MorphingDragon said:
Daystar Clarion said:
Inb4 it relieves stress.
Smoking doesn't relieve stress, it relieves the withdrawal symptoms of not smoking.
That's a very strange way to phrase it.
Eating doesn't relieve hunger, it relieves the withdrawal symptoms of not eating.
It's actually a pretty common way of phrasing it in the scientific community. Despite the fact that smokers all subjectively feel that it releives stress, the scientific proof is overwhelming that smoking actually increases stress. This is because the withdrawal begins almost immediately, rising your stress level more and more until the next cig brings back down to normal.
Heronblade said:
People have all kinds of reasons to justify an addiction. Sometimes those reasons are even valid ones, never remotely good enough to cover up the downsides in my opinion, but still. I for one have mostly given up on understanding it and just avoid being around people who are smoking when I can.
What really mystifies me these days on this subject is the extreme lack of popularity of E-cigs. An alternative to traditional cigarettes that are much safer, healthier, and cheaper, can be tailored to the exact nicotine content and flavor the user wants, and yet I have seen exactly two in use since they came out.
I can comment on the e-cig thing. It's because they don't deliver the same amount of nicotine no matter what you do. Remember that there are a lot of drugs in cigarettes that increase the absorbtion of nicotine via vasodilation and god knows what chemical actions. Without all that, you don't get the same load of nicotine in your bloodstream even if the "smoke" you're inhaling has many times higher concentration of nicotine. I knew a few people who tried E-cigs and one of them burned through something like 2 months of stuff, based on their pack/day, in one day and, they were still in withdrawal. The other people weren't that bad, but it took them minutes instead of seconds to get the relief, and they did have to "smoke" so much that it ended up being more expensive than cigs. Also, my sister said the taste was aweful, even with her favorite flavor, though that's more subjective.
I am a non smoker, but of my 25 close relatives(first cousins or closer), 21 of them smoke or did smoke at one time. Frankly, I don't care if you smoke, it's stupid as all hell but we all do at least one stupid thing, so whatever. However, I do have a serious problem with people smoking next to doors. I am very sensitive to cigarette smoke(I have very mild asthma, but for some reason cig smoke sets me off like a moderate or severe case). Just crossing paths with someone who is smoking, I mean both of us walking across campus and I cross their path 40 feet behind them, is enough to leave me coughing for hours. Now, I'm not so crazy as to think that they shouldn't be allowed to smoke in the open air, but smoking near a door makes it impossible for me to avoid it, and it concentrates it because everyone smokes there(Even though it's already illegal here), and that can cause quite severe reactions from me, leaving me with a hacking cough for days. In the winter I have to use one of the side entrances to get into some of the buildings on campus because so many people smoke outside the doors.
So do what you want, but do us a favor and please keep it away from doors. Even 20 feet or so downwind is enough.