I'm not. Smoking a little (e.g. 1 cigarette a day) is inexpensive, has very little harmful effects to your health but allows you to enjoy the cultural experience of that particular drug.
For some reason people these days think that it's pretty much okay to drink a lot of alcohol which is very expensive and very unhealthy, but if someone smokes here and there it's "crazy", "stupid" and "very expensive".
One can get nicotine through e-cigs, patches, or gum. There's no need to inhale a bunch of things that are bad for you.
Even if tobacco was perfectly healthy, it has other issues. It ruins your sense of taste, making foods bland. Many people dislike the smell. And smoking just one cigarette a day requires near-superhuman willpower. It would likely become an expensive habit.
One can get nicotine through e-cigs, patches, or gum. There's no need to inhale a bunch of things that are bad for you.
Yes. I didn't argue for nicotine consumption through smoking.
It ruins your sense of taste, making foods bland.
I don't think smoking one cigarette a day does this. Do you have a source for that claim?
Many people dislike the smell. And smoking just one cigarette a day requires near-superhuman willpower. It would likely become an expensive habit.
I agree that smoking pack a day is pretty expensive and unhealthy. So if someone smokes a cigarette a day and doesn't start smoking more than that, then that person is smoking a cigarette per day. Some who smoke one cigarette per day will start smoke more, some will not.
I really don't care. If you want to believe that you're not hurting yourself by smoking a cigarette a day, that's your prerogative. Ask any doctor and they'll tell you different though.
Buying cigarettes means giving money to tobacco companies. I firmly believe these are an example of corporations bein evil - which I understand is a controversial opinion on HN.
The tactics (spread fear and misunderstanding; discredit your oponents) have been taken up by other campaign groups (eg, anti climate change groups) often using the same scientists for hire.
"Vaping" avoids most of the social stigma of smoking and if you buy carefully you avoid giving money to tobacco companies.
Nicotine on its own is vasoconstrictive. The compounds in tobacco smoke altogether are dialative. Tobacco smoke has MOAB agonists and aromatase inhibitors. Tobacco smoke lowers serotonin sensitivity while I don't think pure nicotine does this.
Vaping is really not a substitute for tobacco smoke as it is missing a bunch of chemicals.
My parents both smoked. I graduated high school in 1975. I never took it up, in part because I was nerdishly unaffected by peer pressure from the cool kids, in part because it just never interested me, in part because I knew that it would kill me.
There were lots of PSAs in that era about the dangers of smoking, so I think it was also partly a rebellion on my part, against "those stupid adults."
I've been very up front and unrelenting with my kid about smoking and other hazards. I think I've been successful so far. It helps that not that many kids smoke, so I think there's less peer pressure.
I think it'll take another generation or two before it's all but unseen.
I too am amazed that anyone takes up smoking. I see younger coworkers in their twenties out taking a smoke break, and I can't believe how such smart and gifted people can be so idiotic.
Not that I have it all together, I just don't smoke. Lots of other things I could improve on.
I think aside the physical dependence one may have from prolonged smoking, quite a few people see it as a cultural thing that's part of their lifestyle.
Maybe if we could better predict mortality rates due to smoking, and convey this in ads, people would realize how bad it is. Until they are faced with their mortality in a more brutal way, they will not change attitudes towards smoking. Changing bad habits is very hard. See how difficult it is for obese people to lose significant weight, and not relapse into obesity.
I don't think people care about dying from smoking.
I think if we could accurately tell people about the effects of smoking at dofferent levels that might make a difference.
Smoking is apparently one of the leading cause of erectile dysfunction. Perhaps it's a sneaky trick to ise that, but if true it could help persuade some men to avoid smoking.
It reminds me of a Soviet political poster I saw about alcohol. It had the male symbol but the arrow was drooping. Funny and quick.
I never understood why people take it up either but I had a friend a long time ago that tried a couple of cigarettes on a night out (the usual, out for a drink, people were smoking so he tried it - it was a long time ago when smoking was 'normal'). Anyway, months later he started lighting up and I asked him what he was doing ? He said he just couldn't stop; I was incredulous and said but you just had a few draws on a night out how does that work? He was adamant that the addiction was immediate and there was nothing he could do to stop.
Some people just seem to be wired differently and even a small exposure is all it takes. I think other addictions to [illegal] drugs are the same - smoking has a little less stigma since it is legal (but's it's certainly not socially acceptable like it used to be 'in the old-en days' when I was younger).
Its how many professionals that smoke, let alone smoke at work that forever astounds me. Especially when these same people will belittle others over quirks or other actions they deem stupid.
Got to love it when my friend goes on about how unsafe my motorcycling is while she is taking a drag.
My favorite bit about smoking, people will go into the gas station and buy a pack of smokes and a lottery ticket ignoring the near certain outcomes.
My favorite thing about smokers is when it gets cold outside and I get to watch as they squirm making the decision as to whether its worth freezing just to have a smoke.
I did try it when I was a young kid, around 10 or so, and many people smoked. I tried it cause it supposedly made you cool. And, yes, I never inhaled the first time cause I coughed too much.
When I was in my teens, I went with some friends out and about and they all smoked. They told me I had to take small breaths to get used to inhaling the smoke. I tried it and felt the overwhelming fogginess it brought to my lungs. I was an athlete and immediately sensed how it was clogging things up. My lungs were trying to tell me something!
That was many decades ago and I have not picked up a cigarette since and never will.
I had a girlfriend who smoked. When we broke up, she said that the one thing she was grateful to me for was getting her to quit smoking. She said, "Everything smells better and tastes better and I don't run out of breath all the time."
Comments
In this day and age, I am continually astounded that people smoke and take up smoking.
I'm not. Smoking a little (e.g. 1 cigarette a day) is inexpensive, has very little harmful effects to your health but allows you to enjoy the cultural experience of that particular drug.
For some reason people these days think that it's pretty much okay to drink a lot of alcohol which is very expensive and very unhealthy, but if someone smokes here and there it's "crazy", "stupid" and "very expensive".
Nicotine itself has plenty of beneficial effects: http://www.gwern.net/Nicotine
One can get nicotine through e-cigs, patches, or gum. There's no need to inhale a bunch of things that are bad for you.
Even if tobacco was perfectly healthy, it has other issues. It ruins your sense of taste, making foods bland. Many people dislike the smell. And smoking just one cigarette a day requires near-superhuman willpower. It would likely become an expensive habit.
Yes. I didn't argue for nicotine consumption through smoking.
I don't think smoking one cigarette a day does this. Do you have a source for that claim?
I agree that smoking pack a day is pretty expensive and unhealthy. So if someone smokes a cigarette a day and doesn't start smoking more than that, then that person is smoking a cigarette per day. Some who smoke one cigarette per day will start smoke more, some will not.
You sound like a 1950's Doctor paid by the tobacco industry.
Are you serious or did I miss a <satire> tag ?
Actually, light smoking is almost as harmful as heavier smoking. Going from zero to one cigarettes is much worse than going from one to two.
Do you have a source for that?
http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/14/5/315.full
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Mens_Healt...
You can find more with a simple search on Google. I used, "light smoking, dangerous".
1-4 cigarettes does not equal 1 cigarette per day.
I really don't care. If you want to believe that you're not hurting yourself by smoking a cigarette a day, that's your prerogative. Ask any doctor and they'll tell you different though.
(I accidentally downvoted you. Sorry.)
Buying cigarettes means giving money to tobacco companies. I firmly believe these are an example of corporations bein evil - which I understand is a controversial opinion on HN.
The tactics (spread fear and misunderstanding; discredit your oponents) have been taken up by other campaign groups (eg, anti climate change groups) often using the same scientists for hire.
"Vaping" avoids most of the social stigma of smoking and if you buy carefully you avoid giving money to tobacco companies.
I think there's still a pretty significant stigma against smoking an e-cig in public, but I guess YMMV.
I agree. I like the fact that some people are careful about where and when they "vape" - not in feont of children, not around people eating etc etc.
Nicotine on its own is vasoconstrictive. The compounds in tobacco smoke altogether are dialative. Tobacco smoke has MOAB agonists and aromatase inhibitors. Tobacco smoke lowers serotonin sensitivity while I don't think pure nicotine does this.
Vaping is really not a substitute for tobacco smoke as it is missing a bunch of chemicals.
Even one cigarette a day is harmful to your health.
My parents both smoked. I graduated high school in 1975. I never took it up, in part because I was nerdishly unaffected by peer pressure from the cool kids, in part because it just never interested me, in part because I knew that it would kill me.
There were lots of PSAs in that era about the dangers of smoking, so I think it was also partly a rebellion on my part, against "those stupid adults."
I've been very up front and unrelenting with my kid about smoking and other hazards. I think I've been successful so far. It helps that not that many kids smoke, so I think there's less peer pressure.
I think it'll take another generation or two before it's all but unseen.
I too am amazed that anyone takes up smoking. I see younger coworkers in their twenties out taking a smoke break, and I can't believe how such smart and gifted people can be so idiotic.
Not that I have it all together, I just don't smoke. Lots of other things I could improve on.
I think aside the physical dependence one may have from prolonged smoking, quite a few people see it as a cultural thing that's part of their lifestyle.
Maybe if we could better predict mortality rates due to smoking, and convey this in ads, people would realize how bad it is. Until they are faced with their mortality in a more brutal way, they will not change attitudes towards smoking. Changing bad habits is very hard. See how difficult it is for obese people to lose significant weight, and not relapse into obesity.
I don't think people care about dying from smoking.
I think if we could accurately tell people about the effects of smoking at dofferent levels that might make a difference.
Smoking is apparently one of the leading cause of erectile dysfunction. Perhaps it's a sneaky trick to ise that, but if true it could help persuade some men to avoid smoking.
It reminds me of a Soviet political poster I saw about alcohol. It had the male symbol but the arrow was drooping. Funny and quick.
male ♂
I never understood why people take it up either but I had a friend a long time ago that tried a couple of cigarettes on a night out (the usual, out for a drink, people were smoking so he tried it - it was a long time ago when smoking was 'normal'). Anyway, months later he started lighting up and I asked him what he was doing ? He said he just couldn't stop; I was incredulous and said but you just had a few draws on a night out how does that work? He was adamant that the addiction was immediate and there was nothing he could do to stop.
Some people just seem to be wired differently and even a small exposure is all it takes. I think other addictions to [illegal] drugs are the same - smoking has a little less stigma since it is legal (but's it's certainly not socially acceptable like it used to be 'in the old-en days' when I was younger).
Let me guess. West Coast USA?
Nope. St. Louis
Its how many professionals that smoke, let alone smoke at work that forever astounds me. Especially when these same people will belittle others over quirks or other actions they deem stupid.
Got to love it when my friend goes on about how unsafe my motorcycling is while she is taking a drag.
My favorite bit about smoking, people will go into the gas station and buy a pack of smokes and a lottery ticket ignoring the near certain outcomes.
My favorite thing about smokers is when it gets cold outside and I get to watch as they squirm making the decision as to whether its worth freezing just to have a smoke.
Try it sometime--you might like it.
I did try it when I was a young kid, around 10 or so, and many people smoked. I tried it cause it supposedly made you cool. And, yes, I never inhaled the first time cause I coughed too much.
When I was in my teens, I went with some friends out and about and they all smoked. They told me I had to take small breaths to get used to inhaling the smoke. I tried it and felt the overwhelming fogginess it brought to my lungs. I was an athlete and immediately sensed how it was clogging things up. My lungs were trying to tell me something!
That was many decades ago and I have not picked up a cigarette since and never will.
I had a girlfriend who smoked. When we broke up, she said that the one thing she was grateful to me for was getting her to quit smoking. She said, "Everything smells better and tastes better and I don't run out of breath all the time."
I was great in bed, too.