@mcmurf2- Good morning. What an excellent question! I smoked for 35 years and I can tell you that lighting up after a meal, when having a cocktail, or the phone rings, and when I was tense were habits. And for some reason, I established them over time. Perhaps this is when I saw others smoke, or the craving from being addicted hit me. As has been said many times on this discussion addiction is very complex and habitual.
Symptoms of substance abuse are intense cravings, and loss of our ability to control our impulses. So, each time we use drugs or alcohol, for whatever reason, we are reinforcing that behavior. Does this make sense?