I'm a smoker

We're a dying breed these days!!

Everybody have a reason(smoke or not).dont judge smokers

No and never.

Bad for your health.

Has anyone seen that movie: Constantine?

If you have you'll know.

I also STRONGLY agree with army20 & ExtremeMac!

I don't smoke and I hate those who smoke in public areas.Thank goodness I live in KSA where smoking is highly discouraged.

I started smoking when I was 20 (junior in college), well because my girlfriend at the time smoked. I must admit, attempting to inhale the first pack of cigs was difficult. However, it got easier with time. At college parties, a lot of people smoked. A lot of people drank. A lot of people smoked while they drank. I happened to be one of them.

After I discovered that her punk-arse had some kind of infatuation with being "friends" with ex-boyfriends, I still smoked. She would go out with exboyfriends, drink some beer with exboyfriends, but would swear that they were just friends. Does any of this sound familiar to you dudes as well ? How about this : she would "party" at their apartments, be friends with their friends, continually surrounding herself with the past -- all the while claiming to remain friends. (How easy it is for a female ... to put on the right clothes, the right makeup, the right attitude, then WHAM ... they get laid. While men, on the other hand, can try to do everything right -- yet fail miserably if she is not in the mood.) She was dumb. I was dumber for being with her. Anyhow, I decided right then and there that ... I would have to stick with her for the steady sex -- all the while feining love. Even IF she might be catching a few shots from her exboyfriends on the side, I would still get mine.

So the meaning of smoking changed. The meaning began as a way to have something in common with her. (Mistake #1.) Then the smoking began to embody the meaning of "burning" away other people. (No lifeguard at the gene pool.) When all else fails, there was a beer and a smoke. When I was stressed, there was smoke. Wake up in the morning, there was a smoke. After dinner, there was a smoke. Breaktime at work, there was a smoke. Clubbing, there was a smoke. After banging some chick, there was a smoke. Idle time in the car, there was a smoke. And sometimes when I thought it annoyed people... even after I just had a smoke... I would smoke again.

Continue this for 8 more years, minus 2 months, and you got my situation. I stopped smoking 2 months ago. Not because I wanted to, mind you. I loved smoking. Smoking was definately a good thing. No one knows how they're gonna die, right? Well, at least I picked my path. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Marlboro lights -- hard pack -- were my choice. I knew how to pack 'em just right, too. Anyhow -- I got sick. Not death-illness or anything, ... just plain and simply sick. It was quite annoying. I attempted to smoke ... multiple times ... while sick and this would result in me coughing even harder for longer periods of time. So I said, "Self," I says, "why don't you temporarily stop for a little bit ... just until you're over this crap,... put the rest of that pack in fridge and wait." THen the reply, "Yes," I says to me, "that's a wonderful idea. I'll get well, then start up again."

Well, I got well. But then I figured, "Hey. It's been a week and you haven't lit up once. Why not go for longer and see if you can quit this time." ... "Okay," I replied. "We'll see." So now it's two months later. I still want to smoke. Everyday I want to smoke. I see others smoke, I want to smoke. I think about smoking, I want to smoke. I see anime characters smoking, I want to smoke. But I don't. I want to... but just don't.

Ah crap. Was I babbling again? Ah, well. Guess I'll go have a smo... Dr. Pepper.
[Shakes head]

Someone, please invent a healthy cigarette. One that instead of all the toxins actually creates vitamins, minerals, and oxygen as it burns. And make them scented, too. Vanilla, strawberry... that way you'll have the added bonus of a breath freshener.

[Slaps self]

No, but can't say I won't in the future

Nope! Never have, never will, and I try to get everyone I see (literally) to stop.




Umm.... this is probably the biggest load of crap I've ever heard... trying to ban cooked food? Have a look at any proper nutrition book and they'll tell you that cooking food is the first step in digestion. Human beings have evolved to become omnivores (eat meat and plants) and the only way for us to properly digest the proteins in meat is by cooking them.

As for the "health risks" with cooked food and your comparison with cigarettes: Cigarettes have about 2000 known chemicals other than just tobacco in them. Cooked food does not. I could add another few paragraphs to this if you'd like.




Well said!





Take a look at what happened to the forests in British Columbia in the past two years. We've had 2 summers with horrendous forest fires caused by... you guessed it... cigarettes. The biggest fire last year was caused by a firefighter of all people. A FIREFIGHTER!!! Over one million acres of good lumber went up in smoke because of cigarettes and the irresponsible people who throw them out of their truck window.

Also, if you look at the city where I live (Vancouver, Canada) you'll rarely see coffee cups and bottles laying on the ground, but you do see quite a few butts lying on the sidewalks and on the roads.




As for the comment about the age at which people die because of car accidents and smoking - Tell that to one of my old classmates who developed emphysema at age 15 and got lung cancer at 17 (she passed away in her last year of high school). And yes, I miss her very much. Aside from the smoking she was a very nice person. She knew the dangers of it as well, but she didn't have the willpower to stop when things started to go downhill. Don't make the same mistake as she did.



There is no reason to smoke. The whole argument about it "relieving stress" comes from the fact that when you are under stress, the nicotine levels in your bloodstream drop, making you have a craving. When you go for the cigarette, it brings those levels back up and makes you "feel better". It's the worst possible excuse I know for smokers. Other than that, there is no reason!



Just to give a bit more background to my views on this matter - I'm working at a cancer research centre. I'm working on a project that will allow doctors to view the cells inside a person's lungs while they're on the operating table. This means that diagnoses will come a lot quicker and therefore more lives will be saved. I HATE the fact that this technology will be used on people who purposefully damage themselves and need my time, sweat, and blood to save their lives. It's downright unfair. I like the job though, since it will help to save those people who are the unfortunate targets of natrual selection, and it's giving me good work experience.

If ppl want to kill themselves in that way then let them get on with, I don't care.

i dont smoke and i have nothing against ppl that do just dont breath it on me,, especially when im eating lol

Hell no, smoking is just plain stupid (and discusting)...nomatter how beautiful girl..if she smokes it's either quit or bye bye...

only when I get hot

i prefer to die natually, dont need to smoke and speed it up(else i would just jump in front of a train .

the worlds just going topsy turvy, even tho smoking is harmful they sell it....cuz it gets the government money. what next they make drugs legal.. cuz it'll makes them even MORE money???
ah yes they will remember to put the Caution in fine print tho.

@phoenix....some drugs are legal..they are called Medicine lol! and there are places where a person can legally be prescribed marijuana (by a doctor, yes!)

oh and btw..i dont smoke..havent even tried i ever!

I quit......in 1965. Cold turkey too. (by the grace of God)

It was a really great day in my life when the state banned smoking in restaurants.
Now I can go out for a meal and really enjoy it.....and I don't have to go home and throw my clothes in the washer and me in the shower.

You probably already guessed it....I voted NO in the Poll.

I don't eat or drink foods with Aspartame in them either. That stuff is pure POISON!

Cheers,

Smoking is sick.

No And i Hate smokers

Dont like smokers!

Amen! Despite my already having the perfect girl for me.

Haha. Same here. Smart as well! A nuclear engineer to boot! So glad she does not smoke. She does not drink either.

yes

Used to. Started first attempt at quiting a couple of days ago.. still going strong with no smoke filling my lungs!

Smoked for about 5 years.
**** could kill for a cigarette right now . But gotta be strong

nice topic...
i missed it as it got spread out some where in this MSFN ocean

i dont smoke....

but regarding the fourth option ... i cant say anything...

if we say dont smoke ..they will give a junk reply ..

"IT IS MY BIRTH RIGHT..."

and i will just say in return ..

"IT IS MY BIRTH RIGHT FOR MEE TOO TO STAY WITHOUT CANCER AND OTHER AILMENTS..THAT TOO MAKING NO MISTAKES OTHER THAN STANDING NEAR U IN THIS BUS STOP.."""

what to do...
fate rules...

good topic technocrats...

I smoke, I love smoking

I know it's not good for me and I know I should quit. I know I am not going to quit anytime soon so I voted as a smoker not planning to quit.

I think it's good they pretty much banned smoking from public buildings, though I love smoking when I go to a bar (thankfully I don't drink very often).

I don't see a problem with smoking outside. I try to stand away from people or at least downwind of people. It's funny sometimes I move away from people almost unconciously when I smoke, and I find sometimes when I'm talking to someone and I step away a bit to light a smoke they will move closer to talk.
It's kind of an odd thing with human behaviour. Like in foreign countries (I've been to a few in the army), people stand a lot closer than americans do when they talk.

At the same time I find it funny when people complain about second hand smoke being bad for them outside. I can understand not wanting to smell like other people's cigarettes and being just generally annoyed by by the smoke but complaining about health is silly. Aren't car emissions much worse in general?
The thing about cars is that you can't smell their emissions very often so no one complains.

Allow me to re-iterate what I've said just to be sure i'm understood.

I really have no problems with people complaining about smoking indoors or near them outdoors. To complain about health risks from second hand smoke outside is just silly. eating twinkes, drinking coka-cola, not exercising, car emissions, and many other things are probably far worse than second hand smoke outside.

My opinion about California is that they are being utterly obnoxious about not letting people smoke outside. They pass laws like this, yet the car emissions are so bad that you aren't supposed to go outside sometimes because of pollution.

I've been to California once and only saw the desert, so don't get me wrong that I think I know everything. I'm not exactly sure what the laws are there about smoking.

This is just my opinion, I'm not trying to start a war here.

Lastly is that it's easy for people to complain about smokers since you can easily attack individuals, we see them everyday. We don't regularly see tons of garbage beting dumped into the ocean and landfills, so we don't complain about it much.

I like my car and I'm not some big environmentalist either. I try to think as realisticly as possible. Keeping in mind I understand realistically that I know the dangers of smoking yet I continue to smoke. No one is perfect.

1 week. No smoke.

@eleventhcmd - First week or two are the hardest, so you are over the hump. From here on out the hardest thing will be that occasional craving for a smoke. If you can stand up to that, you have it made. Congrats.

DL

The difference here, probably, is that the person who CHOOSES to eat junk-food, drink coca-cola, not exercise, etc., has taken the decision himself, consciously, and owns responsibility for it.
Whereas breathing second hand smoke, does not fall in that category, since the individual did not suddenly decide that for some strange reason, today he wants to breathe the smoke of somebody else.

Not to mention that you can undo the effects of twinkies, coca-cola, and not exercising. Smoking is permanent. The tar and soot that's in your lungs now is there forever.

As for car emissions, it's not as big of a deal because the level of unburnt hydrocarbons in most vehicles is FAR less than you'd get from standing next to someone who's smoking. That along with the 2000 other chemicals that you breathe in from second hand smoke that you don't get from car exhaust....

I really don't see a reason for smoking. It's unhealthy (proven many times over), and its expensive. The whole point about it being "relieving", that comes purely from the fact that when people get stressed, their bodies begin to filter out more nicotine from the bloodstream, causing the person to have a craving. It's a vicious cycle that I'm proud to say that I've never got into.

I only smoke when I get really depressed. Ive had about 12 cigarettes since christmas.

Well sex and working out will help from getting depressed. trust me. That and a meaningful relationship.

I have tried 1 or 2 ciggies in my youth during drunken stupors, but it was still revolting!

No and I hate smokers

ROFLMAO!

Occasional smoker, don't buy my own but when hanging out with smokers and if they ask you want one, I'll say sure.

Unlike some posters who said they wouldn't date a hot chick if she's a smoker . . . that is most certainly not an issue with me.

I don't smoke. but I don't care others somke. I somke before.but quit now.

I dont personally smoke, but I am in college and every other person in my classes does smoke, I don't have nothing against it because it is personal choice at the end of the day, I don't like it when smoke is blown into my face though on purpose by people but being in a pub with people smoking does not bother me.

sometime

I don't smoke

and I don't like it when smoke is blown into my face

I smoke but I hate the fact that I do. It's been an on and off relationship since I was 14 with the longest period of smoking lasting 2 full years without quitting....the last two years in fact. The last time I started I had been smoke free for over 5 years. I had only been smoking for 4 months when i quit that time. I found out I was pregnant and didn't smoke again until some jackoff roomate kept smoking in the house and made everything smell like it again. That and he stressed me the hell out with his bul***** and failure to pay rent.

I've found that the key to quitting is to completely get the smell out of everything and then get a nice case of bronchitis so you can't smoke. Just smoke a ton of cheap cigarettes around other smokers during cold and flu season. Personally I can't smoke when suffering from a respiratory infection. If you can go two weeks without doing it and de-stink your enviroment the smell becomes so revolting you wonder how the hell you ever smoked in the first place.

Thats my method for quitting...that or simply getting a new boyfriend... Being a total hypocrite I won't date men who smoke and choosing between smoking or other more pleasureable activities is easy.

So if there are any good men in the San Diego CA area that are, or will be single on or around April 5th I promised my son I'd quit for his birthday.

i smoke when i'm drunk, but wake up regretting it

wish they banned smoking in the street (at daytime)

i hate it when someone smokes near you in public and makes your clothes stink too

I probably smoke 1/4 pack a day... secondhand. The hell if I'm going to touch one of them death sticks though.

I don't smoke

I'm not against smokers or anything else people do as long as its not illegal.
But it bothers when people say its gonna kill you keep in mind
that
Cars,Guns,Drugs,Food and anything else can kill you too.
So don't Black Ball smokers or whatever someone else do
nobody's perfect.

non smoker, and i don't ever plan to be one...Ms. Connolly, my grade 6 health teacher would hunt me down if she ever heard i started that...and all that i joke about her being crazy about that and all...i'd like to thank her

I don't smoke, i dont hate smokers, its their choice if they smoke.

But at the end of the day, nicotine is a drug, and people get addicted to it, like alcohol.

Tried it, didn't like it, never did it again.

both my parents and my grandmother on my moms side smoke. i dont hate them for it, its theyre choice, but i have been around cigarette smoke all my life (all 16 years of it) and it hasnt bugged me at all, i breathe fine, i dont smell (at least i hope i dont lol) my parents have been smoking for over 25 years and nothing has happened to them, they dont have funny looking teeth and they dont smell. mind you they dont smoke like 5 packs a day, they probably smoke 4 cigarettes a day at most.

so i just beleive is really your own opinion if you smoke or not, dont try to make people feel bad for doing it, its their choice. they dont try to make you stay away from the computer do they?

(i wont smoke though, not my thing)

$m0K!ñg ©4ñ g0 t0 H3ll... *4H3m*

I don't smoke at all and have lost a family member to emphesyma. Also don't like being around smokers as cigarette smoke gets my asthma going. Before my mother had passed on - her favorite place to sit and smoke was right under the A\C intake vent. Which of course caused my room to end up half-full with a thick cloud of cigarette smoke billowing in through the vent.

However - if I have to be around smokers I just deal with it. It's their choice and nothing I can do against it but duck my head under the smoke.

What is worst, standing in a 4 story MOP tower (Marine Observation Post) with 40,000 Cubans trained to kill me, what is worst is Tower 18 is only 200 metes away from one of theirs, we are required to wear full body armor on that one.

or

Smoking.

Hell, i did both, now trying to quit smoking

I found this poll and followed it. OK here's my take if anyone is interested.

While smoking is bad for you, so is breathing exhaust fumes from ALL vehicles. I smoke have been for many years and still keep up with my 8 yr. old. It's PEOPLES choice period. And by the way if we had a two car garage partitioned down the center, none smokers on one side with their cars and smokers on the other. Now mind you both partitions are totally sealed from one another and from the outside. Who's going to be walking out the garage?? And while in the Army (1973-1983) I had to run 2 miles non-stop in MOP4 protective suits to be qualified for ERD (Emergency Rapid Deployment) 101 & 82 Airborne. Was that FUN!! NOT.

Here's a few links that even suggest carpet as a contributor of asthma. So if anyone has carpeting you might want to reconsider wood floors. Also aspirin has been recognized as a cause for asthma. OK, we'll stop there.

Scroll until you see. Avoiding Common Causes of Asthma Attacks
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec04/ch044/ch044a.html

http://lungdiseases.about.com/od/asthma/a/asthma_causes.htm

This even says "COLD AIR"
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~aair/asthma_causes.htm

Maybe we should all just give it up.



jd