking or haven't smoked in a while, and if you stop, it takes quite a while for your brain to restore its dopamine production.
Quitting IS possible (difficult, but possible), but to quit smoking takes (1) self-respect, (2) will and (3) self-discipline --- qualities that real men have. If you're still mentally a child, you will not be able to quit.
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Hell. I think most people cringe when they think of their mindset back at 14.
... honestly, am I supposed to be "respectful" of behaviour that is obviously and objectively bad/pointless/harmful/destructive/stupid/dirty/wasteful/deadly etc.? That's upside down ... in a world that makes sense, we reward intelligent behaviour and bash stupid behaviour and that's how it should be. Maybe people do these stupid things *because* everyone panders to it by "respecting" it or trying to "understand" it, or whatever. There IS nothing good about smoking, so bash away I say, let's all openly and unashamedly bash bad things until people get the message. I'm not going to walk as if on eggshells in case I "offend" a smoker. It's not *me* that offends you, it's the fact that smoking is *intrinsically* offensive to yourself, and all you're asking is that the bashers not REMIND you of this fact. The fact remains though, whether or not bashers exist.