In the '50s and '60s, smoking was ubiquitous, so I can understand how people of that generation got into it. By the '80s, smoking had become cool in more of a rebellious kind of way, so I can see how a certain type of person might have been attracted to it. But by the time I was in high school in the early '00s, smoking was neither popular nor cool. In fact, people just thought you were white trash if you smoked.
And yet, I still occasionally pass by a person my own age who is smoking. Can someone explain the logic, here? What makes someone say "this is going to harm my health, cost me a fortune, and make me look like a redneck, but I still think it's a good decision"?
Why the hell does anyone under the age of 30 smoke cigarettes?
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1. its cool.
2. iconoclastic.
3. F$%^ health. No matter what you do you will die anyways.
4. teens/young adults cant see past points 1, 2, and 3 -
non smoker wrote:
What makes someone say "this is going to harm my health, cost me a fortune, and make me look like a redneck, but I still think it's a good decision"?
Hipsters. -
AwwYeah wrote:
1. its cool.
2. iconoclastic.
3. F$%^ health. No matter what you do you will die anyways.
4. teens/young adults cant see past points 1, 2, and 3
Also it's "rebellious" and "alternative" because it goes against what "the man" says you should do. Also hipsters. -
I've always wondered why more people don't use snuff instead of smoking cigarettes. Snuff still gives the dopamine effect but has zero effect on lungs & no cancer connection.
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No one does it because it's rebellious or cool. That's something only old people say. It's a social thing. If someone has a friend that smokes, then they're naturally going to be curious about what it's like. Taking a break at work and all your coworkers go smoking outside. You join them and take it up to fit in.
Then they get addicted. The difficulty of quitting smoking is impossible to understand if you haven't gone through it. -
Came home from a Cranberries (remember them???) concert about 18 years ago where most all the young'uns were smoking (outdoor venue). Got so pissed off at their collective stupidity that I did a 180 and dropped about $4000 into Philip Morris stock. At that point the rest of all my savings were invested in a social index fund. Never touched it again & now it's worth almost $38,000. My guilt is tempered by the fact that EVERYONE (in the U.S.) now knows how deadly and addictive cigarretes are and if they choose to be so frigg'in cavalier about their health, then I'm going to make money off of them.
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non smoker wrote:
In fact, people just thought you were white trash if you smoked.
Maybe the people you see smoking are, in fact, white trash. -
non smoker wrote:
And yet, I still occasionally pass by a person my own age who is smoking. Can someone explain the logic, here? What makes someone say "this is going to harm my health, cost me a fortune, and make me look like a redneck, but I still think it's a good decision"?
OP,
It's clear you've never smoked. Have you ever tried it?
1) It feels good is the main reason.
2) I honestly have thought in the past, "It's a shame that smoking is bad for you as I think it's a great activity except for that. It feels good and in this day and age of everone being obsessed with their cell phones, it's a social activity. People are forced to do it outside so they talk to their fellow smokers."
You go out and smoke and think things over. Ponder the day.
Now I don't know what it's like to be addicted smoking packs a day. That would suck. -
Phones are more addictive than cigarettes!
Everyone under the age of 30 will eventually die of brain cancer from their smartphones. -
Tinfoil Hat wrote:
Phones are more addictive than cigarettes!
Everyone under the age of 30 will eventually die of brain cancer from their smartphones.
But no one does voice calls anymore... -
I feel like it's just kinda something to do. Like, you ever work a job you don't really like and wind up drinking 6 cups of coffee a day? I did that (actually now I'm drinking green tea because 6 cups of coffee makes me insane) for no reason other than I wanted to get up and do something.
Smoking just feels kind of good and fills 5-10 minutes of space, that's all. People are notoriously terrible at judging long term risks and their own will power, so the fact that they'll probably get COPD if they smoke too much doesn't bother 20 year olds. -
the cool guys in movies all still smoke. I suspect Hollywood gets lots of money from the tobacco companies.
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I am astounded that smoking has been reduced to such low levels. When I grew up in the 80's in a working class city in the Midwest, everyone smoked and the anti-smoking fight seemed hopeless. 20-30 years later I know very few people who smoke and it seems the the effort worked.
By contrast the war on drugs gained no ground whatsoever. I would have given them both the same odds of succeeding. -
Great American Smokeout wrote:
I am astounded that smoking has been reduced to such low levels. When I grew up in the 80's in a working class city in the Midwest, everyone smoked and the anti-smoking fight seemed hopeless. 20-30 years later I know very few people who smoke and it seems the the effort worked.
By contrast the war on drugs gained no ground whatsoever. I would have given them both the same odds of succeeding.
I wonder if mj was legal, if it truly would be a gateway to coke, heroin, meth...or if more people would just get addicted to mj, and probably fewer addicted to alcohol... -
I think that in the past smoking has been in my family, so the reason most of my siblings and I probably tried it was for a couple reasons - 1) we saw it happen in the family and wanted to try it ourselves, and 2) none of us really tried it until college, and then many of us became social smokers and then some, habitual smokers because of that.
After I tried it, and after some time, I found I liked smoking for a few reasons. First of all, there's of course the fact that you get a buzz, and I like that. Then, I just really enjoy taking a few moments to relax, think about life, and watch the smoke.
Then, if alcohol is involved, the buzz from smoking is even more for me, which is nice. Then, if friends are involved, there is the added enjoyment of being with friends and nice discussions.
By the way, I am 23. I do not smoke a lot, though - precisely because I know it damages my health. The most I ever habitually smoked was probably 4-5 cigarettes per day average, and that was for a period of 2-3 months. In the last year of my life, I have probably averaged 1-2 cigarettes per day. So I guess if I am damaging my health, I suppose I'm not taking years and years off my life span, just a few. :) I guess my brain, still not fully formed as a 23-year old, is just trying to tell me that the small amount of time my life might be decreased is worth it, for the enjoyment I get from smoking. -
You might just as well ponder why some people become drug addicts.
I understand some states in America are considering making smoking marijuana legal or have already done so.
I would have thought that smoking tobacco is pretty benign in those circumstances.
It’s a complex issue, recently our health department issued dietary advice stating that we would all be healthier eating a Mediterranean type diet as, for instance, the Greeks live longer and were healthier than us.
Odd that, because I often visit that country and just on casual observation, they smoke a hell of a lot more than we do, especially after all the anti-smoking campaigns in my country.
The Japanese are amongst the longest living people in the world and yet, they are also amongst the heaviest smoking nations.
Seems other factors are at work when determining the health of respective nationalities.
Incidentally, one can’t help notice that virtually every combat serviceman in WW2 smoked, presumably to help calm nerves.
I wonder what percentage of the modern non-smoking generation would climb aboard a B17 to fly bombing runs over Germany, storm across Waal river to capture the bridge at Nijmegen or attack Japanese strong-points at Okinawa? -
Binks wrote:
I wonder what percentage of the modern non-smoking generation would climb aboard a B17 to fly bombing runs over Germany, storm across Waal river to capture the bridge at Nijmegen or attack Japanese strong-points at Okinawa?
You're exactly right. Add "unwillingness to bomb countries we aren't at war with using antique aircraft" to the long list of flaws exhibited by "kids these days." -
could be rojo wrote:
OP,
It's clear you've never smoked. Have you ever tried it?
1) It feels good is the main reason.
This is true. I once did a hard ten miler, then smoked half a pack of cigarettes and drank a few beers. I have never felt better in my life. If it weren't for the whole cancer thing I would definitely smoke from time to time. -
Keep in mind that people who are elderly now spent their lives in a world where just about everyone smoked. So the effectiveness of the anti-smoking campaigns since the '80s doesn't really tell you much about people born in 1925.
Smoking in WWII was a great coup on the part of the cigarette companies. They lobbied to get cigarettes included in rations, thus creating a generation of smokers. Obviously if you give a bunch of bored kids free cigarettes, they'll wind up smoking them. Check out the graph: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/figures/m4843a2f1.gif
Also, Japan's smoking rate is lower than the US's.
