So... why start smoking?

[ThisIsSnake]

They do it because of peer pressure.

It makes you stink
Stains teeth and nails
Alters your tolerance to stress to the point where the only time you don't feel stressed is when you light up
Causes ED, Emphysema, Lung Cancer, Throat Cancer, Heart Disease etc
Grinding withdrawel symptoms

The only thing is has going for it is a costly stress relief and weight loss.

This only applies to tobacco of course.

Maybe if you do smoke a pack a day. However, if you're someone like me who can do it occasionally for a normal stress reliever, none of this will happen to you. It's all bullshit they tell you as kids to scare you off. If you know someone who smokes a couple packs a day though, lecture them away. Just don't tell that to someone like me.

Lastly, your post makes it seem like "stress" isn't a big thing in someone's life. If you find that to be true, I find joy in laughing in your face, sir.

I don't think stress isn't a big thing, just that there are a lot of ways to deal with it. True, some of the symptoms might never happen to you it you only smoke occasionally the same way you probably won't get liver cancer and a beer belly from drinking an occasional glass of wine.

 

[bpm195]

Smoking is a lot like playing an MMO. It's a hobby, and as with any hobby some people over indulge. Most people who do it don't have it written on their forehead and unless you catch them in the act you probably wouldn't know they do it unless it comes up in conversation. They gain the social boon of a fairly social hobby with its own culture that's pretty much inaccessible to outsiders. They also have to deal with outsiders that constantly tell them to stop.

If I choose to smoke, it's my choice. If you don't want to smell me or whatever I'm choosing to smoke, go away. It's a rarity that you're actually forced to sit next to somebody that's having a smoke and if a person walks around smelling terrible that's really more of a hygiene problem.

To get back on topic, if you're curious as to why some people smoke, try it. Personally, I'd recommend smoking a pipe over anything else; cigars are extremely unpleasant if you screw up, and though cigarettes punish mistakes less they have the steepest learning curve. If you fear addiction, just remember that most people that are "trying to quit" are doing it wrong (anybody who buys a pack of cigarettes and is "trying to quit" is simply doing it wrong).

 

[KaiusCormere]

I smoked for the first time when I was in middle school, because I wanted to do things that were against the rules. I also did a lot of other things - sneaking around at night, shoplifting, driving my car over 100 mph down the freeway, blowing stuff up, etc. Typical wild kid stuff - a phase reactionary to a repressive parental environment. So yes, I knew it was bad for me. I wasn't going to live without trying everything I could try though.

Anyway, I smoked from 1997 or so till 2001. I smoked usually a pack in 2 days. Maybe a whole pack in a wild party night. Anyway I decided about then that if I was to continue what I was doing, I would never get anywhere, so I signed up for the Air Force. I quit cold-turkey a few weeks before heading to basic training, and I didn't start again. I smoked once in a great while after that, maybe one or two cigarettes every 3-4 months. In the last 10 years combined, I've probably smoked less than 4 packs.

During those rare circumstances, I usually feel like I want a smoke when I'm drinking with friends who are smoking, but when I do smoke that one cigarette it makes me feel dizzy and sick.

 

[SleepyChan]

Since I only recently started smoking, I'll try to give you an answer.

My mom died last June. It was brain cancer, it was at home, and I was her caretaker (I was 21, BTW). My family has since crumbled, my life is horribly pathetic, and I was teetering on the edge of a massive bout of depression. So, one day I decided that I wasn't going to make up excuses for not doing the things I may have wanted to do in the past. I've lived my life as a bit of a goody-goody, you see. So I told my best friend over dinner that I wanted to smoke. Simply put, I wanted to give my life a jump-start. So she bought me my first pack (American Spirits, orange case) and lighter. Then we smoked down on the waterfront under the full moon. It was the most liberating moment of my life.

At this point, many people might point out that this is a stupid reason to start smoking. They'd bring up cancer, stigmas, and the other downsides to such a habit. But really, they'd be missing my point. I'm not smoking to fit in. I'm not smoking to escape from my problems. I'm not even smoking because I particularly like it.

I smoke now because I am free to do so. I smoke because for each small puff of smoke that enters my lungs, I'm taking a new and different look at my life and the way I've lived it. With each cigarette, I stop and enjoy life. I listen to the world around me and appreciate the small things. I live. And yes, some small, dark part of me feels that each smoke may someday lead my back to my beloved mother, whom I miss dearly. It's delusional, but there you go.

Sorry if this seems too poetical or full of bullshit. I am what I am, and I enjoy the occasional smoke. I hope this answers your question?

 

[tzimize]

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?

Rebellion

Doing something illegal, depends on age ofc

being cool, even though today the only thing I think when I see smokers is "idiot"

and lets not forget the most important thing: stupidity

Never underestimate humanitys capacity for mind-bogggling stupidity.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Liked the initial rush, then got it into my head that smoking was what you did when you were stressed. Was often stressed, now addicted. Disgustingly predictable.

 

[Stevanchez]

Well, I hear it can help you lose/keep off weight and, if you do it right, you can skip that whole "old age" thing.

 

[EscapistUser123456]

I didn't start smoking.

 

[Ympulse]

Smoking is addictive because it's subtle.

Also, I started smoking when I was deployed to Iraq. Quit after I got out.

 

[iLikeHippos]

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.

The harm of cigarettes only applies when mis-used, as with gaming.
I don't see how gaming could benefit your health in any way possible.
And no, smoking will stimulate and contribute to social skills, accept it or not.
(I know of no smoker with no friends, yet I know lots of gamers with none.)
Gaming is not cheap likewise, with games costing around 60$. In fact, some gamers have turned to crime and downloaded most games illegally just to escape the harm of paying the man.

There are more and more areas in which you are prohibited to smoke, and areas you are not. If smoke bothered me, asthma or not, I would just walk around them and not go in a 10 yard radius of them. And with extra concern, taste the wind so you can tell where the smoke goes, predict and avoid. In which case, the smoke will not bother you.

I could just state facts and contradict all day, but all in all, smoking is painted in quite the bad color, like games. I think we can both agree on that games have not been portrayed fairly in the media. Smoking sits on the same stool of judgment, and they are not what they are painted out to be.

 

[Hristo Tzonkov]

Since I only recently started smoking, I'll try to give you an answer.

My mom died last June. It was brain cancer, it was at home, and I was her caretaker (I was 21, BTW). My family has since crumbled, my life is horribly pathetic, and I was teetering on the edge of a massive bout of depression. So, one day I decided that I wasn't going to make up excuses for not doing the things I may have wanted to do in the past. I've lived my life as a bit of a goody-goody, you see. So I told my best friend over dinner that I wanted to smoke. Simply put, I wanted to give my life a jump-start. So she bought me my first pack (American Spirits, orange case) and lighter. Then we smoked down on the waterfront under the full moon. It was the most liberating moment of my life.

At this point, many people might point out that this is a stupid reason to start smoking. They'd bring up cancer, stigmas, and the other downsides to such a habit. But really, they'd be missing my point. I'm not smoking to fit in. I'm not smoking to escape from my problems. I'm not even smoking because I particularly like it.

I smoke now because I am free to do so. I smoke because for each small puff of smoke that enters my lungs, I'm taking a new and different look at my life and the way I've lived it. With each cigarette, I stop and enjoy life. I listen to the world around me and appreciate the small things. I live. And yes, some small, dark part of me feels that each smoke may someday lead my back to my beloved mother, whom I miss dearly. It's delusional, but there you go.

Sorry if this seems too poetical or full of bullshit. I am what I am, and I enjoy the occasional smoke. I hope this answers your question?

I had a similiar sensation when I started smoking but it involved rebelling with my own parents who enforced a lifestyle on me so I wouldn't mimick their own mistakes.I know it's not really the same but I remember the feeling back then when I started doing things I was always afraid to do so I'd be a goody-goody.Starting with a smoke.

I can almost understand why non smokers are such bigots.Hell people you've had to live all your life resisting silly urges to try something when your entire society says it's bad.Hell if you're gonna live it that way then you must make every smoker's life hell for that.Just to feel better about your free of addiction lives.The analogy of vegetarians comes to mind.I like my meat and I like my smokes.I damn well love my addictions and I'm not giving up on them.

 

[Hristo Tzonkov]

Gaming is not cheap likewise, with games costing around 60$. In fact, some gamers have turned to crime and downloaded most games illegally just to escape the harm of paying the man.

Sorry but it's not a crime to find something on the internet.

 

[Korolev]

Because the risk doesn't seem real to them, and they think they can handle the addiction and they never really consider the possibility that they could die and they want to look cool. Plenty of films still glamorize smoking (plenty of video games do it for that matter as well).

They don't REALLY understand the risk or the downsides to smoking. They SAY they do, but they don't.

You know what? My lecturer used to do this - if anyone was a smoker she'd invite them to come to the hospital to look at the emphysema sufferers and the lung cancer sufferers. They almost never accepted the invitation.

True, not EVERY smoker gets lung cancer. But even a mild smoking habit raises the risk through the roof. And no matter what, it DOES damage your lungs. You will find it harder to walk up the stairs or run for extended periods of time. In short, while smoking MAY not kill you, it raises your risk of a very, very VERY unpleasant death.

What I find funny is how many smokers try like hell to stop their kids from smoking. If you don't want your kids to do it, why do it yourself? Bit of cognitive dissonance there.

 

[Korolev]

Dying from cancer isn't like other deaths. Cancer is one of the most horrific ways to die. I've seen patients with bone cancer and lung cancer (I worked on finding biomarkers for various lung cancers as my Honours project). It's horrific. You know how they die? Their organs are crushed or ruptured. That's how cancer kills you - the tumours grow and grow and grow. And they crush your lungs, they split the lungs open, they crush the nerves. Can you imagine how painful that is? How slow a death that is? How horrific a death that is? Can you? I bet you can, but most smokers don't want to. And that's just if the Cancer stays in one place - if it metastasises, spreads to your bones, to your other organs.... can you imagine the pain you would feel, with the tumours growing in your body?

Say what you will smokers. Say you aren't afraid. Say you're willing to run the risk. Say that it's your choice. And your choice it is. But I'll also bet you haven't been to your local cancer ward and looked at those patients in the face and realize, FULLY realize exactly what risk you are running. You laugh at the prospect now. You might not be laughing much later.

I'd bet most smokers really DO want to give up, but they can't bring themselves to admit they have a problem. Because I've seen people die from cancer.... and I know that no matter what, I don't want to go down that way. I will do everything I can to minimize my risk from cancer (and yes, that includes cutting down on red meat, alcohol and getting a lot of exercise).

 

[Colour Scientist]

Because they like wasting their money and lungs, then again if I would smoke for a few weeks I'd probably wouldn't be able to stop either, it's probably just nicotine being soothing, relaxing and addicting.

Actually you don't get a chemical addiction for quite some time.
Initially it's the habit of physically smoking that people become accustom to. Like having a cigarette with your morning coffee or after dinner or if you go out to a bar or club. People have trouble giving up that ritual.
It's when you're smoking a pack a day you become dependent.


OT: Anyone who starts under the age of 20 does it because their friends do and most people who deny that are lying because they want to save face.
I did. My friends and I started sneaking cigarettes when we were about 13 and about a year and a half later started smoking regularly. I'm 19 and I still enjoy smoking and my lungs and money are no one elses business.

People who don't and feel the need to show smokers the errors of their ways need to get off their high-horse. You're not better than us.

 

[Mr. Highway]

My point is: that it is pointless and unnecessary
Uh Oh i can see this develouping into a philosophical discussion... especially seen as we're on a gaming site......

Smoking is pointless because other things do the same thing less effectively?

Thats a very elitest view on it. If your simply looking for a high dopamine reward then why dont you just fork out the bit extra and get some Meth and cocaine.

 

[the_green_dragon]

When else can you walk outside with a certain someone and talk?

My god, you're so right on this one. If a cute girl/guy (depending on what you like) you had an eye on at a party/nightclub/bar asked, "hey, wanna come out for a smoke?" what would you say?

 

[Alon Shechter]

It can be psychological.
Maybe said smoker doesn't find any reason to live, so he uses smoking, an addiction to chemicals, something you want and will go through the day and work hard just so you can have more of it.
It gives purpose.

Odd that I don't smoke, but the evil psychotic women that I hang out with will eventually turn me to the dark side.

 

[MadeinHell]

It's one of those things you just "start doing" for no apparent reason.

I know it's unhealthy but I'm still doing it for SOME reason . I guess it's just an expensive deadly habit that I will have to get rid of sooner or later.

 

[Mr. Highway]

My point is: that it is pointless and unnecessary
Uh Oh i can see this develouping into a philosophical discussion... especially seen as we're on a gaming site......

YEAH SO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!



I always love it when people online, especially this site, instantly post like they're a genius and the epitome of human evolution for not smoking...

Actually i completely retract that statement (seen as it made you so smug). Gaming offers experiences that otherwise are unattainable. It encourages innovation, imagination, conversation(this site) etc. Smoking offers a reward that naturally occurs FOR FREE (in every working brain)
Here is this sites equivilant if your really serious about the whole thing http://www.datingforsmokers.com/
I actually do smoke, but since my girlfriend started stinking of it things have been different. Im not telling people to stop this is just a rebuttal to the pro smoking argument.