Is Smoking A Manifestation Of Low Self Esteem?

My mind is always creating theories and usually ditching them. However this one may have legs. Again I would love to here your comments on this or any other issue I bring to the table. The question I have commonly posed to myself is why do we as humans conduct behaviours and actions that harm us physically. Smoking is a big one. We are all well aware the dangers smoking brings and smokers are also well aware of the addictive qualities nicotine produces. Yet still smoking continues to occur despite the compelling health facts. Why?

What made me really come to this mini conclusion was analysing some of the habits general smokers display. Firstly smokers in general leave cigarettes where they are. Be it on the ground, out the car window, in the garden half buried even in cans or bottles. Despite littering they have no comprehension how bad it looks on them personally. Secondly, again a general observation, are quite happy to be seen smoking and smoke around others. Recent law adjustments have made a difference but still smokers are happy to smoke around non smokers knowing full well of the passive smoking effects. In summary they seem to not care of what damage they do to themselves, the environment and others.

Here's my groundbreaking theory!!! Their self esteem doesn't place them high enough on the importance scale. Hence they manifest ways to keep themselves unimportant. The way I see it, if the value a smoker puts on his life was increased in his own mind and the way they viewed themselves, there would be no way they would continue to place themselves in danger or others. You look at all of the high profile individuals that genuinely make a difference in the world. The overwhelming majority of them wouldn't smoke. So instead of the government wasting all of the money on trying to hide and bastardise smoking, maybe they should invest in the smokers themselves and try to raise the self importance level of a smoker and see how that goes. After all smoking does bring in a bit of revenue for them doesn't it.

Look I know that is way out to suggest the government to invest in each individual but I can't see how stopping smoking in enclosed public places and covering up smokes in supermarkets is going to help smokers themselves. In actual fact the government in it's own special way is giving the smokes greater powers by getting restrictive and covering them up in shops. Or maybe the revenue from the fags is too good. The health system could do with the break too couldn't it?