Smoking decreases willpower, for the use of tobacco becomes addictive. Accordingly, Dr. Robert Dupont, director of the United States National Institute of Drug Abuse, called tobacco “probably the most deadly drug in our society,” and remarked: “People who use cigarettes have the same problem as heroin users. Both groups have a problem of control from morning to night 365 days a year.”

Also, please consider the matter of power over one’s own will. If this were diminished by addiction to the drug nicotine found in tobacco, how could one please Jehovah God? His Word urges the cultivation and display of self-control, a fruit of God’s spirit. (Gal. 5:22, 23; 2 Pet. 1:5, 6) Can it be said that godly self-control really is being exercised by persons who yield to nicotine addiction?

Consider a further point. Nicotine addiction affects the mind detrimentally and produces enslavement. Hence, it may be classed with addictive drugs, such as those that provided the source for the Greek term pha·ma·kiʹa, initially meaning “druggery.” Due to the close connection between drug use and spiritism, this Greek word came to be associated with spiritistic practices. In fact, it was used by Bible writers and has been rendered “practice of spiritism” and “spiritistic practices” in passages that clearly condemn spiritism. (Gal. 5:20, 21; Rev. 9:20, 21) Therefore, persons who have not broken their addiction to tobacco do not qualify for baptism in symbol of an acceptable dedication to God.