Nicotine.

[Insidious Joe]

It's a legalized drug. It's addictive. About 1 in 5 of the United State's population smokes this additive in their cigarettes every day.

I understand that, whether majority or minority, members of the Iwaku community are under the age of 18 and thus it is illegal for them to use cigarettes. So this is directed to the adult community, but you may feel free to post your opinion regardless.

Cigarettes are a hot button topic, but not nearly so much as gay rights, abortion, etc. At least, not anymore.

They are purported as unhealthy, and hazardous to others due to second-hand smoking. Yet that doesn't stop men and women who want to.

I myself am a smoker. I find it is a very relaxing, if terrible, habit. I've considered quitting on more than one occasion, but I don't really ever follow through. I don't see myself as addicted- I've gone several months without one before, mostly due to my living arrangements and sporadic income. I've smoked since I was 16, off and on, until this day.

In fact, I just finished one a minute ago before I typed this up.

Do you smoke? If so, for how long? Any reason why? Any reason why not? If you do, are you trying to quit?

 

[Diana]

I hate them. D: They smell bad, they make it hard for me to breathe, give me a headache, and when you kiss a smoker it's groooooss cause they really do taste like the cigarettes. I also know family members who died from lung cancer. ;_;

I HAVE tried smoking. Didn't care for it at all. I don't mind if people smoke around me, though, as long as there's good ventilation and it's not like... EVERYONE smoking and the room is filled with ciggy smoke. Then it's all blergh!

And I dun care if other people smoke, cause it's their bodies. If they like it, they can enjoy it! As long as I'm not suffering or something.

 

[Fluffy]

I don't smoke cigarettes and I avoid them as often as possible because I'm allergic to the smoke. I get some pretty bad symptoms from it. Even if I wasn't allergic, smoking them would ruin me so bad 'cause I'm so vulnerable to addiction.

I do however smoke marijuana quite frequently. It's cleaner, I can't get addicted to it, it relaxes me, it's improving my health problems, yadda yadda. Totally different topic.

Cigarettes are an interesting topic for me. I'm okay with people using them as long as they stay away from me and my family with them. If my sisters, brother, parents, boyfriend, son [ESPECIALLY boyfriend and son], or anyone else close to me starts to smoke them... I make a fuss. >__>; It's because I care. It would be wrong of me to not remind them of the money they're wasting, the danger they're putting themselves in, and how much it hurts the people around them. After that, I'll go back to my business unless they ask me to help them. Except if it's my kids or lover... They'd get beat up. :3

 

[Minibit]

I'm a non-smoker, but I do have personal experience with smoking, and I'd like to put my two cents in about

PARENTS WHO SMOKE
I was raised by two smokers. My dad, a long-haul truck driver chain-smokes. Mostly from boredom in the truck. Mom has smoked since she was sixteen; what began as a rebellious move; she also experimented with drugs and broke several laws in her teens, and was frank about all of this with us ("If you do half the stuff I did I'll whup your butt"). My mom was the biggest smoking influence in my growing up; dad being a trucker was only home maybe once or twice a month, and didn't really influence my growing up much, but he always supported mom in all the below:

I think there are three important points to break the stereotype of smoking parents being irresponsible, careless, or unfit for raising children in any way

1) I have never smoked, none of us kids have.
I watched my parents try to quit several times; I vividly remember horsing around with my little brother one day when dad was coming home from the road, and mom taking us both aside and telling us to try and be quiet and not make a mess when our dad got home, because he was trying to quit smoking and not having nicotine made him very anxious and irritable. I had great sympathy, even as a little kid, for when either of my parents tried to quit, because I could see how it affected them first-hand. If anything, having parents who smoked, and watching how hard it was for them to stop, fuelled my determination NOT to smoke.

2) My mother homeschooled all of us, and taught us about all drugs (including nicotine) herself
Mom had a big book, I don't remember the title, but it had a chapter for each kind of drug (uppers, hollucinogens, etc) and individual sections in each chapter for specific drugs. She homeschooled us at the kitchen table, and every day, depending on chapter length, we would learn about two to three different drugs, how they affected the human body, why people want to take them, what it's like to try to quit taking them, and some first-hand accounts of people who have become addicted to them. This book covered everything from meth to marijuana to caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. My mom was a rebel youth and never tried to deny it; she had firsthand accounts of her own for a few of the drugs we covered, but the one she hammered in the most was nicotine; probably because she knew it was the one we could potentially see as a harmless part of daily life.

3) My parents have never tried to deny that they are addicted to a dangerous substance.
Mom never tried to hide the graphic pictures on her cigarettes from us. She never excused smoker's hack as a cold or flu, and she was up-front when the doctor wanted to book a scan to check for cancerous tumours that her smoking made her a prime candidate for lung cancer (it wasn't, it was a malignant tumour on her bladder which was removed, she's been clear for over five years now, thank goodness). She even smoked a cigarette with a 'filter' on it once so we could see the sheer amount of tar that goes into your lungs from smoking one. Most of all, she made no bones about how hard it was to quit; we all knew didn't like what nicotine did to her; we all knew she didn't like smoking in front of her kids, and we all knew that for her to be unable to quit despite that, it had to be a mammoth force addiction.

Yes, smoking smells terrible

No, people shouldn't smoke

Yes, smoking is a health risk not just to the smoker, but to those around them

No, a smoking parent does not equal an irresponsible parent.

 

[oddsox]

I will never touch a cigarette for as long as I live.

 

[Insidious Joe]

All very interesting inputs, especially @Minibit 's. Thank you for sharing that with me.

 

[LogicfromLogic]

Eh....I have smoked since I was twelve years old. I'm not going to haul off and give you my hard luck story because frankly I don't give a flying...

anyways, I was under quite a bit of stress and allowed myself to be pressured in by my street brother to doing it and the first couple times I just got sick from it. But after a while I got used to it, and eventually I couldn't stop myself. By the time I was fourteen I was a chain smoker, that in which I regret now (health issues). I continued to smoke until I was 20, and sometimes I still do it because I get really stressed out. But I have to stop because I have to have surgery next year.

 

[October Knight]

I smoked for hella long, then I did Copenhagen for hella long, now I don't do shit cause I decided to quit. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.

 

[Kylulu]

I've had… 3 cigarettes in my whole 20 years. They don't really do much for me, so I never got into it. I don't have any qualms about people smoking inside or around me, as long as it isn't overpowering.

What bothers me most is that my first cigarette was given to me by a boy who was only 11 years old. That shouldn't ever happen.

 

[Peter Feels]

I am a former smoker. At my lightest it was a half pack a day, at my heaviest it was a pack and a half. I stopped once because I wanted to feel better, I disliked waking up with the hacking cough and it made me winded more easily. Being a fat dude, I already had low stamina but this just exacerbated it. I started up because I was bored and literally 90% of my friends smoked, they still do now albeit in the form of those electronic cigarettes everyone loves. I quit again a little before I started dating Andi, for the same reason, I wanted to improve my health. Haven't smoked since.

Oh, yeah. I tried to have a drag again about a year ago and it tasted awful and gave me none of the same feeling from before. Since then I've had maybe one or two instances where I craved a cigarette, but it was never serious.

Finally, I hate to admit this and I am aware of how hipster this might sound, but I smoked American Spirits for a long while "before it was cool".

 

[Levusti]

It's Lev's turn.

I'm a smoker of only three years. I'm 20, so that puts my age when I first started smoking at 17, two days right before I turned 18. (The gas clerk let me buy my first cigarettes when I was two days before I was illegal because she was letting me have my "birthday present" early. =P )

I know this is a stupid stupid stupid reason why I started smoking, but honestly, it was my rebellion. I promise that I've followed all my parents instructions from beginning to end and verbatim. I've never strayed far from their instructions and I'm a well-behaved, well-mannered, and well-learned child, I believe (not to brag or anything.) But I've never really "lived" for my own, I guess you could say. So this was my way of experiencing the world. I've always been around other smokers like my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, and my grandfather. My mother and father didn't smoke and always emphasized the importance of its health effects, especially since I have asthma and since they are both healthcare providers. (I know, I'm making it worse...) But I just had to try. To understand why people smoked though they said it wasn't good for you.

I DO NOT PROMOTE THIS BEHAVIOR TO OTHERS. However, I have no qualms or reservations about if someone chooses to smoke. However, I always believe that if you do choose to experiment, that you do it (for you minors) when you are of or near legal age. Why do I say that? I'm not saying that you're "not old enough" or that you're "not smart enough." Actually, wait. I am. I feel at the age of 18, I was at a maturity to make my own decision when it came to smoking. I compel others to do the same. Whether you maintain your stance of "I want to smoke" or change your stance to "I don't want to smoke," that is your own opinion to form.

However, I wish people think of how smoking impacts your life. Everyone should realize that smoking (1) significantly changes your first impression on many people. Having worked as a waiter for two years, I have noticed that if I decided to take a smoke break in the middle of the shift, customers who smell me tend to tip less, even if I put on cologne. Also, I learned that many managers tend to dismiss smokers as prospective employees, because "smokers are more likely to be sick." (2) Depending on your field of work, smoking could significantly reduce your chances of being hired. For those who plan to be in the field of healthcare, many hospitals are now enforcing a "nicotine-free campus" where all nicotine products (cigarettes, vapor/electronic cigarettes, nicotine gum, tobacco "snuff" or nicotine patches) are prohibited on hospital campuses. Many hospitals require that you be nicotine-free for three months before they'll even consider hiring you. (3) Smoking is terrible for appearances. Look at a 30 year old smoker and a 30 year old non-smoker. Smokers tend to look much older. Also, look in the cars or houses of smokers. There's ash burns everywherrrrreee UGH IT'S SO FREAKIN MESSY. (4) It's truly an expensive habit. It's hard to find cigarettes in North America for less than 3.00 USD. You can use the money you buy on cigarettes--which cost me easily 20 USD a week on something else. If I saved that 20 USD instead, I'd have an extra 80 every month.

Do I plan to quit? Yeah. Have I? Not completely. While I have quit completely, I have picked up the habit again. I don't smoke as much as I used to, but that doesn't mean I don't smoke. I try to reduce, if anything. If I don't quit, I already know the policies of the local hospitals, and most of them won't hire me. D:

 

[Stacisaur]

Never smoked nuffin'.
I have a few family members who do, like my aunts and uncles. So, I've been around smoke even as a kid when going out with them. But they would always go outside or open a window. Either way, the smell never bothers me, even today.
I do recall as a kid pleading to my auntie and uncle to stop. Being like "you can put this magical stuff in yer coffees to help the cravings, auntie!" or "they have these pretty patches now, uncle!"
I worried a lot about their health because of how much I love them. I still do, but I understand more now having lots of friends and people I care for who smoke something or another. And it has to be their choice if they want to try and stop.

I think it is kinda neat now how technology provides those steam-cigs or whatever they are for those who want the feel but want to quit. I am not too educated on smoking and all the options, but.. that is progress, opening up more options to people, I think.
Ending the rant, why have I never smoked? I guess I never had an interest. Plain as that. Never had bold feelings on it, but it's like how I don't eat meat I guess. Just, don't have an interest.