So... why start smoking?

[Deshin]

You find it attractive 'cos it's what you do and you don't notice the smell 'cos you smell of it, I find it nasty 'cos her smelling like smoke isn't exactly sexy and a girl walking round with a fag hanging out her gob looks so common and cheap.

Sorry, "pro smoking propoganda" ... is there such a thing?

I found it sexy well before I started smoking and the smell never really bothered me at all. And now I've quit I still find it sexy and I still smell the nicotine and only reason I actually dislike the smell of it now is because it triggers mild cravings.

And yup, pro-smoking propaganda exists, look at Bogart or Hepburn. Also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tg1kEBUO9A

Like I said, 50 year cycles, once the whole lung cancer bit is solved you're going to see a massive surge of smokers come up again.

 

[LittleChone]

Honestly, I don't see a reason to inhale burning ash. But yeah, it can be cool sometimes, but not always.

 

[YoUnG205]

Everyone tries it at some point, and I was no exception I tried it I like it I continued pretty simple really.

 

[kortin]

Everyone tries it at some point, and I was no exception I tried it I like it I continued pretty simple really.

I haven't tried smoking. I don't intend to any time soon either. I think i like having clear lungs and good teeth.

 

[omega 616]

You find it attractive 'cos it's what you do and you don't notice the smell 'cos you smell of it, I find it nasty 'cos her smelling like smoke isn't exactly sexy and a girl walking round with a fag hanging out her gob looks so common and cheap.

Sorry, "pro smoking propoganda" ... is there such a thing?

I found it sexy well before I started smoking and the smell never really bothered me at all. And now I've quit I still find it sexy and I still smell the nicotine and only reason I actually dislike the smell of it now is because it triggers mild cravings.

And yup, pro-smoking propaganda exists, look at Bogart or Hepburn. Also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tg1kEBUO9A

Like I said, 50 year cycles, once the whole lung cancer bit is solved you're going to see a massive surge of smokers come up again.

To quickly exit this arguement, you can pretty much say what you like but I will always be against smoking and will never see the point in it. I know I am going to die of something someday and I am fine with that but why be in a rush to get there? Nah, I'd rather not the cause of my own death.

(not saying smoking = 100% certain death by smoking)

Everyone tries it at some point

Not true, I never have and I never will.

 

[YoUnG205]

I haven't tried smoking. I don't intend to any time soon either. I think i like having clear lungs and good teeth.

Well the part about unclear lungs may be true, However I brush twice a day have a chewinggum after each cigerette and my teeth arnt exactly yellow.

 

[Xan Krieger]

I smoked because it's great for relieving stress. Now I smoke cigars with my pastor partly for the same reason and partly because it looks cool.

 

[Andalusa]

All my friends smoke?
Yes, peer pressure, but I only smoke when I go out drinking, which isn't that often.
I don't actually think I could smoke a cigarette sober.

 

[Deshin]

Everyone tries it at some point

Not true, I never have and I never will.

Oh... this surprised me... Then why on earth are you in a "why start smoking" thread that's intended to look for feedback from SMOKERS? To lambast the activity so vehemently, I thought you were an ex smoker in the least. That's like reviewing a movie you've not watched or a game you've not played :/

 

[carletonman]

People start smoking for a variety of reasons, from peer pressure to whip-smart tobacco marketing, to exposure to smoking as a child. Nicotine is an incredibly addictive substance that is hard to quit, and on average it will take a person 7 attempts to quit before they are successful. I have no problem with smokers, and I work in the health promotion with the Ontario Lung Association, a sister to the American Lung Association. The biggest issue I have with tobacco is that cigarettes, when used as intended, cause extensive bodily harm. It's hard to think of another product on the open market that does that. While I understand that some cultures may have a ceremonial use for tobacco, for the most part the product that people purchase at a corner store or gas station or whatever creates no net social benefit.

 

[darkman80723]

Its like I told me ex about my smoking....Im committing suicide and it takes a while to happen.

 

[omega 616]

Everyone tries it at some point

Not true, I never have and I never will.

Oh... this surprised me... Then why on earth are you in a "why start smoking" thread that's intended to look for feedback from SMOKERS? To lambast the activity so vehemently, I thought you were an ex smoker in the least. That's like reviewing a movie you've not watched or a game you've not played :/

I like psychology and I'm in the same boat as the OP, I want to know why people would choose to take up this habit.

I never made the thread 'cos it never occurred to me. I always wonder why people do things that don't seem logical to me, look at me sounding like Tuvok.

I know I am not some super logical person but I know why I do things.

Now were really off topic so lets leave it at this, shall we?

 

[babinro]

I've never smoked, but I've heard people start partially as a means of relieving stress...to get closer to people they know who also smoke...to lose weight.

These sorts of reasons still don't make me understand why though.

 

[Levethian]

Because it's more addictive than heroin?

My other half works as a Tobacco Research Officer for Toronto University. She wakes up screaming at night, filled with terrible visions of what smoking does to you. Every cigarette = a new mutation.

 

[Ohhi]

I smoke to deal with the shit that comes with the day to day dealings of my life, working forty hours a week to help pay the bills while still in highschool, applying for college, applying for financial aid to go to college dealing with an alcoholic father a lying drug abuser for a mother. I guess for me it's not the addiction thing that comes along with smoking it's an escape for me to escape the reality of what I have to live with for that five minutes that I smoke I don't have to deal with any of it and I can relax that's why I do it.

 

[Thundero13]

A friend of mine says he just does it when he's stressed, and thats not very often, so yeah that maybe, i've personally never smoked, and I don't think peer pressure a good reason because once someone who I have a huge crush on told me to smoke and I said no and he didn't care.
One of my teachers said she smoked once, thought it tasted horrible, threw up, never did it again.

 

[hecticpicnic]

I suppose it's a reason to get out of the house and a 'social' thing to do. When else can you walk outside with a certain someone and talk?
Oh wait...

Granted, it's a dumb thing to do. But than again, what hobby isn't? (I see smoking as a hobby.) Just playing games strikes off time you could had used socializing and gained a better life all around.

I agree i alot of the time i spent with (certain)friends in secondary school was hanging around talking a smoking it gives you an accuse to go out to where otheres are smoking and all smoke..together.That would be a great tag line "smoking ,rings people together"

 

[Busdriver580]

It feels good, life's short anyways

 

[emeraldrafael]

I never started, but i asked my grandfather (who's in his eighties and has since cut back) as well as my uncle (who's in his 60s and still smokes one a day) said it was relaxing and they enjoyed the flavor it provided.

Really, smoking is like any other vice. If you do it in moderation, its not really that harmful. Both my uncle and grandfather smoke one a day, and they're both healthy as oxen.

 

[KidTheFat]

I bought a pack on my 18th birthday along with a scratch-off lottery ticket. I did it why? Because I COULD. I never got addicted, though. Of course, I lost that first pack only half empty out of my hoodie pocket somewhere. I bought another pack one night while I took a walk at 4am. I spent that night picking up trash from a local grocery store parking lot and sitting on a hill, smoking, waiting to watch sunrise. Then, however, I spent a week with probably the most terrible head/chest cold I've ever experienced, and now if I were to try to smoke a cigarette, I would vomit. Such is life.