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Why do people start smoking?

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I got two of my girlfriends through chatting to them during smoke breaks. It's a little socializing during the day in a relaxed atmosphere.
 

Fritz

Member
It's funny. I have never really doubted that I would be smoking growing up. My parents smoke rarely, probably 4 cigarettes a year. They never smoked while I was a child or at least not in front of me. My father does smoke a pipe regularly though. My siblings did smoke regularly but stopped as they have little children on their own now. Well, my siblings are way older than me so I saw them and their cool friends smoking while growing up so maybe that triggered the idea. I started at 13. Basically I gathered some friends, bought cigs (We had cigarette maschines back then) and tried it out. I started smoking pot around the same time. Then soon the first parties came along and smoking, drinking and doing drugs certainly pushed you on a whole new social level. My parents found out soonish. It was frowned upon but not really restricted . Alcohol was fine. But they asked me to stop doing marijuana. Its funny these days I almost never do drugs and I really enjoy smoking cigarettes occasionally. If I have a problem, I'ld say it's with alcohol. Its not like I drink during the week or at unadequate times, but when I drink, which is almost every weekend I get hammered. I'm really mellow and more so when Im drunk so I never get into trouble, but hell it doesnt feel good when you wake up in an unfamiliar appartment next to a girl you have never seen before. The day I wake up next to a guy Im going into rehab. Or the day it's starting to affect work.

Anyway, I reckon the coolness factor is the major attraction. Mind you, I still think it is actually cool. I dont buy into that "smoking is for losers" shit. The peer pressure isnt really there or at least wasnt for me. Maybe I did put some pressure on others, I dont know. Afterall, my approach to smoking, as to anything for that matter,is that any kind of excess is bad. Excessive smoking would be smoking on a regular basis, even if its once a week.
 
BowieZ said:
People start smoking because of stress?
It's part peer pressure and stress. It begins with peer pressure because their friends states that smoking calms down stress and smoking is used as a tool when one becomes addicted and rely on it for stressful moments. My father, brother, friend, and a whole bunch of my cousins succumbed to this scenario. One of my cousin started smoking right after he got into a car accident.
 

KHarvey16

Member
lsslave said:
You have NO idea if you are a non smoker how it helps cope with stress. It is more effective than the other way people deal with stress: eating.

It also is less fattening.

It has negative health effects, it has positive health effects. Both are exaggerated, although the positive doesn't get much limelight so the exaggerations are much smaller (IE it can't CURE Alzheimer's but it is proven to be a good way to prevent it.

Really? Exaggerated?

Also it just seems to relieve stress because you are satisfying your nicotine dependence.
 

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
I'll preface the post by saying I have drank (drunk? whichever) before, and I don't feel like quoting every post that quoted mine... but...

So what I'm getting from this thread is that Drinking = Fun.

I can have fun without drinking though... so...It's not that fun, to me. Then again, I don't like people... so yeah. And then there's a possibility of danger...although I guess that depends on the precautions you take before drinking, I *guess*. It's just that I don't see the benefit of it.

thetrin said:
What are you, 12 years old?

What incites this question? :\
 

Fantastical

Death Prophet
lsslave said:
You have NO idea if you are a non smoker how it helps cope with stress. It is more effective than the other way people deal with stress: eating.

It also is less fattening.

It has negative health effects, it has positive health effects. Both are exaggerated, although the positive doesn't get much limelight so the exaggerations are much smaller (IE it can't CURE Alzheimer's but it is proven to be a good way to prevent it.
Probably because the negatives way outweigh the positives.
lsslave said:
I smoke flat out because I like it. I tried quitting, I got past the cravings and nothing, but I realized I actually LIKE smoking. Going outside, headphones on, and enjoying my 5 minutes of solitude with a cigarette. I don't answer the phone, I don't talk to people, I am just silent.

Then there is the social outlet, in a loud club its the easiest way to talk to a girl. I'd say a third of my hookups back when I did that were girls I met while having a smoke.
I asked why you STARTED smoking though, not why you continued to smoke.
 

Fantastical

Death Prophet
Black_Ice said:
It's just that I don't see the benefit of it.
Really? I mean, I don't drink and don't plan on drinking anytime soon, but you can't see the short-term benefits of getting drunk at a party? People want to totally let loose and just forget about everything for that moment and enjoy the party and I think alcohol lets you do that.

Whoops didn't mean to double post.
 

CiSTM

Banned
Fantastical said:
But that's not why you started. I mean, were you just curious? Curious enough to try a seriously addicting drug?

I'm big whisky buff and at the local whisky bar they also serve cigars and the bartender said that good cigar will enhance the flavor (strong cigar to go with mild drink and other way around) I tried it and I liked it. That's the way I started to smoke cigars regularly. I'm in & out with topacco. I like some flavors but the fact that topacco is expensive and you "suck" 'em up too fast so you get very little enjoyment from them.
 

BuffaloDave

Neo Member
i smoke every now and then when im drunk. the last couple times ive smoked its been black and milds. wine wood tips ftw
 

Krowley

Member
Fantastical said:
Honestly didn't know that. Good to know. But, not to sound like a broken record, does someone really START smoking to feel that buzz. Like looks at a cigarette, goes to smoke it for the first time without ever knowing what it actually feels like to smoke one and know that it will make them feel good. That would be more of a reason why they would keep smoking. I would think they would smoke weed if they wanted that, but I guess that's a assuming they have access to that and stuff. Hm, I guess that would be a reason why some people start smoking. Again, good to know.

Yeah, it's more a case of not having access to other drugs... At the time and place where I grew up, and at the age when I started (about 13), it was hard to get any kind of drugs in my peer group. I had never had alcohol or weed or anything.

I actually had my first exposure via skoal snuff, and then switched to smokes because it was less disgusting. There were actual cigarette machines that you could get access to within walking distance of my house, and I had parents and grandparents who smoked, so it was easy to become a smoker. This was in the late 80's/early 90's and it was a different time in a lot of ways.

As I got older, access to other drugs became much easier, but by then I was already an addict.

dreamcastmaster said:
I got two of my girlfriends through chatting to them during smoke breaks. It's a little socializing during the day in a relaxed atmosphere.

:lol I've actually met some women this way too. It's like you instantly have something in common with them, and you can relate to each other.
 

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
Fantastical said:
Really? I mean, I don't drink and don't plan on drinking anytime soon, but you can't see the short-term benefits of getting drunk at a party? People want to totally let loose and just forget about everything for that moment and enjoy the party and I think alcohol lets you do that.

Whoops didn't mean to double post.

:lol I don't even see the benefits of parties. And no, I don't see the benefit, why the fuck can't people do that on their own? I've had things trouble me and the last thing I'll do is go to a party to stand around (and dance?) with a bunch of (most likely) assholes that I don't know while not having 100% control of my actions and thoughts.

But now the complete loner in me is coming out so I'm a bad example.
 

Scrow

Still Tagged Accordingly
lsslave said:
Going outside, headphones on, and enjoying my 5 minutes of solitude... I don't answer the phone, I don't talk to people, I am just silent.
notice how i removed "cigarette"?

you can do the same thing ;)

you don't need a cigarette to do those things.
 

CiSTM

Banned
SapientWolf said:
Probably some peer pressure too. No one wants to look like a square in front of their friends.

This is probably most common reason but it also bugs me when people always assume it's due to peer pressure. I didn't someke during my school years while lots of my friends did and everytime I was offered a smoke I said no thanks. Nobody thought less of me because of that (or maybe they did, how do I know ?). I smoked my first cigar when I was old enough to smoke legally and at that point of life I really didn't need to look "cool" anymore in front of my friends or co-workers.
 

baultista

Banned
Black_Ice said:
:lol I don't even see the benefits of parties. And no, I don't see the benefit, why the fuck can't people do that on their own? I've had things trouble me and the last thing I'll do is go to a party to stand around (and dance?) with a bunch of (most likely) assholes that I don't know while not having 100% control of my actions and thoughts.

But now the complete loner in me is coming out so I'm a bad example.
You must be a lot of fun to hang around with :lol
 

whitehawk

Banned
Black_Ice said:
:lol I don't even see the benefits of parties. And no, I don't see the benefit, why the fuck can't people do that on their own? I've had things trouble me and the last thing I'll do is go to a party to stand around (and dance?) with a bunch of (most likely) assholes that I don't know while not having 100% control of my actions and thoughts.

But now the complete loner in me is coming out so I'm a bad example.
Seriously?

I understand what you're saying, but shit, letting loose while being moderately drunk (not shit faced) is really fun. Don't knock it until you try it.

Parties aren't about standing around with assholes you don't know by the way. Parties are for having fun and socializing.
 

Loxley

Member
Michael "Gabe" Krahulik from Penny Arcade pretty much summed up my feelings towards smoking in one of their all-too-few podcasts a year ago:

It amazes me that, even with aallll the knowledge we have now about how bad smoking is for you, people still do it. I mean...you just don't care about the lung cancer? I don't get it.

Being a 21-year old under-grad myself, I can understand why people my age start smoking (we're young and idiotic) but- actually...I don't even understand that. I mean Jesus, it's drilled into our brains since kindergarten how it'll fuck up our health. 'The hell is wrong with you? ><
 

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
baultista said:
You must be a lot of fun to hang around with :lol

Most people actually love my company. I just don't love theirs.

Whitehawk: I've tried it. Don't see what's so great is all. I can do the same shit while not drunk. :|

Oh, and socializing, :lol ... I won't go there. I'll just say that I can be social, I prefer to not be.
 

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
I started in Indonesia at the age of 14. Cigarettes were cheap, and everyone regardless of age could buy them. I used to see kids that couldn't be older than 9 or 10 walking down the street smoking cigarettes. As teenagers, that is just too much temptation to pass up. So everybody smoked. I'd say 90% of the kids in my (admittedly small) school smoked cigarettes and/or drank alcohol (also cheap and with no age restriction to prevent us from buying). Some more than others but it was very rare to see someone who never ever did either.
When I moved to Argentina, nothing changed beyond the price getting a tiny bit more expensive (dollar fifty a pack instead of 75 cents) and so my smoking habit didn't change either.
By the time I graduated, 4 years of smoking had made me addicted.
 

Swag

Member
I had a friend who started smoking at college because it was a great way to meet people that were smoking outside the dorms. If your outside for 3-5 minutes with someone else, conversation is bound to happen.

Sadly I warned him he wouldn't be able to stop and that's exactly what happened :[
 

Servizio

I don't really need a tag, but I figured I'd get one to make people jealous. Is it working?
Because they have been set on fire.
 

water_wendi

Water is not wet!
Loxley said:
Michael "Gabe" Krahulik from Penny Arcade pretty much summed up my feelings towards smoking in one of their all-too-few podcasts a year ago:

Being a 21-year old under-grad myself, I can understand why people my age start smoking (we're young and idiotic) but- actually...I don't even understand that. I mean Jesus, it's drilled into our brains since kindergarten how it'll fuck up our health. 'The hell is wrong with you? ><

Healthy living is the slowest way to die.
 
This thread has inspired me to just quit. I'm not addicted to ciggs yet, as I've only just started last semester. I don't have urges to smoke when I'm sitting around the house, but when I drive, it really kicks in the addiction. That's the only hurdle I see.
 
I started smoking because I dated a girl who smoked. It had nothing to do with peer pressure. We were alone in my apartment I just grabbed one of her cigarettes and lit up. I love smoking. I don't anymore, but smoking and drinking, smoking after a good meal, smoking after sex, smoking while you take a crap... there's nothing like it. Eat a bunch of good chocolate and have a smoke... whiskey and smoke. It's awesome.

I'm not worried about cancer. I don't want to live forever. Anyhow, I think I have a pretty damn good set of genes. My grandfathers smoked until the day they died well into their 90's. I'm pretty sure I'll meet my end through some violent means and not in a hospital bed.
 

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
Loxley said:
Michael "Gabe" Krahulik from Penny Arcade pretty much summed up my feelings towards smoking in one of their all-too-few podcasts a year ago:



Being a 21-year old under-grad myself, I can understand why people my age start smoking (we're young and idiotic) but- actually...I don't even understand that. I mean Jesus, it's drilled into our brains since kindergarten how it'll fuck up our health. 'The hell is wrong with you? ><

It amazes me that with all we know about skin cancer people still sit under tanning beds every week or let themselves get fried in the sun.
It amazes me that with all we know about heart disease people still eat fast food, fatty steaks, and junk food.
It amazes me that with all we know about cirrhosis of the liver people still drink alcohol to relax, party, get drunk, or just fit in.
It amazes me that people don't understand that we make choices that aren't always the best for our health because sometimes... we just enjoy it.
 
I'm guessing that the OP is:

1. in high school
2. very smart, good grades
3. hangs out with his group of friends who think its cool to not be cool, and be straight edge, puritan w/e
4. a smug assclown, looking down upon other people who he considers sheep for doing something "stupid" while failing to recognize the irony that instead of learning to be a real person he is just another sheep in the flock of cunts who swallow the drugs/smoking/drinking/fucking is "bad" line
5. also, never tried a cigarette (already said it earlier in thread i know)

It's like asking why do people read, or eat certain foods, or dress certain ways, or go to certain websites, or living life in general.

Because they want to. If you grew a pair and tried the things you are afraid of, you can look back and say that you didn't like them or did like them, which is better than sounding like a DARE brochure, which is what you sound like now.
 

AlternativeUlster

Absolutely pathetic part deux
I started smoking heavily when I moved to Philadelphia and my roommates would smoke at least a pack per day. Being around it made me want to smoke. I have only been a heavy smoke since last February and I am 27.
 
missbreedsiddx said:
It amazes me that with all we know about skin cancer people still sit under tanning beds every week or let themselves get fried in the sun.
It amazes me that with all we know about heart disease people still eat fast food, fatty steaks, and junk food.
It amazes me that with all we know about cirrhosis of the liver people still drink alcohol to relax, party, get drunk, or just fit in.
It amazes me that people don't understand that we make choices that aren't always the best for our health because sometimes... we just enjoy it.

exactly...feels good man
 

KHarvey16

Member
BattlestarDT said:
I'm guessing that the OP is:

1. in high school
2. very smart, good grades
3. hangs out with his group of friends who think its cool to not be cool, and be straight edge, puritan w/e
4. a smug assclown, looking down upon other people who he considers sheep for doing something "stupid" while failing to recognize the irony that instead of learning to be a real person he is just another sheep in the flock of cunts who swallow the drugs/smoking/drinking/fucking is "bad" line
5. also, never tried a cigarette (already said it earlier in thread i know)

It's like asking why do people read, or eat certain foods, or dress certain ways, or go to certain websites, or living life in general.

Because they want to. If you grew a pair and tried the things you are afraid of, you can look back and say that you didn't like them or did like them, which is better than sounding like a DARE brochure, which is what you sound like now.

So how much does heroin cost by you?
 

KHarvey16

Member
missbreedsiddx said:
It amazes me that with all we know about skin cancer people still sit under tanning beds every week or let themselves get fried in the sun.

Me too on the tanning bed thing. It's dumb.

missbreedsiddx said:
It amazes me that with all we know about heart disease people still eat fast food, fatty steaks, and junk food.
It amazes me that with all we know about cirrhosis of the liver people still drink alcohol to relax, party, get drunk, or just fit in.

These can be enjoyed occasionally without dooming you to terrible health.
 
KHarvey16 said:
These can be enjoyed occasionally without dooming you to terrible health.

Sounds like 99% of everything, ever.

Also, I don't know the price of heroin because I don't do it. Drug tests.
 

jorma

is now taking requests
I started smoking because it was the cool thing to do when i was 14. I was so badass!
 

user_nat

THE WORDS! They'll drift away without the _!
All the extra breaks smokers get at work is pretty tempting.

No where near tempting enough though
 

Arjen

Member
Fantastical said:
Awesome! Good luck, man. Did you quit cold turkey?

Thanks :)
Yeah, cold turkey, figured getting rid of the nicotine all together would be the best thing for me
 

lsslave

Jew Gamer
Fantastical said:
Probably because the negatives way outweigh the positives.

I asked why you STARTED smoking though, not why you continued to smoke.

The negatives are overshot. The damage it does to your body is not as severe as people think it is due to misinformation. I smoke outside, and if I smoke in a vehicle and people bitch I simply point out its MY vehicle that I pay for and I pay the gas for so they can either start walking or deal with it. I open the window anyhow.

I thought I pointed out that stress was my factor, and weight loss.

I started smoking in college, I couldn't handle the stress anymore. The only thing that got me through a double major course load and working 7 days a week was smoking, I loved every single puff I took.

I keep getting pressured in relationships to quit but fuck it, its MY habit and I love it :lol'

Edit:

missbreedsiddx said:
It amazes me that with all we know about skin cancer people still sit under tanning beds every week or let themselves get fried in the sun.
It amazes me that with all we know about heart disease people still eat fast food, fatty steaks, and junk food.
It amazes me that with all we know about cirrhosis of the liver people still drink alcohol to relax, party, get drunk, or just fit in.
It amazes me that people don't understand that we make choices that aren't always the best for our health because sometimes... we just enjoy it.

Very VERY well put!
 

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
I still think... what the fuck does smoking or drinking do for me that I can't do when I'm not doing either of those things?

Relax? I can do that with some music, or by myself.
Have fun? I can do that without drinking.
Socialize? I can do that without drinking, though I'd rather not.
Let loose? I can do that without drinking.

Basically, when you're intoxicated you aren't your real self. And acting fake...or should I say acting how you would not normally act is what a lot of people love to do, because it allows and helps people like them, talk to them, accept them, because the normal/non-drunk you certainly isn't interesting enough to garner that attention. Sad, really.

And smoking that helps you meet girls? Holy shit why would I want to meet a girl that would talk to me for the simple fact that I'm smoking?

I've tried smoking and drinking...And with this post you can call me a square, an ass, or whatever, that's just the way I see it.
 

Karakand

Member
Black_Ice said:
Holy shit why would I want to meet a girl that would talk to me for the simple fact that I'm smoking?
I ask myself this question too it's just, "Why would I want to meet a girl that would talk to me?"
 
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