Health Issues Why Do People Still Smoke ?
- Thread starter shyvas
- Start date
So true about low income population the ones most affected! I've been there when married to an alcoholic, and it seems most about hopelessness. I grew up with budgeting ingrained in me but no amount of coaching, or calculating how to get out of poverty seems to work for some people. It's like they feel nothing matters and the money they should be saving for a better car, or paying off bills gets spent on such harmful and useless things as cigarettes, booze, and lotto tickets
I had the displeasure of getting my car from a shop where they smoked inside. I hadn't been around smoke for a very long time. I literally couldn't have stayed there much longer than I needed to- it was suffocating!
I started smoking at 12 on/off, but when in a psych ward for two years on/off every one smoked at all ages. I quit around 30-32 for good. It was very difficult, and I used the nicotine gum for about a year. Harder than cheese!
I had the displeasure of getting my car from a shop where they smoked inside. I hadn't been around smoke for a very long time. I literally couldn't have stayed there much longer than I needed to- it was suffocating!
I started smoking at 12 on/off, but when in a psych ward for two years on/off every one smoked at all ages. I quit around 30-32 for good. It was very difficult, and I used the nicotine gum for about a year. Harder than cheese!
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I have also noticed this when I was unemployed and attending some courses, nearly all the people attending and thus on low income, smoked.
At work most of the people who smoke ( they have to go outside) are women and mainly young. Some people make comments such as 'regardless of the price , I'll still smoke' which seems that they are seriously hooked. I think that education is a must when it comes to youngsters. Smoking is no longer regarded as glamorous as it was back in the 50's or 60's but a serious health crisis for all.
Tobacco Worse Than Cocaine?
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I never had the desire to smoke because I hated the smell of it. Both of my parents smoked when I was younger, and our house always reeked of stale smoke. Made me ill. It took my dad having a stroke to finally quit (he had tried three times before). My mother stopped when I was a kid; she saved all the money she would have spent on cigarettes for a family vacation. 
It's a tough habit to break, even when you want to break it.
It's a tough habit to break, even when you want to break it.
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I never had the desire to smoke because I hated the smell of it. Both of my parents smoked when I was younger, and our house always reeked of stale smoke. Made me ill. It took my dad having a stroke to finally quit (he had tried three times before). My mother stopped when I was a kid; she saved all the money she would have spent on cigarettes for a family vacation.
Smokers reek and are unaware of the fact. Being in a smoker's home or car isn't very appealing due to the smell of cold tobacco that lingers.
I also have a colleague who had to have a stent due to smoking and she's not even 60.
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Some good news, as the percentage of smokers are declining - US.
Smoking in US: About 14% of adults smoke, hitting new all-time low
Smoking in US: About 14% of adults smoke, hitting new all-time low
GingerFoxx
No effin' whey!
A lot of coworkers who smoke do it for the stress relief. Some say the nicotine helps their mental focus. Unfortunately, the detrimental effects to one's physical health easily outweigh that, in my mind.
hungryraccoon
Forum Legend
No idea. Blows my mind with all the information out there - people can't claim ignorance any more. It is a carcinogen.... Much like meat. Why do people still eat meat? People just don't care!
People don't think that they will get cancer; it will happen to someone else.
Even though its obvious that everyone dies, people are still shocked when they get a terminal diagnosis. We're just really good at ignoring unpleasant realities.
Even though its obvious that everyone dies, people are still shocked when they get a terminal diagnosis. We're just really good at ignoring unpleasant realities.
Right. We don't have xxx TODAY, so it's okay to eat, drink smoke not exercise...when we get xxx then we'll have to change
My coworker is always going on about how her family has diabetes, heart issues, and don't do the right diet or lifestyle changes. When I point out all the things the average person does that contributes to those problems I just get a shrug.
My younger son is still smoking. He has cut back a lot, like maybe a pack a week, but it was his 4 year old self that got me to totally quit with "moking will make you die! don't moke!"
It's been about 20 years without a puff
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Since this thread has started, three of my former colleagues have lost their husbands to lung cancer. Two were in their early 40's and the other man was in his early 50's. I know that two of them had started smoking at a very young age.
I know that two of them had started smoking at a very young age.
I smoked for 22 years, and quit when I was 40. Quitting smoking was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It was so hard that when I finally quit, I knew I could never, ever have so much as a single drag ever in my life again.
I finally quit when my husband was diagnosed with a blood cancer in the fall of 2000. I felt so awful waiting in the oncologist's office, smelling of smoke from the cigarette I'd smoked right before the appointment (to calm my nerves), sitting in a chair next to someone who had an oxygen tank. It was the wake up call I needed.
I quit with the help of nicotine patches, which were fairly new at the time. You were supposed to step down the dosage, from the big patch, to the medium and then to the small, over several weeks. When I was at the point were I was supposed to give up the small patch, I found I just couldn't. I just wasn't ready. At that point, I hadn't had an actual cigarette in several weeks, but I had such strong attachment to my little patch! So I cut them in half and wore a half for a few more weeks, then I cut them in quarters. Finally, when I found I was putting just a wee little piece of a patch right over a vein, I realized that I was probably only mentally addicted and no longer physically addicted and was able to stop. Nicotine is a powerful drug!
I finally quit when my husband was diagnosed with a blood cancer in the fall of 2000. I felt so awful waiting in the oncologist's office, smelling of smoke from the cigarette I'd smoked right before the appointment (to calm my nerves), sitting in a chair next to someone who had an oxygen tank. It was the wake up call I needed.
I quit with the help of nicotine patches, which were fairly new at the time. You were supposed to step down the dosage, from the big patch, to the medium and then to the small, over several weeks. When I was at the point were I was supposed to give up the small patch, I found I just couldn't. I just wasn't ready. At that point, I hadn't had an actual cigarette in several weeks, but I had such strong attachment to my little patch! So I cut them in half and wore a half for a few more weeks, then I cut them in quarters. Finally, when I found I was putting just a wee little piece of a patch right over a vein, I realized that I was probably only mentally addicted and no longer physically addicted and was able to stop.
Nicotine is a powerful drug!It is hard. I only used to smoke weed now and then and the occasional cig when I was out in bars and drunk and I found it hard to stop. Much harder than I would have expected. It must be very difficult if you were a heavy smoker.
Yes! I started in my early teens and in my 20's tried desperately to quit! I don't admit this generally, but I smoked while I was pregnant. LOTS of stress in that marriage! When my younger son started catching me smoking he'd beg me to stop-"don't moke. Moking will make you die!". I tried the patches, then the Nicorette gum. I loved that gum! I stayed on it a year, as addicted to that 'lift' as I was the cigs! So much easier when you didn't have a whole bar or restaurant filled with smoke! My first assembly jobs we could smoke right at our benches, with the lead solder smoke!I smoked for 22 years, and quit when I was 40. Quitting smoking was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It was so hard that when I finally quit, I knew I could never, ever have so much as a single drag ever in my life again.
I finally quit when my husband was diagnosed with a blood cancer in the fall of 2000. I felt so awful waiting in the oncologist's office, smelling of smoke from the cigarette I'd smoked right before the appointment (to calm my nerves), sitting in a chair next to someone who had an oxygen tank. It was the wake up call I needed.
I quit with the help of nicotine patches, which were fairly new at the time. You were supposed to step down the dosage, from the big patch, to the medium and then to the small, over several weeks. When I was at the point were I was supposed to give up the small patch, I found I just couldn't. I just wasn't ready. At that point, I hadn't had an actual cigarette in several weeks, but I had such strong attachment to my little patch! So I cut them in half and wore a half for a few more weeks, then I cut them in quarters. Finally, when I found I was putting just a wee little piece of a patch right over a vein, I realized that I was probably only mentally addicted and no longer physically addicted and was able to stop.
That son is still moking
I never started smoking, because I've always figured I have a tendency toward addiction. I'm almost 63, and I still chew my fingernails. I shudder to think of trying to break a habit that has an actual physical addiction component.
Brian W
Conscientious Christian
I'll give you a clue... when I smoked, if I was hungry and cigarette starved and somebody gave me just enough money to buy either food or cigarettes, I would buy the cigarettes and happily starve! After so many years of trying and failing to give up, I finally managed five years ago when I had to save money to visit Sweden the first time. I will never ever go back to it now I am finally free!
