Parshaman -“Smoking is very addictive. I do not smoke but my Chavrusa does and he is trying to quit but it is not easy. He smokes much less than he used to though, and I would call him a Ben Torah. and Health- Smoking is not comparable to any of those cases,”
And why not? Because movie or alcohol addiction is Not PC in the Frum Yeshivish world, while smoking is.
“but it doesn’t mean that someone who does it is not a Ben Torah, especially those who are trying to quit.”
I’ve posted many times here in the CR that trying to quit would be an excuse acc. to Halacha. But I’ve also posted that almost noone is really trying to quit. Unless the guy is doing a 3-pronged approach to quitting -he isn’t trying to quit!
So you can’t have it both ways – either e/o who has an addiction or a Taava (all the things I mentioned before -eg. watching movies) are considered Bnei Torah or they are not & this includes Smokers!