Theories on Smoking

[Akka]

I'm sure that tobacco has been banned just because I was being hypersensitive.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

So in some contexts it's OK to demand others respect one's hypersensitivities?

It's ok to ask for consideration, and I'd even say to expect it. If Akka were nearby and made clear he was really bothered by my smoking, and there was no way for me to get clear of him, I would not smoke.

It's the decent thing to do. You can't demand it.

I'm sure that tobacco has been banned just because I was being hypersensitive.

Tobacco hasn't been banned.

 

[Akka]

Sorry, I meant "smoking tobacco in public space". I admit it was quite a bit too far in the shorthand department ^^
Blame my inner selfish demon who whispered my darkest desires to my unconscious

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Sorry, I meant "smoking tobacco in public space". I admit it was quite a bit too far in the shorthand department ^^
Blame my inner selfish demon who whispered my darkest desires to my unconscious

I can do that.

I blame your inner selfish demon who whispered your darkest desires to your unconscious.

 

[Akka]

I would communicate his answer, but let's face it, he's not an inner selfish demon for nothing, and what he said just wouldn't fly in a family forum.
I wonder who educated him, but he did a terrible job at it.

 

[civvver]

I heard on the radio about this study that said a $1 per pack increase causes a third of smokers to quit and another third to limit consumption. So you could effectively just tax tobacco use out of existence.

 

[rah]

NY will test that theory by raising the price to over 13 dollars a pack.

Too me that's like saying that if you boost the price of heroin, people will stop doing it. I don't think so.

 

[Akka]

I heard on the radio about this study that said a $1 per pack increase causes a third of smokers to quit and another third to limit consumption. So you could effectively just tax tobacco use out of existence.

It does work, but not to that extent. Trust me, tobacco is taxed to hell and back here (the final price is about 0,5 to 0,75 cents per cigarette), and there is still quite a bit of smokers.

But yeah, hiking prices is seen as the major factor in reducing consumption.

 

[metalhead]

It's ok to ask for consideration, and I'd even say to expect it. If Akka were nearby and made clear he was really bothered by my smoking, and there was no way for me to get clear of him, I would not smoke.

It's the decent thing to do. You can't demand it.

He objected to the whole idea of having group smoke breaks and including non-smokers because of it, claiming you should do coffee breaks instead. He was rather insistent on the point, even though his only reason given was his personal distaste for tobacco smoke.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

He objected to the whole idea of having group smoke breaks and including non-smokers because of it, claiming you should do coffee breaks instead. He was rather insistent on the point, even though his only reason given was his personal distaste for tobacco smoke.

Lost the thread a bit.

As long as the breaks are voluntary I can't see that objection.

 

[Perfection]

NY will test that theory by raising the price to over 13 dollars a pack.

Too me that's like saying that if you boost the price of heroin, people will stop doing it. I don't think so.

Might stop some from starting. But yikes. That 5k for a pack a day smoker. That's a bit punative.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I pay 11 euro for 50 grams of tobacco. 5 or 6 packs a month.

The thing is though, I can afford to enjoy my addiction. For people who can't it might be a real problem. Sure, you could go: well, they should quit then, but that would be ignoring the addiction part.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

**** me if I let some dickwad smoker tell me where to stand. Stay in your designated self-destruction area.

I think this is the textbook definition of being a self-righteous dick.
I am not calling you one. This is a genuine honest and I think objective observation, a matter of fact.

 

[warpus]

NY will test that theory by raising the price to over 13 dollars a pack.

Too me that's like saying that if you boost the price of heroin, people will stop doing it. I don't think so.

I think the difference is that heroin makes you feel really really good. Better than skydiving while having sex is what I've heard I think?

They are both addictive, but one gets you really really high and the other one not at all.

 

[metalhead]

It's well-documented that increasing the price will reduce the number of users, and deter more young people from picking up the habit, although I'm not sure if, or whether, that has diminishing returns to the point price increases become less deterrent and more punitive. One thing I am sure of, it turns working-class people into beggars to get their nicotine fix, but nobody seems to care much about that.

Low cost and easy availability of heroin and other opioids is definitely a factor in the epidemic. One has to wonder, if an addict can more easily afford a fix of heroin than a fix of nicotine, will they choose heroin rather than abstinence?

 

[Bootstoots]

It's well-documented that increasing the price will reduce the number of users, and deter more young people from picking up the habit, although I'm not sure if, or whether, that has diminishing returns to the point price increases become less deterrent and more punitive. One thing I am sure of, it turns working-class people into beggars to get their nicotine fix, but nobody seems to care much about that.

Low cost and easy availability of heroin and other opioids is definitely a factor in the epidemic. One has to wonder, if an addict can more easily afford a fix of heroin than a fix of nicotine, will they choose heroin rather than abstinence?

I doubt it. Heroin and nicotine have nothing to do with each other physiologically, and nicotine just isn't that pleasurable relative to opioids. It's really good at being addictive, just not that pleasurable once you're addicted. People who can more easy afford opioid X than opioid Y will switch to opioid X from Y, but they rarely switch to PCP if that becomes cheaper.

Obviously NYC must be full of illegal cigarettes given the proximity of low-tax jurisdictions and whatnot. Virginia's just not that far away. Although their "choke people selling loose cigarettes to death" policy might be putting a damper on that.

People typically become addicted to cigarette smoking for social reasons, because smoking provides a nice social situation in which you meet other people with the same bad habit. And, as a group of people, I tend to like smokers quite a bit. They're never full of self-righteous indignation, which puts me off far more than clouds of toxic particulates.

Never did pick up smoking tobacco - I personally dislike consuming it enough that it never really appealed to me. Most of my best friends in college were smokers then and eventually quit. And then my best friend, a smoker who failed to quit entirely, introduced me to e-cigs when I visited in January. And now I have a new addiction. Blargh. But nicotine itself isn't an especially dangerous drug - it's the hundreds of other chemicals in tobacco and the combustion products that kill. Propylene glycol+nicotine particulates with some esters for flavoring and trivial amounts of PG breakdown products are probably not good for you, but a hell of a lot less unhealthy, and far better-smelling, and far less persistent as a smell than the insane assortment of tobacco combustion products. And I do like that there's an anxiolytic stimulant - most stimulants increase anxiety - which hits with a very unusual mechanism of action including acetylcholine receptors.

 

[rah]

It's well-documented that increasing the price will reduce the number of users, and deter more young people from picking up the habit, although I'm not sure if, or whether, that has diminishing returns to the point price increases become less deterrent and more punitive.

This I'm in agreement with. I think the price there is reaching that point. Very punitive, especially considering the normal demo's for smokers.

 

[Lexicus]

Never did pick up smoking tobacco - I personally dislike consuming it enough that it never really appealed to me. Most of my best friends in college were smokers then and eventually quit. And then my best friend, a smoker who failed to quit entirely, introduced me to e-cigs when I visited in January. And now I have a new addiction. Blargh. But nicotine itself isn't an especially dangerous drug - it's the hundreds of other chemicals in tobacco and the combustion products that kill. Propylene glycol+nicotine particulates with some esters for flavoring and trivial amounts of PG breakdown products are probably not good for you, but a hell of a lot less unhealthy, and far better-smelling, and far less persistent as a smell than the insane assortment of tobacco combustion products. And I do like that there's an anxiolytic stimulant - most stimulants increase anxiety - which hits with a very unusual mechanism of action including acetylcholine receptors.

I got into it briefly my freshman year of college, but stopped within two weeks because I didn't enjoy it much. I guess I got lucky, because the addiction never really took hold - I smoked a lot of tobacco mixed with weed over the years but I gave that up entirely (without any kind of addiction withdrawal symptoms) by my sophomore year of college and started smoking only weed because tobacco was making me feel sick.

I am and always have been far more addicted to weed than to tobacco, but it's not really causing any problems in my life and like @Ziggy Stardust I can afford to indulge the addiction. My friends who smoked tobacco have largely quit. My friend and coworker actually kicked the habit just a couple of weeks ago, got bronchitis and used that as an excuse to quit cigarettes.

Nowadays I only smoke tobacco on special occasions - eg, blunts on New Years.