Kpax

I've recently taken up smoking, due to peer influence (though I'm 25).

What is the difference between a menthol and something else? I bought a pack of menthols and they seem to burn up way faster than a regular cigarette. They also fill the room with billowy, thick smoke like no other, seemingly.

I was also wondering what specific effect smoking is supposed to bring. Is it like alcohol?

I coulda sworn that after smoking 5 in a chain I felt different. I'm like able to talk to people openly, yet my patience seems reduced (like today at work until break).

tenniels

The first couple times I had a cigarette I felt a little high. Granted I was 15 or so, but I assume that is the same effect for everyone. If you continue smoking, it's not going to feel like this all the time, it's only because your body isn't used to the chemicals in cigarettes. Eventually, you won't feel any different when you have a smoke (well I don't), but if you don't have one you will feel different as your body would start to go through a bit of withdrawls and begin to crave the chemicals. Smoking is one of the hardest things to quit, so if you can while you're ahead, I say do it. I'm only 24 and therefore smoking only about 10 years, and it's still extremely difficult for me to quit, mind you people who have had the habit for 30, 40, 50 years. I have quit a few different drugs and smoking is one of the hardest, in part due to it being legal and easily accesible, but also just due to the fact that it is so addictive. Smoking isn't supposed to bring about an alcohol like effect, like if you have 10 cigarettes you'll feel "better" than if you had two, whereas in terms of drinks, depending on how much you can drink, you might. I dunno, I say fuck the peer pressure and quit while you're ahead. Maybe that's just me though.

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DaveOrion

I have to agree with tenniels, fuck peer pressure and try to quit now!

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Syriana...have you ever tried liquid MDMA?....Liquid MDMA? No....Arash, when you wanna do this?.....After prayer...

Infinite_Loser

Wow... A 25 year old suffering from peer pressure. Gotta' say that's a first.

Anywho, I agree with everyone else. Quit while you're ahead (Or still have functioning lungs, whichever appeals to you more).

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Nimetic

Hmm. You can switch to gums and get the same effect. You have no excuse to smoke regularly.

I think that the main effect of nicotine is a slight stimulant one. But that was my feeling only. And I think I feel the carbon monoxide if I have a smoke.

Mostly though... you probably don't get that effect if you are having them regularly.

warrrreagl

Kpax, I never smoked, so I can't answer any of your specific questions.

However, everyone else, it would sadden me to see this thread turn into a "Stop Smoking" thread because that's not what Kpax came here to ask. He did say he is 25 and I'm going to accept that as old enough to do whatever the fuck he feels like, and that includes succombing to peer pressure and smoking. He did not ask "Should I give in to peer pressure," or "Should I smoke," but instead "What's it like?"

So again, I'm just asking people who know about smoking to help the brother out, and the rest refrain from the obligation to soapbox the dude.

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Psycho Dad

I started smoking about 25 too and smoked for about a year or so. The only effect I got from smoking was everything around me smelled either like fresh cigarette smoke or stale cigarette smoke. I still enjoy a cigar on the golf course or at least I assume I do (haven't played in a couple of years). But that is a different kettle of fish.

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Don't always trust the opinions of experts.

krwlz

As someone who is currently fighting to quit, stop now. The first couple times you smoke it's a nicotine buzz. Pretty soon, your body adjusts and that disappears, and you're just left with a nasty habit.

Quit while you're ahead.

(Sorry for the soapbox, we're actually trying to help though. As most of the people in this thread are smokers, we all know how hard it is, and I would not wish it on anyone. Besides... Smoking gets you NOT laid.)

Baraka_Guru

--Deleted (doublepost)

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

DaveOrion

I wasnt trying to soapbox anyone, if it came off that way, oh well, deal with it. I've been smoking for 25 years, and I actually quit once for 6 months, but eventually started back (so I guess I really didnt quit). Its simply easier to stop before you become a full blown addict, so its worth mentioning. Your health, the cost, the stigma.......its not worth a minor nicotine buzz, IMO.

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Syriana...have you ever tried liquid MDMA?....Liquid MDMA? No....Arash, when you wanna do this?.....After prayer...

Baraka_Guru

Source: Menthol Cigarettes (See other publications listed.)

What do petrol additives, embalming fluid, toilet cleaner, nail polish remover, insecticide, car exhaust fumes, rat poison, and gas chamber poison have in common with cigarettes? They share the same chemicals.

Sources:
http://www.quit-smoking-stop.com/har...igarettes.html
http://man-health-magazine-online.co...igarettes.html


Please do quit.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

noodle

I used to get a "head rush" with the first one of the day.

Menthol has acutal menthol extract of some kind in it, hence the "cold" sensation when you inhale. Last I heard, they were still sticking small amounts of fiberglass in them. I used to smoke menthols and they would tear up my lungs, by the next day after half a pack, I'd sound like my 80 year old next door neighbor who has COPD. I got to the point that I couldn't even handle UltraLights.
I continued to get the rush if I hadn't had one in several hours throughout the seven years that I smoked. The only way I quit was an ultimatum from my SO. But, I'd acutally get light-headed and vertigo-ed at times from the nicotine, much more than a cup of coffee. Different stimulants, similar addictive properties for me.

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thingstodo

To answer your question, the only specific effect smoking will bring is bad health for your heart, your lungs, other organs of your body, stinky clothes, colds from having to smoke outside since it is becoming banned pretty much everywhere and possibly even outside, sallow skin, an addiction that is as tough to break as heroin. All wonderful things.

Perhaps a different set of peers would be helpful. Smeone that cares about their health? I don't know.

Sorry to be on a soap box - wait, no, I'm not sorry!!

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Supple Cow

Smoking was always portrayed as cool in the media, even after society supposedly figured out that it was bad for you. I still sometimes can't help but think it looks really cool in certain situations (mostly in movies though, since the smell and my desire to live usually keep me as far away from smokers as humanly possible).

So my question is, do you feel cool yet? And is feeling cool worth what it will do to your life?

World's King

The only real effect smoking will have on you is that it makes you look cool.


Isn't that why you started in the first place? Cause your friends said it was cool. And you want to be cool right? Then you have to do what your friends say is cool. Next they'll all be snorting ground up coffee beans cause as you know, drinking coffe is so not cool anymore...



The fact you know you started smoking cause of peer pressure makes me think that you don't actually want to smoke. And if you don't want to. Then don't. But if you want to smell like shit, die, and most important... look cool. Then go ahead. Don't worry about the effects. Just light up.

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

ngdawg

Yea...I look real cool...that nicotine moustache I've acquired really sets of the lines around my mouth...
It's great in the winter...just jog from your car to your work entrance and feel the sweat start to drip. While everyone is complaining how cold it is, you'll be panting for air, complaining how warm it is.
It's great in the summer, too. Gives you that glistening glow because you can't breathe and get overheated easier than all those noncool people who don't smoke.
And what a fortune you'll save on aftershave and cologne!!! Don't need that now, you'll reek of smoke!
Sure am glad I picked up a habit I can't seem to shake now....

At 25, you should know better....

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

World's King

ngdawg... I'm sure you know but was actually being sarcastic.

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

ngdawg

I always am....sarcastic, that is....

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

mixedmedia

What cigarettes do is stave off the craving of your next cigarette, ad infinitum.

I never felt any kind of buzz or head rush for them, I would just crave them at certain times...while driving and after dinner especially. Or whenever I was feeling stress. I still crave them occasionally when I am stressed. But I quit two years ago in December...I think. Maybe it will be three years in December...whatever, I quit at Christmastime two or three years ago. And I am so glad that I did.

Oh, and you will get colds more often when you smoke.

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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Baraka_Guru

Yeah, smokers should at least supplement with vitamin C.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

ngdawg

Aging+smoking=less colds...haven't had one of those in...*aaaahCHOO*...over a year now...of course, my sinuses are shot to hell, so who knows...

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

tenniels

Didn't intend to sound soapbox-ish, I thought I answered the question to the best of my ability and with what first hand experience I have. I of course think if you chose to smoke, that is fine. It's just when you're relatively new to the "game", it's nice to have a chance to get out. I know when I started as a teenager, I thought I could quit whenever I wanted to. You know how teenagers know EVERYTHING I think the op'er being 25 (and myself now being 24) may be able to make a bit better of a decision that's all.

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ngdawg

I get soapboxishly sarcastic because I'm a smoker that hasn't the willpower to quit for good, despite numerous attempts and a modicum of intelligence....

Menthols, which I smoke exclusively, are supposedly more addicting. Since I never had regular nonmenthols, I don't know how true that is....
When I was a teenager, the menthol of choice was Kool's but then rumors came out that their filters had asbestos in them, so, being the savvy group we kids were, we switched to Salems.
The spouse smokes Newports, his family's favorite. Those suckers burn the hell out of my throat, but every once in a while, I take one for a nico rush. My own, Carltons, are referred to by the heavyweights as 'smoking air'. Probably not true since my doctor said I have the beginnings of emphysema and you can't get that from air....
I don't get a 'morning rush' or anything, no buzz....
I'd have to concur with tenniels-being 25, there should have been a wiser decision made to begin with. Peer pressure should have ended 10 years earlier.

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

krwlz

Haha, I get the distinct impression that the OP doesn't wanna hear our shit, as he hasn't put in another appearance.

shakran

Well, go get a box of tissues then, 'cause you're gonna get saddened

Look, if I came in here and asked what it's like for other people when they disembowel a puppy while it's still alive because I can't seem to get much reaction out of the puppies I've tried it on, would you claim to be saddened that no one was willing to answer the question I asked? Sometimes if you tell everyone that you're doing something monumentally stupid, they're going to comment on it, even if you didn't ask. That's the price you pay for being a part of a community that gives a shit about its fellow man.

After all, if I didn't give a crap how much harm he does to himself, why would I waste the time and effort writing a post that essentially says "Kpax, dude, that's a really dumb thing to do, don't smoke" ?

guthmund

Oh, forgive us our trespasses as we stray into the land of hyperbole.

He's smoking, not disemboweling cute little puppies or putting babies on spikes for shits and giggles. He made a conscious choice--and legal, I might add--as an adult and then came here to ask the question. There is a fine line between giving a shit about someone and expository moralism for its own sake.

So, Kpax, instead of telling you all the bad things about smoking--like you couldn't possibly know anyway--and berating you endlessly with links to statistics or belittle you with snide offhand remarks about how stupid you ultimately must be, I'll just answer the damn question to the best of my abilities based on my experience.

I have no idea what the difference is other than preference. Although I smoked for a number of years, I only ventured a handful of times towards the menthols and then quickly regained my senses and went back to regulars. My roommate at the time, however, swears they are a wonderful decongestant in the winter and, whether a testament to the menthols or his freakishly excellent health, he never suffered like the rest of us when it got cold.

For me, it was as much the act of smoking as the cigarette itself. I'm sure the chemicals floating around my system did a bit to keep me calm and such, but it was the physical act of pulling one out, lighting and then methodically smoking it that was the more effective, in my experience.

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Walking Shadow

Congratulations on making the stupidest decision of your life.

Bra-fucking-vo.

You claim that's it's due to peer influence, yet you also claim to be 25. There'sa huge logical gap there.

I see that other posters have quite rightly castigated you, so I will jsut say this: you have made a decision which will truly affect all aspects of your life. People will deliberately avoid you and shun you, and rightly so. Your sense of smell and taste will be affected/damaged, which is a big one because everything in your life will now smell like cooked shit. You, your clothes, your apartment/house/dwelling, your car, EVERYTHING.

Again, a hearty congrats on deliberately choosing to shorten your life span by 15 years.

Sultana

If you've already started smoking, don't you already know what the effects are? How does it affect you? That would be the effects.

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mixedmedia

This was true for me as well...the "little rituals" and physical habits related to smoking were almost as soothing and addictive as the actual smoking itself.

..............

and on another note:

Let's put an end to the name-calling and put downs now, okay? Lots of people smoke. It doesn't make them dumb or deserving of your scorn.

The OP does not ask for anyone's advice about whether or not to start smoking.

So let's end all that now, capice?

If you want to start your own thread decrying the sins and stupidity of smokers then go right ahead. Although, I'll bet good money that deal's already been done.

Thanks.

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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

roachboy

bob is right:

smoking is healthier than fascism.

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it make you sick.

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Adri

Smoking is, for me, definitely about the habit and the ritual of doing it, rather than the nicotine. I could probably quit by going through the motions of smoking but just not lighting up, if I tried (which I haven't). I never feel "relieved" afterwards or even really have a physical urge for one... it's all mental for me.

I really should quit. Really, really.

Anyway, I've been smoking menthols since the beginning (back in the day before you could tell the difference between brands, I realized that nobody would bum cigs off me if mine were menthol, so that's what I chose). To this day, I can still walk into a party with half a pack, and walk out of the party with most of them remaining. I doubt many regular cig smokers can say the same.

To me, the difference between the two is that a menthol is a cigarette, and a non-menthol is a stick of dirty air. I'd rather not smoke than smoke non-menthol.

Honestly, I'd rather not smoke. I'm not soapboxing here... just quit while you can. The minute you stop getting a buzz when you smoke, you're officially addicted, so stop smoking while you can. Please.

Hanxter

quitting is easy - i've done it a dozen times

BadNick

I don't know what you guys are thinking ...gorgeous babes and doctors can't be wrong, can they?

Cynthetiq

I'll add that I used to be a smoker. I have chronic bronhcitis and asthma now so smoking isn't an option. I'm glad that I quit when I did.

When I'm walking around the city, I see pretty girls about, then I see them raise their hand and take a drag out of a cigarette. At one point in time, I thought it sexy. Now I think of it as smelly and not so tasty kisses.

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krwlz

Hahaha agreed. I don't think that works though. Last time I lit up in front of a girl, it was "eww gross, smoking" and I could have gotton into her pants that night but for the cig I lit up.

Blowing it in her face (cigarette smoke) would have gotton me slapped.

Adri

I recall something from high school where one would blow smoke into another's face to indicate a desire to sleep with them. I wonder how well that works out for folks.

I also remember flipping two cigs in every new pack upside down... one for "good luck", the other for a "good fuck". Weird...

pig

if you're going to smoke, go to a pipe store / tobacconist and get reasonable rolling tobacco, then roll your own. you typically get higher quality tobacco, plus double the ritual.

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Leto

What is the difference (chemically) between cigarette tobacco and pipe or cigar tobacco?

For that matter, include marijuana. I know that they may be different plants or leaves, but from what I have heard, cigarettes have a load of additional chemicals that are toxic.

Are these natural to cigarette tobacco, or do they somehow get added in during the manufacturing process? And are they also in pot & cigars???

Adri

I think a lot of it has to do with the chemical transformation that takes place when the leaf is burned. There are a lot of chemicals in smoke that are by-products of the smoke, not the tobacco itself.

However, cigarette tobacco is notoriously over-processed for flavor and strength. Pipe tobacco is more "pure" tobacco than what you'll find in most cigarettes.

tenniels

There are more chemicals in marajuna, but it's unlikely you would smoke as much marajuana as you do cigarettes. But a joint vs a cigarette, there is more tar (or maybe one of the other delicious chemicals) in the joint. I started smoking menthols and quite liked them, but can't remember why I switched to regular smokes. I smoke regular size ones too. In Canada, there are regular and kingsize. When I went to the states, the regular sized smokes were as big as our kingsize cigarettes and I thought that was a trip! What are the bigger ones there called? It's completely slipping my mind... I dunno, I agree with all the other smokers though, it's as much about the rituals that go along with smoking as the smoking itself that keep you addicted. And yes Hanxter, quitting is easy, I've also done it about a dozen times

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