You’ve heard this a thousand times: BBC’s The Inquiry podcast asks “Why does anyone still smoke?” Smoking still is the single most dangerous voluntary activity in the world, killing more than six mn people annually and on track to increase that to eight mn by 2030 if current trends continue. Under severe restrictions in the developed world, Tobacco companies are now targeting growth in developing countries. “The money they gained from selling the product allows them to continue to market the product they know kills the user,” one former industry professional says. Why do people still smoke, then? Nicotine is very addictive, some people are more genetically predisposed to addiction, tobacco firms are “willing to lie” in their efforts to sell cigarettes, but then, there’s the “cool” factor and how it is a “social passport.” Smokers tend to identify as people who “like being smokers,” so while nicotine gets smokers hooked, the decision to smoke in the first place is linked to how people see themselves in the first place (runtime 26:08).