Why did/would you start smoking?

[Jodah]

I've smoked a couple times. If I'm out with the guys drinking and one of them has a cigar I might bum a puff or two but thats about it. Never had a want or need to start doing it at any other time. I figure if I can make it through my mother's passing and the family feud that caused it without smoking, I can make it through anything.

 

[Kris015]

I will start smoking pipe as an old man.. Mostly because it's awesome and smells a lot better than regulars cigz and cigars.

 

[zombiesinc]

I started smoking a few years ago, shortly after starting a job in a kitchen. It was a combination of curiosity and the want to find a way to deal with the stress. I was a light smoker for a few years, and just a year ago quit, cold turkey. After quitting and hanging out with my friends who still smoked I realized just how horrible it smelled. I had been contemplating quitting for a few months prior, so when I was finally ready to quit, I simply did. I didn't struggle with the cravings (in fact, I don't remember any) and haven't had a single puff since. So, yay, right?

 

[Shade184]

I smoke under two circumstances.

1) I'm stressed as fuck.
2) It feels like a poignant thing to do.
(The latter option rarely happens, mostly it's when a mate and I are hanging out and we feels it's fitting for the situation. Usually after a serious bro talk or something.)

Either way, there's a third prerequisite: Someone needs to give me a cigarette. I never buy them for myself.

All this sharply limits the frequency with which I smoke, usually it's like once every three months, which I'm okay with for now.

 

[Canid117]

I smoke cigars every few months. Why? Got it from my father. There are worse smoking habits to emulate out there.

 

[Quaxar]

Would never start smoking. Apart from having sinus problems whenever I am near smoke at all, it is a disgusting habit and I secretly judge every single person I see do it. There is no real reason for cigarettes anymore. Stress, yay, cool, you have harm yourself to cope with it, why not just do it fast and drive a car off the cliff?

NOTE: I will never tell anyone that they shouldn't smoke, it is your life and you can do whatever you please with it. Just know that I will think much less of you as a person, effectively crippling whatever friendship we could have had.

I don't want to scare you but I think I love you "this!".
Exactly this.
So exactly it's actually pretty scary... but I really dislike smoking.

 

[Gxas]

I think I love you

Spoiler

Marry me?

 

[ham and red bull]

I think I love you

Spoiler

Marry me?

This is getting romantic! Time to fire up.

 

[tj236]

I started when I was 16 because my girlfriend at the time smoked. Everyone I worked with smoked, too.

I just quit 3 weeks ago, after 10 years of it, and honestly, I can't really think of a good enough reason now to start again.

 

[Mistermixmaster]

I don't smoke, and I don't really plan to. Too many bad sides opposing the good sides of smoking (yes, I did a Pro/Con-list for smoking once).

Though, if I were going to smoke it'd be because it looks cool and all bad-ass characters in videogames and anime do it! [/bad joke]

Seriously though, don't feel like I'm judging you or anything if you do smoke, it's your life and you're free to do with it as you please. All I'm saying is that smoking is not for me.

 

[The_Emperor]

I started smoking because we mixed weed with tobacco in our doobies in england, because it wwas mostly hash and it was the only way, except a pipe.

I quit because it was annoying having to smoke all the time or feeling bad, I also started to associate tobacco cravings with wanting a joint so I always wanted a joint. Which is bad obv.

 

[Russian_Assassin]

Would never start smoking. Apart from having sinus problems whenever I am near smoke at all, it is a disgusting habit and I secretly judge every single person I see do it. There is no real reason for cigarettes anymore. Stress, yay, cool, you have harm yourself to cope with it, why not just do it fast and drive a car off the cliff?

NOTE: I will never tell anyone that they shouldn't smoke, it is your life and you can do whatever you please with it. Just know that I will think much less of you as a person, effectively crippling whatever friendship we could have had.

Don't you think it is a bit strict to hate people for their weakness? As for the car example, just because I smoke doesn't mean I want to die. I want to quit, I just feel it's impossible to do so at the moment.

Yes, I smoke out of weakness. When a major event shook my life I felt extremely depressed. I took up smoking because I thought I could make the pain go away. Time healed me, but the habit stuck with me. I tried quitting but I found myself flying into fits of rage and yelled at people close to me (might have something to do with my self diagnosed mental instability).

Now pot is a completely different story!

 

[Soods]

I don't smoke, because it's expensive and unhealthy.

 

[WrongSprite]

I started smoking when I was 18, simply because it was legal to do so and I enjoy practicing my freedoms. I don't smoke regularly but I do still smoke. I smoke at random times. Sometimes I'll smoke two cigarettes in one day but usually I go weeks even months in between cigarettes. There is no craving for me so I guess I'm missing out because I don't understand people that are addicted. The only problem with it is from other people bugging me about my choice to do so. I'm not your dad, uncle, other family member or friend so don't lecture me about my problem.

More or less this, though I only really tend to smoke when I'm drunk, it's just enjoyable.
I can happily go for weeks without though, so I guess I just don't have an addictive personality.

 

[Quaxar]

I think I love you

Spoiler

Marry me?

Oh you DeBeers whore...

Hold on, let me just get that ring checked by a jeweller.

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

Shits and giggles.

I figured, hey, I'm young, I'm angry, I'm self-destructive. I should get hooked on the cancer sticks.
So I did. It was pretty cool.

 

[Comrade Mateo]

I think I love you

Spoiler

Marry me?

Gxas! You two-timing mustard! [Slaps]

OT: I don't smoke currently. A lot of people have told me it helps with stress, but I've never really needed anything to help with that.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

I would and have smoked. I love the taste of a cigarette and the smell of the smoke although I don't like it on people. If I had ready access to cigarettes then I'd smoke them occasionally, as a luxury, like you would a cigar, which I have also smoked.

I don't though, mainly because I'm 16 and you can't buy cigarettes in the UK unless you're 18.

 

[BENZOOKA]

I would start if I was completely through with living, because then my asthma would worsen, and I would feel like killing myself more.

Basically, I'm not starting.

You know, back in the day, they used to prescribe smoking for asthmatics.

 

[Gxas]

Would never start smoking. Apart from having sinus problems whenever I am near smoke at all, it is a disgusting habit and I secretly judge every single person I see do it. There is no real reason for cigarettes anymore. Stress, yay, cool, you have harm yourself to cope with it, why not just do it fast and drive a car off the cliff?

NOTE: I will never tell anyone that they shouldn't smoke, it is your life and you can do whatever you please with it. Just know that I will think much less of you as a person, effectively crippling whatever friendship we could have had.

Don't you think it is a bit strict to hate people for their weakness? As for the car example, just because I smoke doesn't mean I want to die. I want to quit, I just feel it's impossible to do so at the moment.

Yes, I smoke out of weakness. When a major event shook my life I felt extremely depressed. I took up smoking because I thought I could make the pain go away. Time healed me, but the habit stuck with me. I tried quitting but I found myself flying into fits of rage and yelled at people close to me (might have something to do with my self diagnosed mental instability).

Now pot is a completely different story!

You're damn right its strict. But, you know, for as long as I've been alive it has been drilled into my head that smoking is bad, you can't just turn around and change that concept in someone. Weaknesses don't make me pity anyone. Hell, most of the people I respect are those who have overcome some weakness to do something great. Most of my friends have started smoking because they were bored and "everyone else was doing it". These are twenty year olds. Peer pressure is one of the weakest reasons to do anything at all at this age, we're fucking adults now. However, they still picked up the habit. Am I not allowed to hate them for it? Why shouldn't I? I'm certainly not going to accept them for being the biggest group of hypocrites I have ever seen.

Sure, you seem to have had a decent enough reason to start. I don't hate you for picking it up, I hate the fact that you can't quit. You waste so much money on these things and you just can't let them go. Fits of rage are common when trying to quit. Stress is a huge part of it as you're losing the one thing that could calm you anymore. But, if you seriously are afraid that the people close to you are going to leave you for trying to quit such a terrible habit, then they probably weren't worth keeping around anyway. Those bouts of rage go away fairly quickly. Just let people know that you're trying to quit and may be testy, things will work out.

You can only quit if you really want to do it. One of my biggest problems is that most people just don't want to give up their little crutch.