Whether you call yourself a non-smoker or an ex-smoker is entirely up to you - but you'll probably have a preference. This matter of nomenclature is a surprisingly emotional issue! Some people use "ex-smoker" to remind them that they are only "a puff away from a pack a day," or to remind the world of what they have overcome.

Others feel that the more they can act like a person who has never had the smoking habit, the more likely they are to be a person who never returns to that habit, and they designate themselves "non smokers." Throughout this FAQ, when referring to a person who once smoked and no longer does, I generally use "non-/ex-smoker," or if I use one and not the other, that should not be taken as being preferential.