My father smoked Pall Malls up to the age of 49, and died a horribly painful death from lung cancer. I watched his demise from afar, and finally made a trip north to be with him during his last days. It's a terrible way to die, hoping against hope to catch your breath at least a few times each day.
And, that was his one big hope in life in those days. "How wonderful it is," he would say, "just to catch a breath." He died at age 77, nearly thirty years after he quit smoking; but then, he inhaled two packs a day for decades. Soon after he quit, a half of a lung had to be surgically removed.
Please, Gary, quit.
People are supposed to have both short term and long term goals in life. Too often, the long term ones are the last to be made. An example: ten years before retirement folks wonder what they'll live on in advanced age. To the slothful, no money is ever put aside and, to them, investments are something others foolishly bother to consider. "You can't take it with you," is usually the excuse for spending everything that comes in.
In the same way, you must begin to see your health, Gary, in the long term. There will be a painful price to pay if you don't make that choice for yourself today.