Why the hell does anyone under the age of 30 smoke cigarettes?

why does anyone drink alcohol? You can make the same arguments for and against the rational reasons to drink vs smoke.

I smoke weed. The only downside is smelling like weed when you're done or when you have weed on your person.

quickndirty wrote:

why does anyone drink alcohol? You can make the same arguments for and against the rational reasons to drink vs smoke.

This analogy would only hold to me if the majority of people who consumed alcohol did so to excess. If you drank a glass of wine first thing in the morning, then again on the way to work, then again midway through the morning, then again at lunch (and so on), I would think that was pretty dumb, too. Similarly, if your smoking was limited to one or two cigarettes a couple of evenings per week, I wouldn't find that to be all that dumb. The fact that smokers tend to be so excessive about their habit is a part of what makes it a dumb thing to do.

So, yeah, if you drank throughout the day every single day of your life, I would also wonder WTF you were thinking.

Binks, why are you still trying to post here, or even anywhere online? You got wrecked so hard by the guy who talked about flying antique aircraft to Japan, you can't be taken seriously anymore.

I get what YOU are saying but the thread isn't asking "why do people smoke in excess, the question is why do people smoke.

Most arguments against smoking are:

it's bad for you

it's a waste of money

it's a sign of weakness to need this substance

it's adictive

it's smells bad

it's unattractive

All those are applicable to alcohol as well.

I'm assuming that at least in the early stages, smoking gives a you a buzz of some sort. Alcohol can at least be fully credited with ability to numb pain and de-inhibition for socializing.

Any time something habitual doesn't make logical sense you can assume 9/10 times that analgesia and/or getting laid are the motives.

Smoking is not "cool." It makes you and every place you've been with a cigarette reek badly. They make you leave the building and go out on the sidewalk and be shunned and shamed if you smoke. It's for a reason.

I've had about 15 girlfriends (I am now quite old) and would never have picked a smoker, even though one possible partner was wonderful in every way except that she smoked..

There are many other "cool" things one could do besides smoke.

That's OK. Everyone has a choice. I smoke not only cigarettes, but also grass. I like that feeling. I know that Smoking a lot is bad for health, so I know the measure. I can not smoke grass, but add it to a cake ( here's a recipe for a delicious pot pie http://www.ncsm.nl/english/recipes/spacecake-recipe)or smoothie. Then I feel a surge of strength all day. If you think Smoking is bad, I'm not gonna convince you. Many people = many opinions.

Old thread, whatever. Smoking cigarettes have been successfully demonized and are on the decline (good). Vaping is the new "cool" with the youngsters. I can believe how many kids I've seen doing this crap. Studies coming out are showing more and more that vaping is just as bad, if not worse than cigarettes. With the lack of pungent smell, I'm betting vaping is going to possibly be a worse epidemic than cigarettes.

glass retina wrote:

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.

^This

non smoker wrote:

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"?

In a world where people intentionally kill themselves outright, some people choose to draw it out. Totally rational when you think of it that way. It's like test driving death.

kljfdklasj wrote:

almond milk latte wrote:

+1 Amazing

Except moderate alcohol consumption is nowhere near as bad for you any level of cigarette smoking.

kmaclam wrote:

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.

You should feel guilty. Philip Morris makes the majority of it's money marketing cigarettes to poor, uneducated people in third world countries who can barely afford to eat much less spend what precious little money they have on cancer sticks.

glass retina wrote:

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.

It does have a cancer connection. But feel free to keep thinking otherwise while having your jaw removed.

As an artist, I get my inspiration from cigar and marijuana.

adsfasdf wrote:

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.

adsfasdf wrote:

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.

The irony here is that as a smoker you are playing right into the hands of "the man" known as big tobacco. Who gleefully push and buoy the above narrative behind the scenes so they can line their pockets at the expense of your money, health, and well being.

And don't think for minute that the same people and motivations aren't behind the "vaping" craze as well. Big tobacco lost a lot of favor in the US over the last decades and have needed to re brand and reinvent themselves to chase losing profits. After they lost favor in the US they pushed all their advertising and focus to take advantage of uneducated people in other third world countries such as Indonesia one of the most populated countries in the world. Targeting and hooking kids early for lasting profits and influence. The propaganda was wildly successful. A report in 2012 showed that 2/3 or 67% of all males in Indonesia smoke tobacco.

See this eye opening documentary here:

"Big Tabacco" Now that is a man worth sticking it to.

Don't smoke peeps!

It's the same reason anyone over the age of 30 smokes. They are weak, of low intelligence, and have no will power.

At least Barack quit while in the white house.