I see this a lot on my way from school to home. Just 2 or even 1 kid smoking in a tunnel (for bicycles), scared of their parents seeing them smoke. I think you misunderstood, I don't mean "accepted into a group" as in people saying "You need to smoke before we become your 'friends' ", it's just that you get together with other smokers, you start discussing stuff and from there it's easier to get to know people. Smoking is just a social thing after all. Though it's actually really selfish towards people who don't smoke. Indeed it is a social thing. Also, my two best friends are smoking so kinda hard not to. Nearly everywhere I go to nowadays people are smoking. Most of my friends smoke, but I don't. Smoking "because everyone else does" is a sign of weakness, it shows you are incapable of making your own decisions without giving in to peer-pressure.