I'm not a smoker, in fact hate the smell of it, but have a family member with major and long term depression who smokes and it comes before other essentials.
She's given up grog, given up weed and come off a heap of medications prescribed by doctors that didn't work (only one was addictive but they were all horrible to come off).
She is still suffering from multiple withdrawals from all this so it's not the time to ditch the smokes as well. We are trying to get her through this without making life so unbearable it's not worth living. But another price hike will simply mean less for other essentials.
I would have been just as critical about smokers as some of the others here until I realised how horribly addictive it is and how rugged it can be to come off.
Can only hope her two kids hate it enough to never start.
