pocon1

I have been involved in the thread about smokers flicking their butts out windows, and I wonder why anyone would smoke in the first place? I could see if you started thirty years ago, when not much information was known about the hazards of smoking, but anyone who has picked up the habit in the last 25 years is doing something that is obviously destructive to themselves.

So, to anyone who has started smoking in the past 25 years, why did you start and are you ever planning on quitting?

jay-g

I started smoking because I enjoyed the buzz you get from the cigarette. Now I think of it, thats like the lamest excuse to start. Then it just progresses without you really realizing whats actually going on. The next thing you know you have been smoking for years and addicted to the nicotine and wish you could quit. In the end, I smoked for five years and now havent had a cigarette in two years. I used to think it was impossible to quit but i found out that it isnt.

rockzilla

The first time I smoked was at a party in high school. I was drunk, and asked a friend for a drag of her cigarette, I'd only smoke when I drank for awhile, until I started working in kitchens a year or so later. Everybody smoked, it was next to impossible to avoid, so I started too (that's an even worse reason). And like jay-g said, the next thing you know, you're addicted and you're wondering why you started in the first place.
I was a smoker for about 9 years (with a 9-10 month period where I quit and relapsed). I'm on the patch now after having struggled with the cold turkey method for months. When I quit cold turkey, I would become an insufferable asshole. I was edgy and angry all the time and I hated the way I felt without nicotine, so I'd buy a pack, and go from feeling angry to feeling guilty and weak-willed. Its been a week since I started on the patch and I barely think about smoking at all, I actually didn't realize I didn't put my patch on today until late this afternoon.

Mephisto2

Because I'm addicted.

Why did I start? Rather strange story as I used to be quite vehemently anti-smoking. But I guess it all started when I got seriously involved in a heavy drink/drug/party/club scene.

I've given up the coke (much to the relief of my bank balance).
I've given up E (as it tended to give me the heebie jeebies anyway).
I've given up speed (as it's dirty cheap muck anyway).
But I can't give up the cigarettes.

Oh, and giving up the drink is not an option. I like it too much. I guess it's in my blood as an Irishman...

Mr Mephisto

Average-Joe

Started smoking as a teenager about seventeen years ago..
Shit! Not much else to do hangin out on a corner in Brooklyn.

Since then ive quit several times. Lasting over two years once. *patting self on back*

Currently I smoke a pack a week. Give or take a few.
Going out with friends that smoke, and Like rockzilla I work in restaurants, it’s hard to resist the temptation.

It’s a friggin addiction!!
Smokers are not terrible people. We just have a death wish
.

I do care about my health. My wife an I eat organic foods. When available anyway.
American spirits ( what I smoke) do not contain additives, not saying it’s good for you however, they are better then most.

IMO...Breathing the air in a major city will kill ya……

I will quit again.
Honestly, it will be hard to give up completely.

Life is rough, we all need some sort of vice. Weather It’s smoking tobacco, marijuana or kicking the neighbors cat when their not looking.

SabrinaFair

I started over the summer...my best friend was doing it, it gave me a nice relaxed feeling...and before I knew it, I was addicted. Maybe not physically, but definetly psychologically. I'm in the process of quitting, but it seems like life is continually shitting upon me, and I light up again. Grr. Damn me and my lack of willpower.

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absence_of_color

I started smoking when I was 12 years old!
Nothing I should have been doing at that age but I did anyway.
I'll be honest, I started smoking because all my friends did.
It was just the "thing" ya know?
A stupid thing, but a thing, none the less.
I quit for three and half years when my son was born but started again when me and my ex split up, about a year ago.
Divorce isnt pleasant.
I probably could have pulled it off without it, but I was weak.
I suck!

I've almost quit again but it seems harder the second time around...

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...absent of everything.

Rlyss

I admit I first smoked when I was a teenager, new to drinking etc. and had a smoke. I only did it when a certain friend was around who always had cigarettes on him.

Then I didn't do it for a few years, but then one day it was really sunny, and I was in the park reading/studying, and I thought it'd be nice. So I bought a pack (Marlboro Lights) and had one or two, and it was nice.

Since then I have maybe one or two a week, so a pack lasts me ages. Mind you, they're usually stale and bent out of shape by the end as the softpack's always just stuffed in my bag, but I don't mind.

So yeah, I started smoking because it was new (not necessarily 'cool', but something I wanted to try, just 'cause) and now I smoke one or two cigarettes a week if I'm relaxing, or taking a walk. I've never taken a break and had a cigarette, or felt the need for one when I feel stressed. It's always when everything's nice and calm and I'm just chilling out and I'll have one

wannabenakid247

Same reasons as above really.

I try not to smoke too much, only evenings when im having a drink. Thats the problem I can go with out cigarettes until i have an alchoholic drink and then i crave them big time. I think i'd have to give up booze to cut them out completely

World's King

I smoke because I don't care.

It's just that simple.


It is possible to be healthy and be a smoker. You all do realize this? I eat well, go to the doctor, ride my bicycle everyday, rock climb. There is a big misconception that if you smoke that every other part of you life is unhealthy. I am very healthy... I just choose to smoke out of pure pleasure.

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

Bill O'Rights

When I was in Basic Training, for the U.S. Air Force, back in ...oh...1981, the non-smokers had to stand at the position of attention, in the hot sun, while the smokers got to "fall out" of formation to go to a designated smoking area. "Smokers fall out and light 'em if ya got 'em!" It didn't take me long to go to the Base Exchange and pick up a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. I've been smoking ever since.

Short answer...foolishness, I suppose.

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"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

Crack

Damn Bill O' Rights you know they don't do that anymore, but I wished they had, that was the longest 6 weeks of my life, I smoked two entire packs on my day pass right after graduation... now that was a fun night in San Antonio.

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Eowyn_Vala

Well let's see I am going to die anyway, so why not enjoy it? Actually my roommate did a little and so I kept bumming from her and eventually I just started buying my own. Mostly it's for the buzz I get, or just to relax especially after a very stressful phone call from my parents. They don't know either. I have quit but then started again. It hasn't been long, and I have no problem going without. Every now and then I just decide that I am going to for no reason really.

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bermuDa

I don't.

It tastes disgusting.
It smells awful.
and smoker's kisses taste like death.

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31Friction

smoking is probably the only *drug* addiction I have ever developed and I've tried about all of it. With the exception of crack and needles...

I started at 13 when my parents divorced. It helped me calm down plus it gave me the feel of rebelling. I still do it and I dont plan to quit right now, but it is definately a habit I am going to kick before 25 (im 20 now...)

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taliendo

good stories.

I can remember going to spend the weekend away for the first time. I was around 13 or 14 and going on my first three day weekend away from home with some sort of school function. By the time day two hit, I couldn't figure out I was I was being so intolerable (like a teenager isn't intolerable anyway,) but I seriously wanted to crawl in a corner. You see me mam and da' were both two pack a day smokers.

It wasn't until years later that I realized that I was withdrawing from nicotene on that trip. I'm 22 now and have been a regular smoker since I was 15. I quit for a year and a half once and another time for ten months, but haven't even felt the desire to quit for the last three years. I really like smoking, and like's been said, I'm going to die and I'm going out with a smile on my face. I'll quit when I have kids and have to be a responcible member of society.

short end of this poke - I blame it all on my rents.

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thegreek

smoking was to relax and be social at first, now for me its a once in a while thing, but thata hard to control... its especially hard if a girl u like is smokin and u want to win her over

majik_6

Quite honestly, I've always enjoyed smoking, for as long as I've been old enough to sneak one with my friends. When I finally turned 18, I could buy them and smoke whenever I wanted. It was a pretty cool feeling, but it wore off after a couple of months of a pack a week. Fast forward to January of this year: I was trying dip (just because it intrigued me...I found it disgusting, but it made me want to know more, oddly enough) and bummed a smoke off my best friend, since I was out of snuff that night. I started smoking more and more, dropped the snuff and now I'm at a pack a day and I love it. The past two weekends have proven that I CAN go without, however. I spent last weekend with family, and was unable to slip away for a smoke for several days, while this weekend I was simply too busy (and I was visiting back home) to smoke, strangely enough.

It may have started as something new or "cool" (I still think that in the right situation, cigarettes do indeed look cool), but it's the taste, the ritual (packing the unopened cigarettes, flipping a lucky, etc.) and the instant bond that smokers make while standing in the freezing cold for a few breaths of that sweet smoke that keeps me coming back. Matter of fact, I'm going right now to have my last one before bed.

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it's all about self-indulgence

KeyserSoze

Because I FEEL LIKE IT!!

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THERE IS NO KEYSER SOZE!!

pocon1

I started this thread not because I have never been around smokers, most of my family smokes. My stepfather has been on the gum for two years after smoking for about 37 years. My sister started smoking in her freshman year of college. My stepsister started in high school, as did her brother. They are all older than me. My stepfather is an alcoholic with 20 years of sobriety, and his son has been sober and drug-free(mostly pot) for about 7 years. Oh, my brother-in-law started smoking at age 36. My stepsister, sister, and brother-in-law can knock back some drinks on occasion, but they are mostly social drinkers. Though all of them should probably have had some dui's at some points of their lives. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs, and I don't actually care what people do as long as it does not affect myself or others who don't want it. If I go to a restaurant, then I want to be able to eat and enjoy my food without half-choking on smoke. It also drives me ape-shit when I see parents smoking in cars with their children inside. Fuck up your own lives, but don't screw your children while you are at it.

Bloodslick

I started smoking because a girl I liked smoked. I found pretty quickly that it was enjoyable. It gives you something to do, it tastes interesting, it's oral and it involves destruction of an item by flame. You also get to blow lungfuls of smoke into the air, a situation that doesn't occur "safely" in any natural circumstance.

I kept smoking because I was addicted, both to the chemicals and to the additional aspect it brought to my image.

I stopped smoking because a girl I like doesn't smoke. It's very hard for me to be around smoking people, because I want to beat them and steal their cigarettes. It's been about five months since I had a cigarette. The girl is worth it, but I had incorporated smoking so far into my self image that I still feel as if I've lost something important. All I've really lost is having to shell out to buy a carton of Camel Lights every week or so. It still makes me sad.

hrdwareguy

Believe it or not, I am an "occasional" smoker. I first tried smoking when I was about 16 or so. Didn't really enjoy it so I didn't pick up the habbit.

Then one day when I was 18 I decided I wanted to smoke a cigar. So I went to a tobacco shop and bought one. Smoked it and thought it was good. Since then I will pick up a cigar every now and again. Usually about 1 every 6 months or so.

Back to the cigaretts. Every once in a while I will have a "social" cig with some friends. I have been know to purchase a pack every now and again, like 3 packs in the last 5 years, for stressful times in my life. The nicotene helps reduce some of that stress. Although I'm not a big fan of the taste of cigs, they are cheeper than cigars.

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3zos

AverageJoe, et al
I tried cigs for the first time when i was 16 or so, and didnt like them at all. fast forward to 19 years of age and working in a retaurant, where 75% of the employees indulge in cigarettes; needless to say i picked it up. been smoking maybe a year, american spirits because of the taste. If you think the additive free bit is helping you in the slightest, youre decieving yourself American Spirits have three times the freebase nicotine of any other brand (second place is Marlboros), and infinitely more tar than ones lungs can tolerate.
gave it up for a few weeks, back to it again. will quit when im out of school, earlier if i get out of the restaurant business before schools out. right now its my one vice so to speak; dont drink excessively, abhor drug use, cigarettes are a nice distraction.

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frozenstellar

i was asked this exact question by my girl not two weeks ago.

i couldnt answer why i smoke. havent purchased a pack of smokes in 2 weeks, havent had a smoke in 3 days (had a smoke with a few beers with a mate the other night)

had several cravings in that time, but im determined to kick it. the incentives from the girlfriend will make it worth it, not to mention health and financial gains.

CS733t

The first time I smoked, I was 17...and I did it because I was severly stressed out and mad at the world (like everyother 17 year old)...call it a stereotypical rebellion act...but the only one I was rebelling against was myself...because I was living on my own at that time. I dunno if it was a placebo, but it seemed to mellow me out a little.
I rarely smoke now, kind of a party smoker....also I only like to smoke when it's cold out, go figure.

__________________
So tired now of paying my dues
I start out strong but then I always lose
It's half the distance before you leave me behind
It's such a waste of time

RemyLebeau97

Come on dude everyones doing it, it ain't the thing to do cause it's the thing to do, it's the thing to do because it makes you look cool, haha, yeah right, KILL SMOKERS !!!

brandon11983

Well put. I can't possibly imagine doing it myself. I tried it in the teenage stupidity years. Looking back, I thank my parents every day for catching me.

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Jonsgirl

I smoke because I LIKE it. Simple as that.
I've smoked on and off since I was 12. I plan on quitting before I have children or when I'm 25, whichever comes first.
When people tell me that smoking will kill me, I always tell them "Yeah, it'll take years off my life, but it's the bad years at the end when it hurts to pee."
For everyone *cough cough REMY cough*who hates smokers just because we smoke........Here's me blowing a smoke ring over your tiny, empty heads. I don't hate you because you do something you like, do I?

__________________
Someday, someone will best me.
But it won't be today, and it won't be you.

isis

I started smoking in grade 10 because it was "cool". I quit for a few years, then started up again about 6 months ago. I always seem to start because I'm associating myself with company that almost always smokes.
Now, I really regret picking up cigarettes again. Even though I've only been smoking 6 months (this time anyways).. the psychological craving is insane. I actually told myself I was going to quit TODAY, but I completely gave in.

macro

I touched one in Year 8, half way through and was like eeesh. Never went back. I know people that still smoke that started around that time, and strangely enough also some people that have just recently started. In the latter case, alcohol has more to do with it than anything else though.

Crazy/Beautiful

Gives me something to done with my hands and when I'm driving the car stuck in traffic. I can only hope it will take twenty years off my life.

Glory's Sun

basically, I always saw myself dying before I reach 27..and umm I don't care. Everyone dies from something. IF each cig takes 7 mins off my life..so be it.. and IF I get cancer from it..just shoot me.. it doesn't matter to me.. death is the greatest reward life offers..

ktthequeen

I actually like smoking.
I started because some shit happened to me and I just ended up using smoking as my way to escape from people (this probably doesn't make any sense). I still keep up the habit a few years later and I haven't really had the desire to quit. Yet.

dog1

I started when I was 15 and my Mom switched brands and asked me if I wanted the rest of a carton she didn't want any more. Raleighs. Been smoking for 35 years now. Hate it. Addictive as hell. Don't have the first one.

SSJTWIZTA

Why do i smoke? Because when i was 14 I desided to take a drag off my friends cigarette. But I Think ill blame it on the propaganda cigarette companys crank out. lol

Do I plan on quitting? No, I cant, really. But im sure a Heart Attack would change that very quickly.

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First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

Kaos

Exact same reason I continue! Never thought anyone had the same train of thought on this subject.

Also, it gives me a reason to go on break at work.

thingstodo

Give me a break. I'm sorry but that is so bogus. You may have other lifestyle components that are healthy but these don't offset the multitude of negative impact of smoking to your lungs, heart and most other organs in your body. Your addiction is talking for you. It is also the sign of other problems.

Like any addict - and smokers are addicts - your subconcious convinces you to think you like it. I know, because I was a smoker and quit 14 years ago. Coke, smack, whatever, it is an addiction and all the rules apply.

It took me numerous times over many years to quit and I finally had to include therapy to really underatnd why I smoked. That's what did it. And if nothing else, I now think what I do with the $2,000 a years the habit costs. Put that in a bank account and you'll have several hundred thousand bucks after 30 years that will rock your world.

Just think about it and do a little research. And please accept my apologies for preaching about the evils of smoking. Nothing is worse than an ex-smoker, which I said many times until I was one!! ;-}

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MSD

I have an occasional cigar, only outside. I honestly don' tinhale the smoke, I just like the taste, all it takes is a bit of mouthwash or a few mints and nobody else can tell I smoked anything. Plus, smoke rings are fun.

omega2K4

Smoke what exactly?

I've tried smoking a cigarette before, it nearly made me sick. I'd rather lick a dog's ass than smoke tobacco. Now, I do smoke hashish, and very rarely I'll smoke heroin.

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Rodney

Addiction is a funny thing. Some people are very sensitive to a particular drug, and can become dependent on it quickly. For others... they can take it or leave it.

I know people who've struggled mightily to quit smoking and have cursed their poor willpower. And then there's my family. Everybody in it has smoked for a while... then stopped when they just didn't feel like it anymore. No big struggle; just decided to stop, and did.

Booze, now..... that's a different story.