How old were you when you had your first cigarette?

[johnnyLupine]

I was sixteen, I tried one while my friends and I waited for one of our exams, I remember feeling it was an abhorrant thing to do and will admit I was a little judgemental of the few friends I had who used to openly smoke(mind you they were underage at the time and it never stopped me hiding their stuff when they asked).

I had been wondering for a while about exactly why I held such a poor opinion on the habbit and realised that it was never my opinion to begin with, I had most of the facts of course (althought what your teachers won't tell you is that there are some health benifits to smoking roll ups as opposed to the packaged ones) but when you are bombarded with a single side of an arguement you can't really claim the conclusion you come up with is your own, at any rate I asked a friend if they would let me try one and I decided that smoking wasn't for me.

 

[Sporky111]

14. Sneaked one when no one was home. Smoked on and off when i got older, but don't smoke at all anymore.

Wow, people start young. I guess I was lucky. I tried once, when I was 17. First time I drank, too. Was at my friend's grad party and everyone was like "let's corrupt the nerdy kid". So people were all asking "are you drunk yet?", and then there was the one "Here, smoke this cigarette."

So I did. Coughed a bit. Wasn't so appealing, that was the only smoke I've ever had. Didn't want to get hooked, didn't see the appeal anyway.

What of the alcohol, if you don't mind me asking?

I had one of these. Vodka coolers.

 

[Lieju]

Never.

I never wanted to. Just the smell makes me nauseous.
I'm fine with people smoking, but it's rude to spread the smell near people who don't smoke and who are in their home or on a public place. (The same goes for people who don't bathe or use too much perfume)

The apartment I used to live would get the smell when one of our neighbours smoked on his balcony. Not fun.

 

[New Frontiersman]

I've never smoked before, I never really saw the appeal. I don't think I'll ever start, I don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, I try to avoid smoking people when I can, plus there's the health issues.

 

[loc978]

Age 17- someone offered me one, and I ate it.

Age 21- someone offered me a lit one. I took a drag, blew it out my nose and handed it back.

Now at 31, I've never smoked a whole cigarette. It really is the worst tobacco you can get. I prefer a pipe.

As for what appeal nicotine has... think of caffeine, then tone it down. It's a mild stimulant that doesn't ramp up your heart rate. Useful for staying awake and clear-headed. It probably saved my life, actually.

 

[katsabas]

Huh. I wasn't planning to comment and I haven't smoked either but the amount of smug in this thread is overflowing in every sense of the word. Why the hell would non-smokers even comment to a topic named 'when was your first cigarette' ?

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

my answer is
not applicable(N/A)
even if you were to ignore the negative health affects, and the horrble smell; it is not a cheep habit
i would rather spend my money on video games, on necessities instead, or just save it.

i looked up the price of a pack in my state and i was about $8.30. i could get an indie game for that money

 

[chadachada123]

Right after my 16th birthday, and literally minutes after losing my virginity to my high school girlfriend.

She had started smoking during a break in our relationship, and I figured, "eh, why the hell not?"

That was one of my last cigarettes, too. I really only smoke when I drink, which is not very often.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

I never smoked, though I was in a household full of smokers with my dad and older brother always kicking back on the deck after dinner. The smell alone was enough to get me to make my decision to never put one of those things in my mouth. I didn't even need my mother to tell me she would disown me if I ever got addicted like they did.

My brother has since stopped, only have 5 years of smoking under his belt. My dad, however, has never and will never stop smoking. He's been smoking all his life, and I've been preparing since an early age for the inevitable moment of when the worst happens.

 

[chadachada123]

People who haven't smoked, shouldn't smugly proclaim they haven't smoked. Cool story, bro. Us smokers keep social welfare affordable and other taxes low. Yes, it's expensive to keep a smoker alive until he dies. It's even more expensive to keep all healthy people alive until they die.

Smoking-related illnesses cost the NHS £5 billion per year. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8086142.stm

Errr...the NHS makes far MORE than 5 billion pounds in tobacco taxing, making smokers a BENEFIT to your healthcare.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3292979.stm

And that's in ADDITION to the fact that smokers cost less overall compared to healthy people because healthy people end up living far longer and costing more in the long run.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/05iht-obese.1.9748884.html

 

[WhyBotherToTry]

I was 16. I didn't think too much of it though. Since then I've only smoked when drunk.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

Haven't smoked one as of yet, I already have a big fat cuban cigar on occasion, and I drink hard liquor, I have my vices, but the way I manage them keeps me from addiction, and keeps me from spending what little food money I have on tobacco, if I had decent employment, and enough money to excuse the cost of a used car every year, maybe I'd start smoking... but as it is, the shit costs $10/pack or more depending on where you buy em where I live, and even buyin tobacco and papers and rollin your own is goddamn costly here, so yeah, if I smoke, I don't eat, and that has kept me away from it, I don't care if it kills people, I don't care about any of that crap, everything kills people.

To be completely honest, life is the leading cause of death on this planet, if you don't live, you can't die.
Though even that is based on an individual's understanding of the word live, some people just exist, they don't live, they just are, they never do anything, other than rot, and then they die, so maybe it's better to say that just existing is enough to kill you.

 

[Vkmies]

10-11. I was okay with it then, I am still ok with it. I don't actively smoke, but I will have the occasional cigarette with a friend or while taking a walk.

 

[DeadFOAM]

I don't touch cigarettes. I do enjoy some shisha every now and again though. First had that when I was 18 and going through a hard time. Friend took me out to the local hookah bar for a smoke.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

16. Like, literally a couple of months ago. I was at a party with my friends, and we hadn?t started drinking yet because it wasn?t late enough, so I was pretty bored (especially because I find it difficult to pluck up the courage to actually talk to people I?m not particularly close with when I?m sober). My friend offered me a cigarette, so I just thought, ?Fuck it, might as well, at least just the once?. I knew about all the dangers, but I just didn?t care because 1) I?m a stupid teenager, and 2) I pretty much hate my life anyway and like to think that I couldn?t care less if I died. Besides, everyone?s got self-destructive habits (e.g. drinking, over-indulgence in unhealthy foods), so I applied the ?don?t knock it ?til you try it? mantra. Talking of which, that was also the first time I?d ever drunk alcohol. Well, proper alcohol, I mean. I think I tried some gin when I was 10 or so from this Goth-type girl on a coach on a school trip.

The cigarette tasted like fucking shit. I tried it again at a later party, and I started hacking up because of what felt like burning ash in my throat. My friend told me that it gets better when you get used to it, mentioning something about a ?wall?, but I?m not torturing myself smoke after smoke just so I perhaps eventually break this so-called ?wall? for a brief burst of belief that may or may not damage my health in the future. I mean, I know I already said that I like to think that I couldn?t care less if I died (although I honestly don?t think I?d mind if I?d popped my clogs by 50; life?s already pretty boring and empty at the moment), but I just don?t think it?s worth the trouble when I can easily chug back a vodka and have fun that way.

 

[AngloDoom]

People who haven't smoked, shouldn't smugly proclaim they haven't smoked. Cool story, bro. Us smokers keep social welfare affordable and other taxes low. Yes, it's expensive to keep a smoker alive until he dies. It's even more expensive to keep all healthy people alive until they die.

Smoking-related illnesses cost the NHS £5 billion per year. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8086142.stm

Errr...the NHS makes far MORE than 5 billion pounds in tobacco taxing, making smokers a BENEFIT to your healthcare.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3292979.stm

And that's in ADDITION to the fact that smokers cost less overall compared to healthy people because healthy people end up living far longer and costing more in the long run.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/05iht-obese.1.9748884.html

I am genuinely shocked by those figures (assuming they're true of course) and I feel like I've learned something today.

Here are some biscuits for being informative and backing it up with evidence:

Spoiler: ADORE THEIR JAMMY CENTRES

 

[Signa]

I never have because it's bad for you and stuff.

And it's an expensive habit, one which I don't want to try to afford.

I think I just watched 5 loops of your avatar trying to figure out why it looked like she was fake-smoking a cigarette.

OT: I was older than 29, I can tell you that much. Probably around 70?

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Never.

I don't understand what drives people to take up smoking. I get that you might want to try one, after all what curious child/teenager doesn't try just about everything regardless of whether it's a good idea or not? But surely you can't get addicted through just one cigarette? Perhaps it's a difficult concept for me to grasp, being a non-smoker myself, but isn't the decision to take up smoking a conscious one? A choice that must require a certain amount of thought? So when does the health issues and constant money drain ever seem like a good idea to someone?

Someone help me out here.