So... why start smoking?

[Haydyn]

My situation with smoking is weird. For starters everybody says you shouldn't start smoking, even the ones that do. Twice while waiting for the bus people would be smoking and by time time I got on, I could taste smokey flem in my mouth. Once I got to my stop I had to rush off and spit it out. Based on that, I don't see how anybody could start smoking if it tastes so bad before you get use to it.

One time at a party I was drunk, and I was rolling from molly the only time in my life, so I figured I might as well take a puff. Didn't care for it. For now I'll just stick to weed.

 

[VaudevillianVeteran]

You know, I don't know myself. I won't knock against smokers, it's their lives even if they're shortening. Let them live in peace and do what they want.
However, now my dad smokes almost two 40 packs a day and my mum does 3-5. I asked my parents this question a few weeks ago for the same curiosity reason, they both said something along the lines of stress relief/peer pressure/ because it was cool.

 

[moretimethansense]

I did not mention caffeine because it's not very addictive, and not very dangerous, I do get severe headaches and can't sleep or eat without coffe, but I repreent an extreme.
All your 3 examples are extremely flawed. You got 2 examples representing the dangers of driving. The 2nd example alo said that it doesn't need to be smoking that does it.

Yes, being careless when you drive may cause deaths, that we already knew. Being stressed while you drive may be for some other reason than not having smoked. I've been sitting in the back seat of my dad's car when we were in a hurry to reach a ferry. Ice and rain and 10 minutes to drive a distance that would require at least 15 minutes with the speed limit on a road that was in a state that should make you drive under the speed limit.
Also in my post I said that there were less than 100 dangers of smoking which I consider a high estimate. If you can come up with 101 possible deaths by smoking, that couldn't have have happened without it, then please, entertain me with your wall of text.
I never said once that second hand smoking isn't harmful, not once. Quote the exact place where I said it wasn't.

I also never said smoking wasn't dangerous. I jut said it wasn't dangerous in every possible way, like the guy I originally quoted claimed to think. Smoking i a danger, I wont deny that. Driving is a danger, running is a danger, not wearing a proper helmet while driving a motorcycle is a danger, yeah, here the law states that your eyes should be shielded while riding a motorcycle.

I like to be pedantic >_>
And yes other things can cause traffic accidents I was merely pointing out ways that being a smoker cn make it worse since you seemed to be implying that it didn't.

Again, smoking make it worse, my example was just that, an example, smokers often (though not always) get stressed more easily than non-smokers, I was just pointing out how it can be a problem.
And I'm not going to post 101 way to die by smoking (by the way that sounds like a great name for a book) because I wasn't trying to disprove your claim, it's just that you seemed to be trivializing it.
For example there're only a handfull of ways to be killed by a train that doesn't stop people from thinking they can be dangerous.

You ponted out that alchohol is a more dangerous drug due to drnk driving, this is common arguement made by smokers to defend their habit "But I'm not hurting anyone!", I chose to shoot down that arguement before it was made, perhaps you wouldn't haves used it but I figured "get it out of the way first post".

As for the last bit, do you wear glasess?
If not put on some sunglassess then follow my instructions:
Push them up as far as they'll comfotably go, so they are covering your eyes.
Now try to bring your finger from outside of your field of view and poke your self in the eye without bliknking, don't worry the glasses will stop your finger.
Not so easy is it?
Now get a freind to try to poke your eye through your glassess quickly without blinking, that's even harder isn't it?
Now inmagine that somewone tried to do it without warning, could you keep your self from blinking, or even recoiling in shock?

It doesn't matter wether you're wearing a vior or not, if a small object is going straight for your eyes at high speed you WILL react, especially if you don't expect it.

Now at best they'll blink, a little worse they may jerk their head in suprise throwing off their ballance, worst case they may instinctivly try to shield their eyes with one of their hands.
No matter which it's a hazzard, though admittedly one caused by carelessness rather than smoking directly.

 

[Sjakie]

young, stupid, social pressure and the desire to look cool/grown up.

All the other ansers are bulls*** and are usually from smokers who are in denial.

Nicotine is probably the very worst drug around to become addicted to, because it really gets you nothing in return from your addiction. Alcohol and weed for example at least give you a nice buzz when you use it.

Nicotine doesn't do shit for you.

*lights up*

Nicotine does give you a buzz, maybe not as powerful as marijuana or alcohol, but it does effect you physically and mentally.

I think i know what you mean, but your wrong.
If you're referring to the fact you can get lightheaded from a cigarette, that's just the drop in oxygen in your blood because nicotine replaces it. It's not the nicotine, it is the sudden lack of oxygen.
If you mean that nicotine calms you down... well, you wouldn't even get restless if it wasn't for those mild withdrawl symptoms. So your looking at that backwards.
Nicotine has absolutly no enjoyable effects besides staving of the actual withdrawl symptoms and lets be honest: that just doesn't count because you would not feel restless if you never got addicted.

I wish i never started looking back at it.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

snip

Yeah, and 100% of deaths is related to death. in Japan everybody smokes, all the fucking time, and they don't die from lung cancer or emphysema and they all live to see 80.

Do you know how many integers go into the evaluation of causation of death? Medical assistance, preventative medicine, better tobacco standards (Japanese cigarettes are not only phenomenal, but they also have higher standards in filtration ... all the nicotine, much less of the gunk), diet.

Obesity is a bigger concern than tobacco.

It would be a healthier alternative for chronic eaters to light up a cigarette and replace eating complex for stress relief than it would continuing to simply consume.

And alot of those measurements are fucked up. In Australia there was a look at how one evaluates death by smoking and the doctors admit it when they say "You know, this guy could have smoked twice the number of cigarettes if he didn't also have a weight problem".

Guy dies of a heart attack, "Oh must have been smoking" ... despite the fact that he weighs 400 lbs. Japanese are proof of this ... all Japanese males smoke ... all of them ... in restaurants, on the Shinkansen, in cafes, so on and so forth.

But they all live to see 86. Nowhere near the same levels of lung cancer, or emphysema, or heart attacks. So you can say '20% of all deaths in the US are from tobacco" ... I call bullshit and say "Most of those deaths were largely attributeable to DIET (or other medical concerns that doctors skimp over and say "meh ... lets just say it was the smoking that did him in")".

Edit: See, I won't live past 60 ... genetic heart problems, eventual neurological problems too on my father's side.

But I bet you, despite the fact that I have quit (I like smokers in general, they are real people), that a doctor will look at my report and say "oh .. smoked for 12 years since he was 14, must have something to do with that."

 

[Cheesepower5]

I'll tell you what made a lot of people I know quit; The New Brunswick(Canada) government raising the price to almost 15 bucks a pack. It's working, too.

 

[Kalado]

I guess I started by trying it out of curiosity while drunk.

It's just nice to do something if you're bored, like if I'm waiting for someone to meet it makes the time pass faster.
Then if you're stressed in any kind, it doesn't matter if a cig really chemical relaxes you, the fact that you think you can easily help yourself with your problem by taking a smoke relaxes you at a psychological way.

 

[Woodsey]

I suppose it's a reason to get out of the house and a 'social' thing to do. When else can you walk outside with a certain someone and talk?
Oh wait...

Granted, it's a dumb thing to do. But than again, what hobby isn't? (I see smoking as a hobby.) Just playing games strikes off time you could had used socializing and gained a better life all around.

I like to think that the majority of us game in our natural "down time" anyway, so you're not really losing out - can't be out and about with others 24/7. Smoking just kills you, slowly.

OT: I dunno, people say it relieves stress and stuff, but my understanding is that it raises your stress levels the rest of the time, and then when you smoke it brings you back down to a "normal" level of stress, so its not really helping in any way.

 

[pelopelopelo]

Most of my mates started smoking fags because they smoke weed mixed with tobacco. When you smoke a lot, you nurture a small nicotine addiction and then one day you run out of green but you really really want a smoke.

I myself smoke a lot of pot too, but I've been able to resist tobacco more. Getting high is psychologically linked with easing my nicotine lust, so smoking a roll-up alone doesn't satisfy me, which is a pretty win way of things working out.

Growing up, I never saw the reasoning in smoking fags by themselves. Not enough benefit with too much risk imo. If it doesn't get me high, I can't see the point in smoking it... beyond looking cool.

Which, if I think about, is reason enough sometimes.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

I smoked (cigarettes)for about a week or two in college, and honestly, the only reason was "to see what the big deal was".

I'd never been interested in it, but I was curious as to how other people got so hooked. Still don't know. All they ever made me feel was kind of sick.

 

[molester jester]

Every non smoker on here will tell you people start smoking because they are weak willed and want to look cool, This is mostly bullshit, sure some people do it for those reasons but thats a tiny amount of people. I have stopped smoking but i can tell you why i started, I enjoyed it, i liked the taste, the smell, the feeling of smoke in my lungs, if are not a smoker it is probably a hard thing to understand, but people do enjoy it.

 

[KingofallCosmos]

So long as they were over the age of twelve, they would have known that smoking is addictive.

This is where you are wrong; when twelve you can't oversee things like that yet. Same reason you might climb on that roof, hang behind a car with your skateboard, w/e.

Most people I knew when I started smoking just wanted to try it out. Most of em quit within a year or two. If you're prone to addiction this can be harder. By the time you really realise you're addicted it has already inbedded itself in your daily life.

So, no real reason to begin, except for you just can.

Edit: It's like that rope with the sign don't pull it. you will. If you ever come across a button that says "Global destruction" you will press it, just to see what happens.

 

[Spookimitsu]

Wait. Wait!But what I do not understand is why someone who is not addicted would start in the first place.

I was mildly suicidal when I started, and they weren't expensive then. Plus they go great with the beers at the time

 

[the rye]

I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks so i sometimes smoke to calm myself.

 

[dex-dex]

I smoked for under a year and it was because of the stresses of work and school and internal problems and one night I vented out to a co-worker because she told me to vent because she knew I was so uptight and then offered part of the cigarette. I took it out of rage. and then did it very rarely but then it grew.
It was a stupid thing to do when I was eighteen/nineteen and hated the fact that I started.
also it was hard to keep it from my parents because they would have shot me if they knew.

 

[KiKiweaky]

snip

My parents are still suprised that I took up smoking as I was always the one giving the most abuse to my dad for smoking when I was a child. He quit eventually as it was going to end up killing him, so he ended up quiting cold turkey. Which is no easy thing to do when you've been smoking for 20 years.

I can remember the first time I ever smoked a cigarette though, back in my friends house I was 9 he'd have been 8. His mum went out to the shop and left her cigarettes on the table. My friend ran in took one and a box of matches into the back garden we smoked it between us, I didnt die of coughing or anything like that as it was one of the mild ones. But I do remember that I enjoyed it.... that and the fact that it was something to do.

Where I live we get 3 month long summer holidays and with pretty much sod all to do for kids that age having to sneak around somebodies house looking for cigarettes, lighters and finding a place to go smoke them then waiting around for the smell to go away was just something to pass time.

It started off pretty small maybe one or 2 a week but it never went away it was always there as a way to waste a few hours. Soon as I came home from school I was out the door and not back til about 7.... plenty of time for mischief >

It was just a sideshow when I was a child but as I got older it became a huge time drain. I was pretty much doing it what I would considder 'full time' by the time I was 14. By full time now I mean that I was smoking more than one cigarette a day everyday. The amount of time that me and my friends would spend getting money together and standing around outside shops or sneaking into hotels and pubs to use cigarette machines is just silly. Dunno what I'd do if I was doing the same thing today... you have to go to the bar and get a coupon ahhh D:

The amount I was smoking went up asell, slowly I'll admit but a box could last me weeks before now one box of twenty if I'm lucky will last 3 days.

Hope you enjoyed my little spiel anyway, just giving you what I can remember not one of these 'I dont do it but I can comment, type of people'.

 

[Darkauthor81]

I sister said it was "to relieve stress". I called foul. Smoking causes as much stress as it relieves.
Edit: Apparently, smoking doesn't cause stress.

Bull crap it doesn't! You were right before the edit. Smokers live from one cig to another. Anxiously waiting for that work breaking. Throwing on that winter coat to go stand in 5 degree weather just so they can light up. Freaking out and begging people for a cig if they suddenly find they've run out. Hell, my own parents wont stay at my apartment longer than 30 minutes because I wont let them smoke in here.

YEAH! That sounds so relaxing.

 

[fundayz]

smoking has a lot of benefits and does more than get you addicted to them

No it doesn't. The only benefit is "relaxation" and even that is actually an illusion; taking a drag actually increases your blood pressure. The only reason why smoking is relaxing is because of your body getting a "fix", there's nothing inherently relaxing about cigar(rete) smoke. That's why non-smokers do not experience the relaxing feeling until their body becomes accustomed to nicotine intake.

And yes, it DOES do more than get you addicted. It gives you cancer, kills your tastebuds, drain your wallet, and affects your respiratory and cardiovascular health.

So why do people start smoking? Various reasons:

1. Headbuzz. A new smoker will get a headbuzz when smoking, this slowly wanes as the body becomes accustomed(and on it's way to addicted) to it.
2. Curiosity. Like any drug or restricted activity, people often want to do things they've never tried before.
3. Image. Yes, it's a pretty dumb reason but some people start smoking because of the image it gives them.
4. Peer influence. I'm not talking old fashioned peer-pressure, but it is certainly more enjoyable to do ANYTHING when you've got friends to do it with.
I tried smoking for a while in late high school for the headbuzz. I stopped once i stopped getting it and realized i was starting to get addicted, and the price tag definitely didn't help. Many of my friends are now consistent to heavy smokers.

 

[Dr. Whiggs]

Oh suddenly you have a better way to prepare ham Mr. Self-Righteous?

 

[Omega07]

Well i`ve tried to smoke, but i didn`t feel any particular joy or anything. and it`s weird that all the smokers i know have allways told me to NOT start smoking, but if asked why do they started or why don`t they quit, knowing the effects, they responded saying that:

a) "i was young and stupid" or "I did it because my friends did it"
b) "i don`t really want to", " i just can`t" or "well it hasn`t done ME anything bad"

so i`ve concluded that once you actually start smoking you`ve got yourself a life-long addiction that is really hard to shake off.