Katie, forgive me If I sound sarcastic here...
You want to quit something, that will improve your health. Cigarettes are addictive, and are deadly. And some people in the program are telling you not to quit? I always laughed at the NA folks lecturing me about having wine with steak while thier sucking down 3 or 4 at a time at meetings. Not that I hope it happens, but if cigs cause them lung cancer, then they will truly give second thoughs about the definition of "disease"
I do not know any of your story, I just know that smoking can shorten your life considerably, and it also makes you feel like crap. This is just fact.
Cigs, like any addictive substance can be over come. And again, like any addictive substance, it can be difficult, but you can do it.
I myself never smoked in my entire life, something told me as a kid that firefighters wear protective masks to protect themselves from smoke, yet people do it freely. And most firefighters I knew smoked! What an oddity.
Bottom line, do what you WANT to do and feel what is right. If no real damage is done yet, quitting smoking will improve your life, it's expectancy and as a bonus you will smell better.
Cigarettes contains nicotine, which is an additvive narcotic, its a drug. It's also used as an insecticide to kill insects. Again, fact..check Websters.
I wish you the best of luck, but I really question any program that tells you to keep using a narcotic, especially if the program is NA. (For obvious reasons!)
I've stepped off my soap box, the best thing for you to do is go see a physician, there are many ways to assist in quitting. I'm not saying it will be easy, but the payoff will be great. Besides arent they like 8 bucks a pack? Talk about another payoff if you quit.
- Chris