a question for smokers...

krazykidd

New member
Mar 22, 2008
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Because it's a way to slowly kill myself , without killing myself. Oh, and because i enjoy it!
 

DudeistBelieve

TellEmSteveDave.com
Sep 9, 2010
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SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
SaneAmongInsane said:
Daystar Clarion said:
Inb4 it relieves stress.

Smoking doesn't relieve stress, it relieves the withdrawal symptoms of not smoking.
not true. at least at the start anyway.

Was working on my senior thesis last semester, ended at my wits end and turns to cigs in lieu of another smokable substance that may or may not be against Escapist TOS to say.

smoking did provide a very temporary nicotine high that was very very nice when I needed it.

But it's really a poor drug. that feeling doesn't last and then your chain smoking a whole pack just to get it back.

suffice to say, I've since quit it was remarkably easy.
Absolute load of bullshit. There are only two reasons a ciggarette could be relaxing. Either you're a smoker who's relieving withdrawal symptoms or you find it relaxing simply because smoking has been presented as a relaxing thing to you your whole life.

There is nothing relaxing about nicotine to a non smoker. Any feeling you get that goes in that direction is a placebo.
Absolute not bullshit. It's a legit high, though very brief. Like 3 minutes.

Definitely not a placebo effect.
 

DanielBrown

Dangerzone!
Dec 3, 2010
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I only smoke when I'm doing something outside(which is not often in my case). At home I use snuff. For those that doesn't know; snuff is moist tobacco that you put under your upper lip. It comes dry(tiny white bags), normal(tiny dark bags) and natural(huge tobacco balls that make you look silly).
Snuff is as addictive as cigarettes, and then some, but the health risks aren't nearly as bad. Edited: during my fact search to make sure I wasn't wrong I found that snuff actually hasn't been connected to cancer at all. The warning sign also says: "This tobacco product could be dangerous to your health and is addictive". Only drawback would be that your gums gets... acided up. Snuffed on only one side for about three years and there is a very clear difference in my gums between the sides.

As opposed to cigarettes it comes with a lot of flavor. Smells and tastes digusting to people not used to it, like cigarettes, but they mix in a shitload of taste substances. Cigarettes have always tasted pretty much the exact same in spite of different brands.
Past few years I've stuck with cheap, tasteless snuff since the prices went sky high(way cheaper than smoking though). Whenever I get the luxury of the more expensive snuff it's like heaven.

Can only be bought in Sweden though. It's forbidden in EU for reasons I don't understand(bet it's the cigarette companies doing). I'm fairly sure other countries in northern Europe sells it however. Not sure if it's the real deal or not.




Bonus picture of a sexy viking:

Anyways, why I do it is because it's addictive and these days I'm an adult that decides for myself. We all need our vices. If a smoker isn't deliberatly blowing smoke in a persons face it shouldn't be any of their business.
 

Frankster

Space Ace
Mar 13, 2009
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Because I honestly enjoy the sensation of smoking and the particular connection you can make with other smokers when having a cig break outside.

As for the labels and stuff...Kinda immune to them, though would love to see such labels on bottles of alcoholic beverages where they show gruesome pics of liver damage :p You know just to put everyone on the same level.

Sleekit said:
if this thread is just going to be smokers and anti smokers going at it back and forth its a really bad idea ...
Considering what some of the posters above me said...Its tempting. Its really grating when non smokers appoint themselves as scholars on the matter.

Been smoking for over a decade here, don't chainsmoke, a pack of cigs can last me months at times as i only smoke when i feel the occasion is suitable or i want to join the "smokers club" chatroom outside, not because i feel withdrawal symptoms xD I conquered those years ago.
 

farscythe

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Dec 8, 2010
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because i enjoy it..and it gives me an excuse to step outside and get away from people for a few minutes.. (without having to say im going outside to get away from you fuckers for a few minutes)

also.. because beer and bacci go together beautifully.
 

sanquin

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Jun 8, 2011
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I enjoy it, and...well, to put it in mordern terms. 'Yolo'. To explain, I'd rather live this one life I have while doing everything I wanted to do and enjoying everything I want to enjoy and live 10 years less. Rather than living a very healthy lifestyle and live 10 years longer. When I die I don't want to think 'I wonder what that would have been like', as there are no do-overs.

I don't do hard drugs or do things that are explicitly dangerous though. There's a difference between unhealthy and self-destructive.
 

crazyarms33

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Nov 24, 2011
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To piss those damned truth commercial people off. For God's sake, you want to talk about fear mongering? Those people could give lessons.
The way I look at it is simple:I am an adult. I can make my own choices and to tell me I can't do something because you don't like it or because it is bad for me is flat out rude. Do you drink soda? Eat fatty food? Not exercise? Drink alcohol? If you do, do you like it when people come up to you and tell you that they know what's best for you, therefore you should change your habits? You don't? Wow, what a concept...neither do smokers.
 

stormeris

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Aug 29, 2011
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Kaytastrophe said:
I smoke because I don't know what else to do with my hands :p
You could masturbate, just as addicting, but less damaging to your health, heck it might be beneficial to some people, because it decreases blood pressure and lowers the chance of having heart diseases.

I honestly never smoked, and never will. The same reason i don't drink alcohol or do drugs.
It's because i'm a filthy hipster
 

anthony87

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Aug 13, 2009
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Because they enjoy it I'd imagine. Just a shame they can't enjoy it without people who don't smoke acting all smug and shit about their non smoking.
 
Nov 27, 2010
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Because... I like it. I really don't know what else to say. Sure, it's also to get away from people, relax, gather my thoughts, and all that good stuff, but even when I don't need to do any of those things, the simple fact is that I like it, health hazards be damned.
 

Angelous Wang

Lord of I Don't Care
Oct 18, 2011
575
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Because they like murdering other people and getting away with it.

Giving other people terminal cancer, is the only legal way to kill them.

Seriously you know the government/society is fucked up when a drug that harms and even kills other people other than the user is legal, and yet all the drugs that only harm the user are illegal.
 

AnthrSolidSnake

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Jun 2, 2011
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I come from a family of smokers mostly. Personally, I don't smoke. I've tried it, sure, maybe like...3 times? Luckily, even being in cars and rooms with smokers almost constantly, I haven't really developed any health issues from it (at l east, none that I can directly see effecting me. I can jog for a decent amount of time before getting too winded, at least compared to other people who even have never smoked.

The first time I smoked was just out of curiosity. It seemed overrated to me at the time, so I didn't bother for 2 years.
The second time I was going through a lot, and heard that smoking "relieves stress". I can say that at least personally, it did nothing for me.
The third time was with a friend, whom said she wanted one more before she quit. She asked if I'd join her and I did.

After that I just...don't care enough to. I still have stress, but I normally try to overcome it on my own or I play video games. Drugs and alcohol in general never appealed to me and I tend to keep it that way. I said I'll drink when I turn 21 just to say I have, and then I plan on never (or rarely) touching it again. Same goes for pretty much anything of that nature.
 

BarbaricGoose

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May 25, 2010
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DanielBrown said:
I only smoke when I'm doing something outside(which is not often in my case). At home I use snuff. For those that doesn't know; snuff is moist tobacco that you put under your upper lip. It comes dry(tiny white bags), normal(tiny dark bags) and natural(huge tobacco balls that make you look silly).
Snuff is as addictive as cigarettes, and then some, but the health risks aren't nearly as bad. Edited: during my fact search to make sure I wasn't wrong I found that snuff actually hasn't been connected to cancer at all. The warning sign also says: "This tobacco product could be dangerous to your health and is addictive". Only drawback would be that your gums gets... acided up. Snuffed on only one side for about three years and there is a very clear difference in my gums between the sides.
Snuff can most definitely cause cancer. Several kinds. Sorry, I don't mean to bum you out.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/smokeless

Anyway, I don't smoke, nor do I begrudge people who do. It's their life, I just don't wanna be around it. Wanted to bring this up, though.
 

Akytalusia

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Nov 11, 2010
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eh, i tried one cig, and spent like a week with cigars over the course of [it's] lifetime. but the effects just seemed like really weak[footnote]we're talking <1% strength here.[/footnote] versions of the stronger smokes i was used to. like cheap knock offs that were 100x more unhealthy. just made me wish the stronger version was legal.
and just for the record, i thought cigs sucked all around, but cigars were actually slightly pleasant and smelled good. the only reason i stopped smoking cigars was because of they felt like wastes of time and money. i didn't feel like i was getting nearly the value for my money as i had been getting from previous exploits.
 

Xan Krieger

Completely insane
Feb 11, 2009
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Same reason I drink, makes me feel better. Also to spite those stupid "Truth" commercials, thankfully I smoke a small local brand so big tobacco won't get me.
 

spartan231490

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Jan 14, 2010
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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.
 

Ken Sapp

Cat Herder
Apr 1, 2010
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shrekfan246 said:
Nothing against people who do smoke, though, so long as they don't act all smug over the people who don't like it.
Nothing against you in particular since I don't know you, but in my experience the anti-smoking zealots act far more condescending and smug than smokers. I have had non-smokers sit at the next table the smoking section of a restaurant and start complaining about me and my friends smoking in the smoking section (tip: if you don't want to be around smokers during your meal, sit in the non-smoking section). I try to be a considerate smoker, always using designated smoking areas when available, not lighting up in public areas where those who don't smoke can't avoid it, and putting my butts in proper receptacles. But anti-smoker proselytizers pop up and try to lecture me about the evils of smoking anytime I light up in public.

To be fair though, I have my beefs with other smokers as well: Inconsiderately throwing their butts on the ground when there is a designated receptacle within feet of them, smoking right outside of entrances/exits because they are too lazy to go to a designated smoking area or at least far enough away from the door to not force their vice on other people, and a few other matters of inconsiderate and poor behavior. These people piss me off because their bad behavior reflects on me and every "good" smoker.

Generally, my habit only affects me and I do my best to keep it that way. I realize that the odor of smoking is not pleasant to most people who don't smoke and that there a decent portion of the population that have health problems which are exacerbated by smoke. I think there needs to be a middle ground where we all can respect each others choices and go on with our lives without stomping on each others toes.