Smokers and non-smokers

[Thorum]

Just curious how many people smoke here. I have smoked regularly since 16 years old. I quit 2 times, each for over a year. Thinking of quitting again but at this point, I like it too much.

[Revenant]

Yup I smoke, cigars (about one or two a week) and occasionally cigarettes although I prefer cigars.

[Thorum]

Yup I smoke, cigars (about one or two a week) and occasionally cigarettes although I prefer cigars.

Sorry, I should have added cigars to the poll...............

[Stossy]

I only smoke when I want to, sometimes when I am drinking.
But I don't mind if other people are smoking when I am near them.

[Beorn]

Started when I was twelve and gave up when I was twenty-four. I used to smoke about 15-20 a day.

I felt the time was right to give up and went to the smoking Nurse to get help. She prescribed me Zyban. (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004174.html)
I gave up between the two weeks as promised and haven't felt the urge to smoke again.

It's been 4 years to this month since I gave up.

[Thorum]

Started when I was twelve and gave up when I was twenty-four. I used to smoke about 15-20 a day.

I felt the time was right to give up and went to the smoking Nurse to get help. She prescribed me Zyban. (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004174.html)
I gave up between the two weeks as promised and haven't felt the urge to smoke again.

It's been 4 years to this month since I gave up.

Hmmmm, Zyban. Perhaps when the time comes, I'll give that a shot.

[Absinthe]

Used to smoke for 13 years, quit cold turkey. I've been feeling fine eversince :)

[Baron Samedi]

I am still an occasional smoker with company, but I am trying my best to quit period.

I still enjoy smoking cloves on occasion, though.

[Sally]

I've never smoked before. My parents were heavy smokers, and I always disliked the smell.

[Vulpix]

Never. The smell... repulsive.

[Lady L]

Started when I was twelve and gave up when I was twenty-four. I used to smoke about 15-20 a day.

I felt the time was right to give up and went to the smoking Nurse to get help. She prescribed me Zyban. (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004174.html)
I gave up between the two weeks as promised and haven't felt the urge to smoke again.

It's been 4 years to this month since I gave up.

Congrats on that accomplishment! It is a hard one! :thumb001:

I have been smoking regularly since 15 years old. I intend on quiting...one day. :cool:

[Ladejarlen]

I dont smoke, but I have tried.
Most of my friends smoke, so I guess im a passive smoker.

[Vargtand]

Let's see I have never smoked any cigarettes ever. Nor have I ever used any suns ever. Never done drugs in any form. And drank the first time when I was 18. So did I miss anything?

[MarcvSS]

I smoked since I was twelve... And always smoked dark tobacco.

I always said to people that when the price of tobacco reached 10 guilders I would quit. The price is now 6 euro, so 13 guilders, for a pack ad i'm not even considering quiting...

[Pino]

started when I was 13, about 2 weeks later my Dad found out and beat me silly so I stopped...I thank him for it everyday.

[Spillip]

I've smoked on and off since I was 17. The pattern seems to be smoke for a few months, quit for a year or more, then start again. But I've never been addicted. I only really want a cigarette when I'm either extremely depressed or tipsy.

I'm not really for or against. I'll probably start again in a few months; I can never tell.

[Psychonaut]

I smoke a pipe or cigars three or four times a week.

What kind of cigars do you like Revenant? I've been growing particularly fond of Arturo Fuente and Gurkha cigars.

[Soldier of Wodann]

I'll have a cigarette or cigar or two when I am at a party. I smoke hookah on occasion too, though that isn't nearly as bad for you.

Definitely not something I'd do regularly though. Don't enjoy the after taste at all.

[Sol Invictus]

I smoke, thank you for not bitching.....

I wouldn't be French if I didn't? :thumbs up

[Sol Invictus]

In other words....

Does the tinman have a sheet-metal dink?? :p

[Jägerstaffel]

I used to smoke, did so for a few years. Decided one day I didn't want to anymore. I think the smell got to me. I quit cold turkey and haven't wanted one since, however I do smoke a pipe from time to time.

[Revenant]

What kind of cigars do you like Revenant? I've been growing particularly fond of Arturo Fuente and Gurkha cigars.

Apart from the odd Fonseca, Romeo y Julieta, Punch, Montecristo or H Upmann are the most common here, unless I go to the tobacconist so those are the main ones I smoke. My favorite out of those would be Montecristo and H Upmann. I got a La Flor Dominicana the other day and enjoyed that a lot. Despite the hype I haven't found Cubans to be that much better than non Cubans if anything because of the American market demand they are better, certainly more consistent construction wise.

[Absinthe]

I smoke, thank you for not bitching.....

I wouldn't be French if I didn't? :thumbs up
Well, friend, don't take this as a personal insult but I have some food for thought to give you. :)

I was born and raised in Greece, a country in which chaos and absurdity reigns (but that's a huge story), one of the symptoms being that it is considered as 'ethnic pride' to smoke.

Not only people start smoking from a very young age (as I did, at 14), due to social pressure, but also the ones who don't want to smoke, get absolutely no respect from their peers, and they become passive smokers as there are no smoke-free places to be found in Greece.

Now, this mentality 'of course I smoke, I am greek' (or french) is fundamentally wrong because asides from perpetuating the problem, it also kills all social responsibility and gives the excuse to people for not respecting others.

To give you an example, in my office we are about 20 people, 15 out of which smoke incessantly.

It is me, a girl who doesn't smoke and the supervisor who is pregnant, that suffer from this condition, and we've tried once to many to persuade then to smoke outside in the corridor or at least respect us and quit smoking simultaneoulsy (imagine working in a closed space of about 35 square meters, with 15 people smoking at the same time) :(

Not only did we get no respect but we also got bullied by the smokers, telling us 'this is Greece' where 'everybody smokes' and 'if we don't like it, we should move to Sweden' :eek:

A woman also said "I am Greek and nobody will force me to smoke outside", concluding that we should accept that in Greece we are the minority and we should f*** off if we don't like the smoke. :mad:

See how problematic this mentality is?

I mean, you can smoke all you like and that's your business, but when you turn it into ethnic pride it becomes everybody's business. :(

[HawkR]

Now, I've been only smoking for a few months(4 or 5), but for a month ago I turned ill, fever and shit, hard-core coffing, and after that I coffs like and 80year old heavy smoking man. I should quit while I can.

But did you know, smoking ain't a chemical addictiviness, it's all in your mind? It has been proven.

[Atlas]

Heavily smoker here, more than a pack a day, sometimes 30 cigarettes a day.
I'm seriously addicted and want to quit.

[Thorum]

Let's see I have never smoked any cigarettes ever. Nor have I ever used any suns ever. Never done drugs in any form. And drank the first time when I was 18. So did I miss anything?

Yes, you did. Alcohol is a drug. :D

[Lyfing]

I don't smoke. For some reason I just never did. Every now and again I might just get me a cigar and smoke it, but that is about it.

I keep snuff in my mouth pretty much all the time though. I'm just waiting on the mouth cancer to creep up on me. These health risks are serious business. It says right here on this can of dip I just pulled out of my back pocket.."this product may cause gum disease and tooth loss"..some of them say " this product may cause mouth cancer"..it's like a roll of the dice with the warning and likewise with the ensuing sickness..what a joke.

We all know it's bad for us and we keep doing it because we're addicted. Not because nicotine is oh so addicting..it's the habit thats addicting..and we have bad habits. Just where did our will go..?? To the tobacco outlet..??

I'm not blaming anyone. Over in Sweden I heard they have made some snus with no crap in it ( because the food quality folks are over it ) and the happenings ( because I can't spell accourances ) of disease is going way down. Just what's up with that..?? What a shocker that the whiskey flavored snuff is better for you than the chemical laden crap they sell us over here.

I ain't never seen no ingredients label..?? But, heck, I just think I'd sure like to have some..:thumbs up

Later,
-Lyfing

[Brynhild]

I had my first puff on a cigarette when I was 8. Took up the habit on a more regular basis when I was 13. Everyone used to do it, you were nerdy if you didn't mentality surrounded me while I was growing up.

I'm not proud to say I smoked when I was pregnant with my first child, but I cut down from a packet or two a day to around 3 or 4 cigs a day. When my first son was born, nobody smoked in the house or in the car. I cut down even less when I was breastfeeding and caring for him.

I finally quit when he was nine months old and I was 29. I wasn't feeling well at the time and I just stopped. 15 years later, I had one cigar during that time, but haven't touched a cigarette again, and I won't ever go back.

[Gundwane]

I would probably claim the record for time smoked - around 49 years, most of it HEAVILY - strong stuff like Texan, Lucky Strike, (these American toasted tobaccos), anything up to 40 a day, but 6th July 2003 was the turning point in my life. Being our winter (South Africa) I got a cold, and whenever that happened, it would also affect my lungs, so being already irritated by nicotine, the winter chill would aggravate it, and the cough would take weeks to clear.

On this particular Sunday morning I decided: "So far, and not further! Enough is enough!!!" So I lit my last one, sealed the pack and lighter together with tape, wrote the date on it, stuck it in the display cabinet, and I sat down, savouring every last puff of my very last cigarette, then stubbed it out.

Strangely enough, no cold turkey, no Nicorettes of Zyban, no craving - I just stopped, and even hubby's then still heavy smoking didn't affect me...

Now, nearly six years down the line I have never looked back, but I have to face it - although I was fortunate not to get emphysema or cancer, there IS damage - being short-breathed at times.

I can kick myself for ever having started at the age of twenty - just think of all the money I could have saved!!!

[Red Skull]

I started smoking when I turned 18. Since then I've smoked one pack a day. When I'm out partying I can smoke up to 3 packs. Marlboro Reds forever.

I actually enjoy smoking very much, and don't plan on quitting. It's also common for Serbs to smoke. My mother has smoked since she was 14. My father hasn't touched a cigarette his entire life.

[Stegura]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTbusMZEL0Q

[Majar]

I smoked cigarettes a few times, didn't appeal to me. Glad I didn't start smoking because it is an expensive waste of money. Weed is much better. :smokin01:

[Óttar]

I don't really smoke. I have a few cigars in a bag for when a cigar connoisseur friend might come over, and I will rarely smoke hookah. Back when I smoked I only did it as an aperitif. I have however developed a bit of a liking for Snus which goes wonderfully with 3-4 shots of vodka. There is nothing like intensifying the rush of the GABA neurotransmitter by artificially stimulating the reward centres of the brain. :thumb001:

I stopped smoking when I realised that continuing would kill me. I have a problem regulating cortisol when I get stressed out, which is greatly exacerbated by smoking. After I smoked three cigarettes in a row, the next day I woke up and was so sick I couldn't get out of bed for the whole day. It was then that I decided enough is enough.

[Nordish Persephone]

Have never smoked and never plan to. I'm a good clean girl. My brother smokes though. :(

[nisse]

I only smoke when I drink, but I don't really drink :D

[Praamžius]

Tried few times while drinking...no pleasure found...only horrible smell

[Tabiti]

Both occasional and ex-regular smoker here.

[Murphy]

Regular smoker.

Regards,
The Papist.

[Grumpy Cat]

This is my third day not smoking. Not a Catholic but decided to give it up for Lent (start of Lent was a good a quit day as any).

[Absinthe]

Both occasional and ex-regular smoker here.
Same here :( I started smoking again. "Occasionally" - I haven't bought my own pack yet but I do find myself craving it more than when I was a regular smoker.

[Bridie]

During the last 18 months or so, I've taken up smoking twice and given up once. Prior to this, I'd never smoked (apart from socially every now and then).

I was on about 40 smokes a day until I binned the tailor mades and took up rollies... now I'm on maybe 15 smokes a day... maybe 20.

I'll give up again tomorrow. :cool: :p

[jerney]

I find smoking absolutely revolting and there is absolutely nothing that could ever get me to try it. And even if you were forget about all the health dangers and the horrible smell that accompanies smoking, it just looks trashy imo :shrug:

[Vlad The Impaler]

I don't really smoke. I'll have maybe 1 or 2 ciggarettes every month. I prefer more enjoyable habits, like coffee drinking or tea drinking. Besides I already inhale enough smoke when I smoke cannabis every day.

[Äike]

http://media.riemurasia.net/albumit/mmedia/o5/9px/ouc/191826/normal_692950003.jpg

[Grumpy Cat]

I haven't smoked in five days. Cravings are more gradual now.

[Hrimskegg]

*puff, puff, puff*

If pipe tobacco was a beautiful girl, I'd marry her.

[Camilla]

Greetings from 6 months-smoker ;)

[Svipdag]

When I entered college 61 years ago, I took up pipe smoking. After all, who would know I was a college man if I didn't smoke a pipe ? My taste in pipe tobaccos rapidly improved and soon, I was buying the best I could afford.

In 1953, while I was in the Navy, I acquired a taste for cigars, and the same thing happened. H. Upmann Cuban cigars were cheap on the base at Guantanamo and I soon came to enjoy their Corona Majors above all other cigars.

In Gibraltar, I discovered Balkan Sobranie pipe tobacco, mostly Turkish Latakia, and was shocked after the end of my tour of duty to discover how expensive it and Upmann cigars, before the import ban, were in the US. Still, I smoked only good cigars and good pipe tobacco until 1968 when I finally took up smoking cigarettes.

Inasmuch as all cigarette tobacco is vile, it made no great difference what brand of cigarettes I smoked. I smoked about half a pack a day [they were 60
cents a pack then] for the next 8 years.

On June 7, 1976, I finished the last cigarette in a carton of Salems and asked myself aloud "Why am I doing this I'm not enjoying it." I quit then and there and have never smoked since. I must admit that I do miss fine cigars, but I fear that if I resume smoking anything, I'll return to the convenient cigarette.

[Grumpy Cat]

I haven't smoked in a little over two weeks.

[Solwyn]

I haven't smoked in a little over two weeks.

Very good!!!! Keep it up, you're over the worst part now:thumb001:

[Lenny]

http://media.riemurasia.net/albumit/mmedia/o5/9px/ouc/191826/normal_692950003.jpg
Karl - that is a fascinating image! Thanks :thumb001:

I just have one problem that is bugging me. I don't understand the "Racial Distribution of U.S. Smokers" pie chart there. It is obviously wrong that American-Indians could be 36.4% of all smokers -- they are only 1-2% of the U.S. population. So I guess that chart means 36% of Indians are smokers, 21% of whites, 20% of blacks, etc. But this explanation too makes no sense -- why would this number conveniently add up to 100%?

[Cato]

Tried a couple of times, not my thing.

[Svipdag]

Mark Twain said of quitting smoking "It is the easiest thing in the world. I have done it a thousand times." ;)

[Lulletje Rozewater]

I am a heavy smoker---50 a day of which 3 in bed,but the blasted duvet does not want to go up in smoke,so I can claim from insurance:D

[Loddfafner]

I smoked as a kid. Nowadays I only rarely light up and that is after I have reached a certain threshold of intoxication.

[poiuytrewq0987]

I smoke this brand.

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/cadebrdgs/weed-cigarettes.jpg

This brand is much more natural as ingredients are grown from the earth and that's all included in the Cannabis Marlboro brand. I think it's much better than "Commit Suicide with Bathroom Cleaning Supplies Cigarettes". :)

[poiuytrewq0987]

I am a heavy smoker---50 a day of which 3 in bed,but the blasted duvet does not want to go up in smoke,so I can claim from insurance:D

50 cigs a day? You're crazy.

[Grumpy Cat]

I smoked a cigarette today.

Just one though.

Sorry.

[poiuytrewq0987]

I smoked a cigarette today.

Just one though.

Sorry.

Remove your shirt and get on your knees. The punishment for smoking a cig is ten lashes so... prepare for pain!

[Tabiti]

BTW, my mother smokes two packs a day, almost all students (especially girls) in my Uni smoke, in every pub/caffee I go there are lots of smokers, so actually I'm an everyday passive smoker.
So, forget about healthy life when you're among other humans.

[Atlas]

Yep, it seems so many girls smoke today.

[Tabiti]

Yep, it seems so many girls smoke today.
At least here females smoke much more than males. I almost don't know females who don't and they are usually that "fat virgin with huge glasses" type.

[Loki]

At least here females smoke much more than males. I almost don't know females who don't and they are usually that "fat virgin with huge glasses" type.

It's not cool for Bulgarian females to be non-smokers? Interesting. I would personally never date a girl who smokes.

[Tabiti]

It's not cool for Bulgarian females to be non-smokers? Interesting. I would personally never date a girl who smokes.
Now it's cool because you save much money, however everyone start smoking in 5-6-7-8th grade. Before 30 years it was a must to smoke to be accepted by others (that's why my mother now smokes 2 packs a day), but now it is not. Don't ask me why smoking is so popular, no one really knows the reason.

[Atlas]

5.60 € for a pack of Marlboro around here.

[Loki]

Don't ask me why smoking is so popular, no one really knows the reason.

I've asked myself that many times, I honestly don't know either. Well, nicotine is of course very addictive. For me personally smoking is not an attractive habit. Firstly, everything about you smells like smoking. You become distasteful for partners to kiss. All your clothes stink of smoke. Your house. My eyes are quite sensitive too, and hence cannot handle smoke. They tear up in the presence of cigarette smoke and become red and swollen. And we haven't even started talking about the long-term health "benefits" of a smoking habit ... :coffee:

[Saruman]

I've never tried smoking and I don't think I will. Nobody in my family is a smoker, father a very occasional once-twice in a year perhaps.
I can somewhat tolerate the cigars odor, if there is a "drug-odor" that I like it's the gasoline.:D

[Tabiti]

It's not the nicotine as a drug, however the habit of holding a cigarette between your fingers. At least smokers told me that. There are many ways to satisfy nicotine need - plasters, medicines, chewing gums, however not the habit itself.

[Loki]

It's not the nicotine as a drug, however the habit of holding a cigarette between your fingers. At least smokers told me that. There are many ways to satisfy nicotine need - plasters, medicines, chewing gums, however not the habit itself.

The electric cigarette (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-566351/The-electric-cigarette-gives-nicotine-hit-gets-round-smoking-ban.html) seems interesting.

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/05_04/electroSmokeBNPS_468x348.jpg

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/05_04/electroCigBNPS_468x358.jpg

[Tabiti]

It works as far as I've heard, but most people just get tired from searching for filters, because they aren't as widespread as cigarettes.

[Murphy]

I'm thinking of taking up smoking the pipe.

[Germanicus]

I finished my last cigarette on the 5th January 1997, having gone completely cold turkey on the 6th january. It took me 3 months to totally get over my addiction, whereupon i could go to pubs without looking at others smoking.
Since giving up, my sense of smell and taste is superior to when i smoked, my lung capacity for exercise is outstanding. It has been quoted that it takes around 15 years for your lungs to repair themselves to normal after just one puff of a cigarette.

[a device]

I put the first ever cigarette in my mouth when I was 7 years old. I was hanging around with my older brother (10) and his mates. :D
Back then, I rarely drew the smoke into my lungs and by the time I hit 11, my mum found out about our bad habit.

I was so scared by the telling off that I never touched another one till I was doing my 'A' Level exams at the age of 18.
When I started at Uni, the 'cool' people all seemed to smoke, so I continued there, firstly on wussy Silk Cut purple, then Marlborough Red and B & H.

When my grant (and my time at Uni) ran out I had to resort to cheaper brands, then roll-ups (Old Holborn without filter tips :rolleyes2:).

Nowadays, I could afford to smoke cigarettes once more, but I don't like them, so I smoke Golden Virginia with filter tips.

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Images/ExternalImages/ProductsDetailed/69/035269.jpg

[Murphy]

Nowadays, I could afford to smoke cigarettes once more, but I don't like them, so I smoke Golden Virginia with filter tips.

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Images/ExternalImages/ProductsDetailed/69/035269.jpg

I've been smoking this for the past week now, though I just cannot come to like the stuff. Also, I cannot seem to bother wth filters, making rolling harder than it already is.

[poiuytrewq0987]

I've been smoking this for the past week now, though I just cannot come to like the stuff. Also, I cannot seem to bother wth filters, making rolling harder than it already is.

Buy pre-rolled cigs, problem solved? Besides that you shouldn't be smoking tobacco, nicotine and other bathroom shit. Go green, it's the way to actual enlightenment and it's healthier for you too (that is if you use a pipe, as paper isn't good for you).

[Tabiti]

Once tried real tobacco (the Golden Virginia brand showed above as well) I realized that cigarettes consist mainly of other substances, but not tobacco;)

[Falkata]

I can understand people who smoke joints, or drink alcohol,consume cocaine,xtasy... but cigarettes? What´s the point about them? You don´t feel anything special smoking them, it´s just a shitty smoke in your mouth and lounges who has not any effect in your mind.
And no, smoking is not relaxing, it´s just the smokers are drug addicteds so they feel better when they can satisfy their addiction. Non-smokers dont feel any "relax" when they smoke a cigarette.

[Tabiti]

First reason to lit a cigarette is to try. Second you start smoking because it's somehow cool to hurry outside in any 15-20 minutes. Usually there would be other smokers, so you socialize in certain degree. Third, you start imaging the magical functions of nicotine - kills hunger and relaxes. Forth, you realize how useless are cigarettes, but you're already in trap. The only times when I have desire to lit a cigarette is when drinking beer. Don't know why.

[Zeppelin20]

I smoked for about a year from age 18 to 19. (started summer before college...was trying to be mysterious perhaps? haha who knows.)....About 9 months ago I started back distance running (Have done it most of my life except that year I started college) so smoking has fallen off the radar.

[a device]

Buy pre-rolled cigs, problem solved?
The problem is that UK cigarettes are horrendously expensive, due to draconian duty costs, inflicted by the Government.

The average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes in 2010 is £6.13.

Therefore, in the last 15 years, or so, Britain has seen a rapid rise in what was once the habit of the tramp or the unemployed: roll-your-own fags.

What is even more interesting IMO are the figures which the UK Tobacco Manufacturers' website give, regarding the percentage of 'NUKDP' (non-UK duty paid) tobacco consumed here.

In Britain there has grown a culture of.. well.. contraband smuggling of tobacco.
My current tobacco supply is an example.

A 50 gramme pouch of Golden Virginia can cost £15 in a shop in Britain, yet can be purchased for about £4 by a holidaymaker in Portugal or Greece.
Now, when hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers and lorry drivers jump on the contraband wagon, the UK is plentifully stocked with contraband tobacco for all!

Look at the very interesting figures in the link below...
At the contraband peak in 2000, 78% of all tobacco smoked in the UK was contraband!!

Even now, after huge efforts by Customs and Excise, the figure is 68%.

http://www.the-tma.org.uk/page.aspx?page_id=29

[Lulletje Rozewater]

50 cigs a day? You're crazy.

:D Yet my lungs are clear..............compared to tar:wink

[Baron Samedi]

I still smoke a clove cigar on occasion, but my usage of actual bullshit American cigs has stopped.

[Psychonaut]

I'm stepping out for a bowl of Sunset Breeze (http://www.smokingpipes.com/tobacco/by-maker/peterson/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=1201) as we speak...

[anonymaus]

I smoked cigarillos casually when I was a teenager; I really enjoy the smell and taste of fresh high grade tobacco. It's amazing.

I haven't touched one since I was maybe 18. I never smoked pot or cigarettes.

I just don't want stained teeth, sallow skin, smelly clothing and hair etc. No thank you.

[Radojica]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Lucky_strike.jpg

Between 30 and 40 per day :embarrassed