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Do you smoke?

Do you smoke?

  • Yes

    Votes: 66 15.4%

  • No

    Votes: 319 74.5%

  • Occasionally

    Votes: 43 10.0%
  • Total voters
    428
EricNau said:
Congratulations! :)
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thank you. certainly wasn't the easiest thing to do. and i still get cravings at times. doesn't help that i was surrounded by it growing up and found out my mother even smoked while pregnant with me... which i can't help but wonder gave me the cravings in the first place before i started.... but i digress.
 
yellow said:
I smoked for 20 years and just quit cold turkey 5 months ago.
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Wow-- much congratulations :)

I do smoke, and it is a disgusting habit. I suppose I justify this vile habit by saying my work is stress-filled, and I do eat healthily and go to the gym...
 
I did, but gave it up quickly, found it was too expensive for no gain, I generally despise smokers because the only reason they started smoking in the first place (for everyone I know atleast), was to look cool during school time... Which is pathetic,

Kid A "Hi guys, I've got lung cancer"
Kid B "OMG that's so cool"
Kid C "Can I touch it?"
 
6 smoke free days and counting.

In the last few months I've been having neck pain. After 2 MRIs and an xray, it turns out that I have spinal stenosis, or, narrowing of the spinal canal. Nobody is quite sure what causes it but smokers are way more likely to have it than non-smokers. It's not just all about lung cancer.

I've "quit" twice before. Once for 3 months and once for 9 months. So, I know what initially works and what doesn't. This time around I have the added benefit of a massive reduction in neck pain and headaches. I really wasn't expecting it to go away, just not worsen so it's been a powerful motivating factor for me.

Little Ugg is way more perky than before!
Exercise isn't as tiring.
I don't have a miasma of smoker's stench surrounding me.
 
No, I haven't smoked personally, I never will. But I don't care if anyone else does. Some of my friends at work smoke, and after work I sometimes stand outside and talk with them whilst they smoke. I simply stand further away from them so I don't inhale the fumes. That said, it's their choice whether people smoke or not and I'm not going to preach to them to stop because it's bad for their health. But, yeah.. just don't do it around me.
 
I can't believe that it's nearly 10 years ago that I quit. I have had the odd death stick on occasion, but on the whole I find it to be a disgusting habit.
 
No. I don't plan to start.

It's amazing to see how smoking (of multiple kinds if you catch my drift ;)) affects so many people who are around my age in such a negative and detrimental way. (14)

If I want to kill myself I'll jump off a bridge. :D
 
I used to smoke like a chimney but I've quit for the past... week. I have to pass a drug test in a few days. ;)

but I digress, I smoke a cigarette every so often, but not lately. I guess because it's winter and I hate standing outside in the cold.
 
blackfox said:
You know, these smoking threads are always interesting to muse upon, because when you think about it there are larger issues involved, and I wonder how consistent people are in regards to them.

Rationally speaking, smoking is bad. It is patently unhealthy, and certainly causes undue misery for many in any number of manners.

Drinking is similarily bad. So is the using of almost all illicit drugs. So is gambling. So is random and/or unprotected sex. So is caffeine. So is bacon/greasy diets. So is salt. So are some fetishes. So is driving too fast. You can compile quite a list.

While you can quibble about the differences in how these above things are bad and unhealthy, you are arguing about technicality, not the essential truth - which is that there is a mountain of evidence to say that all these things can rightfully be called detrimental.

There is another commonality between these things, however, in that they are all "fun" for lack of better wording. This concept is rather hard to pin down, but it is these things that add the "zest" to life, that make us feel most alive, even as we tacitly acknowledge that often times we are risking that very life. Perhaps it is that risk, perhaps it's a psychology of chemical reactions in the brain - of adrenaline, of dopamine, of whatever. Laughter and attitude are not negligible concepts, however - they make our lives worth living, make things interesting and in some cases, make us live where we might otherwise die.

So to those of you who think poorly of smoking - fine, that is your right, and you certainly have a compelling case. To those who think poorly of smokers, you too have a compelling case, insofar as their activities impact your life. But be careful what you argue, because there is more at stake that some stupid people and their willingness to buy cancersticks.

There is always a social cost to irresponsible fun, although it is often harmless enough. Would you really have your "fun" legislated away to criminality? Have your choice made for you, even if the evidence seemed rationally compelling?

Liberty is a tough standard to adhere to, as it requires personal responsibility that not everyone can muster, at least not all the time - and those lapses have consequences. Despite this, it would not be a world worth living without.

Still, if you as an individual wants to exercise this liberty - to smoke, to drink, to have careless sex in an office closet - you must have no illusions about the responsibilities inherent in those choices, if you wish to continue to cherish those rights. Nothing comes for free, even "fun".

If you think I am defending smoking, or even exclusively talking about it - you are missing the point.

Look, half the time, I can't argue my way out of a paper bag - so perhaps you will not see my point or you might disagree with it. This post only serves as a discussion piece, nothing more.

So now I am off to get some drinks, have some fun, hopefully make some choices that sober I might actually think were stupid, perhaps meet people I woudn't normally meet and have an interesting tale to tell. Then I will take a cab home. Goodnight.
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This thread should have ended after this guys post. I think he really said it all.
 
I do not smoke, and never will.

As a very recent cancer survivor, I have a different view on smoking now than previously. While I know that not all smokers get cancer, just the thought of going though treatment makes me cringe. When I see a smoker now, I feel sorry for them, as I see the very real possibility of them sitting in an infusion room for no reason... totally preventable.

For anyone who is has quit, is going to, or is currently in the process. Good work, go for it, or keep at it; not smoking or using tobacco can cut out 1/3 of all cancers!
 
I quit about 14 months ago using Chantix. It was certainly rough the first few months but, after fighting the cravings (which would only last a few minutes) and changing my routine a bit, I don't even think about them anymore. My coworker still smokes and he smells so bad when he comes back inside - it's really disgusting and I can't believe I used to smell like that and not be aware of it. It's such a selfish habit, all of the activities and events with my kids that I interrupted so I could have a smoke, I very seriously regret having started in the first place. I know Chantix is under some scrutiny for the side-effects but I can say I really didn't suffer too badly at all, it made me fatigued - that's about all. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law both tried at about the same time on Chantix and were unsuccessful though, didn't like the way it made them feel.
 
TheRedOx said:
I quit about 14 months ago using Chantix. It was certainly rough the first few months but, after fighting the cravings (which would only last a few minutes) and changing my routine a bit, I don't even think about them anymore. My coworker still smokes and he smells so bad when he comes back inside - it's really disgusting and I can't believe I used to smell like that and not be aware of it. It's such a selfish habit, all of the activities and events with my kids that I interrupted so I could have a smoke, I very seriously regret having started in the first place. I know Chantix is under some scrutiny for the side-effects but I can say I really didn't suffer too badly at all, it made me fatigued - that's about all. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law both tried at about the same time on Chantix and were unsuccessful though, didn't like the way it made them feel.
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I've tried the patch and Wellbutrin before and neither worked so despite Chantix's success rates, I decided not to go that route. I was also very concerned with the high rate of suicidal thoughts amongst Chantix users.

Today is day 7 and it's going mostly ok. I'm normally a very heavy and consistent sleeper but have been waking up once or twice a night. Hopefully that won't last too much longer!
 
Never smoked, but I'm moving to Austria in September where I think the majority of people smoke (I can't remember statistics), there's a very different attitude than in the UK and the smoking ban is pathetic.

I'll either go berserk at constantly stinking of smoke/breathing in smoke on a night out or end up trying it just to get away from the smell (because apparently if you smoke you don't notice it?)
 
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