I agree with Tim, likely it differs for different people so you can’t really draw a line in the sand and say that it would be easier to quit if you only smoke X cigarettes a day.
You have people like my mom who has smoked every day her entire adult life and never quit. She probably smokes around a half a pack a day and has got it down to as few as two or three but never quit.
I also think you were lucky Jason, it seems you were pointed in the direction of smoking more rather than less, but were able to stop more easily when you were right on the verge of becoming a more regular smoker.
I think the trouble with it is, it is a highly addictive behavior and drug so even if you aren’t smoking a pack a day, for many people, it ends up being extremely hard to quit. In your own case, you had drinking as a trigger for smoking - I think that is true for a lot of people, which makes it hard not to do it in certain situations (and when you are less likely to be able to resist the allure, temptation, habit).
I have quit a lot of things in my life. The two hardest were drinking and smoking. I thought quitting smoking was the hardest thing I ever did in my life for a long time (I quit 28 years ago) but then, for me, learned that it was harder by many orders of magnitude to put the plug in the jug.
Congratulations on quitting, but this is a good reminder that if you start again, you might not have such an easy time of stopping again.
Stusser, good point there, you can use some of those checks you do for booze, like what lengths you go to to smoke. In my case, I remember I smoked a cigarette every morning before I even got dressed, and that even if I was really, really sick I had to still smoke (even if I had a bad cough and cold, it took a lot before I wouldn’t smoke).
PS - if you are having breast implant surgery to in theory enhance your attractiveness, but willing to take the risk that your nipples will fall off which probably doesn’t do a lot for your appeal and continue to smoke, you’re hooked.