It can be heartbreaking, and there's nothing you can say or do to stop them.

Because it's a well known fact that smokers will quit when they're good and ready - not when the rest of us want them to.

This week the indoors of pubs and clubs became out of bounds. The Government is hoping the ban will give smokers a reason to kick the habit.

It's certainly a welcome move for many non-smokers and bar workers who fear the harmful impact of passive smoking.

I don't have a problem with the act of smoking itself, and I believe that what a person does with their body is their choice.

But I can see how cutting your life short and leaving so many loved ones behind could be considered a selfish act.

Some people think smokers are very stubborn or stupid because they keep smoking despite the all the warnings. But I feel sorry for them.

I'd say most of them took their first puff when they were young and didn't know any better.

I think it's sad that by the time they understand what smoking does to their lungs it's so hard to quit because they're addicted.

Like many non-smokers I am curious as to what the addiction must feel like. I've been told it's like being hungry, and when you need to eat you need to eat.

I have someone close to me who smokes, and rather than make him feel bad about it, I think it's more important to help him realise what my life would be like if his was cut short.

Smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death in Australia. Which means smokers have a choice.

That's more than I can say for thousands of Australians who are born with life threatening diseases every day.

It must be hard for those people to watch smokers kill themselves, knowing that they have had a choice.

I don't want to bag out our smokers and I certainly don't want to pretend that I know how hard it is to quit - but maybe it's time to weigh up those soothing cigarettes against the people who mean the most to you.