So... why start smoking?

[Smooth Operator]

Seems almost noone want's to tell us why they started, so I will.
It's a mix of "cuz it's cool" and peer presure, luckily I didn't dive head first into it, I only smoked one or two to be part of the "cool" gang but after a while just left it behind.

The only reason it releaves stress is because nicotine withdrawal amplified it, first few times you smoke it doesn't seem like anything at all, but after you had enough your body slowly descends into withdrawal symptoms gradually making you feel like sh*t, then the next smoke fixes you right up and feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders.
I guess the high's and low's can be quite entertaining...

 

[bdcjacko]

Seems almost noone want's to tell us why they started, so I will.
It's a mix of "cuz it's cool" and peer presure, luckily I didn't dive head first into it, I only smoked one or two to be part of the "cool" gang but after a while just left it behind.

The only reason it releaves stress is because nicotine withdrawal amplified it, first few times you smoke it doesn't seem like anything at all, but after you had enough your body slowly descends into withdrawal symptoms gradually making you feel like sh*t, then the next smoke fixes you right up and feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders.
I guess the high's and low's can be quite entertaining...

I already said because it makes me look cool.

 

[KidTheFat]

The only reason it releaves stress is because nicotine withdrawal amplified it, first few times you smoke it doesn't seem like anything at all, but after you had enough your body slowly descends into withdrawal symptoms

Actually, the first time I smoked, and many times after that (I never actually got addicted to the nicotine, I didn't smoke often) it gave me a heady nicotine buzz. Smoke too fast and it gave me nausea though.

 

[HentMas]

I was already pretty cool, though. I guess I just wanted a +1 modifier or something. It wasn't worth it.

damn man, i almost believed you untill you said "+1 modifier" it took a billion points of "coolnes" out of your post...

geek...

(JK man, just a joke!)

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

I dont really see an issue. However when something becomes a habit (especially an unhealthy habit) people get dependant on them. I get pretty tied to habits to the point where breaking them feels so inately WRONG. I dont like the idea of dependance. So i dont. No hate on those that do though, a lot of my friends do.

 

[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.

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...

Buuuuut it still has its flaws... You know... Gaming, in enough dozes. In this scenario, games will improve your skills (It's actually not much, but it helps.) though not your social ones. Just how many of your online friends do you talk to daily? Or even communicate to at all?
Not to mention the physical conditions worsening if mis-used.

I'd say, smoking is pro-social, as it allows you and other fellow smokers to get together and do what you like to do, while just talking about anything. It's like chatting at the dinner table, except everyone is not continuously quaffing food and anyone can join in. Happy times

 

[FightThePower]

I started because I find it really relaxing. I stopped because I figured there was a healthier and cheaper way to relax, although maybe not as effective.

 

[dslatch]

I currently smoke when ever i get stressed or just hanging out. A good smoke can give you hell of a head rush, kinda like being high for 10 minutes tops. It's a good stress remover, today had the OSSLT (Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test(big ass literacy test today)failing would mean no grade 12 diploma so before I had one cigarette to release some nervousness then one during the 15 minute break then one after it was all done. I was probably the most nervous one there but the least stressed and worried that I would fail. Today was special, I usually only have two or three a week.

During WWII soldiers were givin smokes to calm their nerves and keep them awake.

 

[MrA]

I used to think I'd never smoke but as I got into my late teens around friends who do it, It sort of just happened. I'm by no means addicted, I have a close friend who is addicted and i've seen how it negatively affects him (every ten minutes he's with me we have to go outside and I let him have a fag, constantly out of money, etc) So i've never gotten to the stage where I'm addicted, don't go outside to have them by myself, have maybe 1 or two a week, more (a LOT more) if i'm at a big party. It's all about the social act of smoking. Plus, it really does calm you down, it's really effective and helps me deal with stress.

 

[Verkula]

I started because...well, no idea really, i guess it has to do something with the parties we had back then.
Still, didnt got hooked on it at first, it was a really slow process, but after a year... yeah i called myself a smoker.

I wouldnt stay its relaxing, or relieves stress, only smokers think that, but thats because their body is already addicted to the stuff and needs the dose.

 

[Sejs Cube]

I've since quit, but speaking personally looking back to when I started smoking in high school there were two main reasons why I picked up the habit.
(A) It was an image thing. It seemed cool and mature and rebellious. This ties in to the standard "I was young and stupid" bit; I was young and I was stupid and so I thought shit like that mattered.
(B) My father was a smoker, and as such I was somewhat accustomed to tobacco smoke, cigarettes were more accessible (which is to say I stole them out of the cartons my dad would get), and it served to reinforce point A. Rational thought, cost versus benefit analysis, shit like that - none of that factored into the decision to take up smoking.

 

[whycantibelinus]

Because people are stupid. People do stupid stuff. They drink, they smoke, they do cocaine, they attack people for being gay/black/weak/smart/dumb/anything.

Some people just want to feel good, and are willing to ruin their lives to do it. Some are just weak willed followers.

Careful up there on that pedestal, most don't have very stable bases and tend to fall over quite often.

I'd say more rebellion and curiosity on my part. I'd been told it was terrible all my life and was wondering why people would do it then, also I was a punk in my youth so it went hand in hand with the counter culture being anti everything sort of sentiment. The first time I did it I thought it was awesome, it gave me a nice nicotine buzz and was completely relaxing, I never had the "got me sick the fist time" experience, that's why I continued to smoke. I have smoked for a good 13 years and I can say it is possible to smoke in moderation, I do so now, it takes me about a week and a half to get through a pack, that's like 2 cigs a day. Its not that I have always been that way either at my heaviest I was going through 2 packs a day, but for whatever reason just naturally cut down on the amount that I was smoking, not because it was good for me or anything it just happened that way.

 

[dslatch]

To those saying it only relaxes those who are addicted. I'm not addicted and it calms me right the hell down, its not all some "illusion" of comfort.

 

[rokkolpo]

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.

Would this be because of the nicotine or because you are breathing correctly?
(I'm amusing you smoke over the lungs)
Just breathing over the lungs can be relaxing on it's own.

 

[thecoreyhlltt]

i tried my first cig when i was 13, for classic peer pressure reasons. and yeah like said at the beginning, the majority of people who try their first know the risks, i knew them but was curious and felt smoking would improve my status. i kept smoking for a lil bit, purely because i felt a sort of rush/ dizziness (and still do), so after a few weeks i quit. and i didn't start again for four years, until i was 17.

my reasons for starting up again was for the rush and to eleviate the vast amounts of stress and "set-backs" as it were. i know there isn't any real medical proof that smoking will help with stress and that it's probablly just chemicals being released making me think they're helping. but honestly, cigs are a lot cheaper than the meds i would need to take to get the same results, only other difference is that cigs kill the lungs and pills kill the liver. it's a lose lose situation... well for me at least.

hope that helped to slate your thirst for knoweledge, although page 11 is a long way and a lot of comments.

 

[thecoreyhlltt]

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.

Would this be because of the nicotine or because you are breathing correctly?
(I'm amusing you smoke over the lungs)
Just breathing over the lungs can be relaxing on it's own.

what do you mean by smoking or breathing over the lungs? is that some sort of meditation? TELL ME!! I MUST KNOW!!! NNOOOWWW!!!!

or whenever you get a chance to would be fine. :B

 

[Chaosborn Titan]

As a side note people might find interesting do a google search of Dependence versus Harm. Nicotine is infact astoundingly addictive, something doesn't need to inflict physical pain to be addictive.

 

[Direwolf750]

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.

You can chug bleach if you want and still probably live a long life if you are lucky, and I don't know about your grandfather, but mine died at 44 from lung cancer from smoking. Thank you oh so very much for pointing out that outlier can skew the results, and reminding me.

Personally, I don't care how any smoker feels about being ridiculed. If you decided to pump a cocktail of poisonous drugs into your system, you hvae no right to be annoyed when people call you out on it.

Oh, and just because the people who smoke don't mind the smell, doesn't mean the people down wind don't mind it either. In fact there are plenty of laws on the matter that never seem to get enforced.

And one last thing. If "because it feels damn good" is a viable reason to go around doing stupid shit, then there is no reason to not jump of a bridge because the wind feels damn good.

 

[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...

Buuuuut it still has its flaws... You know... Gaming, in enough dozes. In this scenario, games will improve your skills (It's actually not much, but it helps.) though not your social ones. Just how many of your online friends do you talk to daily? Or even communicate to at all?
Not to mention the physical conditions worsening if mis-used.

I'd say, smoking is pro-social, as it allows you and other fellow smokers to get together and do what you like to do, while just talking about anything. It's like chatting at the dinner table, except everyone is not continuously quaffing food and anyone can join in. Happy times

And you make a toxic cloud that chokes anyone else downwind or around you...especially people with asthma. And yes, gaming can cause physical problems if misused. If misused being the key words. Smoking damages your body in a definite way no matter how you smoke them. There are little to no lasting health benefits to smoking. You do not gain any skills by smoking. You throw a lot of money into getting more and more submerged in a pool of nicotine and chemicals.

 

[Saelune]

Because people are stupid. People do stupid stuff. They drink, they smoke, they do cocaine, they attack people for being gay/black/weak/smart/dumb/anything.

Some people just want to feel good, and are willing to ruin their lives to do it. Some are just weak willed followers.

It is beyond preposterous to equal people who smoke and drink with those that do hard drugs and commit hate crimes.

It is also preposterous to assume that 1. smoking and drinking ruin lives (while excess in both can decline your health, your argument assumes insanely heavy consumption of either, which would be neccesary to qualify for "ruining your life") 2. that people who choose to drink or smoke are weak-willed.

I smoke because i enjoy it. I drink because i enjoy it. It is my choice and my body. If i want to do it in excess? Not your problem, sonny.

It will be my problem if you hit me with your car while driving drunk. it is my problem when you smoke near me. Maybe I am too severe, but it is selfish of you to think it is never someone else's problem when YOU make poor choices. A drop in a puddle makes waves. If you are a loner who wants to kill yourself with alchohol and smoking in your own house, fine. But thats not always the case. Sometimes drunk people get in cars, sometimes smokers are pregnant or around others, sometimes people get drunk and doo bad things. I am told by 3 people for my view I am narrow minded (essentially anyways) but its so narrow to not consider the greater reprocussions besides your own livers and lungs.