Who Smokes?

[trackaghost]

Dublin is now no smoking - a great city gets even better!

I've never smoked, I've always looked down on it I must admit.
Apart from the stench and the health risk (it really is a selfish habit when people are willing to put others at risk for the sake of a cigarette), the thing about smoking that gets me the most is all the cigarette breaks smokers take during the day at work.

[Moony]

Originally Posted by sodascouts

Aw, Moony. I think you should put a little more effort into your sarcasm. This is rather simplistic and derivative. If you're having trouble being original, I'm sure there are some books out there you can consult.

Aw, Nancy. Thank you for proving my point.

[amber]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Dublin is now no smoking - a great city gets even better!

I've never smoked, I've always looked down on it I must admit.
Apart from the stench and the health risk (it really is a selfish habit when people are willing to put others at risk for the sake of a cigarette), the thing about smoking that gets me the most is all the cigarette breaks smokers take during the day at work.

Don't hate because you're jealous. That's the thing that gets you the most?

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by Moony

Aw, Nancy. Thank you for proving my point.

Why is it I see no one running to defend Nancy and her good name here?

[GarboSpeaks!]

Originally Posted by LongBlackScarf

*gags*

What a stench those things give off.

Oh yea, like reg. cig smoke is any better. LOL. No really. I hear ya. What's weird is that people can smell me a mile away and smokers that don't smoke in their own homes encourage me to go ahead and smoke a clove cause they "smell nice." Um...ok. I don't ofcourse.
Funnier still is that when in SF like on Haight St., I won't be approached and asked for a cig, but every "goth" w/in a 20 mile radius will approach, ask for a Clove and begin to reminisce about how they haven't smoked those since Highschool.

[rbs3676]

I started smoking when I was 15. I quit when I was 35 -- one of the best things I ever did for myself. I feel better, I look better, I sound better (no more coughing, no scatchy throat in the morning), I smell better...there are nothing BUT advantages to quitting smoking.
It can be done - anyone can quit. It is a choice.

rbs

[DavidMn]

Nevr touched em, never will

[KarmaContestant]

I smoke. Amercian Spirits, the blue pack. Sometimes the black 'perique' pack. Since the perique tobacco comes from Louisiana, I wonder if they'll be harder to come across?

I started smoking on my 18th birthday, simply because I could. I hated smoking prior to that.....especially when my parents would smoke in our house....but when I turned 18, I decided that there simply must be something good about it, since I had to wait so long to be able to do it. Flawed laws, I guess... So...I've smoked for 14 years. I enjoy it - alot - and though I certainly will not attempt to glamourize it - I will say that I do not abuse it. I don't smoke in my house and I don't insist on smoking around others who are bothered by it, and I don't smoke a pack a day...more like 8 to 10 cigarettes a day. Smoking an additive free cigarette certainly helps.....I never get those 'need a smoke' jitters that all the Marlboro and Camel smokers complain about....The additives in most cigarettes are more addictive than nicotine. I have thought about quitting many times, but I don't want to.

Denver tried to pass a smoking ban earlier this year. It was a TOTAL and utter failure. The non-smoking restaraunts/bars were the primary backers of the ban, saying that those establishments which allowed smoking had an unfair business advantage. After the first failure, the ban was voted on again - and failed again. Non smokers complain that they are being subjected to something harmful, but they have choices just like the rest of us. There are plenty of non-smoking bars and restaraunts in Denver, so it's not like they have to endure the smoke - they can just go somewhere else. When I was a kid people smoked on airplanes and in K-Mart, so we have come a long way over the past three decades.

In my heart of hearts....I wish the FDA had the authority to ban tobacco nationwide.....but at the same time, that very idea is contrary to my entire belief system of personal responsibility. I sell cigarettes - and I am utterly disgusted by the massive quantities that I sell to the same people again and again. Most of them are the people who can least afford to smoke! It's sad, really.....

[trackaghost]

Originally Posted by amber

Don't hate because you're jealous. That's the thing that gets you the most?

Yeah hehe I want loads of breaks during the day too

[dreamongypsydkm]

I smoke like a chimney, and I am well aware of the consequences. Sure, I wish I never started but I could care less about quitting at this point, unless I were to become pregnant (and I don't want children to begin with).
I also hate it when people tell me it's bad for me or I'm "selfish". I always say **** off, I know what it does and if you don't want to breathe it in, go away. We're all going to die and frankly I don't care about speeding up the process. In any case, these are what I tend to smoke most:
Marlboro Blend #27s
Mmm

[amber]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Yeah hehe I want loads of breaks during the day too

The obvious solution is to either pretend you smoke, or say "I need a short break - they get to go, why can't I?"

[trackaghost]

This is in all the newspapers today, another reason why you shouldn't smoke:

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?...3&id=258012004

Smoking 'increases risk of blindness'

DUNCAN ROBERTS


SMOKERS are four times as likely to become blind due to a common cause of sight problems but most remain unaware of the risks, a team of researchers warned today.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of adult blindness, results in severe and irreversible loss of central vision.

It is estimated there are 600 new cases of AMD diagnosed in Scotland a year - one sixth of which are thought to originate in the Lothians.

Researchers from the University of Manchester and Bolton Hospital NHS Trust estimated that one in five AMD cases in the UK may be attributable to smoking.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, they estimated that 53,900 people in the UK over the age of 69 may have visual impairment due to AMD linked to smoking. Of these, they said 17,800 were completely blind.

The researchers called for a sustained public health campaign to raise awareness of the link between smoking and blindness, as well as more commonly known risks such as cancer. They said there was evidence that giving up smoking helped reduce the risk of AMD in later life.

"Observational studies show a protective effect of smoking cessation on the development of AMD, as former smokers have an only slightly increased risk of AMD compared with never smokers," the authors wrote. Discussing awareness campaigns, the researchers said highlighting the finding that smokers develop AMD about ten years earlier than non-smokers "could also be a potent message in public awareness campaigns".

They concluded: "Evidence indicates that more than a quarter of all cases of AMD with blindness or visual impairment are attributable to current or past exposure to smoking. "Patients, health professionals, and the public will benefit from greater awareness of this causal association."

The team, led by consultant ophthalmic surgeon Simon Kelly, said research evaluating how smokers behave as a result of being informed about the risk of blindness could help inform public health campaigns. There are two forms of AMD, wet and dry. Only the wet form is treatable.

[amber]

Very cool. I haven't had one today. What are Lothians?

[trackaghost]

It's a region of Scotland. It's cos I stole the story from the Scotsman website.

[reebokandlace]

I smoke but I have to quit THIS friday so I can pass my life insurance exam in 2 weeks and qualify as a non smoker.

For a million dollar life insurance policy (smoker) they would charge me quadruple the non smoker rate.

So my choice is:
#1. Quit smoking
#2. don't quit, forget the life insurance and leave my loved one unprotected to fend for themselves
#3. Pay quadruple rates

So I am quitting.


I am going to lose my mind. I have smoked since I was 12 years old. I will be so miserable. I have never tried to quit. My loved one may run away on day 3 of quitting.