cybercat wrote:
>
> Probably true. My experience with addiction was my 25-year smoking habit
> (age 15-40) and it was humbling. It had almost gotten to the point where I
> chose the friends and family members I spent time on based upon whether they
> were comfortable with me smoking. Ugh. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED my
> cigarettes and still miss them at times, but that was just too much. I've
> never allowed a human being to control me and I'm going to let a thing
> control me? MM mm. Had my addiction been to an illegal substance, I can just
> imagine the problems I might have now.
>
>

My wife works at a state psych hospital the "cares" for people who have
done the worst and most violent things imaginable. The state passed a
law that would require the patients to give up smoking. I thought that
the switchover might have some bad outcomes given that it's one of their
few allowed indulgences but everything went smoothly. It seems that in a
controlled environment, it's not too difficult to give up certain
addictions and reach 100% compliance.