Smoking: Whys and Wherefores?

[DesignFox]

That is so boring. How about smokaholics?

*giggle* that's awesome.

[DrFaroohk]

Reading posts about "considerate smokers" makes me wonder a few things, such as...

If you are a smoker, why did you start smoking? And, even though you know how bad it is for you, why do you continue? What are the consequences you've come across, aside from the obvious, such as spending lots of money on cigarettes, health detriment, restricted to certain areas?

I am a non-smoker and have health issues that prevent me from ever becoming a smoker, so I'd like to see peoples' reasons for their choices, because I just don't understand the mentality because I've never been in that position.

Back on topic....

I'm not 100% sure the exact thing that triggered me to start. I know that I had just reconnected with a childhood friend and he smoked, and we spent a lot of time hanging out in my apartment catching up, and he smoked, and I wanted to try one at some point or another.

I know that when I first started, I enjoyed the little buzz i'd get when I smoked a cigarette. That was when I rarely smoked, like maybe 3 cigarettes a day.

I also enjoy going out to various places, but I don't like being cooped up inside all day, but I also don't like being that weird guy hanging around outside the building who's just standing there. It seemed easier to go out and have a smoke than it did to go out and have a panic attack. Plus its an ice breaker. "Hey, you got a light?"

Cigarettes also act as a nice "punctuation" to lots of stuff. Eat a big meal, get stoned, get laid, etc...a smoke afterwards makes it that much better.

Pet Peeve - those non-smokers who go way overboard with it. i.e. the ones who will see a guy smoking on TV and start coughing and hacking and going all asthmatic.

[Boozy]

Cigarettes also act as a nice "punctuation" to lots of stuff. Eat a big meal, get stoned, get laid, etc...a smoke afterwards makes it that much better.

Again, this is probably your addiction talking.

When you were a non-smoker, or were just starting to smoke and hadn't become hooked yet, you didn't realize that any "punctuation" was missing from those experiences. A meal was finished when it was finished. You didn't need a cigarette to complete the experience, nor would having one improve upon it in any way.

When anyone (smoker or non-smoker) finishes an activity, there is a split second where your brain says, "Okay, what now?" If you're addicted to cigarettes, your brain answers that question immediately with "Smoke!" If you've been eating, or having sex, it's probably been an hour or so since your last smoke. Your nicotine levels are low, so you light one up as soon as your finished doing whatever it is you were doing. Your brain then starts to create a correlation between meals and cigarettes, or sex and cigarettes, and your conscious mind tells you that you enjoy smoking after meals and sex. But what you're enjoying is the relief of your nicotine withdrawal symptoms, not the act itself.

Once people realize what a base chemical addiction smoking is, it really makes things easier to leave it behind.

[AdminAssistant]

And believe me when I say that one of the most irritating things to a non-smoker is when their smoker BF pops out of bed right after sex to get a cigarette.

[BlaqueKatt]

And believe me when I say that one of the most irritating things to a non-smoker is when their smoker BF pops out of bed right after sex to get a cigarette.

hey at least he didn't fall asleep

[BlaqueKatt]

Smoking is dumb. It's an addiction that required the user to do something stupid ie. start smoking.

and just found this


Smoking/cigarette addiction is officially a disease-was declared so in 1989

also this

Tobacco dependence is also listed as a disease in the International Classification of diseases (ICD 9), and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM III R) of the American Psychiatric Association lists nicotine dependenceas a 'Psychoactive substance use disorder'.

[DesignFox]

No offense intended Blaquekatt, but EVERYTHING is considered a disease or disorder nowadays.

[DGoddess]

I smoke and my main reason for it is because I do enjoy it.

I've been around tobacco my entire life. I like the smell of it. Some cigarette brands I prefer over others, but all in all I find it relaxing.

Both my parents smoked. My mom still smokes on occasion. My dad, however, quit back in the late 1980's.

Both sets of grandparents used tobacco. Both my dad's parents smoked. My mom's dad also smoked (he died of stomach cancer when she was 15) and my grandmother (the one who helped raise me) dipped snuff. I also had an aunt (my Mom's oldest sister) who also dipped.

So far, my health is fine. My eyesight is growing worse, but that's due to age in part as well as the fact that I've been nearsighted since I was 10 1/2. Other than that, I don't have any health problems related to smoking.

My breathing is fine. My blood pressure is fine. I don't have diabetes. I don't have any lung issues. I don't have circulatory problems either.

As far as being hassled over it: I have on rare occasion encountered someone who wanted to "preach" to me about it. Frankly, I don't care what they have to say - I'm well over 21, I work and pay my bills.

I don't smoke inside my home, nor do I smoke anywhere where it's not allowed, whether it be in a nonsmoker's car/office building/my dad's house/the beach house. Hell, even at the beach I take an empty drink can to put the cigarettes out in so I don't contaminate the sand.

I hate that it's getting to the point where we can't smoke anywhere public. It seems as if we're getting picked on at times. Nobody says a peep hardly about alcohol - it's always tobacco.

We have a new governor who signed a smoking ban into law earlier this week that prohibits smoking in restaurants and bars (effective 1-1-2010.) This same governor has also gotten an additional 35 cent tax hike passed this year for cigarettes in addition to the federal tax - which has caused the prices on cigarettes to double and almost triple - depending on where you purchase them. We have a severe budget shortfall in our state - and it seems as if the governor wants to make the smokers pay the difference.

Which is why I'm checking online to see what the best pricing is with some of European sites. A lot of the popular American brands are also made overseas and can be purchased for quite a bit less than what our stateside retailers call "Discount." Once I can find a site where I can get the best price, I'm ditching the tobacco shop I've been going to and just order them without having to leave the house or change out of my jammies.

But you don't hear of any increases of that level on alcohol . . . or fast food or anything else that's considered to be bad for you.

And as another point: all this talk about how smoking kills . . . I've known people who never smoked to die from lung cancer, so it makes me wonder just how accurate some of the information on the dangers of smoking actually is.


Do I just give up everything I enjoy just because someone tells me they're going to kill me? No. The simple fact is: we're all going to die at some point. It's a fact as sure as taxes. I could just as easily get hit by a car next week . . . or have a heart attack . . . . or whathaveyou. We don't know what life holds for any of us. It doesn't matter what we do or don't do . . . we all die at some point in time.

So while I'm here, I'm going to be happy and not give a happy rat's ass about what's supposed to be good and bad for me.

Blas, come sit by me in the smoking section and we'll have a drink on that.

[Nyoibo]

I didn't know that the occasional beer or chocolate bar caused cancer, emphysema, heart disease, etc.

Come on, you're comparing firecrackers to atmoic bombs.

Depending on that occasional beer and chocolate, given the percentage of the population that's overweight or obese and the strain that puts on the health system, I'd say A bomb to A bomb.

No offense intended Blaquekatt, but EVERYTHING is considered a disease or disorder nowadays.

That's because the majority of things are.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Obesity worse than smoking.

If you think about it, that's all kinds of true. After all, there are obese children, adults and elderly people. There is no tax on fast food like there is on tabacco, therefore anyone getting treatment for obesity related illnesses isn't contributing to the cost. A lot of tax from cigarettes goes to fund the NHS so smokers are supporting all the obese people's gastric bands, heart attacks, etc. However, obese people are nowhere near as demonised as smokers as far as taxes etc goes. You can get a gastric band or bypass on the NHS, even if you haven't bothered to try and diet and exercise the weight off. I've read stories of obese people who stay overweight due to enablers; like their parents or partners, who continue to feed them even when they're bedridden. Finally, there are a hell of a lot more obese people about than smokers, and it's a steadily growing problem. Maybe instead of treating smokers, who may be unhealthy but are at least contributing to the economy, like lepers, the government needs to shift the focus to the morbidly obese instead.

[DesignFox]

<snip>If you think about it, that's all kinds of true. After all, there are obese children, adults and elderly people. There is no tax on fast food like there is on tabacco, <snip>

Only partially true in the US. The governor of NY has been proposing an "Obesity Tax" on soda.

linky

But it seems in this more recent article that the idea didn't pan out. linky

That's from my very lazy google search.

[AdminAssistant]

And I recently saw on TV that Alabama is considering a measure that would charge employees considered obese $25/month more for health insurance. One of the problems is that obesity is often a symptom of a larger problem. Healthy food is more expensive than high caloric food with little nutritional value. What are the cheapest grocery items? Ramen noodles, mac'n'cheese, canned vegetables? Sometimes people are just looking for the cheapest way to feed their families, and that happens to be from 'junk' food. Sometimes people are working a lot and don't have time to cook, they only have time to swing through a drive thru and get whatever's on the value menu.

Overweight people aren't demonised? Really? I would say that many times, people are pretty sympathetic to smokers trying to quit, understanding how hard it is to break a chemical addiction, knowing it takes more than one try. But how many times do I read that fat people just need to eat healthy and start exercising - like it's the easiest thing in the world? How quick are we to blame the obese person for all their health problems - like they really wanted high blood pressure and diabetes?

[BlaqueKatt]

Healthy food is more expensive than high caloric food with little nutritional value.

Nope-that's a myth-

From this article where they've done research in areas with a big box retailer(wal mart) and found lower obesity rates due to healthful foods being marketed to people that don't usually have ready access to them.


"It isn’t that low-income people can’t afford to eat healthy: A 2005 USDA study found that you can fulfill your requirement of fruits and vegetables for 64 cents per day—less than the cost of a candy bar. But access to healthy food in poor, urban areas really is a problem. There are stretches of U.S. cities where you’ll pass three Wendy’s and five convenience stores before you’ll find a produce stand."

“We know that Wal-Mart lowers the cost of food, but we figured it’s not always the best food for you.”

To their surprise, they found the opposite—there was a small but statistically significant reduction in obesity rates in communities with a Wal-Mart, perhaps because the store also sells fresh produce of good quality at a good price.

Broadening the study to big-box stores in general, the effect was even more pronounced. “People actually bought more produce, more fruits and vegetables,” Carden says. “Instead of just eating more, they ate a higher-quality diet—a lower-fat diet than the rest of the population.”

[blas87]

Admin, I have to very respectfully disagree with you.

While a lot of smokers' friends and families will be supportive and helpful if/when they try to quit, there are a lot of people out there who scoff at the thought of gums/patches/pills and tell smokers "It's all in your head! You started, you can quit! Blargle blargle blargle! It's all mental!"

[Greenday]

Admin, I have to very respectfully disagree with you.

While a lot of smokers' friends and families will be supportive and helpful if/when they try to quit, there are a lot of people out there who scoff at the thought of gums/patches/pills and tell smokers "It's all in your head! You started, you can quit! Blargle blargle blargle! It's all mental!"

That's pretty interesting. I've never heard anyone say that before.