So... why start smoking?

[Riff Moonraker]

Wait. Wait! I'm not trying to hang shit on smokers here. I ask purely out of curiosity.

So... I understand why people continue to smoke once they have started. Granted, my understanding is only theoretical since I have never personally touched a cigarette, but I understand the basic mechanics of chemical addiction.

But what I do not understand is why someone who is not addicted would start in the first place.

I've asked several real life acquaintances, but they all just shrugged it off or said something like, "I was young and stupid." But those don't strike me as satisfactory answers.

See, if a person started smoking any time in the last 20 years they likely would have known exactly what they were getting into. So long as they were over the age of twelve, they would have known that smoking is addictive. They would have known that cigarettes are expensive. They would have known that they are harmful.

Furthermore, people I know who smoke tell me that the first time they did it, it made them feel sick. Some of them said that they threw up afterwards. Now I would have thought that would be a pretty clear sign that something isn't doing you any good. If I ate some food that made me feel ill I sure as hell wouldn't go back for seconds.

And yet, people still take up smoking.

Why?

Alot of times, it starts up as a social thing. Some people HAVE to have a cigarette, if they are out having a few beers, or something. I started because it helped relax me, when I was extremely stressed out, then I got hooked on them. I recently quit, and had been off them completely for about 7 months, when some things happened that I wound up picking up the habit again. Now I have to basically start over, and try to quit again. I know its unhealthy, and I am planning on kicking it to the curb again after this week, come hell or highwater.

 

[iLikeHippos]

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 like to think that the majority of us game in our natural "down time" anyway, so you're not really losing out - can't be out and about with others 24/7. Smoking just kills you, slowly.

OT: I dunno, people say it relieves stress and stuff, but my understanding is that it raises your stress levels the rest of the time, and then when you smoke it brings you back down to a "normal" level of stress, so its not really helping in any way.

Yepp, but the trick here is how much you do it. Some smoke daily, but others just do it once in a while. Some game daily, but others... A bit much.

All in all... Never abuse. Ruins the fun and other things.

 

[Nieroshai]

Same reason I play games.

It occupies my time.

It keeps my hands and mouth busy.

I feel weird if I'm not doing something with either my hands, mouth, or both.

[sub]Don't get any ideas...[/sub]

Same here, but I chew gum and fiddle with pens, both of which are harmless.

 

[Kecunk]

Because despite what some people say, smoking still makes you look cool.

 

[Direwolf750]

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.

but playing video games can enrich your vocabulary, make you new friends, show you new ways to think about things, and increase you problem solving capabilities. The military found that playing call of duty helps you distinguish between different shades of gray...such as camouflage...

 

[Deshin]

it's not fair or even ethical to label smokers in the same crowd as drug users.

Why not? You are. Coffee and chocolate is a drug technically, drugs aren't just illegal things. Drugs have this negative "omg he said he uses drugs", everybody does in one form or another.

If you said hard drug users I wouldn't have a problem, but you are a drug user.

Semantics.

Oh and I politefully disagree with the girls smoking is the unsexiest thing they can do, I find it quite alluring. But hey, I guess our indoctrinations into society were different; yours was full of anti smoking propaganda and mine was full of pro smoking propaganda.

 

[euro2019]

I've never found myself able to get addicted to cigarettes. I flew back to Europe where I used to live and everyone smoked so I ended up smoking in coffee shops and such since everyone else was lighting up. Then when I flew back I didn't smoke at all. I still smoke a cigarette maybe once in a while like 1 or 2 a month, but I don't think I could ever get hooked on the feeling you get from them.

 

[Direwolf750]

Because despite what some people say, smoking still makes you look cool.

Because it's cool.

Despite what people say, it is still killing you rather quickly and makes you smell like a chemical spill on fire.

 

[Zom-B]

It's extremely relaxing when done in moderation.

I don't smoke very often (maybe a pack a month at most because I know it's terrible for me), but nothing is better before a big exam than a cigarette. It helps you relax while keeping you focused.

I"m sure you've been responded to already after some 300+ comments, but I wonder if it's the cigarette itself, for you, or just the ritual of smoking. Personally, I don't smoke cigarettes, but I have been known to enjoy some other fine smokables, and a big part of the draw for me is the physical act of holding that burning ember and drawing the vapours into your lungs, not to mention the social aspect. I can understand from a psychological standpoint why smokers continue, outside of their chemical dependence.

I wonder if you would feel the same relaxation if you smoked, say, a clove cigarette or tried one of those inhaler dealies that is supposed to simulate smoking?

 

[ChocoFace]

And yet, people still take up smoking.

Why?

You should get acquainted with Bill Hicks' material. He's pretty convincing, even though i also remain a non-smoker.
Look around youtube for more if you're interested, this is just a taste of what he says about these things.

 

[Deshin]

Despite what people say, it is still killing you rather quickly and makes you smell like a chemical spill on fire.

When I stopped smoking my sense of smell came back tenfold, I nearly threw up every day going to work and smelling the car exhaust, dirty streets, and rubbish bags. Oh and everything smelled like wet dog. Smokers become naturally resistant to the smell of nicotine and smoke so the only people complaining about it are the non smokers, who aren't the target audience anyway.

And no, it's is not killing you "rather quickly", I said it before and I'll say it again seeing as no one wants to actually read/quote it. My Grandpa smoked for 72 years, SEVENTY TWO YEARS. And a friend's father, who never smoked, died with colon cancer at 46 because it's genetic. Your "guaranteed death warrant" is nothing but an over hyped and over sensualised fad, a trend, it's the new big thing for people not to smoke. It's a hipster movement same as it was a hipster movement 50 years ago to *start* smoking. Probably in 50 years time once they've (hopefully) got cancer treatable you'll see a huge resurging in smokers because, as was mentioned here, it just feels damn good.

The only people who say all the big stuff about anti smoking are the same people who've never tried a smoke in their lives (or if they did, smoked it like an oyxgen pipe and choked themselves silly and dismissed the notion entirely). More people are killing themselves daily with their knife and fork but they're apparently ok.

Smokers, the last of the free targets for ridicule and prejudice.

 

[sdfasdfhfgfgjtyisdgdfdfj]

Two words: Peer Pressure.

 

[bdcjacko]

i laugh at all the people that violently hate smoking. They think they are going to live forever by not smoking.

 

[I am 2 cool 4 anime]

COZ U CAN!!JK!

People use it to relax and to past the time...or to die slowly

 

[omega 616]

it's not fair or even ethical to label smokers in the same crowd as drug users.

Why not? You are. Coffee and chocolate is a drug technically, drugs aren't just illegal things. Drugs have this negative "omg he said he uses drugs", everybody does in one form or another.

If you said hard drug users I wouldn't have a problem, but you are a drug user.

Semantics.

Oh and I politefully disagree with the girls smoking is the unsexiest thing they can do, I find it quite alluring. But hey, I guess our indoctrinations into society were different; yours was full of anti smoking propaganda and mine was full of pro smoking propaganda.

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?

 

[nohorsetown]

I started smoking to be cool. I hung out with punks, goths, and drama kids in high school, and a lot of them smoked. I knew it was a bad move, but I also figured I'd have more strength of character / willpower than my parents (both smokers since way back; dad ended up with cancer), and have no trouble quitting, because of course as a teenager I was invincible and awesome, right?

12 years later, I've lost count of how many times I've tried and failed to quit. Right now I'm five days into quitting cold turkey. I'm gonna make it this time, dammit! I wanna be able to say I quit before I turned 30, and that's only a few weeks away. The physical addiction is nothing compared to the psychological side of it. Almost all my routines involve cigarettes, and a good half of my friends are gonna be annoyed with me, but it's been too damn long and they cost too much fucking money and arrrrrrrrrgh..

But yeah, I started smoking to be cool. I was already pretty cool, though. I guess I just wanted a +1 modifier or something. It wasn't worth it.

 

[EradiusLore]

Wait. Wait! I'm not trying to hang shit on smokers here. I ask purely out of curiosity.

So... I understand why people continue to smoke once they have started. Granted, my understanding is only theoretical since I have never personally touched a cigarette, but I understand the basic mechanics of chemical addiction.

But what I do not understand is why someone who is not addicted would start in the first place.

I've asked several real life acquaintances, but they all just shrugged it off or said something like, "I was young and stupid." But those don't strike me as satisfactory answers.

See, if a person started smoking any time in the last 20 years they likely would have known exactly what they were getting into. So long as they were over the age of twelve, they would have known that smoking is addictive. They would have known that cigarettes are expensive. They would have known that they are harmful.

Furthermore, people I know who smoke tell me that the first time they did it, it made them feel sick. Some of them said that they threw up afterwards. Now I would have thought that would be a pretty clear sign that something isn't doing you any good. If I ate some food that made me feel ill I sure as hell wouldn't go back for seconds.

And yet, people still take up smoking.

Why?

i dont personaly smoke though i have done in the past socially and i can tell you some of the reasons why people start smoking

because its something to do
gives you a strange quick high
stops you getting bored
because your friends do it
and because it goes well with a beer

 

[Calatar]

SNIP

Thank God. I wouldn't want to live to be so old that I can't live without a hospital bed and tubes coming out of me.

Another fallacy. You really think that just because you don't live as long you won't have to deal with hospitals? Uh, that's pretty stupid to think that you'll be avoiding hospital assistance by smoking.

You age FASTER by smoking, because your body degenerates faster. You'll be dealing with the health problems of an 80 year old in your 60s. Dealing with the health problems of a 60 year old in your 40s and 50s. Lowered life expectancy doesn't cut out those last unpleasant years of health problems, it means you have to deal with those health problems sooner.

Yeah, and 100% of deaths is related to death. in Japan everybody smokes, all the fucking time, and they don't die from lung cancer or emphysema and they all live to see 80.

Japan's smoking rate: 36% for men, 9% for women. That's about the same as the US (a little higher for men, a little lower for women). Not everybody.
Source
The average life expectancy in Japan is 82.6, not 86. Source
Slightly better than the US. Given that the smoking rates are similar (a little over 20% for both), we can say there are other factors involved which affect the expectancy. Perhaps diet as you suggest, perhaps health care, we can't say for sure without more information.

Japan's leading causes of death are cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, respiratory cancers, respiratory infections, and other cancers. Wait just a second... ALL of those are exacerbated by smoking. Source

Maybe you should rethink your use of Japan as an argument for smoking not being that bad.

 

[Sentox6]

The times, they are a-changin'.

Personally, smoking is one of the single most unattractive things a person can do, as far as I'm concerned. It's not just physically offputting, it also diminishes my respect for them on an intellectual level. Just like it's their right to smoke, it's my right to think less of them for it.