Smoking/vaping poll poll

[Dena]

While many addicts got hooked on prescribed pain meds, for others it was a lifestyle choice.  When I hear about all the OD deaths, particularly lately with fentanyl, I have to wonder why anyone would voluntarily start on something like that.  Even way back when I was in high school, we got the "monkey on your back" films to show the problems with drug addiction.  Back then, it was largely heroin they worried about, along with "Reefer Madness".

So, I do not have a lot of sympathy for those who made a lifestyle choice to use a harmful substance.  We've known better for a very long time.

I am a non smoker, never tried one and I never will however cigarets have an effect from the first hit. I have heard people describe the first time they took a breath of smoke and the feeling that came over them. Tobacco may for an addictive personality may be one of the most addictive substances out there. Many people who smoke aren't aware that they have an addictive personality or the risk that they are taking when they pick up the first cigarette. For them it's not so much a lifestyle choice but a lack of knowledge of the risk they were taking.

[LizK]

I started when I was 10 and finished 41 years later...For many years when I started it was a bit like an urban myth that cigarettes were harmful...you saw them freely advertised everywhere so they couldn`t be that harmful, you could buy fake ones as lollies...right?  By 15 I was 10 -15 a day and they had me and I peaked at 40 per day. I didn't care about myself enough to stop when it would have been so easy and the effects on my health much less. But then I was doing so many other things that were self destructive that smoking paled by comparison.  I know since stopping the benefits to me have been huge, I feel the same way about my cigarettes as I do about my drinking...its just something I don't do....kind of like "I wouldn't strike a match to see how much petrol was in the tank of my car either"

[ainsley]

So, I do not have a lot of sympathy for those who made a lifestyle choice to use a harmful substance.  We've known better for a very long time.

Such judgement and disdain. 

I think know compassion, empathy, and understanding are better facilitators to change.  The dialog ends with attitudes like yours.

[eyesk8rboi]

I am a non smoker, never tried one and I never will however cigarets have an effect from the first hit. I have heard people describe the first time they took a breath of smoke and the feeling that came over them. Tobacco may for an addictive personality may be one of the most addictive substances out there. Many people who smoke aren't aware that they have an addictive personality or the risk that they are taking when they pick up the first cigarette. For them it's not so much a lifestyle choice but a lack of knowledge of the risk they were taking.

I personally am prone to addictive behaviors, however when I'm really determined not to do something I won't do it.
I've been smoking almost a pack a day for months now, and a girl I'm interested in came to spend the weekend and wouldn't kiss me because I had just smoked.....So that was my last cigarette and I'm not in a hurry to buy another pack. I smoked one with a guy from work this morning, but aside from that I don't feel the urge to buy any.

And my best friend just asked me not to smoke around her because the smell was bothering her and we're almost always together...I don't know if she's being legit or just trying to con me into quitting, because she originally said she liked second hand smoke, because she also used to smoke. (She's a little controlling and passive aggressive, so it wouldn't surprise me.)

I think I'm going to get Blu and go from there. I'm not really concerned about my friend's opinion as much as I am the girl I like, soooooo.....I'd much rather no smoke if it means I get to kiss and snuggle her. =3=
As for my best friend, she'll just have to hang out with me less if I chose not to quiet.

[Geeker]

I quite about 8 years ago. If I'm smoking, I'm on fire!

[Kylo]

I don't smoke. I have done, for a brief period in school and again in university, since I was constantly being offered it by others.

My physiology apparently lacks any addiction to nicotine or smoking behavior. My parents smoked constantly, so you'd think that would have affected me one way or another but it didn't. It does nothing for me, other than giving me something to do with my hands. It's also insanely expensive in the UK now, and I haven't done any smoking since 2001. It looks cool on film, but has no point for me.

[Julia1996]

I've never smoked. I think it's totally nasty. My dad quit smoking 2 years ago but before he quit when he hugged or kissed me it was like sticking my nose in an ashtray.  Very nasty! It's also like so totally bad for you.

[Kylo]

That's true. I haven't been around any smokers for long for years. I remember buying some stuff off someone on eBay, and clearly it came from a smoker's household because the ashtray smell was incredibly strong on it.

When you live with smokers you get desensitized to that. Living away for a few decades has made me super sensitive to it.

[Andrea Pelloti]

There is no option for both!!!  If I am out then I don't want to be out every half hour or hour to have a puff so I will tend to vape if allowed.

And if I go to something like a football (round ball) match, which I do fortnightly at least, then you can;t smoke in the ground and of course they don't let you out.  Same with concerts or airports, so I will take my e-cig.  Can get really tense at the football. lol

I have however all but given up drinking alcohol these days.  Not for health reasons.  Just makes me turn into a **** so not really my thing anymore.

[zirconia]

This seems like a very emotional subject. I myself started smoking recently out of empathy, to support those who in many countries face extreme ostracism for doing something that is legal in those countries.

What really triggered my decision was the insistent and passionate statements by many prohibitionists I've spoken with that the second-hand smoke from smokers causes greater damage to non-smokers in society than the smokers themselves face. It sounded pretty scary/funny/wonderful. If true, then what better way to protect my own health than to start smoking myself?

If smoking will eventually be prohibited, it probably won't happen for some decades. Until then I expect the continuing emotional debate will serve handsomely to divert our attention from more important things. And once the issue is settled through prohibition or ennui, I'm sure there will be another subject ready to take its place as a prime encourager of division and discrimination.

[Corax]

I don't smoke. I don't want to spend my money on committing suicide in slow-motion. 
But to each their own! I have friends and relatives who do smoke and that is their decision just as it is mine to not do it because my health is more important to me.

[Nina]

Well excuuuuuuuuse me.

Lol...you responded how I would have

Every couple of years I'll smoke a cohiba....but that's it

[Bobbie LeAnn]

I quit smoking 2 1/2 years ago after trying a real vape setup. I make my own juice and there's no nicotine in it. Some people claim that vaping and smoking are basically the same. They are so wrong it's not funny. vaping is about the same as kool-aid steam coming from a tea kettle. Absolutely harmless flavored steam NOT SMOKE !

[Julia1996]

I think smoking is nasty but I don't look down on people for smoking. I know how hard it is to quit. My poor dad had a totally rough time quitting. I nagged the crap out of him to quit. He never smoked in the house or car thankfully. My reason for wanting him to quit was because of the health risks. I don't want to be around smoke but I also don't think smoking should be like prohibited or anything. It should still be someone's choice if they want to smoke. My mom still smokes like a chimney though. My brother thankfully doesn't smoke. But he stole one of my dad's cigarettes when he was 12 and was smoking it in the bathroom. Something scared him and the dummy threw the cigarette in the hamper. He burned holes in a bunch of the dirty clothes.  SOOO busted! Lol

[AlexisRene]

Something scared him and the dummy threw the cigarette in the hamper. He burned holes in a bunch of the dirty clothes.  SOOO busted! Lol

Oh that is so funny! Obviously, he learned his lesson. I had cousins who took various things to try & were caught in similar fashion. Trying to hide something can lead one to making poor decisions.

On a side note for those looking to quit smoking. Have a friend who told me that a phone app worked for her. Do not remember which specific one though. She went with one that was free & best reviews is are the only details I know.

[Geeker]

I quit smoking about 6-7 years ago. I woke up one morning, lit a cigarette and thought "ugh, what am I doing?" And put it out. After quiting I realized it was the source of my constant headaches. Haven't smoked since, unless you count "second hand".

[MaryT]

I have never smoked except for passively smoking other people's fumes, which I have heard are even more carcinogenic than inhaling from the cigarettes.  Cigarette smokers do endanger others, especially in confined places. 

Vaping may be less harmful but in a way I am even less keen on people vaping.  Even outside, it is hard to escape the huge billows of smoke from some vapers.

[DawnOday]

Quit smoking thirty years ago when my Son was born. Have never looked back. No counseling, no patches. Just the belief that he was my "Higher Power".  Quit drinking and drugs too. Cold Turkey. Really not so hard if you want to do it bad enough. My first pack of smokes I bought for a quarter in the vending machine at USA gas station in Santa Fe Springs.

[Joelene9]

  I never smoked. I grew up in the 1950's and 1960's when just about everyone smoked. You saw the news anchors smoking, smoking on the soaps and even in Mission Control during the moon landings. In one of the NASA flicks it showed at first an empty ashtray with the narrator saying "Here at NASA, we solve problems". Then later in that flick, the ashtray was full as another butt was being crushed out.
  Even though I never smoked, I had the effects most of the others who did smoke. When I moved into my newly built house, I noticed the smell on people and things they brought into my house. These people over time stopped smoking and they noticed the changes, or if they still smoked, they did it outside their home. I remember washing the walls as a kid and in some spots near the chairs were the nicotine stains. We had to do this or the stains will bleed through when we painted those surfaces.
  I met my girlfriend 20 years ago but I didn't date her until recently. She was a much younger nice NASA type, Yes, rocket scientist. But she smoked. That is my #1 turn off. But she's vaping now which makes things a little easier. Yes, she vapes outside. Yes, we who don't smoke still accommodate those who do.

Joelene

[Contravene]

I couldn't check any of the boxes really.

I've vaped and smoked and I have a tobacco pipe that I smoke every once in a while but usually forget it's there. I've never had the feeling of needing to smoke though. I guess I just don't have an addictive personality. I like the taste of certain tobaccos and that's about as far as it goes for me. I have friends who smoke but I haven't met anyone else yet who can just put it down whenever they want to and aren't addicted to it although I know they're out there.