A question to you smokers: why?

[Krynn72]

I'd really like to get my father and stepmom to stop smoking, but... I don't know. I'd feel like an asshole. They want to quit smoking, but they're having a lot of difficulties with it. I don't want to be the obnoxious ****er who's like "LOL Y DONT U JEST QUIT LOLOMG."

Just ask them if theres any way you can help they try and quit. Even if there's nothing you can do to help, they'll see that you want them to stop, and that may motivate them enough.

 

[Absinthe]

A question to you smokers: why?

Because I want to KILL YOU while I KILL MYSELF.

 

[CyberPitz]

I say let them smoke. It's like doing meth or heroin *though not even CLOSE to being as bad*...they know what it's going to do to them, I don't care. As long as they don't start putting out their cigarettes on my arm, I'm fine. *Don't even THINK about it.*

 

[PvtRyan]

I smoke. I'm well aware of the effects it has on my health. I smoke anyway because I enjoy smoking.

Of course you enjoy it, you're addicted to it. When you smoke, it relieves a craving. That still begs the question: why do you smoke in the first place? There's gotta be better, less expensive, destructive, disgusting and more manageable habits to occupy your time with.

I know this will sound smug, but I can't help but think that smoking is a bit of a pathetic sight to behold, to be such a slave to your addiction. I don't get why people want to be the person at the bus stop or train station that quickly smokes a cigarette before the bus/train comes because they can't smoke when they get on it, knowing that they're going to crave for it. Or to be the person that seizes every five minute opportunity during the day to soothe the tarry beast within.

To see someone smoking is to see a big fatty munching on a box of Twinkies.

 

[Iron Kat]

Because I think its ****ing gross and every time I walk out of any building at my school I had to wade through a crowd of smokers that hang around at the door and have to smell and breath in their nasty cancercloud.

This exactly.

 

[Absinthe]

I'd challenge you all to a fight, but the cancerous aura that emanates from my pores would kill you instantly.

So I'll spare you.

 

[Stigmata]

I'd challenge you all to a fight, but the cancerous aura that emanates from my pores would kill you instantly.

So I'll spare you.

Yet it doesn't kill you... maybe smoking makes you immune to cancer!

Until the cancer exponentially outstrips your immunity, that is.

 

[Trevelyan]

I only smoke when I drink alcohol. Normally i'll have a couple of rollies when i do. I never smoke in the day and can go weeks without smoking (when I have a break from alcohol).

I use to smoke weed back in the day and not smoke ciggies which is where i got the desire for nicotine/smoking I think, but I dont see it as a life shortening problem at the mo, probably. I hope to stop soon and think I could do it, but i'd have to give up the drink, which is harder & destructive also. I should advise you do neither sorts of smoking. Dr Octagon says stay in school & dont do drugs!

 

[AJ Rimmer]

This explains my answer.

I just don't understand:

If you know its going to kill you, then why?

Let me re-phrase what I said before;

We are humans. We do bad shit to ourselves and unto others. We corrupt our bodies with tobacco, liqour, high fat food, sugar, no exercise and the likes. It's. What. We. Do.
Answer why, and you will most likely solve a *lot* of the world's problem, most of which are a lot worse than smoking.

 

[joule]

I smoke. I'm well aware of the effects it has on my health. I smoke anyway because I enjoy smoking.

You say that with such confidence and honesty, however, in my opinion, it is a very misleading statement. You don't smoke because you enjoy smoking, rather you smoke because you don't enjoy not smoking. It's a drug effect. Fear of withdrawal or of being unable to cope with life without cigarettes results in a defense mechanism to justify dependency.

I commend my closest relatives and few odd friends who've experienced this deadly addiction, fought to quit and succeeded. It's a mindgame, that's all it is.

 

[RjD]

You say that with such confidence and honesty, however, in my opinion, it is a very misleading statement. You don't smoke because you enjoy smoking, rather you smoke because you don't enjoy not smoking.

That statement may be true for ennui. On the other hand it may be the other way.

But I would like to point out that some ppl (like me) indeed smoke for sheer enjoyment. I specifically smoke rarely in order to avoid addiction kicking in.

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

Ten a day OK

Smokers across the board have a higher intake of total and saturated fat, lower HDL cholesterols, a lower intake of poly and mono unsaturated fat, fruit, vegetables, folate and fibre, and take less exercise (p<0.00001)...

In the British doctors study, women doctors who smoked less than 14 cigarettes per day had no increased risk for heart disease or lung cancer, and in the cornerstone Framingham study people who smoked less than 10 cigarettes per day had no increased risk for heart disease...

Then there are the geographical studies where some 300 million people in Japan and Southern Mediterranean countries have a lower incidence of heart disease, lung cancer and COPD and yet the highest incidence of smoking in the developed world...

Smokers have the most atrocious lifestyles, but otherwise healthy smokers in my opinion live longer than non-smokers. What a terrible mistake the medical establishment has made.

Edit: Who wouldn't be addicted to something so cool and enjoyable?

 

[lame-o]

Tobacco is a plant. People used to smoke it for spiritual reasons, now they smoke it for its relaxing effect.

It does not kill people. People who smoke too much kill themselves. People who don't smoke too much aren't really affected by it at all. Second hand smoking is bullshit. The corporate cigarettes people smoke today aren't pure tobacco, which is a major contributer to the problems associated to smoking. Want people to live healthier lives? Then start from the START and make sure people have lives with a foundation of healthiness to work on. Which most people don't. This is the generation of morbidly obese, pill popping, cancer loving, socially dependent basement dwellers after all. Also, cancer wasn't a problem 50 years ago and yet so many more people smoked. Smoking shouldn't be important, it should be like that exotic cheese people sometimes buy "because it has an interesting taste, and I feel like having some today". Jesus, stop complaining about government influenced BS and start complaining about something real for once...

Also, don't you just loooove those yogurt commercials with *ironically* ENERGETIC people in RUNNING suits on DIETS eating YOGURT that has BOTH NANO-NUCLEAR-BIO-NUTRIENTS and POLY-AMPHETAMINE-CRACK-SATURATES, THREE TIMES more than the competitor! Then the ENERGETIC people sit and talk and LAUGH AND LAUGH AND LAUGH while they eat their stimulation juice injected YOGURT?

 

[Dog--]

I've only read the first page, and I must say something..

Why DO you smoke? No smokers said anything about that yet.. And why not just smoke weed? Atleast it does something positive for you (high), rather then give you some weak-ass shitty dummy-buzz.. Costs way too much, too.. In the long run, anyways..

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

I was 14 and thought it looked cool.

It was.

Now I'm addicted, and, I just enjoy it.

 

[Absinthe]

Well, I like both.

Suckin' on sum fine ass cigarette when yo high can give a wicked rush.

 

[Ennui]

You say that with such confidence and honesty, however, in my opinion, it is a very misleading statement. You don't smoke because you enjoy smoking, rather you smoke because you don't enjoy not smoking. It's a drug effect. Fear of withdrawal or of being unable to cope with life without cigarettes results in a defense mechanism to justify dependency.

Well, I quite liked smoking cigarettes before I smoked often enough to be addicted as well, and the addiction isn't really that much of an issue because I don't really want to quit - and if I had a good enough reason to I could. Whether you believe that or not is not my problem, but you cannot generalize like you did here because it's simply not true. I like cigarettes as a drive fulfillment from addiction, but mostly it's the social aspect and the actual act of smoking that I enjoy.

I've only read the first page, and I must say something..

Why DO you smoke? No smokers said anything about that yet.. And why not just smoke weed? Atleast it does something positive for you (high), rather then give you some weak-ass shitty dummy-buzz.. Costs way too much, too.. In the long run, anyways..

I smoke weed too. You know what's great? A cigarette after smoking weed.

edit: 3 points for absinthe and i responding the same to that

 

[nurizeko]

I hate smoking because its disgusting and is the one self destructive habit that effects me most.

Second hand smoke damages my lungs to, your bad BO soaks into my clothes when only being in close proximity for a short period, the smoke stains are nasty, and hacking up phlegm and spitting and coughing isn't my idea of attractive.

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

Second hand smoke doesn't damage your lungs at all.

 

[joule]

I hate smoking because its disgusting and is the one self destructive habit that effects me most.

Second hand smoke damages my lungs to, your bad BO soaks into my clothes when only being in close proximity for a short period, the smoke stains are nasty, and hacking up phlegm and spitting and coughing isn't my idea of attractive.

Agreed. And it doesn't help when pretty much every smoker I know says: "Don't ever start. It's a terrible habit."

I heed.

 

[Sulkdodds]

If smokers know the dangers and that, then why the **** do they do it?

Because it's enjoyable and we shall all die anyway. One might be justified in feeling that the price is worth it.

Smoking sometimes seems a fairly unpleasant activity, but so is drinking when you get down to brass tacks; I'm no longer bothered particularly by the smell or the coughing or the ash, which is to say that if they are polite enough to respect my personal airspace and not breathe directly into it, I will be polite enough to tolerate their kind of stinky aura unless it really becomes intolerable in which case I'll unapologetically tell 'em so.

I smoke for social reasons. I don't particularly enjoy the drug. Its calming effect is kind of nice, and there is a perverse thrill to doing something which actually feels like it is killing you as you do it, but I can't say it's a huge pleasure for me. However, if someone else is smoking, and they offer me a drag, I'll accept. I think bumming cigarettes off people is a very social activity. It's always nice to have a common thing between groups of people who don't know each other that well, and many are the times I've gotten acquainted with a new person over a shared fag or a joint. This basically means, at most, I smoke one cigarette a week, and so far I have not felt compelled to up my intake.

 

[theotherguy]

Second hand smoke doesn't damage your lungs at all.

LOL, good one.

 

[PvtRyan]

Because it's enjoyable and we shall all die anyway. One might be justified in feeling that the price is worth it.

Smoking sometimes seems a fairly unpleasant activity, but so is drinking when you get down to brass tacks; I'm no longer bothered particularly by the smell or the coughing or the ash, which is to say that if they are polite enough to respect my personal airspace and not breathe directly into it, I will be polite enough to tolerate their kind of stinky aura unless it really becomes intolerable in which case I'll unapologetically tell 'em so.

I smoke for social reasons. I don't particularly enjoy the drug. Its calming effect is kind of nice, and there is a perverse thrill to doing something which actually feels like it is killing you as you do it, but I can't say it's a huge pleasure for me. However, if someone else is smoking, and they offer me a drag, I'll accept. I think bumming cigarettes off people is a very social activity. It's always nice to have a common thing between groups of people who don't know each other that well, and many are the times I've gotten acquainted with a new person over a shared fag or a joint. This basically means, at most, I smoke one cigarette a week, and so far I have not felt compelled to up my intake.

You're not a smoker, you're just a person that Ed Byrne hates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF0Sd-hjTp8

 

[theotherguy]

Ten a day OK




Edit: Who wouldn't be addicted to something so cool and enjoyable?

Bullshit's in the air.

Can you smell it?

Breathe it in. Oh wait, you can't, because of your emphysema. :dozey:

http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=2835

More specifically, EPA concluded that Environmental Tobacco Smoke (secondhand smoke) is a human lung carcinogen, responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in U.S. nonsmokers.

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/Factsheets/health_effects.htm

Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80% of lung cancer deaths in women. The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes, and about 13 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with never smokers.1

 

[Seppo]

i've smoked only few times in my life. not my thing.

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

In a report titled, "Cigarette Taxes to Fund Health Care Reform: An Economic Analysis," the Congressional Research Service (CRS) found that the EPA study made subjective judgements, failed to account for factors that could bias results, and relaxed scientific standards to achieve the desired pre-determined results.

70% of all cancers occur in non-smokers.

 

[Sulkdodds]

You're not a smoker, you're just a person that Ed Byrne hates.

To be fair, I never ask. People offer me cigarettes because I'm so charismatic.

Or because they want to kill me.

 

[taviow]

Or because they want to kill me.

Slowly...

 

[Pesmerga]

Of course a thread like this sparks 5 pages when clearly there is not a whole lot of compromising going around.

 

[Sulkdodds]

You're such a peshimist. Most of the people in this thread are being tolerant and reasonable and in fact it seems the discussion is now turning towards whether or not second hand smoke is dangerous, which is something we should all like to know.

Have a nice calming cigarette.

 

[Pesmerga]

Obviously there isn't enough extremism, then.

CIGARETTES KILL, GOVERNMENTS LEGALIZED CIGARETTES, GOVERNMENTS LEGALIZED KILLING

BAN GOVERNMENTS

 

[Pulse]

This just in; non-smokers get cancer too!

Gentlemen.

 

[theotherguy]

In a report titled, "Cigarette Taxes to Fund Health Care Reform: An Economic Analysis," the Congressional Research Service (CRS) found that the EPA study made subjective judgements, failed to account for factors that could bias results, and relaxed scientific standards to achieve the desired pre-determined results.

70% of all cancers occur in non-smokers.

More bullshit from a biased source.

If 70 percent of all cancers occur in non-smokers, maybe that's because *shock* the majority of people are non-smokers!?!?

I love how they have to rely on a "conspiracy" to explain the innumerable studies linking tobacco use to poor health.

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

From that link:

The Japanese smoke twice as much as Americans and yet have half the number of lung cancers per 100,000 people.

 

[Pesmerga]

Please note that 30% of all people who have cancer is a shit ton.

Cigarette smoking causes 30% of all cancers. Great statistic to back up your defense.

Not that I care- I'm all about personal liberties. Cigarette smoking is simply too slow a killer, especially second hand, to be an issue worth banning completely.

The Japanese smoke twice as much as Americans and yet have half the number of lung cancers per 100,000 people.

This is apparently because the Japanese people eat a barrel full of seaweed everyday. Just saw it on an medimercial once. Like infomercial, except they're selling you... seaweed. Or something.

 

[sinkoman]

Because it's ****ing fun. I love the taste of tobacco, it's quite delicious imo.

Not to mention, Nicotine is ****ing awesome too.

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

Cigarette smoking causes 30% of all cancers.

No, just out of all cancer, 30% happen to be smokers. It would seem it's healthier to smoke.

 

[PvtRyan]

Okay, riddle me this: if smoking doesn't cause cancer, despite it containing many carcinogens, shouldn't that mean that the whole concept of carcinogens is flawed? And if so, where do non-smokers get cancer from then, when carcinogens apparently don't cause cancer?

 

[Seppo]

Because it's ****ing fun. I love the taste of tobacco, it's quite delicious imo.

Not to mention, Nicotine is ****ing awesome too.

that's the nicotine talking!!!

 

[sinkoman]

that's the nicotine talking!!!

If you've never had a cigarette before, then I want you to call up one of your buddies that smokes, bum a cig off of him, take a couple of drags, and tell me that you don't feel awesome afterwards.