Well my parents smoked, all my friends in school smoked, so I kind of started. But then I was a dumb 14-15 year old high schooler in 1964/5 and cigarettes only cost a quarter in the machines and around a $1.50 for a carton. I quit about a year after I got out of the Marine Corps in 1971. Friend of mine and I made a bet as to who could quit for the longest time, well he died in 1972 and if I start he still wins because he still can be said to have quit.