Mary,
I don't need to read the stories that you read, or know any of the details surrounding them to know why these people relapsed, or why anyone relapses for that matter. The failure of every one of these people to remain nicoitne free is due to one reason only - They made a choice to smoke. Why they made that choice is due to one of two things, either they were unaware of the
law of addiction or they were aware of the law of addiction and did not believe that it applied to them.
Once an addict, always an addict. The idea that someone with years of smoking sobriety could smoke again "at the drop of a hat" may seem like a scary concept but only if you believe that you have no control when the opportunity to smoke presents itself. You do have control. It is always a choice. The idea may scare you because you are under the impression that despite your desire to remain nicotine free you will somehow be forced to smoke against your will. Those who smoked again after years of abstinence took a cigarette not thinking that they wanted to go back again to their old level of consumption - They just wanted to have one or perhaps two. They were not aware of ,or chose to ignore, the law of addiction. It does not matter how much you smoke or how easy or difficult it is to quit - but how easily you return to your old level of consumption once you readminister the substance to which you are addicted.
Take refuge in knowing that you can saunter through life unaffected by nicotine or tobacco as long as you do not put it into your system. You can stand in the middle of a warehouse full of cigarettes and they can do you no harm. You can stand in a room full of smokers and not light one up. You can drink alchohol, go to parties, make love, talk on the phone, do whatever it is that pleases you without smoking. The truth is that all of these things will be more pleasing to you if you never take another puff.
Fear not fair maiden, nicotine has no power over you except for that which you give unto it.
Joseph
Nicotine free for more than 14 months.