Why Do You Smoke?

[Mike Smith]

In a recent article (http://www.ShoutWire.com/comments/10014/Smokers_Why_Do_You_Pay_for_Death) I tried to persuade individuals to stop smoking and also take advantage of common web resources to fully understand what's in a cigarette and what it can do to the body. I do have a few a few questions for our diverse and educated CBR crowd...

1. Why is smoking still such a major cause for health problems? Why are people still largely uneducated, granted the wealth of knowledge on the net?

2. If you smoke, how concerned are you about the extent of damage smoking can do to your body?

3. Anyone who has beaten their smoking habit, please share. Tell how you did it? Why you chose to do it? Your biggest struggles/concern? Do you still get cravings?

4. When did smokers start smoking?

5. What can health professionals do to lower the incidence of smoking? What would help you "kick" your habit? What could have prevented you from starting to smoke in the first place?

[Noah Johnson]

Speaking just for myself, I don't smoke cigarettes. I do, however, smoke a pipe, which is much lower risk of less-scary cancer. I'm somewhat concerned about it, but I write better with a pipe between my teeth, and since that's my livelihood... well, a man's gotta make a living. I started about three or four years ago.

[StoneGold]

Speaking just for myself, I don't smoke cigarettes. I do, however, smoke a pipe, which is much lower risk of less-scary cancer. I'm somewhat concerned about it, but I write better with a pipe between my teeth, and since that's my livelihood... well, a man's gotta make a living. I started about three or four years ago.
Just suck it up, be a man and find an alternative.

http://www.schylling.com/Great_Outdoors_w/BPC-1.gif

[twilight]

If I didn't the older kids wouldn't think I was cool.

[Trystenn]

In a recent article (http://www.ShoutWire.com/comments/10014/Smokers_Why_Do_You_Pay_for_Death) I tried to persuade individuals to stop smoking and also take advantage of common web resources to fully understand what's in a cigarette and what it can do to the body. I do have a few a few questions for our diverse and educated CBR crowd...

[quote] 1. Why is smoking still such a major cause for health problems? Why are people still largely uneducated, granted the wealth of knowledge on the net?
For the first part, i dunno.
The second part is, because we arent smoking out of ignorance, we havent been since like 40 years now?

2. If you smoke, how concerned are you about the extent of damage smoking can do to your body?
Not very, most of the damages are from people who smoke a lot over an extended amount of time, i have self control, so while im not saying no damage is being done, i can at least limit it.

4. When did smokers start smoking?
Too many variables, some people do it out of boredom, some stress, some just plain like it, who knows?

5. What can health professionals do to lower the incidence of smoking? What would help you "kick" your habit? What could have prevented you from starting to smoke in the first place?
Nothing, nothing could have prevented it, i started it because it was a stress reliever, and thats how i use it

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

In a recent article (http://www.ShoutWire.com/comments/10014/Smokers_Why_Do_You_Pay_for_Death) I tried to persuade individuals to stop smoking and also take advantage of common web resources to fully understand what's in a cigarette and what it can do to the body. I do have a few a few questions for our diverse and educated CBR crowd...

1. Why is smoking still such a major cause for health problems? Why are people still largely uneducated, granted the wealth of knowledge on the net?-

We're not uneducated, we just don't care.

2. If you smoke, how concerned are you about the extent of damage smoking can do to your body?

Yup.

Cure it already!

(actually I'm in the process of quitting - which means I keep flip-flopping between smoking and not smoking.


4. When did smokers start smoking?


This smoker started smoking in late highschool.


5. What can health professionals do to lower the incidence of smoking? What would help you "kick" your habit? What could have prevented you from starting to smoke in the first place?

They could either invent somthing that just stops you smoking, get it banned, or shut up.
We don't care what they have to say.

Encouraging it probably could have got me to stop.
Blowing it out of proportion like the media does puts it in the category of sex, drugs and alcohol - things that only bad people do, that turn out not to be that bad at all, and actually quite enjoyable.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Speaking just for myself, I don't smoke cigarettes. I do, however, smoke a pipe, which is much lower risk of less-scary cancer. I'm somewhat concerned about it, but I write better with a pipe between my teeth, and since that's my livelihood... well, a man's gotta make a living. I started about three or four years ago.

In all seriousness, didn't you/don't you feel a little pretentious doing it?

[Trystenn]

In all seriousness, didn't you/don't you feel a little pretentious doing it?
Im not even playing around, but i was thinking the same thing...

[Mike Smith]

Speaking just for myself, I don't smoke cigarettes. I do, however, smoke a pipe, which is much lower risk of less-scary cancer. I'm somewhat concerned about it, but I write better with a pipe between my teeth, and since that's my livelihood... well, a man's gotta make a living. I started about three or four years ago.

There is definitely a risk associated with it, though if you have a huge brown leather chair and slippers I must bow to your dapper nature.

.The second part is, because we arent smoking out of ignorance, we havent been since like 40 years now?...

Not very, most of the damages are from people who smoke a lot over an extended amount of time, i have self control, so while im not saying no damage is being done, i can at least limit it...

I'd say the public understands the full effects but it isn't true. I've asked people about the dangers of smoking and often hear something along the lines "Yeah, it's bad. Nicotine causes addiction and cancer. I only smoke a bit so I'm cool."

That's not quite the knowledge that is necessary for the public. If that or even a little above that represents the core of publics knowledge and attitude toward cigarettes, shame on medical organizations in effectively dissemenating information to the public.

(actually I'm in the process of quitting - which means I keep flip-flopping between smoking and not smoking.

Why are you flip-flopping between smoking/non? Are you chanelling John Kerry in you or is it perhaps cravings, pain, nausea, as time goes on?


Blowing it out of proportion like the media does puts it in the category of sex, drugs and alcohol - things that only bad people do, that turn out not to be that bad at all, and actually quite enjoyable.

I'd actually say the general media isn't doing enough, the The Truth ads are too over the top, and people aren't taking the dangers of smoking seriously enough.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Why are you flip-flopping between smoking/non? Are you chanelling John Kerry in you or is it perhaps cravings, pain, nausea, as time goes on?

It's I love smoking and drinking - it's a winning combination - and drinking without smoking takes some getting used to.

Okay, it's not just with drinking - it's that it's addictive - both chemically and habit wise - so it's easier to have a smoke than not.


I'd actually say the general media isn't doing enough, the The Truth ads are too over the top, and people aren't taking the dangers of smoking seriously enough.

Well I don't know about how it is in your country, but I think pictures of diesase ridden body parts on somthing that's legal is just a bit patronising.

[literally exaggerated]

To get high. I won't touch cigarettes.

[spideyrules99]

What I hate are those people who sue ater soming gives them cancer. Even if the companies did lie about some of the heath risks did anyone really think that sucking smoke and tar into thier bodies was a good thing. I think those people who do sue shoud get slapped and thrown out of court to make room for the major case. People who get fat from fast food.

Now I do smoke from time to time. I also aware of the heath risks when I smoke. I think this day in age with all the knowlege out there no one has a right to say wow I did not see this cancer thing comming.

[gary bolt]

I smoked for about 12 twelve years before I quit for good, from the age of 14 to 26 years.. I can't remember when I became a smoker but growing up I had three older siblings who smoked in the house and remember my oldest brother used to think it was cool to get me to light cigarettes for him and his friends. My high school had a smoking area and the kids hanging out there were more interesting than the ones hanging out in the library. Like Funky I really found that smoking and drinking were great complimentary habits. When I quit it was for health reasons. I didn't want a life-long habit to kill me. My wife and I quit together but it took a few tries. Going to bars and taking drags off of friends smokes signed out doom the first time we tried to quit. Cold turkey is the method I used but doing it with my wife helped l lot. I've seen heavy smoking couples where one tries to quit and the other doesn't and that is just too hard to do.

[Noah Johnson]

In all seriousness, didn't you/don't you feel a little pretentious doing it?
Pretentious? That would imply I'm pretending to be something I'm not. Since I define what I am, how could it be pretense? To put it another way, if I decide I'm a pipe-smoking kind of guy, then I'm not pretending to be that guy, I AM that guy.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

cause i gotta stay high-i-i-i-i-i til i die-i-i-i-i-i

[Michael P]

I smoke because people keep setting me on fire.

[gary bolt]

I smoke because people keep setting me on fire.

Stop, drop, and roll.

[Dan Apodaca]

1. Why is smoking still such a major cause for health problems? Why are people still largely uneducated, granted the wealth of knowledge on the net?

I think Funky's got it. It's not that we don't know, we just don't care.

2. If you smoke, how concerned are you about the extent of damage smoking can do to your body?

Concerned? Not at all. I started smoking in order to get cancer. Every day that I wake up healthy is another knife in my heart.

4. When did smokers start smoking?

I was seventeen when I became a smoker. I had been doing the "social smoker" thing at parties for a few months and decided I wanted to move to the next step.

5. What can health professionals do to lower the incidence of smoking? What would help you "kick" your habit? What could have prevented you from starting to smoke in the first place?

The only thing I can think of that would get me to stop smoking would be if the woman I loved asked me to.

Meaningful relationships and a feeling of self-worth are about the only things that might have kept me from smoking. After all, if I already had something to live for, I wouldn't be seeking out cancer.

[Mike Smith]

I think Funky's got it. It's not that we don't know, we just don't care.

I did fail to take into mind quite a few people on CBR tend to be well-educated and at least use web resources. In general, however, I've been shocked at the lack of knowledge shown by people.

Concerned? Not at all. I started smoking in order to get cancer. Every day that I wake up healthy is another knife in my heart.

In Bizarro Mother-Russia, cigarettes smoke in order to get you.

I was seventeen when I became a smoker. I had been doing the "social smoker" thing at parties for a few months and decided I wanted to move to the next step.

That's how I typically found it starts. I had a good friend who always had me "hold" her cigs. I just couldn't find solace in the taste or smell.

"I learned the truth at seventeen, the love was meant for beauty queens..."

I have the internet to offer for anyone who knows where those lyrics come from.

The only thing I can think of that would get me to stop smoking would be if the woman I loved asked me to.

Meaningful relationships and a feeling of self-worth are about the only things that might have kept me from smoking. After all, if I already had something to live for, I wouldn't be seeking out cancer.

You already know my opinion of you Dan along with quite a few other people. Your life is definitely worth living at highest quality, especially when you get married and have little Dan Apodacas running around. Having a weakened heart, lungs, and body is not a good trade for emotions we deal with in our younger days. Just something to perhaps keep in mind.

[Solaris]

In a recent article (http://www.ShoutWire.com/comments/10014/Smokers_Why_Do_You_Pay_for_Death) I tried to persuade individuals to stop smoking and also take advantage of common web resources to fully understand what's in a cigarette and what it can do to the body. I do have a few a few questions for our diverse and educated CBR crowd...

1. Why is smoking still such a major cause for health problems? Why are people still largely uneducated, granted the wealth of knowledge on the net?

2. If you smoke, how concerned are you about the extent of damage smoking can do to your body?

5. What can health professionals do to lower the incidence of smoking? What would help you "kick" your habit? What could have prevented you from starting to smoke in the first place?

1: I don't know how many people are actually "uneducated" about the damage smoking can cause, versus how many know and don't care; know and care but are too addicted; know but believe they'll be some of the luckier ones who *don't* get the worst problems; know but also feel like there's so many other things in life that *also* affect our health in a very bad way, what's the point in worrying about it? etc.


2: Somewhat concerned. In trying to sum up my feelings about it: Sooner or later, something's going to kill me anyway because we all die in the end... I'm not very thrilled with the idea of living to extreme old age and having 'round the clock care... for me it's a very strong addiction and since I don't have an equally strong desire to fight it... my vices are very few, but I'm allowed some... I can go to great lengths to diet, exercise, eat organic foods only, drink only purified and filtered bottled water, not smoke, drink in moderation every day, and do every other thing the health professionals tell us to do or to avoid---and I can still die from cancer caused by air pollution, or heart disease caused by genetic factors, etc.

There just comes a point in life when you realize that going all-out health nut reduces the quality of your life... because you're so worried about staying healthy, and so worried about staving death off as long as possible, that you aren't really enjoying the time you *have* here---you're too busy trying to "stay alive."

Put it this way: I'd rather live 60 years having fun and coping with life as best I can, than 95 years that were filled with being uber-conscious of every drop, bite, breath, and step. The latter creates an anxiety in my life that I just don't frickin' need.

So. Yes, I advise against anyone who *doesn't* smoke *starting* smoking. It *has* been documented to increase health risks, often by a significant amount; it *does* cause some level of addition (both physical and behavioral) in nearly everyone who starts smoking; it *does* turn off some potential dating partners, or in general can create anything from a nuisance to (for those allergic or with conditions like asthma) a health risk to people who are around you when you smoke; AND, in our times it also incurs a fair amount of negative reactions, chastisement, verbal slams, etc. from many members of our society. But for someone who's already on the smoke train, well, it's their choice to quit or not to quit. For me, I'm nowhere near ready to quit, and I don't worry about it anymore.


5: I don't know, I don't know, and what likely would've prevented me the first time around (freshman in high school) would've been not hanging *exclusively* with my friends who smoked, and not being in a state of rebellion against authority and parents. For the second time I started, it was in impulse during a period of extreme depression, and I doubt anything would've prevented it.

[PatrickG]

There are studies showing that nicotine is an anti-depressant and more effective than many clinical treatments. I'm fairly sure that I read something not too long ago where there are scientists trying to figure out how to extract those properties from nicotine without the side effects.

Bottom line, IMO, is that smoking, alcoholism, chronic drug use, most prostitution, homelessness and most social "ills" are the result of flaws in society. Simply put, society is failing people to the point to where a LOT of people would rather face painful death or imprisonment than face the world the way it is.

Most smokers I know recognize it as a slow form of suicide and joke about it.

There are a lot of very concerned people who think that making people "face reality" will correct their self-destructive behavior when, in fact, it only increases it.

You chew out a smoker or tell them about the fate they're setting themselves up for and this stresses them out. You stress them out and guess what? They want to smoke! If you go after them when they're smoking a cigarette, they'll probably need another.

The bottom line, IMO, is that quiet compassion goes a great deal farther towards fixing the world's problems than, "OMG! The sky is falling!"

Post-9/11, the worst reaction to have IMO was, "We need to DO SOMETHING BOLD!" Post-Columbine, the worst reaction to have was, "We need to DO SOMETHING BOLD!"

And I also happen to think it's the worst strategy for combatting addiction in the average cigarette smoker, alcoholic or drug addict unless they're AT DEATH'S DOOR. If there's any more quiet, sensitive way to help a person then I think compassionate, intelligent people are obligated to go that route.

[Linguini]

Why do I smoke weeeeed. Because its awesome and the feeling is amazing. If you just tryed it you would be amazed. I do it with a limit so I dont get addicted to it.

[StoneGold]

Why do I smoke weeeeed. Because its awesome and the feeling is amazing. If you just tryed it you would be amazed. I do it with a limit so I dont get addicted to it.
Sure ya don't. And I keep putting my penis in a light socket, but with limits.

[Linguini]

Nice man, Nice.

[Noah Johnson]

Why do I smoke weeeeed. Because its awesome and the feeling is amazing. If you just tryed it you would be amazed. I do it with a limit so I dont get addicted to it.
I've tried it, didn't much like it. Don't enjoy inhaling it, don't much like the sensation, and most often it winds up giving me a headache.

Not that I have anything against weed, of course, but it's just not at all to my taste.

[Gorthaur]

I smoke because I enjoy the taste, smell, and watching the smoke twirl in the evening sun. It's relaxing and comforting.

As for the effects on my health, I'm well aware of both the negative and positive effects (another one that wasn't mentioned is that the human body breaks nicotine into cotine, which in turn boosts memory and works as a deterrent to diseases like Alzheimer's - meaning that I'll have the sharp mind required to fully appreciate my future emphysema), I just can't bring myself to care all that much. 'Sides, I've already lived too long as it is.

[UniqueFrequency]

[QUOTE=Sir Edward]Like Funky I really found that smoking and drinking were great complimentary habits. When I quit it was for health reasons. [QUOTE]

same discovery and same reasons. unfortunately i think i'll be going on and off when exam periods come.. say what you want about health reasons, it does help deal well with stress

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Bottom line, IMO, is that smoking, alcoholism, chronic drug use, most prostitution, homelessness and most social "ills" are the result of flaws in society. Simply put, society is failing people to the point to where a LOT of people would rather face painful death or imprisonment than face the world the way it is.


That's BS dude.

Smoking, drinking and drug use start out because they are FUN!
Now they may not be good things, but you have to face the fact that they are fun and relaxing.
Problem is, they can be addictive.
I know I didn't have my first drink/smoke/narcotic because I was trying to hide from the world.
It's because others doing it seemed to be enjoying themselves, and when I tried it, I enjoyed myself as well.
Sex is fun as well. Prostitution seems to come about because someone can't/doesn't have time to find someone else to have sex with them -which they either want for fun, or a bit of comfort because they can't find anyone else, or the their missus has hot menopause.
Homelessness comes about due to someone being dead broke or mentally ill.
That's the only thing on your list which is a result of society failing people though.

[Forefinger]

I smoke a cigar VERY infrequently, but occasionally.

[Dan Apodaca]

I also want to say that I would quit smoking the very instant that my significant other was pregnant with my child. My wife will probably be someone who smokes, too, so I'll quit with her to support her.

[Mike Smith]

Thank you everyone for the responses, it's really helpful.

One other question I forgot...

There are some individuals who have proposed an extra tax be placed on items such as cigarettes and also "junk food" due to the liklihood of eventual health problems and strain it will put on overall economy. Is this type of attitude or belief baseless? Is is somewhat fair or with merit?

[Dan Apodaca]

Thank you everyone for the responses, it's really helpful.

One other question I forgot...

There are some individuals who have proposed an extra tax be placed on items such as cigarettes and also "junk food" due to the liklihood of eventual health problems and strain it will put on overall economy. Is this type of attitude or belief baseless? Is is somewhat fair or with merit?

Well, I'd really have to do more research into it, but there already are taxes on cigarettes. And in some places, it can cost around ten bucks a pack, which is absolutely ridiculous.

There's also the fact that cigarette tax money would not necessarilly go right to paying for the effects of smoking., Most likely, you'd be making me pay more money for building prisons.

How about if I don't plan on getting any medical care the effects of my smoking? Can I sign a waiver and get a discount? What if I've been very healthy all my life, and this would really just put me in the range of the average American? Where's the line between excess strain and acceptable loss?

It seems like it would screw more people than it would help.

[Fenris]

Thank you everyone for the responses, it's really helpful.

One other question I forgot...

There are some individuals who have proposed an extra tax be placed on items such as cigarettes and also "junk food" due to the liklihood of eventual health problems and strain it will put on overall economy. Is this type of attitude or belief baseless? Is is somewhat fair or with merit?

Well, if you want to deter a behavior, making it more expensive is definitely one way of doing so. So that makes a degree of sense.

(A weird twist: the big lawsuit against the tobacco companies, a few years back, gave each state several million to distribute as they pleased. My home state, South Carolina, gave it to... tobacco farmers! After all, with the tobacco industry paying out all this money, they were facing hard times.)


It isn't "fair," necessarily, in that it's unclear how the economy is harmed. Yes, senior smokers are more liable to get lung cancer- but senior citizens get all kinds of expensive illnesses. Everyone dies of something, after all.

I've seen cold-blooded arguments that smoking actually helps the economy- on average, it kills smokers shortly after they start drawing Social Security, leaving more money for everyone else.

õ
But we need cheap junk food!

[atorifan]

back to the topic, i smoke cuz i'm addicted. i grew up with it. now i can't imagine life without them. i'm in the car too long, and i need something to keep me busy for a moment. and i need that burning in my lungs every day. something is missing from my life when i don't smoke. when i've tried to quit, it never sticks because of the above reasons, it never lasts. and lastly, i appraoch too many stank ass apartments for work, without the nose killing effects, my job would be extremely bad and not just repetitively bad.

[Mike Smith]

Here's a few stats from the American Cancer Society (sorry stats US based)...

The tobacco industry is one of the most profitable businesses in the country, making billions of dollars yearly. But the costs of smoking are far higher than the income from cigarette sales.

* Smoking causes more than $167 billion each year in health-related costs, including the cost of lost productivity due to smoking.

* Smoking-related medical costs totaled more than $75 billion in 1998 and accounted for 8% of personal health care medical expenditures.

* Death-related productivity losses due to smoking among workers cost the US economy more than $92 billion yearly (average for 1997-2001).

* For each pack of cigarettes sold in 1999, $3.45 was spent on medical care due to smoking, plus $3.73 in lost productivity, for a total cost of $7.18 per pack.

[Dan Apodaca]

The thing is, there are plenty of other ways to make that money back that don't make it more difficult for people to follow their constitutional "pursuit of happiness".

If you make cigarettes more expensive, I'll just buy lower-quality cigarettes. I won't be happy about it, but I'll make sure to blow that smoke in everybody's faces. After all, if you make me pay for healthcare costs, you lose the right to bitch at me about incurring them.

[StoneGold]

I also want to say that I would quit smoking the very instant that my significant other was pregnant with my child. My wife will probably be someone who smokes, too, so I'll quit with her to support her.
You'd quit for the hooker you accidentally knocked up?

[Dan Apodaca]

You'd quit for the hooker you accidentally knocked up?

I'd quit for the baby.

[Mike Smith]

The thing is, there are plenty of other ways to make that money back that don't make it more difficult for people to follow their constitutional "pursuit of happiness".

If you make cigarettes more expensive, I'll just buy lower-quality cigarettes. I won't be happy about it, but I'll make sure to blow that smoke in everybody's faces. After all, if you make me pay for healthcare costs, you lose the right to bitch at me about incurring them.

Though smoking is taxing on the economy I personally think the thought is a little farfetched and unfair to smokers . It doesn't negate the fact that it isn't right to single out a certain harmful behavior in which some choose to partake while other behaviors go scot free. Also, I think it somehow sullies the spirt of being able to make free personal choices.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Though smoking is taxing on the economy I personally think the thought is a little farfetched and unfair to smokers . It doesn't negate the fact that it isn't right to single out a certain harmful behavior in which some choose to partake while other behaviors go scot free. Also, I think it somehow sullies the spirt of being able to make free personal choices.

Is it?

We pay so much tax on the buggers down here, that I fail to see ho we're taxing the economy at all.

Edit to add:

I also have to pay more money if I want to join a health fund.
(which actually works to prove the drain point actually - I'm sticking with my medicare until the day I quit because I don't want to pay more).

[OzBat!]

There are a lot of very concerned people who think that making people "face reality" will correct their self-destructive behavior when, in fact, it only increases it.
.
.
.
And I also happen to think it's the worst strategy for combatting addiction in the average cigarette smoker, alcoholic or drug addict unless they're AT DEATH'S DOOR. If there's any more quiet, sensitive way to help a person then I think compassionate, intelligent people are obligated to go that route.Unfortunately, the "quiet compassion" route didn't help my father. I lived 1000 miles away for the last ten years of his life, and it tore me apart as he continued to smoke and nobody there would do anything. My brothers were also off with their own families, so it was my mother and sisters who wouldn't put on the hard word. To be fair, the girls were born a good ten years after the boys, and by this stage Dad was already showing early symptoms... they'd never known him to be completely healthy. When they really realised what was going on they started destroying his secret stashes down in his workshop and around the house. He only stopped when the emphysema rendered him too week to go to the shops unassisted, and Mum finally stopped assisting his addiction.

And with emphysema, "AT DEATH'S DOOR" is when you get it. It doesn't go away. Your lungs are on a slow meltdown and all you can do is try and inhibit the rate they turn to sludge.

On the flip side, my wife's grandfather smoked like a trooper until he passed away at 104, so I'm well and truly aware that cigarettes affect different people to different degrees. But you can be damn certain that my kids know that our family at least, has a genetic propensity for emphysema. They won't be inhaling anything except air for a good long while.

[Tages]

1. Why is smoking still such a major cause for health problems? Why are people still largely uneducated, granted the wealth of knowledge on the net?
Maybe because the self-righteous busybody tone of the anti-tobacco crusaders turns us off.

2. If you smoke, how concerned are you about the extent of damage smoking can do to your body?
Living to 80 is not high on my list of priorities.

3. Anyone who has beaten their smoking habit, please share. Tell how you did it? Why you chose to do it? Your biggest struggles/concern? Do you still get cravings?
I quit seven weeks ago, cold turkey, for Lent. I had virtually no difficulty in doing so without a single craving.

I'm thinking of starting again, but I currently have a sore throat, so I'm not smoking.

4. When did smokers start smoking?
When did I start smoking? In 2004, because of the influence of friends and Humphrey Bogart movies. Also, those "Truth" commercials piss me off.

5. What can health professionals do to lower the incidence of smoking? What would help you "kick" your habit? What could have prevented you from starting to smoke in the first place?
This is exactly the sort of tone that deafens my ears to the overtures of all the crusaders out there who are oh-so-concerned with making my life better. First, I don't need help to kick my habit. If I want to smoke, I smoke. If I don't, I don't. If the physical need for nicotine outweighs peoples' desire to quit then they just don't want to quit badly enough to do it. It's an addictive substance, not mind control drugs.

What could have prevented me from smoking? Uh, me deciding not to smoke? This question is phrased as if I was blindsided by tobacco one day and have no will of my own. "Please, Mr. Public Health Advocate Person! I'm a helpless addict and if only I had your help I could save myself from a lifetime of thankless misery to this filthy weed!"

Things like the "Truth" ads and after school special-style "reports" on the dangers of smoking tend to come off so patronizing I feel like I should be wearing a hat with a propellor on it.

[Mike Smith]

Is it?

We pay so much tax on the buggers down here, that I fail to see ho we're taxing the economy at all.

Edit to add:

I also have to pay more money if I want to join a health fund.
(which actually works to prove the drain point actually - I'm sticking with my medicare until the day I quit because I don't want to pay more).

Yes, it is. I'm not sure how stats I've seen (from CDC, ACS) in the long run the taxes do not offset the total cost to economy.


@ Tages.

The thing is it isn't my health and as long as I'm not inhaling any one elses smoke, I'm fine. People should do as they will. My concern, however, comes from going into healthcare. Many young people smoke, have a "whatever" attitude, then you see sad cases of 50-60 year olds with heart conditions, various types of cancer, emphysema lamenting on how they wish they had lived a different life. It's sad to see it.

What drives doctors to have care about people beyond money? Some actually have compassion and actively seek to constantly provide information/services so others can have a better quality of life. When information is presented and thrown back in ones face, it's perplexing how some people really disregard the chances/liklihood that smoking will negatively affect their quality of life.

I'm likely just young and naiive to many things, but I really am disappointed for the disregard some people seem to take for their own bodies. "But bastard it's not your business!". I know, that's why I want to be doctor.

[Iangould]

Okay, here's what I don't understand about smoking:

I drink alcohol, I get drunk.

I drink coffee I get wired.

I smoke pot, I get high.

I eat 'shrooms, I trip.

I smoke tobacco .... nothing.

Tobacco seems to me to be the most boring drug imaginable and I just don't understand the appeal.

[Gorthaur]

Eh, well, different people get their kicks from vastly different things. Me, I find the soothing and meditative qualities of smoking far preferable to any buzz I've ever gotten from alcohol.

[Noah Johnson]

Maybe because the self-righteous busybody tone of the anti-tobacco crusaders turns us off.
Frankly, I don't buy this. Anybody trying to do anything decent for anybody else can be accused of being a self-righteous busybody, so the accusation itself doesn't carry any rhetorical weight.

[Tages]

Okay, here's what I don't understand about smoking:

I drink alcohol, I get drunk.

I drink coffee I get wired.

I smoke pot, I get high.

I eat 'shrooms, I trip.

I smoke tobacco .... nothing.

Tobacco seems to me to be the most boring drug imaginable and I just don't understand the appeal.
People are just so expressive while smoking. You can tell someone's mood from how they smoke. It's fun and damn stylish, but maybe I just watch too many old movies.

And nicotine is a mood enhancer. If you're stressed, it can calm you down. If you're bored, it can psych you up.

[Tages]

Frankly, I don't buy this. Anybody trying to do anything decent for anybody else can be accused of being a self-righteous busybody, so the accusation itself doesn't carry any rhetorical weight.
My experience is somewhat different (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showpost.php?p=1358594&postcount=735).