"I Could Quit Any Time I Want!"

I have questions about that statement. I hear this all the time. Someone finds out I'm a hypnotist and that person turns to their friend and says, "Hey, this person is a hypnotist. Why don't you quit?"

And the smoker says.... well, it's the title of this post. I don't know how to respond to that statement -- or if I should at all. My first reaction is to ask, "Well, why DON'T you quit?" But I'm afraid that it will be taken the wrong way. I really want to know the answer, but I think the smoker will become immediately defensive. Smokers, in general, are a defensive group. Strangers yell at them. Children and spouses nag. They have been ostracized from buildings. I'm a hypnotist, so I'm actually quite sensitive about their defensive behavior. I'd feel that way, too, but this means I don't know the answer to that question and I don't know how to ask it any other way.

Everyone knows that smoking is a stupid thing to do. So why don't you quit? People who think or know that they could quit any time are not looking for a hypnotist. They don't want to quit. But WHY NOT?

These are my ideas, but I'd love to hear from smokers.

1. I've quit before and I did fine, so it will be easy when I feel like quitting again.
2. I don't smoke that much, so it will be easy to quit.
3. I'm not ready.
4. I like smoking.
5. My aunt/uncle/grandfather - whoever - smoked until he was 95. I'll live that long, too.
6. I smoke American Spirit, (or I roll my own) so I am not putting the same chemicals in my body that other smokers do.

If you have an answer to this question, please reply!