What is your opinion about smoking (tobacco)?

[Mikobass]

Since the earliest age I can remember I despised tobacco. I remember the dreadfull hours when I had to suffer for hours while riding in my parents car while my mother and father smoked all the way. Later in life, I found that not only was it annoying, it is also harmful for health. I also learned that my grand-father used to smoke like 3 packs a day and died of lung cancer the day before I was born. My mother died of an heart-attack when I was 18.

On may 30, my province finally decided to ban tobacco completely from restaurants and bars. So my question is : Are you smoking and why? Have you ever tried or even thought to quit smoking?

 

[Demilich]

My opinion is that we all do so many other things which are gravely hazardous to our health on some level (driving, buying products which contain chemicals, supporting industries/factories, etc.) that to ban smoking without banning a lot of other things is unfair and taking aim at a particular facet of society. You could argue that these other detrimental things we do are "more important" than smoking, but who are you to make that judgment for another person?

 

[Silver Incubus]

As a previous smoker, I think this ban is actually a good thing. They cannot ban the substance, but the price inflation and less opportunities to smoke make it more of a hassle then something enjoyable. The effects have long been reasearched and the negative effects are quite serious. At the same time, I am for freedom to do what you want. I think people would be better off growing and drying and rolling thier own, because that would at least get rid of some of the harmful chemicals put into the tobbacco to keep it freash and in the paper/glue.
Now when childern are concerned, I think it is important for the so called adult to take responsibility and not smoke in the car with their kids, but because people will not do that, they have even banned smoking in you vehicle because it is enclosed. Now as good as this is, it is very invasive to your privacy, and if you are by yourself you should beable to smoke in you car/truck if you want as a free citizen. But then again, as I had pointed out to me, Canada, really is a police state, I was just to blind to see it.

 

[Norsemaiden]

Smoking is a stupid habit. Here in Britain we are taxed to pay for the NHS (National Health Service) and it is so overloaded by the need to look after idiots who are harming themselves with their unhealthy habits that it can hardly afford to care properly for the deserving.

How can people who smoke care about environmental pollution giving them cancer, etc. It is hypocrisy if they do - but presumably they don't care about pollution so much.

Children brought up with smoking parents will probably have this addiction themselves - also they associate the smell of smoke with their parents from an early age - and this has the effect of their having difficulty when it comes to mate selection. The genetic odour of a person tells you subconsciously how well matched you are. Smoke and perfumes mask this. The child brought up in a smoking household associates the smell of smoke with love and comfort (if their parents were otherwise caring) and feels a need for this even as an adult.

Smokers don't care about themselves, and must also not consider, as much as they should, the welfare of anyone else. Smoking is a death wish.

 

[Consuming Impulse]

smoke it occasionally. fight the urge to smoke with beef jerky slim jims and lemons when it feels to soon to smoke again.

 

[Tongue_Ring]

everyone i've ever met has been smoking since they were about 12 (partially because of the "Joe Camel" ads) but i can't get addicted to smoking because when i try to smoke i get too much of the smoke going into my stomach, i've had doctors telling me that the smoke going into my stomach is a safety mechanism preventing me from getting enough in my lungs to be able to get addicted to it

 

[Doll]

Well as a smoker myself, I can say that it relieves stress for me sometimes when I need it. Sneak outside of class or work and take a few puffs, refreshed. I don't remember why I started smoking. Prolly cause my rents did. I mean, if you think about it - as a kid you sit there watching your parents do this and that, and it seems cool and you want to join them. Finally, you get to play poker with them (I was only 6 and now I'm 16 - ten years of poker and gambling with my relatives), so when I was 9 I tried smoking, I was on and off since then, as things got harder - when I needed a stress reliever - there was always a cigarette in my nanna's purse.

So thus, I believe that most kids are influenced by their family, by the activities that they endure in and how much fun they're having, and then you kind of feel left out and then finally, you're like well fuck it, I wanna do this with them. 6 years of watching them and nothing, so I'm gonna jump in and ask to play poker, and then I'm gonna have the balls to tell them that I've been smoking since I'm 9 and I'm 12 now, provide me. I think as long as you're responsible with it - then you're fine. Go for check ups on your lungs, try to cut down and save money by buying a pack of gum when you've had your limit - then noone should have a say in what you smoke or what you do if you have self control. There.

 

[Doll]

Now.. I am going to have a cigarette. =)

 

[War_Blade]

i smoke once in a while but i have never bought a pack my entire life. I litterally have no friends who dont smoke. So i often the weirdo who isnt smoking.

I just cant see myself paying for them, to much money. I need that money for useful things, like alcohol.

 

[Doll]

Hmm, not to mention that people get themselves in obstacles that sometimes they can't get out of. Sometimes we need to fight to get out. It's a life lesson, let people die from lung cancer because they're stupid and smoked. Who really cares

 

[Mikobass]

I often hear the argument of freedom. But where does freedom ends? I see smoking as a being one of the most egoistic habits. You do it for yourself, you don't care about secondary smoke harrassing non-smokers. Furthermore, when smokers get sick, they are using public services funded by public ressources (in my country anyway). You don't even care about the possibility of dying and leaving your familly and friends behind. And what for? A little relaxing effect? I walways wondered why the nows are so more important then the tommorrows for most people...

 

[Discovery]

I've smoked off and on for the past few years but stopped when i started getting in shape. If more smokers actually started exercising they'd realize how much it slows them down and would be more motivated to give it up. I'm convinced smokers don't get any exercise at all.

 

[speed]

I often hear the argument of freedom. But where does freedom ends? I see smoking as a being one of the most egoistic habits. You do it for yourself, you don't care about secondary smoke harrassing non-smokers. Furthermore, when smokers get sick, they are using public services funded by public ressources (in my country anyway). You don't even care about the possibility of dying and leaving your familly and friends behind. And what for? A little relaxing effect? I walways wondered why the nows are so more important then the tommorrows for most people...

Im glad someone brought up the philosophical nature of this habit. ITs a slippery slope however. There are a number of things that are harmful to others, that persons do for pleasure that are not banned. I do not like the utilitarian egalitarian idea that we should ban smoking because it offends the majority of our non-smoking population. The only true philosophical problem I see, is that of the harmful effects of second hand smoke.

 

[War_Blade]

no that is stupid. People have been smoking for thosands of years. just because you don't like it doesnt mean that they can't smoke. Smoking is banned from most public places anyways. If you dont want to be around the smoke then just leave.

 

[Nemesis_lxix]

Smoking is just an other habit that pleases you but also causes damage,like alcohol or unhealthy food.
I used to smoke a lot when younger but I managed to reduce it.Now I only smoke when I get the chance or just feel like it.
It also have to do with mental factors.Like past experiences.
When I was in school and smoking was forbidden, I used to smoke all the time and also when I was at home and my mom got pissed if she smelled smoke, I used to go out and do 5-6 per day.Now I go to university and you can practically smoke even inside some large classrooms but I don’t feel like it anymore.
I also have my own house but hardly ever smoke in there.
It is all just an idea,You smoke just because you feel like it and you can easily cut it if you just don’t think about it,then your carnal need for smoke will go away with time.

 

[Keltoi]

I've smoked for around 10 years. Not a chain smoker or anything but I do smoke too much I'm sure. However, there is a level of hypocrisy when you start picking and choosing what habits we can have and what habits we can't have. Is alcohol somehow "better" for you? Of course not. People die in alcohol related accidents, and alcoholism does more damage to an individual and their families than smoking every thought about. I don't want them to ban alcohol either, I love it. Personal choice and responsibility are the name of the game here.

 

[Mikobass]

I've smoked for around 10 years. Not a chain smoker or anything but I do smoke too much I'm sure. However, there is a level of hypocrisy when you start picking and choosing what habits we can have and what habits we can't have. Is alcohol somehow "better" for you? Of course not. People die in alcohol related accidents, and alcoholism does more damage to an individual and their families than smoking every thought about. I don't want them to ban alcohol either, I love it. Personal choice and responsibility are the name of the game here.

You got a good point there; Other things can be as harmful as smoking. Yet, the fact that other things are also harmful does not make smoking less damageable. Let's continue on the alcohol exemple. I think the difference between alcohol and cigarette is the difference in the frequency of usage. The ratio of cigarette per day for smokers is way higher then the ratio of consumation per day for drinkers. Usually, smoker tend to smoke quite a few cigarettes a day while only a few drinkers drink more then one glass/bottle of alcohol a day. Now I guess we'd have to calculate the damage done by one glass of wine vs one cigarettes on health to have a clearer picture. One thing for sure though, the human body can eliminate the alcohol through the blood purification process but has no biological way to eliminate the smoke residues from the lungs.

Also, I must point out that all countries have laws for drinking and driving and no country yet have such laws for smoking and driving. So there are instances where alcohol is on even shorter leash then smoking.

That being said I do understand the fact that people don't like to be told what they should do and to see their liberty reduced. But it's the lesser of two evils...

 

[infoterror]

On may 30, my province finally decided to ban tobacco completely from restaurants and bars.

Government-based solutions make people passive. If you want smoking to end, ban tobacco.

Incidentally, Adolf Hitler tried -- and it almost cost him his Fuehrer-ship. He detested tobacco and considered the starting point of his success the ending of that vile habit.

 

[Mitton]

In essence smokers are committing suicide slowly,half of all smokers die from tabacco related illnesses and smokers can die up to 10 years younger.Whats it in aid of? Nothing its a bad habit that can cost you your life.

 

[Norsemaiden]

A glass of wine a day is very good for you. Red wine in particular contains anti-oxidants and is good for the heart, as long as it is not drunk to excess. Statistics show that moderate drinkers live longer than those who don't drink alcolhol. No amount of cigarrettes is good for you and it makes you age prematurely and get a saggy arse, as well as breath like an ashtray. How can the pleasure of the cigarette outweight the disadvantages like that?