Some smokers continue to complain that bans and changing attitudes have turned them into social pariahs. Unfortunately this can make a minority cling more stubbornly to their habit, which they may even defend as a non-conformist expression of individual liberty. As long as they do not blow smoke towards other people, such people deserve our courteous sympathy. The addictive properties of tobacco cannot be underestimated; even for many non-smokers, cigarettes remain a lifelong temptation. Many who smoked in their youth out of curiosity or a misplaced sense of rebellion are now stuck with a habit they know may be a life sentence. It is a cruel fate