Smokers: Why do you do it?

[Disgustipated]

This thread is mostly for smokers, but everyone can participate. I'm convinced most smokers smoke because they think it's cool. I saw this teenager riding a bicycle this morning, and he had a cigarette in his ear (not sticking out of his ear, but between his head and ear like people put pens up there). What possible reason would he have to do this? He is trying to show he's cool because he smokes. My main evidence for this is every Hollywood movie and tv show. Every character that smokes is the "cool" character. I really think Hollywood should be responsible and cut smoking out of their movies, but I digress. Rarely do you see a nerdy, uncool character smoke. It's always the guy who gets lots of chicks. Or the chick who turns all the guys heads. Although in some cases, the smoker is the bad boy(or girl) character, but that goes hand in hand with being a cool character (as bad boys are cool).

Now I'm sure by the time you are in your 30's being cool is less of a reason to keep smoking. At that point addiction is the main reason. But even older people seem to think smoking is cool. And they have their own little clique.

I admit I really dislike smokers. No offense to present company. I feel like they are forcing me to inhale their smoke (yes I realize I could move to a city with better indoor smoking laws, but that's not possible in this economy). Why should I not be able to sue them for attempted murder (it's a stretch, but they are possibly inflicting me with cancer) or something? Or damaging my health? I also dislike the fact that smokers can take a break whenever they want, but if you don't smoke, you can't take a break.

Smoking is a public health menace, and needs to be stopped. In your own homes only I say. And even in the cities that restrict public smoking, you still are exposed to it when you step outside of a building and have to walk through a cloud of smoke from all the employees outside smoking. Even at the supermarket, when I leave, I walk through all the smoke from the employees (and customers) smoking. It's annoying.

 

[GhostWriter16]

I think smoking rules indoors should be up to the discretion of the property owner. I see no real issue with banning it in public places (By public I mean truly public like a library, not simply open to the public like a restaurant.)

And yeah, most people probably started since its cool. I see no reason to do it, its disgusting IMO...

That said, attempted murder? They aren't TRYING to kill you. If you actually died from it, I could see manslaughter, but attempted MURDER?*

*Not even agreeing to that, just saying I can understand it.

 

[NovaKart]

I used to smoke but I quit, it was just a mental thing. It was a sort of ritual that helped me to relax. I just made up my mind not to do it anymore and now I don't really feel the desire to do it. Now I'm a heavy drinker so I changed one habit for another but not consciously. I should probably go back to smoking since it's cheaper and I could go to lots of places like Yemen or Pakistan and it would be the same. With drinking, in Turkey it's OK but in lots of places it's not.

In one place where I used to work, one of my colleagues used to smoke and she was pregnant. This was in Kentucky. I felt weird about it since she was obviously pregnant but I would stand outside and smoke with her. She said when she found out she was pregnant she switched to ultra lights and she smoked 4 packs that day. I kind of agree since I tried smoking ultra lights and it was like smoking nothing.

Another gal I knew used to hang out in the local diner and she was very obviously pregnant but she kept smoking too, this was in north carolina. My stepfather's ex-wife smoked while she was pregnant with her kids and they both smoke now but they didn't have serious health problems.

I read something about Gone with the Wind, that Vivien Leigh who was Scarlett O'hara smoked 4 packs a day while that movie was being filmed. I can't imagine smoking that much. Some people were just nicotine fiends.

 

[Luckymoose]

I greatly enjoyed smoking when I did it. Nicotine is truly relaxing. I quit because I was addicted and that is weakness that a godlike being cannot allow himself to have.

 

[kiwitt]

As a kid you are always looking for ways to look cool. After a few days, weeks they are hooked, and the cigarette company has won another addict.

I think they look like this.

My teacher in grade school, showed us the new car he was able to buy, when he stopped smoking. That convinced me not to start, much more than all those anti-smoking films.

 

[Kennigit]

I don't really know smokers personally, and ones I do I never really bothered to ask how they start.

But I do know some older (i.e. not teen, people that have already smoked for a few years) smokers say they use it for stress relief or even in social settings (if all your friends smoke at a bar or something and smoke, it'd be hard to be a bit harder to be the odd man out. Easy if you're not a smoker, but if you're trying to quite people describe that as making it difficult). edit- plus the obvious habit of it all.

Anyways, have any smokers on cfc tried the eCig thing, perhaps as a way to quit? I've heard from threads elsewhere it's effective, or that it's at least cheaper after the higher start up cost [via some random dude on the interwebz:

"A starter pack will cost you about $50-70 depending on where you get it from. That basically gets you everything you need to begin the process. From that point, a cartridge pack costs around $7-$12 and comes with 5 carts (which are supposed to be a pack each)."]

 

[Mr. Dictator]

+1 to the ritual part.

Also, there are social benefits, sometimes. Social disadvantages too, but seeing a girl trying in vain to light a cigarette and having a handy dandy lighter on hand isn't a bad thing at all.

 

[civver_764]

I love smoking every now and then even though I know how bad it is for me. Camel Wides are the ish. If my friends have some I'll always accept just because it's really relaxing and yeah I'm not going to lie it does make me feel "cooler."

I'm still not addicted though, which is pretty surprising. I've gone a month now without a single real craving, and I've certainly never felt like I had to smoke. I guess I'm an anamoly in that respect.

^ That too. It's a great ice breaker, as weird as that sounds.

 

[aronnax]

A lot of my friends smoke (many illegally). As to why they do it, I consider smoking a pastime equivalent to drinking, sport activities or butterfly collecting. Some find it useful for concentration, others because they feel more alert and some because they enjoy the routine or the taste/feeling. None of them are doing it to be 'cool' because we aren't 10 and trying to find a way to the cool table. None are doing it for a social benefit (though to some, that is the occasional + 1)

In the end, my only two qualms about smoking is that I dislike smelling the smoke and the other is rightly summarise by David Mitchell.


Link to video.

 

[FriendlyFire]

I dont smoke

I alway thought that they added (additional) nicotine into the smokes in order to keep you addicted /dependent. I also read that most of the damage from smoking comes from the method of burning and cancer can be reduced greatly by using water filter.

 

[Maniacal]

Since you didn't specify what was being smoked...

I have never had a cigarrette and I never will, they utterly disgust me and it is a huge turn off. However, I have smoked flavoured tobacco (shisha) in shisha pipes/hookahs in Egypt and I brought one back (its a bit on the cheaply made side but its mostly decoration anyway, also NOBODY CARES that you are bringing a long metal rod in a bag as a SECOND carry on apparently.) and after a nice meal it is very relaxing. I certainly wouldn't do it regularily though as smoknig anything isn't healthy.

I will also occaisionally smoke pot though I only get a little stoned from a bong, and mostly it is just because I'm either drunk and/or my friend's are smoking some. However, even then I usually don't care enough to do it.

 

[bhsup]

I know it's not the least bit cool, so let's just squash that silly assumption right off the bat.

Frankly, I enjoy it, pure and simple.

 

[Bootstoots]

Having tried cigarettes a number of times, I can safely say that I don't like the feeling of a nicotine buzz. That's a major reason why I'm not a smoker, along with health and social reasons of course. However, I do like the smell of cigarette smoke and a high percentage of my friends are smokers.

One thing I definitely noticed by hanging out with smokers is that being a smoker can easily give someone a social group. Smokers routinely spend periods of ~10 minutes standing around in small groups with other smokers, engaging in a relaxing activity. That by itself might be enough to justify taking major health risks for some people, especially if they haven't found other activities they enjoyed more.

The level of stigma associated with smoking has steadily increased over the last couple of decades. The result is that the number of smokers has fallen dramatically (it's barely 20% in the US). However, that also seems to increase bonds between people who smoke anyway, and it tends to cause smokers to have mostly smoker friends. That can make quitting a lot harder for those who still do smoke.

Of course, there are obvious reasons too, like the addictive nature of nicotine, and the psychological feelings that go along with the act of smoking. And many people do simply enjoy nicotine. I count myself fortunate that I'm not one of them.

 

[NiRv4n4]

The chances that the reason that you are going to die due to second hand smoke isn't substantial at all - there are much more dangerous things to worry about. For example, I don't understand how people can be anti-smoking but support lower drinking age laws - alcohol is much more dangerous than tobacco, both first and second hand. So if you support a "clean and healthy" society, then be consistent with it, not selective and going with whatever the liberal cause is endorsing at a particular time.

 

[Hygro]

+1 to the ritual part.

Also, there are social benefits, sometimes. Social disadvantages too, but seeing a girl trying in vain to light a cigarette and having a handy dandy lighter on hand isn't a bad thing at all.

That's true, except I can't be too excited about a girl who smokes.

 

[MjM]

I strongly dislike cigarettes now. I have tried them extensively and smoked for a few months a few years ago, but it just wasn't for me. I maybe bought two packs my whole life. The smell and taste is nasty to me, and the buzz from it makes me nauseous and lightheaded. I was just doing it to be 'cool'.

I smoke a lot of pot though. That tastes wonderful, doesnt cause cancer, and makes me feel amazing. I do it inside mostly but I also do it outside.

 

[Zelig]

I smoke crack because it makes me feel really good.

 

[sophie]

I don't smoke cigarettes, but I do smoke cigars because I like the taste and it makes for great socialmalizing.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I don't smoke cigarettes, but I do smoke cigars because I like the taste and it makes for great socialmalizing.

This.

 

[illram]

If I ever had a cigarette in my ear it was because I bummed it and had no pack.

I started smoking when I was a wee lad in high school because it was cool and you got a little buzz. Once I started smoking though it morphed into a pleasurable and social thing. First, smoking a cigarette felt good. Coffee and cigarette? Awesome. Beer and cigarette? Awesome. Big meal and cigarette? Awesome. Sex and cigarette? Awesome-er. Second, it was often sort of a way to split the day into chapters. Every time you "did" something you had a cigarette. Finished class--cigarette. Took a poo--cigarette. Done with a long car ride--cigarette. Third, it went hand in hand with the social groups I was in in high school and college. Drinking, partying, all that nonsense. Everyone smoked. It was also a way to meet people when you were out and about. If you were out somewhere and knew no one, there were usually only a few smokers, and you inevitably talked to each other. (Ironically, the laws against smoking indoors encouraged this sort of interesting social experiment.) Got a light? Got a smoke? Etc. etc. I met a lot of my eventual life long friends in college through these initial social interactions that came from smoking. (Smokers congregate, especially in college.) I am not an especially outgoing person so I liked having these sort of excuses to meet people. Fourth, it was an excellent "time-out" and provided me with a nice 5 minutes alone at the end of the day or the night to sort of meditate.

I quit in college and I am glad I did, I now see it as sort of an extraneous and unnecessary health risk, but and I am glad I got the experience so that I know not to ever start the habit again. It was part of growing up and shedding all those things that don't really translate into a mature adult life, like partying all the time. I suppose if you smoke into adulthood (let's say, past 25) it is because you developed a different relationship with cigarettes, or you are lucky enough to be able to only smoke once in a while. I was an all or nothing type person and they did not fit my lifestyle after a certain age.

I'll still smoke a nice cigar though. Yessir.