I quit smoking July 19, 2026 and drinking Feb 14, 2017. My opinion is addictive habits aren't going anywhere. That the struggles over addiction of past generations will mirror the struggles of future generations.

With that said, I think some things are changing:

• smoking is pretty stigmatized in more cultures
• drunkenness is unglamorous and may be posted to social media
• MH occupies more space in the public consciousness

Most importantly, it's profitable to sell addiction. As long as that's not changing, and it doesn't seem to be, we we always bear this burden.

Lol at least here they are all smoking again. Or vaping, in vanilla-strawberry flavor with vapes that can be recharged but not refilled and are then discarded

Loads of people have given up smoking through sheer willpower. Some people just didn't start smoking straight away in the morning, so the giving up isn't a big deal to them.

Following a couple of years starting from those COVID days sitting for a morning smoke on the balcony, I gave up smoking by vaping, and gave up vaping via a change in scenery, change in routine and you know, just by being on holiday. At least two times.

When I got back, I got whacked by what I call triggers...a huge number of them nearly every hour. Previously I gave in to these, but I've learned the stupid way that nicotine psychology is madly powerful, and once you start to recognise you're just getting triggered for the hundredth time, you just get on with it.

Nicotine is pretty demonic when you think about it.

This is not entirely correct for reasons already cited, but I'll add this:

Government and healthcare providers have been driving anti-smoking campaigns for a looong time to the point that all cigarette packages are now olive green with gigantic content warnings and pictures of dead babies, and are prohibitively expensive. Also you won't get some medical treatment if you admit that you smoke or, to a lesser degree, ingest nicotine in other ways.

It's a bit short-sighted to say that the generations that grow up in this athmosphere performed an "insane feat of strength" instead of just growing up in a reality that makes it much harder to fall for cigarettes/nicotine.

An entire generation has not rejected smoking.

They replaced smoking with vaping and other ROAs. I'm pretty sure the past decade+, % of teens addicted to nicotine would be far greater than teen smokers in the 90s.

I'm in my mid 40s and I'm constantly bombarded with Vaping PSA ads on Reddit. I don't vape.

i'm gen z and like 80% of my friends smoke and ~95% vape

Until they made the nicotine taste like Monster Energy drinks, anyway. Don't look at zyns.

Forever is a pretty long time. Can't say I've ever heard anyone make a bold statement like that.

Meh, where I live few people smoke, but I still see people that smoke every other day. There's still cig butts everywhere. I was hiking in the forest and this dude walking his dog was smoking, I saw him flick his butt right into the nature he was enjoying. And the number of people vaping is huge, even very young folk who walk around with vapes.

I was in France recently and everyone smoked there, it was like going back in time 20 years. Ashtrays everywhere, everything stank and people were chain smoking non stop.

Just because something has gotten less popular locally, doesn't mean an entire generation has given it up. It's just a fad not to smoke cigarettes right now, a fad that might change in the future, given how addictive it is.