I'd compare the addiction to breathing. When you don't get oxygen, you go nuts!
Why did it get so popular in the first place?
I'd imagine the cause was greed.
Smokers have been over taxed and under compensated. That adds up to a lot of money.

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The following are some statistics I gathered from the internet
If you believe what you read, this is how statistics fit together.
Taxes: There are 44 million people in the US smoking 1 pack a day. They pay $1 a pack in taxes to the state.
So 44 million people x $1 a day x 365 days = Smokers pay $16 billion dollars in state taxes a year.
Social Security Retirement: The Average life span is 76 years. Smokers live 17 years less than non smokers.
So most smokers die by their 59th birthdays. Smokers rarely get Social Security Benefits.
Social Security and Medicare have taxed 15% of every dollar I've ever made. That will all go to non smokers.
This sad commentary is interesting:
From www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov
Despite a widespread cessation in smoking over the past several decades, there has been no significant decline in death rates from lung cancer among former smokers, according to a new study (Epidemiology 1999;10:500-12).
So, given my own collection of information from the web:
- I'm going to die early even if I quit.
- Insurance won't touch me.
- I won't get a job.
- I'll die before retirement.
- I won't get Social Security benefits
- I won't get that 15% in FICA paid throughout my life.
In short: I'm going to die poor, hated, sick, and cheated.
My course of action can only be one thing:
Quit smoking, and lie about ever having smoked.