So... why start smoking?

[FightThePower]

I started because I find it really relaxing. I stopped because I figured there was a healthier and cheaper way to relax, although maybe not as effective.

 

[dslatch]

I currently smoke when ever i get stressed or just hanging out. A good smoke can give you hell of a head rush, kinda like being high for 10 minutes tops. It's a good stress remover, today had the OSSLT (Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test(big ass literacy test today)failing would mean no grade 12 diploma so before I had one cigarette to release some nervousness then one during the 15 minute break then one after it was all done. I was probably the most nervous one there but the least stressed and worried that I would fail. Today was special, I usually only have two or three a week.

During WWII soldiers were givin smokes to calm their nerves and keep them awake.

 

[MrA]

I used to think I'd never smoke but as I got into my late teens around friends who do it, It sort of just happened. I'm by no means addicted, I have a close friend who is addicted and i've seen how it negatively affects him (every ten minutes he's with me we have to go outside and I let him have a fag, constantly out of money, etc) So i've never gotten to the stage where I'm addicted, don't go outside to have them by myself, have maybe 1 or two a week, more (a LOT more) if i'm at a big party. It's all about the social act of smoking. Plus, it really does calm you down, it's really effective and helps me deal with stress.

 

[Verkula]

I started because...well, no idea really, i guess it has to do something with the parties we had back then.
Still, didnt got hooked on it at first, it was a really slow process, but after a year... yeah i called myself a smoker.

I wouldnt stay its relaxing, or relieves stress, only smokers think that, but thats because their body is already addicted to the stuff and needs the dose.

 

[Sejs Cube]

I've since quit, but speaking personally looking back to when I started smoking in high school there were two main reasons why I picked up the habit.
(A) It was an image thing. It seemed cool and mature and rebellious. This ties in to the standard "I was young and stupid" bit; I was young and I was stupid and so I thought shit like that mattered.
(B) My father was a smoker, and as such I was somewhat accustomed to tobacco smoke, cigarettes were more accessible (which is to say I stole them out of the cartons my dad would get), and it served to reinforce point A. Rational thought, cost versus benefit analysis, shit like that - none of that factored into the decision to take up smoking.

 

[whycantibelinus]

Because people are stupid. People do stupid stuff. They drink, they smoke, they do cocaine, they attack people for being gay/black/weak/smart/dumb/anything.

Some people just want to feel good, and are willing to ruin their lives to do it. Some are just weak willed followers.

Careful up there on that pedestal, most don't have very stable bases and tend to fall over quite often.

I'd say more rebellion and curiosity on my part. I'd been told it was terrible all my life and was wondering why people would do it then, also I was a punk in my youth so it went hand in hand with the counter culture being anti everything sort of sentiment. The first time I did it I thought it was awesome, it gave me a nice nicotine buzz and was completely relaxing, I never had the "got me sick the fist time" experience, that's why I continued to smoke. I have smoked for a good 13 years and I can say it is possible to smoke in moderation, I do so now, it takes me about a week and a half to get through a pack, that's like 2 cigs a day. Its not that I have always been that way either at my heaviest I was going through 2 packs a day, but for whatever reason just naturally cut down on the amount that I was smoking, not because it was good for me or anything it just happened that way.

 

[dslatch]

To those saying it only relaxes those who are addicted. I'm not addicted and it calms me right the hell down, its not all some "illusion" of comfort.

 

[rokkolpo]

It's extremely relaxing when done in moderation.

I don't smoke very often (maybe a pack a month at most because I know it's terrible for me), but nothing is better before a big exam than a cigarette. It helps you relax while keeping you focused.

Would this be because of the nicotine or because you are breathing correctly?
(I'm amusing you smoke over the lungs)
Just breathing over the lungs can be relaxing on it's own.

 

[thecoreyhlltt]

i tried my first cig when i was 13, for classic peer pressure reasons. and yeah like said at the beginning, the majority of people who try their first know the risks, i knew them but was curious and felt smoking would improve my status. i kept smoking for a lil bit, purely because i felt a sort of rush/ dizziness (and still do), so after a few weeks i quit. and i didn't start again for four years, until i was 17.

my reasons for starting up again was for the rush and to eleviate the vast amounts of stress and "set-backs" as it were. i know there isn't any real medical proof that smoking will help with stress and that it's probablly just chemicals being released making me think they're helping. but honestly, cigs are a lot cheaper than the meds i would need to take to get the same results, only other difference is that cigs kill the lungs and pills kill the liver. it's a lose lose situation... well for me at least.

hope that helped to slate your thirst for knoweledge, although page 11 is a long way and a lot of comments.

 

[thecoreyhlltt]

It's extremely relaxing when done in moderation.

I don't smoke very often (maybe a pack a month at most because I know it's terrible for me), but nothing is better before a big exam than a cigarette. It helps you relax while keeping you focused.

Would this be because of the nicotine or because you are breathing correctly?
(I'm amusing you smoke over the lungs)
Just breathing over the lungs can be relaxing on it's own.

what do you mean by smoking or breathing over the lungs? is that some sort of meditation? TELL ME!! I MUST KNOW!!! NNOOOWWW!!!!

or whenever you get a chance to would be fine. :B

 

[Chaosborn Titan]

As a side note people might find interesting do a google search of Dependence versus Harm. Nicotine is infact astoundingly addictive, something doesn't need to inflict physical pain to be addictive.

 

[Direwolf750]

Despite what people say, it is still killing you rather quickly and makes you smell like a chemical spill on fire.

When I stopped smoking my sense of smell came back tenfold, I nearly threw up every day going to work and smelling the car exhaust, dirty streets, and rubbish bags. Oh and everything smelled like wet dog. Smokers become naturally resistant to the smell of nicotine and smoke so the only people complaining about it are the non smokers, who aren't the target audience anyway.

And no, it's is not killing you "rather quickly", I said it before and I'll say it again seeing as no one wants to actually read/quote it. My Grandpa smoked for 72 years, SEVENTY TWO YEARS. And a friend's father, who never smoked, died with colon cancer at 46 because it's genetic. Your "guaranteed death warrant" is nothing but an over hyped and over sensualised fad, a trend, it's the new big thing for people not to smoke. It's a hipster movement same as it was a hipster movement 50 years ago to *start* smoking. Probably in 50 years time once they've (hopefully) got cancer treatable you'll see a huge resurging in smokers because, as was mentioned here, it just feels damn good.

The only people who say all the big stuff about anti smoking are the same people who've never tried a smoke in their lives (or if they did, smoked it like an oyxgen pipe and choked themselves silly and dismissed the notion entirely). More people are killing themselves daily with their knife and fork but they're apparently ok.

Smokers, the last of the free targets for ridicule and prejudice.

You can chug bleach if you want and still probably live a long life if you are lucky, and I don't know about your grandfather, but mine died at 44 from lung cancer from smoking. Thank you oh so very much for pointing out that outlier can skew the results, and reminding me.

Personally, I don't care how any smoker feels about being ridiculed. If you decided to pump a cocktail of poisonous drugs into your system, you hvae no right to be annoyed when people call you out on it.

Oh, and just because the people who smoke don't mind the smell, doesn't mean the people down wind don't mind it either. In fact there are plenty of laws on the matter that never seem to get enforced.

And one last thing. If "because it feels damn good" is a viable reason to go around doing stupid shit, then there is no reason to not jump of a bridge because the wind feels damn good.

 

[Direwolf750]

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.

but playing video games can enrich your vocabulary, make you new friends, show you new ways to think about things, and increase you problem solving capabilities. The military found that playing call of duty helps you distinguish between different shades of gray...such as camouflage...

Buuuuut it still has its flaws... You know... Gaming, in enough dozes. In this scenario, games will improve your skills (It's actually not much, but it helps.) though not your social ones. Just how many of your online friends do you talk to daily? Or even communicate to at all?
Not to mention the physical conditions worsening if mis-used.

I'd say, smoking is pro-social, as it allows you and other fellow smokers to get together and do what you like to do, while just talking about anything. It's like chatting at the dinner table, except everyone is not continuously quaffing food and anyone can join in. Happy times

And you make a toxic cloud that chokes anyone else downwind or around you...especially people with asthma. And yes, gaming can cause physical problems if misused. If misused being the key words. Smoking damages your body in a definite way no matter how you smoke them. There are little to no lasting health benefits to smoking. You do not gain any skills by smoking. You throw a lot of money into getting more and more submerged in a pool of nicotine and chemicals.

 

[Saelune]

Because people are stupid. People do stupid stuff. They drink, they smoke, they do cocaine, they attack people for being gay/black/weak/smart/dumb/anything.

Some people just want to feel good, and are willing to ruin their lives to do it. Some are just weak willed followers.

It is beyond preposterous to equal people who smoke and drink with those that do hard drugs and commit hate crimes.

It is also preposterous to assume that 1. smoking and drinking ruin lives (while excess in both can decline your health, your argument assumes insanely heavy consumption of either, which would be neccesary to qualify for "ruining your life") 2. that people who choose to drink or smoke are weak-willed.

I smoke because i enjoy it. I drink because i enjoy it. It is my choice and my body. If i want to do it in excess? Not your problem, sonny.

It will be my problem if you hit me with your car while driving drunk. it is my problem when you smoke near me. Maybe I am too severe, but it is selfish of you to think it is never someone else's problem when YOU make poor choices. A drop in a puddle makes waves. If you are a loner who wants to kill yourself with alchohol and smoking in your own house, fine. But thats not always the case. Sometimes drunk people get in cars, sometimes smokers are pregnant or around others, sometimes people get drunk and doo bad things. I am told by 3 people for my view I am narrow minded (essentially anyways) but its so narrow to not consider the greater reprocussions besides your own livers and lungs.

 

[ThisIsSnake]

They do it because of peer pressure.

It makes you stink
Stains teeth and nails
Alters your tolerance to stress to the point where the only time you don't feel stressed is when you light up
Causes ED, Emphysema, Lung Cancer, Throat Cancer, Heart Disease etc
Grinding withdrawel symptoms

The only thing is has going for it is a costly stress relief and weight loss.

This only applies to tobacco of course.

Maybe if you do smoke a pack a day. However, if you're someone like me who can do it occasionally for a normal stress reliever, none of this will happen to you. It's all bullshit they tell you as kids to scare you off. If you know someone who smokes a couple packs a day though, lecture them away. Just don't tell that to someone like me.

Lastly, your post makes it seem like "stress" isn't a big thing in someone's life. If you find that to be true, I find joy in laughing in your face, sir.

I don't think stress isn't a big thing, just that there are a lot of ways to deal with it. True, some of the symptoms might never happen to you it you only smoke occasionally the same way you probably won't get liver cancer and a beer belly from drinking an occasional glass of wine.

 

[bpm195]

Smoking is a lot like playing an MMO. It's a hobby, and as with any hobby some people over indulge. Most people who do it don't have it written on their forehead and unless you catch them in the act you probably wouldn't know they do it unless it comes up in conversation. They gain the social boon of a fairly social hobby with its own culture that's pretty much inaccessible to outsiders. They also have to deal with outsiders that constantly tell them to stop.

If I choose to smoke, it's my choice. If you don't want to smell me or whatever I'm choosing to smoke, go away. It's a rarity that you're actually forced to sit next to somebody that's having a smoke and if a person walks around smelling terrible that's really more of a hygiene problem.

To get back on topic, if you're curious as to why some people smoke, try it. Personally, I'd recommend smoking a pipe over anything else; cigars are extremely unpleasant if you screw up, and though cigarettes punish mistakes less they have the steepest learning curve. If you fear addiction, just remember that most people that are "trying to quit" are doing it wrong (anybody who buys a pack of cigarettes and is "trying to quit" is simply doing it wrong).

 

[KaiusCormere]

I smoked for the first time when I was in middle school, because I wanted to do things that were against the rules. I also did a lot of other things - sneaking around at night, shoplifting, driving my car over 100 mph down the freeway, blowing stuff up, etc. Typical wild kid stuff - a phase reactionary to a repressive parental environment. So yes, I knew it was bad for me. I wasn't going to live without trying everything I could try though.

Anyway, I smoked from 1997 or so till 2001. I smoked usually a pack in 2 days. Maybe a whole pack in a wild party night. Anyway I decided about then that if I was to continue what I was doing, I would never get anywhere, so I signed up for the Air Force. I quit cold-turkey a few weeks before heading to basic training, and I didn't start again. I smoked once in a great while after that, maybe one or two cigarettes every 3-4 months. In the last 10 years combined, I've probably smoked less than 4 packs.

During those rare circumstances, I usually feel like I want a smoke when I'm drinking with friends who are smoking, but when I do smoke that one cigarette it makes me feel dizzy and sick.

 

[SleepyChan]

Since I only recently started smoking, I'll try to give you an answer.

My mom died last June. It was brain cancer, it was at home, and I was her caretaker (I was 21, BTW). My family has since crumbled, my life is horribly pathetic, and I was teetering on the edge of a massive bout of depression. So, one day I decided that I wasn't going to make up excuses for not doing the things I may have wanted to do in the past. I've lived my life as a bit of a goody-goody, you see. So I told my best friend over dinner that I wanted to smoke. Simply put, I wanted to give my life a jump-start. So she bought me my first pack (American Spirits, orange case) and lighter. Then we smoked down on the waterfront under the full moon. It was the most liberating moment of my life.

At this point, many people might point out that this is a stupid reason to start smoking. They'd bring up cancer, stigmas, and the other downsides to such a habit. But really, they'd be missing my point. I'm not smoking to fit in. I'm not smoking to escape from my problems. I'm not even smoking because I particularly like it.

I smoke now because I am free to do so. I smoke because for each small puff of smoke that enters my lungs, I'm taking a new and different look at my life and the way I've lived it. With each cigarette, I stop and enjoy life. I listen to the world around me and appreciate the small things. I live. And yes, some small, dark part of me feels that each smoke may someday lead my back to my beloved mother, whom I miss dearly. It's delusional, but there you go.

Sorry if this seems too poetical or full of bullshit. I am what I am, and I enjoy the occasional smoke. I hope this answers your question?

 

[tzimize]

Wait. Wait! I'm not trying to hang shit on smokers here. I ask purely out of curiosity.

So... I understand why people continue to smoke once they have started. Granted, my understanding is only theoretical since I have never personally touched a cigarette, but I understand the basic mechanics of chemical addiction.

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

I've asked several real life acquaintances, but they all just shrugged it off or said something like, "I was young and stupid." But those don't strike me as satisfactory answers.

See, if a person started smoking any time in the last 20 years they likely would have known exactly what they were getting into. So long as they were over the age of twelve, they would have known that smoking is addictive. They would have known that cigarettes are expensive. They would have known that they are harmful.

Furthermore, people I know who smoke tell me that the first time they did it, it made them feel sick. Some of them said that they threw up afterwards. Now I would have thought that would be a pretty clear sign that something isn't doing you any good. If I ate some food that made me feel ill I sure as hell wouldn't go back for seconds.

And yet, people still take up smoking.

Why?

Rebellion

Doing something illegal, depends on age ofc

being cool, even though today the only thing I think when I see smokers is "idiot"

and lets not forget the most important thing: stupidity

Never underestimate humanitys capacity for mind-bogggling stupidity.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Liked the initial rush, then got it into my head that smoking was what you did when you were stressed. Was often stressed, now addicted. Disgustingly predictable.