Why do people smoke?

[franks brother]

Opening up possibly the widest possible avenue of discussion ever but...why do people smoke?

I nipped to the shop just before and saw two very pretty young women puffing away on fags. I thought "Why? Everyone knows the damage?"

 

[n1 gull]

Makes me look cool - simples

 

[bhaexpress]

I would bet that most people start smoking as they think it makes them adult/hard/cool (none of which is true) but then they get hooked. I remember that the hard kids used to smoke inside school grounds just to show how cavalier they were. The many adverts trying to persuade people not to smoke were so trite they just perpetuated the myth.

 

[NMH]

Sadly, it's the biggest rip-off people have been mugged into.

And the loophole is that there's nothing illegal about it, and the best thing the authorities can do is put a health warning on the packet and try to educate people against doing it

 

[Cornish seagull!]

Do you know whats funny i want to quit smoking. Mainly due to the cancer.
The heamotologist was going through all the usual shit when it came about smoking. Of course i said i smoke between 10 and 20 day i expressed that i wanted
to give up. Her exact words were dont worry about it now if i want a ciggie have one she said. It surprised me a bit coming from the doc.
I do want to stop but with everything thats happening ill hold off for a bit for now unless theres some miracle thing out there to make you stop instantly

 

[bn1&bn3 Albion]

I understand older people smoking as it wasn't such a huge thing when they started, but people who are in their teens to early 20's I don't understand.

 

[Icy Gull]

I am a smoker who isn't smoking at the moment. Personally love it but accept the harm it does. I think you'll find most smokers enjoy it and accept that even when they've given up that it's always gonna be a temptation occasionally, even long after the addiction has gone. I know people who started smoking again 8 years after they thought they'd quit

 

[bn1&bn3 Albion]

The other thing which annoys me is when they think its ok to smoke because it only harms them.

 

[sydney]

if you choose to smoke in this day and age with all the info and statistics on how damaging it is, then , i'm afraid , you are some kind of mong .......imho.:guitar:

 

[somerset]

if you choose to smoke in this day and age with all the info and statistics on how damaging it is, then , i'm afraid , you are some kind of mong .......imho.:guitar:

Exactly,... back in the day smoking was more widespread and accepted generally in public/society mainly due to the lack of real information/understanding of the real effects healthwise. There is NO excuse these days,... it kills you simple as that,..... any smoker today needs to get his head read, it WILL shorten your life, and likely those in your house too if you smoke at home,.... think on muppets.

 

[cannedheat]

Never understood why people who smoke want to smell like dog shite.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I have the very occasional oily rag, one or two a month. When I used to smoke more regularly in my younger days it was never cancer or death that bothered me as much as what smoking does to your skin - the dry lines/wrinkles. If they put pictures of people with crow's feet around their eyes on cigarette packets rather than blackened lungs I'm sure most of the female population would quit, along with many meterosexual guys.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

In todays age though a large % of new smokers will be young women.

For some reason young men arent any where near as attracted to taking it up.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Never understood why people who smoke want to smell like dog shite.

The dog shit helps cover up the smell of the smoke.

 

[cunning fergus]

if you choose to smoke in this day and age with all the info and statistics on how damaging it is, then , i'm afraid , you are some kind of mong .......imho.:guitar:

i feel the same way about aids victims.................unless it was from parents or a blood transfusion there's no excuse for getting aids...............I mean what kind of mong has unprotected sex these days..............jeez.

 

[JonathanLivingstonSeagull]

pathetically this thread has made me want a cigarette

 

[black & white seagull]

i feel the same way about aids victims.................unless it was from parents or a blood transfusion there's no excuse for getting aids...............I mean what kind of mong has unprotected sex these days..............jeez.

I presume you mean contracting HIV? If you're going to be offensive, at least get your facts correct.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

In todays age though a large % of new smokers will be young women.

For some reason young men arent any where near as attracted to taking it up.

Girls see smoking as a way of keeping slim.

 

[c0lz]

being a ex smoker i see both sides, when i smoked i was the type i smoke when and where i want and you dont like it tough, but having giving up now for over 16 years i now understand the non-smokers view it is so unpleasant having someones secondly smoke and the smell of smoke from a smoker, giving up is hard and yes your ill quiet a bit during the first few months but thats all the sht getting out of your system, i went cold turkey giving up smoking i wanted all the sht out my system a.s.a.p and found after 3 months it was all down hill, i dont know if i could had given up on patches as this prolongs the suffering, but the benefits of giving up is unbelievable for me and my children.

 

[beorhthelm]

because its rebelious, its cool, sociable with like minded people, it goes sooo well with a pint of beer and its a stress relief. these reasons explain initial attraction and adoption in order. banning and restrictions have only serverd to increase the weight of the first three.

if you choose to smoke in this day and age with all the info and statistics on how damaging it is, then , i'm afraid , you are some kind of mong .......imho.:guitar:

There is NO excuse these days,... it kills you simple as that,..... any smoker today needs to get his head read, it WILL shorten your life

its damaging and might kill you. if you actually do look at the statistics you'd see only a fraction of smokers die from smoking or related disease (nice wish-washy term in itself, im sure subject to variation). statistically it will shorten your life, but how many of those statistics will cross-reference other life-style, health and demographic issue and account for them? ie if more lower earners smoke and lower earners have a shorter life expectancy do to poorer diets, living conditions etc, then how much of the shorter life expectancy is due to the smoking and how much due to the other factors? or put another way, the premise "if you smoke you will die from it" is false, theres simply isnt a one to one relationship and most smokers will die of somthing else.

im not advocating smoking 20 a day, just highlighting some of the accepted wisdom is from statistics presented by one side. lets ban it, i wouldnt be too fussed, but i hope we all accept the increase in income tax (takes 10x more revenue than cost to NHS, a cost still to be born for 50 years its banned), and we look to ban similarly dangerous products in our life: alcohol, all fats, common medicines, petrol and diesel, which all shorten life expectancy and cause deaths