Do we really want Obama to quit smoking?

“The nation is too precariously balanced right now to risk having him burst into tears, or march off in a snit, or take to his bed with the glums.”

So says a cheeky op-ed this past weekend by novelist Amy Goldman Koss (via the WSJ Health Blog), who worries about the instability that smoking cessation often causes.

Seeing if this could be true, the WSJ asked a nicotine addiction expert about the possibility of “irritability, slowed reaction time, or difficulty concentrating and solving problems” in people who quit smoking. It’s possible, but only in those who smoke more than 10 cigarettes daily.

Thankfully our future President isn’t in that category. Or so we hope.

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