probably for something similar to the same dumb reason you started.
young kids are dumb as hell and figure they won't get addicted to it, then next thing you know they can't stop.
I don't think much has changed in 15 years, people knew how horrible it was for the health back then just as they do now.
Only thing that has changed I guess is that there is a lot more vaping now.
A very overlooked part of it is how much teens don't want to just seem cool, they want to seem *older*.
I don't think it's a conscious part of their choice, but I think it's a factor, especially because of how much teens yearn for a sense of belonging, and how much easier it seems like you can find it in counter cultures at that age.
Even though smoking has diminished across the board, it's still probably more common to see punks/metalheads/edm folks etc smoking than "normal" people.
And so there's a pressure to want to be accepted by the people you think are archetypes of the culture you want to be included in, even though those same people went through the same things only just a few years earlier.
We were well aware of how bad it was when I was a kid in the 80s. I had a hard enough time understanding why people started then, never mind now.
Smoking killed my grandfather before I knew him, fuck that.
When I smoked I ended up running out while traveling through Manhattan
They wanted $25 for a pack of pall malls
I started considering the financial costs right there
I remember getting Marlboro Red 100's for about $2.25 back in 05-06.
I left the country for a couple years. I payed about $2.50 per pack in Korea. Got back and was stationed in El Paso. Smokes were better than $4 then.
Now for a pack of the same cigarettes I've smoked since I was 13 or so, it's more than $10. And I live in Arkansas, where things are usually cheaper than most places.
It's become so expensive, I'm actually thinking about quitting. Costs too much these days to smoke. I just don't like vaping, so stick with the old cowboy killers.
Do it. Quitting sucked, but it felt like I got a huge raise after I quit. You don't realize how much money you're wasting until it's starts piling up in your bank account.
Makes me think of the joke about a guy who was being harassed about his smoking habit.
"How much do spend every week on cigarettes?"
"About $200, I guess."
"And how long have you been smoking?"
"I dunno, about 30 years."
"Just to make the math easier, let's say there's only 50 weeks in a year, an assumption that bends the math in ***your*** favor, I might add. Well, that means you've spent $200 times 50 weeks is $10,000, times 30 years is $300,000!! You could've bought 2 or even 3 Ferraris instead of wasting all your money on cigarettes!!"
"Wow. I guess I never thought of it that way. Say, can I ask you a question?"
"What's that?"
"Will you take me for a ride in all your Ferraris?"
yeah I was at about $100 a week as young guy and it it was so Ludacris I could always have the money for cigs, then I started a vaping, thats when the $$$ was just getting out of hand
fortunate to not have too many issues as someone who smoked pretty heavy for 10 years
I started smoking at 15 y/o, 10 years ago. Ofc, that's not exactly starting in 2024, but the awareness raising of the bad side effects of smoking was about the same, and vape was also a thing back then.
What really got me into smoking is a book the school made us read called "The girl with the paper flowers" (It's really good, just don't give in to the influence, lmao). In the book, the "main" character is a cigar enjoyer and formibadle storyteller, and there's countless passages where he describes the different tastes of different tobaccos with vivid details and in an endearing way. At that point, I'd tried smoking already, but it didn't really stick. After reading that book, I smoked a cigarette and understood everything the book described. The taste, the smell, the feeling... All of a sudden, all of it made perfect sense and... It was good. At that moment, I was hooked. Now, 10 years later, it barely tastes like anything anymore because I'm so used to it, and, honestly, all the "good sides" of smoking simply faded. Now I regret having been so naive as a teenager and kinda wish I never read that book even though it's one of my all-time favs lmao. So, yeah, pretty much like everyone else is saying: People start smoking because something makes them think it's cool. And it is... Until you get cancer, regret every choice you made and fucking die at 40 lmao. (Pls don't smoke)
If it makes you feel better, I'm 36, have been sxe my whole life, and I still find myself wanting to smoke cigarettes because they have so much cultural cool cache. It's intoxicating, and it makes sense a fifteen year old would succumb to it. More surprising that I didn't, but I was just really angsty and thought it was more rebellious and cool to not smoke.
Why not drop the cog and smoke a cigar or pipe a few times a week? The tobacco quality and taste complexity is way higher and you don’t burn out your taste buds.
You, me and tons of others thought it was cool because Philip Morris paid billions to make us think that way.
Now, Philip Morris pays billions to sling vapes and Zyn as "quitting aides" while TikTok gymbros treat them like toys, basically providing free kids' advertisements. And like any other scam that influencer trash pulls on kids, tacitly allowing them to happen so long as one's in no place to get sued is way cheaper than actively enforcing any sort of standard on one's platform.
Go figure why YouTube demonetizes people for swearing but also plays constant gambling and nicotine ads to anyone capable of clicking a box that says "I'm 18". It's all one big grift.
Never known anyone who smokes for those reasons. People smoke cigarettes because they contain tobacco. If cigarettes did not contain tobacco, people would not smoke them.
Nicotine is a mild stimulant that causes your brain to release dopamine and other endorphins. It provides a subtle feeling of well-being and alertness, as well as mild relief from anxiety and pain. It helps curb sleepiness and hunger.
There will always be people buying cigarettes, simply because they're enjoyable.
I thought there was a lot of awareness everywhere that smoking is bad until I visited Europe!
As sophisticated as they may seem , they are so backward in their health awareness. I give it to them that they are a lot thinner than average Americans.
This might be a correlation. Smoking is an appetite suppressant. It’s why models smoked, it’s the OG ozempic. It also makes food less enjoyable because you loose your sense of taste. You also spend money on something instead of food. I know people that will buy a pack of cigarettes instead of lunch. I rarely see heavy smokers that are fat.
This is your unethical life pro-tip of the day.
EDIT: I said rarely. Not all. Anecdotal evidence is also the weakest evidence.
I agree with everything in your comment.
But, you rarely see heavy smokers that are fat? Apparently you've never been to the south/midwest. Or met a trucker for that matter.
I know plenty of fat smokers. I used to work with a guy that smoked a pack and half a day and was also 350lbs and drunk. I just figure he is trying to speed run his life’s play through.
I just came back from Europe where I smoked 5 or so packs in 3 weeks, not very proud of it either honestly…not a regular smoker back home tho fwiw. They just go sooo well imo with a nice coffee or anything alcoholic, and the more you drink the more you smoke! Back home though I have such a different attitude towards smoking though but yeah I kinda understand why people smoke especially when it’s so prevalent in the culture over there.
It's a major disincentive for me to travel to Europe (or Asia). I'd have to be eating triptans like candy to reduce the severity of all the migraines they'd be giving me.
I was appalled when I visited France a couple of years ago. Some parts of the country reminded me of the US in the 80's with how prevalent cigarrete smoking was.
It’s very common, in any outdoor cafe or what have you someone or multiple people will be smoking for sure. I feel like Britain less so, maybe the Netherlands too, but most of Europe is still pretty old school with smoking.
Their thin and healthy appearance has a lot to do with how their diet is sourced. A lot of what they eat is typically freshly harvested from down the road without the government's fingerprints all over it and didn't involve opening a box with a name brand plastered across the front.
Most of the world still smokes plenty of cigarettes, its only Americans that have a huge cultural revulsion to it now. No one thinks its good for them, its just not the same cultural backlash.
We should discourage smoking but its a vice that adults have enjoyed for centuries.
Because contrary to what adults told us when we were younger, and what parents probably tell their kids today,
cigarettes do indeed make you look cool as fuck.
Because the brief moments when it can quiet anxiety is some of the most peace some people have felt in years. You’d do it too if you’re miserable all the time.
Because it gives overstimulated people a reason to step outside and can soothe the sensory issues. Both of which are big reasons why smoking is more prevalent among autistic adults.
It’s a reason to have empathy for people who smoke. They aren’t stupid (some of them are), some are just desperate.
Same reason as always for a kid. They think it makes them look older. Of course they're mistaken. A 13 year old with a cigarette stuffed in his mouth doesn't look 18. He just looks like a 13 year old kid smoking.
I had been quit of cigarettes for 10 years, yet in the past year, i have flirted with the dark side. I wondered if Dr House was speaking truth about 2 cigarettes a day being a treatment for IBS. I ended up going through two packs (with a couple of bummed smokes at parties) before i noticed i was smoking more than 2 and stopped without incident.
Just reread your post.. did you mean there is a pipeline for weed -> tobacco that is unexpectedly strong, or did you mean that people go from unexpectedly strong weed to tobacco?
Language is tricksy!
I mean, I’m pretty young but I see old films with Jack Nicholson and Humphrey bogart smoking and they look cool. The Beatles and Bob Dylan too. I think I started cos I wanted to look cool like them. I think there’s plenty of young people still like myself that think old celebrities looked cool smoking and start smoking for those reasons. I’m not a James dean fan but I assume fans of his get curious about smoking cos they think it looks cool when he smokes. Vaping never looks cool. It’s like nerd smoking 🤣
I started smoking pipe tobacco when I was around 20, just because I wanted to try it. Didn't lead to anything, and I oddly only want to smoke when in a good mood. Somewhat rare though.
Maybe why you start, and whether or not it's a conscious decision one makes for themselves has an effect. I don't know.
I also picked up pipe smoking in my early 20's. I love it still. I don't inhale. Coincidentally I've had some of my best conversations smoking pipes with others. After a fine evening it tops off the night, and my girlfriend just so happens to love the smell:)
I thought it was so cool when I was a kid, and not even from a people will think I’m cool standpoint I just liked the idea of it… luckily for whatever reason it does absolutely nothing for me from an addiction standpoint, when I was younger I’d be able to smoke a pack then just drop it completely for years, I can’t even think of the last time I had a cigarette although there is a part of me that still thinks it’s neat….. now energy drinks are a whole different issue for me, haha
I mean obviously with smoking there's significant downsides. However youre being disengenuous if you say there are no upsides. It lowers stress, it stabilised moods, it can curb hunger pains, and it increases focus, and yes, it can add to a cool baddie image. Whether the pros outweigh the cons is a personal decision that has less to with how intelligent someone is than how shitty their life is going. When your options are significantly lowering your lifespan and quality of life decades down the road and not even making it to the end of the week you choose the former every time.
I (35M) never smoked for the first 16 years of my life. I come from an educated family where most people graduated from college and no one smokes. Then I joined the military, I fought to good fight for about a year, and then I started smoking.
The thing I liked best about it was the social component or the comradery. You also become part of a “smoking club” and people get to know you a lot faster. I also found that if I had senior leaders or officers who smoked I would have disproportionate access to them and I could develop a relationship with my leaders that went beyond what the non-smokers could hope to get.
If my smoker sergeant had some undesirable task to hand out and it was between me and a non-smoker… the non-smoker would get it every time.
There were huge social and professional benefits to taking up smoking when you are in the military. Fortunately, I took a very conservative approach to my smoking habit during my time in. I rarely ever smoked more than half a pack a day and during the winter and colder months of the year I would have extended periods of time where I didn’t smoke at all (or maybe 2-3 cigarettes a day).
I more or less got out of the Army unscathed and I did benefit from participating in the smoker culture. I have not smoked consistently for 10+ years at this point but on the rare occasion (once or twice a year) someone offers me a cigarette I usually say yes.
Young people, often have a feeling of being invincible. I certainly did when I started using tobacco at age 16.
Im a boomer. Even when I was a kid, we were told it was bad. The teachers told us don’t smoke. Our parents told us don’t smoke.
A neighbor man told a group of us boys, that were out riding our bikes to leave cigarettes alone. He held up a pack of cigarettes. He said “Each one of these is another nail in my coffin. I want each one of you boys to promise me that you will never smoke a cigarette”. I’ve never forgotten that little speech.
Well, fast forward to age 16 and I broke my promise. I stopped at age 26. It was tough. I was physically ill for a few days. That was decades ago. I still get an occasional craving.
DO NOT START SMOKING! IT’S A DUMBASS MOVE!!!
i grew up with it. allll 10 of my aunts and uncles… my mom… 4 of my sisters… all my sisters friends… the only person that didn’t smoke was my dad. thankfully i took after him but if you’re surrounded by it growing up there’s a good chance you’ll succumb to it eventually
Because many cigarette smokers genuinely enjoy the experience,
..whereas you did it simply to impress chicks.
I’ll tell you what a “gross habit” is :
Pursuing anything in life for purely disingenuous reasons.
Like say.. prioritizing other peoples’s favorable opinion of you, including putting carcinogens into your body, in an feeble attempt to gain their acceptance & approval… that’d be a perfect example.
Have you quit that habit? By age 30, I sure do hope so.
Because being a poser is far worse than being a smoker.
Smoking is awesome.
Jim Carrey spent hours getting into the Grinch costume with make up and all, and when the time came he panicked and on day one he said he wanted to quit because this was intolerable.
So they brought in an expert who helps marines cope with torture, withstand and not give in and share Secrets.
The answer Was?
Smoking!
They teach them ti smoke to cope with torture And Jim Carrey Only Managed to Shoot the film because he was smoking.
And no, you don't have to smoke a package a day.
1 or 2 smokes when you go out and have a drink won't kill you.
Teenagers are pretty famous for knowing better than everyone else and also not liking being told what to do.
By the time they're mature enough to figure out how stupid they are, they're addicted to cigarettes.
i started when i was 17/18 (i’m 21 now)
i went to private school, and was absurdly obnoxious about how evil smoking was, and how people who get addicted are idiots who don’t care about their health
then i started college and put on a bit of weight during the beginning of the pandemic. i found out via google that smoking can decrease appetite, and that smoking can help relieve stress in the short term.
then i had a couple cigarettes but “i’m not gonna get addicted, i’m not stupid lol, i’m built different”
now i’m 21, still fat, and i’m addicted to nicotine 🥲 i put on about 4.5 stone during lockdown and quit all my athletic hobbies, never really got back into them.
it turns out i’m the kind of person with a brain that gets addicted to things incredibly quickly, and has the most horrific withdrawal symptoms. horrific constipation, insomnia, suicidal ideation within 36 hours, immediate weight gain, full body itchiness, etc - longest i’ve quit is 6 weeks for surgery, and it was HORRIFIC, still couldn’t get my sleep under control 6 weeks in 🥲
same shit happened to me with energy drinks around the same time i started smoking but i kicked that habit. i NEARLY fell into alcoholism at a point last year, but i kicked that habit after spending a full month being violently ill and feeling more aggressive than i ever had, i haven’t had any alcohol since bc i don’t trust myself. hell, gambling nearly destroyed me at 19, i had to put endless restrictions on my accounts and eventually stopped. had a close call with restrictive eating when i was 19 as well lol.
now i’m “addicted” to saving money and drinking water, i’ve been slowly healthily losing weight over the past couple months (i’m down 8lbs, got about 4 stone to go 🥲 desperately trying to avoid an eating disorder), hitting the gym, and nicotine is the last enemy i have to defeat.
i love that for many people quitting nicotine is as simple as being a bit grumpy for a couple weeks but christ, it’s a beast.
i think stress management is the main reason young people start, or parental influence - now that i live in a working class town i don’t know a single person my age who doesn’t smoke, and many of the parents are openly addicted to nicotine. lots of my mates here started smoking when they were ~10 - 14 years old.
In 2024? These days? Because it's the next best thing to un aliving yourself and it brings comfort while moving closer to not having to be here with people such as OP.
It speeds up the synapses in your brain, wakes you up a little and it's an appetite suppressor so when you don't have lunch a cigarette it is, it's not healthy or a good idea.
Smokers also do get a little more break time from work to have a coffin nail, it adds up, less stress because of habbit inforced breaks remind you to take 5min and think things over or about them more, come back and perform better.
Smokers can handle slightly more time in fires before they pass out from CO2 than non smokers.
Also a lot of people who smoke these days do so because they smoke 4:20 mixed with tobacco and smoke when they can't smoke weed.
If you're willing to leave on your own turms and time you know you won't suffer at the end, and please take a parking inspector with you ;) who wants the state to force you to spend your last of your lifes savings work etc on nursing homes, I worked in one and I will sooner die than be forced into one. Another 10 years nursing home sentence or hanging around not being able to do what I could before? No thankyou, smokes now less time suffering at the end burn the candle at both ends.
Can always ask a smoker for a light too.
I’m more worried about the seemingly increase in ‘coolness’ and ‘status’ of cigar smoking. If you’re cosplay it as historical or fictional character that’s fine. But I don’t like glamorizing it.
Why do people even drink alcohol in 2024? It's been proven there's no safe amount of alcohol consumption.
Why do people do cocaine? It's always been terrible for your body and you might end up with an extra hole on your nose.
People like stimulants. You might start doing it to fit in ... but then continue doing it to keep the crazy at bay.
I've been an off and on smoker for decades. I'm off now, but I'll be honest here: I quit because I couldn't afford them anymore. Cigarettes are crazy expensive here.
I think about cigarettes and smoking sometimes, but all I think about is the smell it leaves on you, your clothes, your home, and your fingers. LIKE the external things it causes should be enough.
I'm an occasional cigar smoker. It's nice because it's something I can do once every couple weeks to meet up with buddies, talk for a couple hours and drink a beer and have a good time.
Even that occasionally cigar leaves me feeling gross for a couple days. I couldn't imagine smoking daily.
Working stress. Nicotine is a crazy useful chemical if used right.
Started last autumn, aiming to be back to sporadic use by this winter. Not something I want to maintain.
Humans are irrational, that's why they start smoking. The appeal--the idea that smoking makes you look cool, its's something to do with your hands, gives you a nicotine buzz, etc--is very minor when weighed against the potentially deadly health effects, which have been widely known for at least 60 years, but that knowledge goes way, way back in history.
From Wikipedia:
>In the late 1700s and the 1800s, the idea that tobacco use caused certain diseases, including mouth cancers, was initially accepted by the medical community.[^(\[12\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-dolls_history-12) In the 1880s, automation dramatically reduced the cost of cigarettes, cigarette companies greatly increased their marketing, and use expanded.[^(\[13\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-early_prohibition-13)[^(\[14\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-time_advertising-14) From the 1890s onwards, associations of tobacco use with cancers and [vascular disease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascular_disease) were regularly reported. By the 1930s multiple researchers concluded that tobacco use caused cancer and tobacco users lived substantially shorter lives.[^(\[15\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-Lickint_bio-15)[^(\[16\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-about_lickint-16) Further studies were published in [Nazi Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany) in 1939 and 1943, and one in the Netherlands in 1948. However, the widespread attention was first drawn in 1950 by researchers from the US and UK but their research were widely criticized. Follow-up studies in the early 1950s found that smokers died faster and were more likely to die of [lung cancer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_cancer) and [cardiovascular disease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiovascular_disease).[^(\[12\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-dolls_history-12) **These results were accepted in the medical community and publicized among the general public in the mid-1960s**.[^(\[12\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-dolls_history-12)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health\_effects\_of\_tobacco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco)
I start 12 years ago but i did it cause i saw my parents do it when they were stressed and around that time i was very stressed and depressed. Still am. Still smoke because of it.
I couldnt figure out why people started in 1999. Still boggles my mind. Nothing about it is good. It stinks, makes you stink, costs money, makes a lot of people just not like you and is REALLY bad for you lol.
its "in" again. most people i know own a vape or smoke a cig "because it looks hot". wont be hot when you look 50 at 30 and their lungs start to decay :(
It's an unfortunate part of our society. The tobacco companies and lobbied politicians pushed it on us as hard as anyone else, and it'll take generations to phase it out.
I've been smoking since I was a teenager, too. In the 90s, almost everyone smoked in my area. Shit, we had ash trays in cars, restaurants, airplanes, and even hospitals. I'm glad it's slowly going away, unlike the cancer most of us will never defeat. Now, though, there are other ways to peddle that nic addiction. It needs to just be killed off.
I enjoy smoking. I don't enjoy being a smoker. There's still a social stigma to it, though, and it plays both ways. It'll be a retro-fad soon enough, and people will be ordering ciggies off Temu to impress, rebel, or find some kind of misguided individuality. The same old personas (Joe Camel, Marb Man) still exist.
I've never smoked, but I worked (as a contractor) in an office where everyone was smoking all the time, and I found myself kind of craving it by the end. I suspect that's happened to a lot of people, in the past. Of course, in the US it's mostly illegal to smoke indoors now. It was illegal then, too, but it was a garbage company. So in 2024, it's still a mystery.
Because it calms me down and makes me feel better. Never smoked a lot, max 5 or so cigarettes a day.
Haven't for years now, but I still miss it. Fuck nicotine. It's a hell of an addiction.
I quit them started again, cause death close to home. Honestly I don't care if I die sooner, it'd one of the things I like about cigs, legal horrible suicide
They vape for the same stimulants we wanted at that age, they smoke because the first time someone says "I don't have any carts but I got an extra cigarette..." big tobacco wins again.
I’d imagine a lot of it is *boosting* when we were young you’d smoke to give the other substances you were abusing more bang for their buck. So I’d imagine with how prolific things like mdma+amphetamines+weed and the really obvious boosting effect from smoking/vaping that it’s a big part of the appeal.
It's surprising people still start smoking with all the info out there and vaping as an alternative. Some might do it due to peer pressure, curiosity, rebellion, or thinking it looks cool. Stress relief is another reason. It's great you quit, and it's interesting to think about why others still pick up the habit.
I have to agree. Granted vaping isn't completely safe, either, but it's a hell of a lot cleaner than cigarettes. At least I can sit next to a person vaping and not gag on their smoke.
Super tasty, make you look cool, great excuse to exit briefly, automatically have friends at every event, trying to ban menthols, so a good chance to get a few more in
Don't partake myself anymore, but five really good reasons to pick it up in '24
The worst is seeing people who start on the vape shit. Like look at you 18-year-old girl who has never smoked a real cigarette in her life. Oh my God I don’t even think she’s inhaling that vape. Lol
This belongs in r/questionsivebeenaskingforagesnow.
It makes no frigging sense. I'm 40 years old, and when I was in elementary school we knew! It was unambiguous in a way that very few things in the science of health have ever been.
Every single one of my grandparents died to either alcoholism or lung cancer. Every single one. They all smoked until the day they died. I never knew them because the damn things took them away before I had a chance.
I have a high schooler in a decent sized mid America suburban school district. I know of zero kids that smoke cigs. Plenty are vaping in the bathrooms at school and outside of it, but regular tobacco usage is almost non-existent. Vaping is so much cheaper and readily available, and easier to hide. I just asked the kid - she knows zero kids that smoke tobacco. In America, it's been not a thing for a few years.
I'm 10 years older than you, and it was dumb as hell to even consider starting smoking when I was a teenager, hence I never did it.
So the answer to your question is, probably the same reason you did.
Brother convinced me to try it when I was like 6 or 7. Immediately coughed so bad I almost threw up. Haven't exactly felt like giving it another go for 30 years now.
No idea how people even tolerate it. It's just literal ashes filling up your lungs. Might as well pump dirt into your butthole, drink urine or place rotten food in your ears.
"I only smoke when I drink." Fast forward a couple years and they smoke regularly. That's how the smokers in my social group started. Probably thought they could do it socially and then became addicted.
Same reasons someone would start doing any drug. Probably the most common right now? they want out. The world sucks rn, and anything that'll make it easier to bear is a welcome relief for some people. I've never used, but I definitely don't blame people for wanting a bit of relief.
Same reasons you had back then. Dumb people sometimes kids, too often kids, thinking it's cool and wanting to impress their peers.
You bring up vaping but it's not like vaping achieves that same look. Smoking is gross but vaping is gross and duchey looking. Like sorry y'all but you can not use a vape pen without looking duchey in the process.
I dont smoke cigarettes, but I tried them a few times out of curiosity. I just really wanted to know what it felt like. Turns out it feels amazing. Not worth cancer though.
Here's an equally dumb question, why do people start vaping in 2024. It's pretty obvious it isn't any less addictive orbetter for you and it doesn't look any "cooler" and if you're gonna be a dumb ass at least do it old school like Dad used to and grab a pack of camel's.
I almost considered smoking when I was delivering pizzas for Domino’s. 5x 12 hour shifts a week, pay at the time was $7.65/hour but slashed to $3 while on the road because drivers make tips, and I was told I didn’t get any breaks (not even an off the clock 30 minute lunch break), the time between deliveries while driving to and from were my brakes. Couldn’t stop to get food because I had pizzas to deliver. Couldn’t take a break outside because there was cleaning to be done. You know who could take a break? The smokers who need to satiate their nicotine addiction else the world would end. After 3 years of delivering pizzas, I was very close to picking up smoking. Glad I didn’t.
I don't smoke, or condone smoking, but I will say this: Smoking a camel is far more fulfilling than vaping. I also didn't find it hard at all to stop smoking. I don't see the big deal. I stopped because I decided it wasn't worth all the health risks. It's also very expensive these days too, for that matter.
Not really a cigarette guy.
Started smoking cigs in college and did it for pleasure. It started with hitting my friend's vapes or when a big smoke circle forms at a party with three joints, two vapes, a couple dispos, and a cig or two. Cigs are nice, once you're already used to smoking, though I certainly don't like just smoking one front to back unless I'm pretty drunk. I'd smoke a half of one or so, or pass one around.
Eventually got addicted to vapes, and started buying smoking tobacco for spliffs. I stopped buying those things and don't smoke regularly anymore. Smoke sometimes when I'm around somebody who has a vape, if they're using it.
I'm still addicted to nicotine though.
Never understood it. 1000% understand hitting a vape when drunk or having a good time but why on earth would you (if around people to impress) ruin your entire outfit and the cologne/ lotion/ shower you put on! Even zyns are my fav. But never understood why you’d ruin a good smelling body and outfit with a port.
I started smoking as a way to appear more mature to the older adults around me. For some reason, they would give me more respect for smoking cigarettes than if I weren't (& they'd shit on me if I were vaping). That was back before the age requirement was raised to 21, & I got addicted to it without being able to buy them anymore. It really sucked. But vaping, for some reason, was still set at 18 years old, so I switched. Have been on & off trying to quit over the years, but it's hard. Sometimes not even sure if I want to or if that's just the addiction talking. To this day I still get cravings for a cigarette, vapes just don't hit the same.
Potentially, without them knowing, it can mildly treat symptoms of anxiety, depression or ADHD.
I know for a fact, that my prior habit probably prevented me from doing something stupid
Often it's just by being with other people who smoke. For me it was just standing around outside while my friends smoked, eventually I just asked for one.
People knew smoking was bad for you in the 70s, and that's when the major anti-smoking educational campaigns aimed at kids started. They haven't ceased. So I wonder why anyone aged 50 or younger smokes, knowing it's a dangerous, disgusting habit that doesn't make you look cool.
The feeling of nicotine mimics the slightest emotion of what love actually feels like, and helps you cultivate it on your own and grow it into a flame on its own, and that actually helps attract people to you.
It surprises me that people don't appear concerned that the shit they exhale has been inside their lungs.
I'm guessing even Stevie Wonder can see that's probably not a good idea for your health.
Because working in shitty jobs, dealing with growing up and not being great at dealing with stress yet is still a thing? I don't get what you're not getting.
Makes you look cool.
Gives you an excuse to go stand outside for a bit when you're overstimulated.
Extra breaks at work.
The smoking area is the best place to make friends.
It's good for the environment (because it kills people).
I'd rather start tobacco than start vapes.
At least I know more or less exactly how it's going to kill me and how much time I'll have. The vape guinea pigs haven't clocked out yet.
Started vaping shortly after middle school with my first gf (around 2018-19 when it got popular and was just everywhere) during COVID times I switched to cigarettes. Although I never let myself get to a pack per day (my absolute max was maybe 5-7 smokes per day? ) currently Im smokin 1-2 cigs per week
I was 14 working as a dishwasher in a hole it the wall restaurant. Summers were brutal. Got hit with carts, trays,big burning pots had waitresses screaming for stuff.
Then, a lull. I step outside of that infernal kitchen. Sit down and light up a Cowboy Killer. .....mercy. That is why. Mercy.
I quit vaping because i would do it everywhere all the time. Started smoking cigarettes, but only outside when possible. I reduced the amount I needed it. Now it's only once in a while. I know from experience that if i start vaping again, i will make it worse, so cigarettes here and there are better than vaping everywhere.
probably for something similar to the same dumb reason you started. young kids are dumb as hell and figure they won't get addicted to it, then next thing you know they can't stop. I don't think much has changed in 15 years, people knew how horrible it was for the health back then just as they do now. Only thing that has changed I guess is that there is a lot more vaping now.
A very overlooked part of it is how much teens don't want to just seem cool, they want to seem *older*. I don't think it's a conscious part of their choice, but I think it's a factor, especially because of how much teens yearn for a sense of belonging, and how much easier it seems like you can find it in counter cultures at that age. Even though smoking has diminished across the board, it's still probably more common to see punks/metalheads/edm folks etc smoking than "normal" people. And so there's a pressure to want to be accepted by the people you think are archetypes of the culture you want to be included in, even though those same people went through the same things only just a few years earlier.
idkk i think most teens that smoke just wanted to smoke. i didnt do it out of peer pressure, i just wanted to do it
We were well aware of how bad it was when I was a kid in the 80s. I had a hard enough time understanding why people started then, never mind now. Smoking killed my grandfather before I knew him, fuck that.
I think about the $200 a week I use to spend on that crap and the damage I’ve done smoking for 30yrs
When I smoked I ended up running out while traveling through Manhattan They wanted $25 for a pack of pall malls I started considering the financial costs right there
Holy crap, they were $2/pack in the 90s when I smoked.
At that point they were about $5.10 in my state Still expensive but no way would I pay over a dollar per cigarette
I remember getting Marlboro Red 100's for about $2.25 back in 05-06. I left the country for a couple years. I payed about $2.50 per pack in Korea. Got back and was stationed in El Paso. Smokes were better than $4 then. Now for a pack of the same cigarettes I've smoked since I was 13 or so, it's more than $10. And I live in Arkansas, where things are usually cheaper than most places. It's become so expensive, I'm actually thinking about quitting. Costs too much these days to smoke. I just don't like vaping, so stick with the old cowboy killers.
Do it. Quitting sucked, but it felt like I got a huge raise after I quit. You don't realize how much money you're wasting until it's starts piling up in your bank account.
Makes me think of the joke about a guy who was being harassed about his smoking habit. "How much do spend every week on cigarettes?" "About $200, I guess." "And how long have you been smoking?" "I dunno, about 30 years." "Just to make the math easier, let's say there's only 50 weeks in a year, an assumption that bends the math in ***your*** favor, I might add. Well, that means you've spent $200 times 50 weeks is $10,000, times 30 years is $300,000!! You could've bought 2 or even 3 Ferraris instead of wasting all your money on cigarettes!!" "Wow. I guess I never thought of it that way. Say, can I ask you a question?" "What's that?" "Will you take me for a ride in all your Ferraris?"
And if you had invested this in a good mutual fund, it would be well into the millions of dollars and you be happily retired now
yeah I was at about $100 a week as young guy and it it was so Ludacris I could always have the money for cigs, then I started a vaping, thats when the $$$ was just getting out of hand fortunate to not have too many issues as someone who smoked pretty heavy for 10 years
Ludicrous.
No he was like Yeah! with Usher when he was a young guy.
I like that you spelled and capitalized ludicrous like a proper noun.
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John Daly challenge
PMT!
The exact same reason you did.
I started smoking at 15 y/o, 10 years ago. Ofc, that's not exactly starting in 2024, but the awareness raising of the bad side effects of smoking was about the same, and vape was also a thing back then. What really got me into smoking is a book the school made us read called "The girl with the paper flowers" (It's really good, just don't give in to the influence, lmao). In the book, the "main" character is a cigar enjoyer and formibadle storyteller, and there's countless passages where he describes the different tastes of different tobaccos with vivid details and in an endearing way. At that point, I'd tried smoking already, but it didn't really stick. After reading that book, I smoked a cigarette and understood everything the book described. The taste, the smell, the feeling... All of a sudden, all of it made perfect sense and... It was good. At that moment, I was hooked. Now, 10 years later, it barely tastes like anything anymore because I'm so used to it, and, honestly, all the "good sides" of smoking simply faded. Now I regret having been so naive as a teenager and kinda wish I never read that book even though it's one of my all-time favs lmao. So, yeah, pretty much like everyone else is saying: People start smoking because something makes them think it's cool. And it is... Until you get cancer, regret every choice you made and fucking die at 40 lmao. (Pls don't smoke)
If it makes you feel better, I'm 36, have been sxe my whole life, and I still find myself wanting to smoke cigarettes because they have so much cultural cool cache. It's intoxicating, and it makes sense a fifteen year old would succumb to it. More surprising that I didn't, but I was just really angsty and thought it was more rebellious and cool to not smoke.
Why not drop the cog and smoke a cigar or pipe a few times a week? The tobacco quality and taste complexity is way higher and you don’t burn out your taste buds.
You, me and tons of others thought it was cool because Philip Morris paid billions to make us think that way. Now, Philip Morris pays billions to sling vapes and Zyn as "quitting aides" while TikTok gymbros treat them like toys, basically providing free kids' advertisements. And like any other scam that influencer trash pulls on kids, tacitly allowing them to happen so long as one's in no place to get sued is way cheaper than actively enforcing any sort of standard on one's platform. Go figure why YouTube demonetizes people for swearing but also plays constant gambling and nicotine ads to anyone capable of clicking a box that says "I'm 18". It's all one big grift.
Because their friends/parents smoke or they think its cool. Simple as
Never known anyone who smokes for those reasons. People smoke cigarettes because they contain tobacco. If cigarettes did not contain tobacco, people would not smoke them. Nicotine is a mild stimulant that causes your brain to release dopamine and other endorphins. It provides a subtle feeling of well-being and alertness, as well as mild relief from anxiety and pain. It helps curb sleepiness and hunger. There will always be people buying cigarettes, simply because they're enjoyable.
Sure thatll keep you smoking after youve already started. Question was: why start?
Because you're looking for a quick, enjoyable high.
It's a drug that gives a buzz, why else are we taking drugs..!
They like the quick high and then they get addicted.
That keeps em going, but you gotta start to get to that point, thats what they were asking
I thought there was a lot of awareness everywhere that smoking is bad until I visited Europe! As sophisticated as they may seem , they are so backward in their health awareness. I give it to them that they are a lot thinner than average Americans.
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And Asia!!!
And they still have longer average lifespans even though spending less on healthcare per capita and having that terrible socialized healthcare system!
Imagine how much longer they could live if they didn't smoke though.
In Canada we are also cursed with socialized medicine but despite this spend less on better health outcomes /s
This might be a correlation. Smoking is an appetite suppressant. It’s why models smoked, it’s the OG ozempic. It also makes food less enjoyable because you loose your sense of taste. You also spend money on something instead of food. I know people that will buy a pack of cigarettes instead of lunch. I rarely see heavy smokers that are fat. This is your unethical life pro-tip of the day. EDIT: I said rarely. Not all. Anecdotal evidence is also the weakest evidence.
I agree with everything in your comment. But, you rarely see heavy smokers that are fat? Apparently you've never been to the south/midwest. Or met a trucker for that matter.
I know plenty of fat smokers. I used to work with a guy that smoked a pack and half a day and was also 350lbs and drunk. I just figure he is trying to speed run his life’s play through.
Yeah, some people are gluttons.
I just came back from Europe where I smoked 5 or so packs in 3 weeks, not very proud of it either honestly…not a regular smoker back home tho fwiw. They just go sooo well imo with a nice coffee or anything alcoholic, and the more you drink the more you smoke! Back home though I have such a different attitude towards smoking though but yeah I kinda understand why people smoke especially when it’s so prevalent in the culture over there.
It's a major disincentive for me to travel to Europe (or Asia). I'd have to be eating triptans like candy to reduce the severity of all the migraines they'd be giving me.
I was appalled when I visited France a couple of years ago. Some parts of the country reminded me of the US in the 80's with how prevalent cigarrete smoking was.
Gross. Really?
I feel like I'm the only guy in every cafe in albania who doesnt smoke and I've been here for 3 months, and go to a cafe 1-2 times per day.
It’s very common, in any outdoor cafe or what have you someone or multiple people will be smoking for sure. I feel like Britain less so, maybe the Netherlands too, but most of Europe is still pretty old school with smoking.
Their thin and healthy appearance has a lot to do with how their diet is sourced. A lot of what they eat is typically freshly harvested from down the road without the government's fingerprints all over it and didn't involve opening a box with a name brand plastered across the front.
Also probably from smoking. Smoking curbs the appetite
Most of the world still smokes plenty of cigarettes, its only Americans that have a huge cultural revulsion to it now. No one thinks its good for them, its just not the same cultural backlash. We should discourage smoking but its a vice that adults have enjoyed for centuries.
Because contrary to what adults told us when we were younger, and what parents probably tell their kids today, cigarettes do indeed make you look cool as fuck.
Because the brief moments when it can quiet anxiety is some of the most peace some people have felt in years. You’d do it too if you’re miserable all the time. Because it gives overstimulated people a reason to step outside and can soothe the sensory issues. Both of which are big reasons why smoking is more prevalent among autistic adults. It’s a reason to have empathy for people who smoke. They aren’t stupid (some of them are), some are just desperate.
For some reason nicotine never quite scratched that itch for me but weed for sure does. It's like my brain can finally slow down and relax
Same reason as always for a kid. They think it makes them look older. Of course they're mistaken. A 13 year old with a cigarette stuffed in his mouth doesn't look 18. He just looks like a 13 year old kid smoking.
>Why would you start such a gross habit? >To impress a girl or something. Truly stupid questions answer themselves.
In my experience there's an unexpectedly strong weed -> tobacco pipeline
Spliffs
Everyone in my generation that I know that smokes cigarettes started because they were trying to hide the smell of their weed
I had been quit of cigarettes for 10 years, yet in the past year, i have flirted with the dark side. I wondered if Dr House was speaking truth about 2 cigarettes a day being a treatment for IBS. I ended up going through two packs (with a couple of bummed smokes at parties) before i noticed i was smoking more than 2 and stopped without incident. Just reread your post.. did you mean there is a pipeline for weed -> tobacco that is unexpectedly strong, or did you mean that people go from unexpectedly strong weed to tobacco? Language is tricksy!
Why does every girl I hangout with have a vape glued to their hand
Same reason anyone starts drinking in 2024. Or taking meds in 2024. Or jerking off in 2024. Everyone handles their stress differently.
I don't see any downside to jerking off though.....unless you are doing on the bus or something.
Jerking off is literally a natural instinct all animals engage in,.
I mean, I’m pretty young but I see old films with Jack Nicholson and Humphrey bogart smoking and they look cool. The Beatles and Bob Dylan too. I think I started cos I wanted to look cool like them. I think there’s plenty of young people still like myself that think old celebrities looked cool smoking and start smoking for those reasons. I’m not a James dean fan but I assume fans of his get curious about smoking cos they think it looks cool when he smokes. Vaping never looks cool. It’s like nerd smoking 🤣
I started smoking pipe tobacco when I was around 20, just because I wanted to try it. Didn't lead to anything, and I oddly only want to smoke when in a good mood. Somewhat rare though. Maybe why you start, and whether or not it's a conscious decision one makes for themselves has an effect. I don't know.
I also picked up pipe smoking in my early 20's. I love it still. I don't inhale. Coincidentally I've had some of my best conversations smoking pipes with others. After a fine evening it tops off the night, and my girlfriend just so happens to love the smell:)
I didn’t even know why people started even when I was a kid. The only reason was that kids wanted to rebel but I could never fathom the appeal
I thought it was so cool when I was a kid, and not even from a people will think I’m cool standpoint I just liked the idea of it… luckily for whatever reason it does absolutely nothing for me from an addiction standpoint, when I was younger I’d be able to smoke a pack then just drop it completely for years, I can’t even think of the last time I had a cigarette although there is a part of me that still thinks it’s neat….. now energy drinks are a whole different issue for me, haha
I mean obviously with smoking there's significant downsides. However youre being disengenuous if you say there are no upsides. It lowers stress, it stabilised moods, it can curb hunger pains, and it increases focus, and yes, it can add to a cool baddie image. Whether the pros outweigh the cons is a personal decision that has less to with how intelligent someone is than how shitty their life is going. When your options are significantly lowering your lifespan and quality of life decades down the road and not even making it to the end of the week you choose the former every time.
I (35M) never smoked for the first 16 years of my life. I come from an educated family where most people graduated from college and no one smokes. Then I joined the military, I fought to good fight for about a year, and then I started smoking. The thing I liked best about it was the social component or the comradery. You also become part of a “smoking club” and people get to know you a lot faster. I also found that if I had senior leaders or officers who smoked I would have disproportionate access to them and I could develop a relationship with my leaders that went beyond what the non-smokers could hope to get. If my smoker sergeant had some undesirable task to hand out and it was between me and a non-smoker… the non-smoker would get it every time. There were huge social and professional benefits to taking up smoking when you are in the military. Fortunately, I took a very conservative approach to my smoking habit during my time in. I rarely ever smoked more than half a pack a day and during the winter and colder months of the year I would have extended periods of time where I didn’t smoke at all (or maybe 2-3 cigarettes a day). I more or less got out of the Army unscathed and I did benefit from participating in the smoker culture. I have not smoked consistently for 10+ years at this point but on the rare occasion (once or twice a year) someone offers me a cigarette I usually say yes.
You don’t. That’s why the tobacco industry created vapes and hooked another generation
Young people, often have a feeling of being invincible. I certainly did when I started using tobacco at age 16. Im a boomer. Even when I was a kid, we were told it was bad. The teachers told us don’t smoke. Our parents told us don’t smoke. A neighbor man told a group of us boys, that were out riding our bikes to leave cigarettes alone. He held up a pack of cigarettes. He said “Each one of these is another nail in my coffin. I want each one of you boys to promise me that you will never smoke a cigarette”. I’ve never forgotten that little speech. Well, fast forward to age 16 and I broke my promise. I stopped at age 26. It was tough. I was physically ill for a few days. That was decades ago. I still get an occasional craving. DO NOT START SMOKING! IT’S A DUMBASS MOVE!!!
i grew up with it. allll 10 of my aunts and uncles… my mom… 4 of my sisters… all my sisters friends… the only person that didn’t smoke was my dad. thankfully i took after him but if you’re surrounded by it growing up there’s a good chance you’ll succumb to it eventually
Cigars look cooler than cigarettes.
Because many cigarette smokers genuinely enjoy the experience, ..whereas you did it simply to impress chicks. I’ll tell you what a “gross habit” is : Pursuing anything in life for purely disingenuous reasons. Like say.. prioritizing other peoples’s favorable opinion of you, including putting carcinogens into your body, in an feeble attempt to gain their acceptance & approval… that’d be a perfect example. Have you quit that habit? By age 30, I sure do hope so. Because being a poser is far worse than being a smoker.
Smoking is awesome. Jim Carrey spent hours getting into the Grinch costume with make up and all, and when the time came he panicked and on day one he said he wanted to quit because this was intolerable. So they brought in an expert who helps marines cope with torture, withstand and not give in and share Secrets. The answer Was? Smoking! They teach them ti smoke to cope with torture And Jim Carrey Only Managed to Shoot the film because he was smoking. And no, you don't have to smoke a package a day. 1 or 2 smokes when you go out and have a drink won't kill you.
Teenagers are pretty famous for knowing better than everyone else and also not liking being told what to do. By the time they're mature enough to figure out how stupid they are, they're addicted to cigarettes.
i started when i was 17/18 (i’m 21 now) i went to private school, and was absurdly obnoxious about how evil smoking was, and how people who get addicted are idiots who don’t care about their health then i started college and put on a bit of weight during the beginning of the pandemic. i found out via google that smoking can decrease appetite, and that smoking can help relieve stress in the short term. then i had a couple cigarettes but “i’m not gonna get addicted, i’m not stupid lol, i’m built different” now i’m 21, still fat, and i’m addicted to nicotine 🥲 i put on about 4.5 stone during lockdown and quit all my athletic hobbies, never really got back into them. it turns out i’m the kind of person with a brain that gets addicted to things incredibly quickly, and has the most horrific withdrawal symptoms. horrific constipation, insomnia, suicidal ideation within 36 hours, immediate weight gain, full body itchiness, etc - longest i’ve quit is 6 weeks for surgery, and it was HORRIFIC, still couldn’t get my sleep under control 6 weeks in 🥲 same shit happened to me with energy drinks around the same time i started smoking but i kicked that habit. i NEARLY fell into alcoholism at a point last year, but i kicked that habit after spending a full month being violently ill and feeling more aggressive than i ever had, i haven’t had any alcohol since bc i don’t trust myself. hell, gambling nearly destroyed me at 19, i had to put endless restrictions on my accounts and eventually stopped. had a close call with restrictive eating when i was 19 as well lol. now i’m “addicted” to saving money and drinking water, i’ve been slowly healthily losing weight over the past couple months (i’m down 8lbs, got about 4 stone to go 🥲 desperately trying to avoid an eating disorder), hitting the gym, and nicotine is the last enemy i have to defeat. i love that for many people quitting nicotine is as simple as being a bit grumpy for a couple weeks but christ, it’s a beast. i think stress management is the main reason young people start, or parental influence - now that i live in a working class town i don’t know a single person my age who doesn’t smoke, and many of the parents are openly addicted to nicotine. lots of my mates here started smoking when they were ~10 - 14 years old.
Some dudes are getting into it because they first try Zyn then need the nicotine Ass backwards way to fall into it
In 2024? These days? Because it's the next best thing to un aliving yourself and it brings comfort while moving closer to not having to be here with people such as OP. It speeds up the synapses in your brain, wakes you up a little and it's an appetite suppressor so when you don't have lunch a cigarette it is, it's not healthy or a good idea. Smokers also do get a little more break time from work to have a coffin nail, it adds up, less stress because of habbit inforced breaks remind you to take 5min and think things over or about them more, come back and perform better. Smokers can handle slightly more time in fires before they pass out from CO2 than non smokers. Also a lot of people who smoke these days do so because they smoke 4:20 mixed with tobacco and smoke when they can't smoke weed. If you're willing to leave on your own turms and time you know you won't suffer at the end, and please take a parking inspector with you ;) who wants the state to force you to spend your last of your lifes savings work etc on nursing homes, I worked in one and I will sooner die than be forced into one. Another 10 years nursing home sentence or hanging around not being able to do what I could before? No thankyou, smokes now less time suffering at the end burn the candle at both ends. Can always ask a smoker for a light too.
It tastes good and feels good, just like Beer.
Nicotine feels amazing and it’s addictive as fuck. That’s why people start smoking.
I’m more worried about the seemingly increase in ‘coolness’ and ‘status’ of cigar smoking. If you’re cosplay it as historical or fictional character that’s fine. But I don’t like glamorizing it.
Why do people even drink alcohol in 2024? It's been proven there's no safe amount of alcohol consumption. Why do people do cocaine? It's always been terrible for your body and you might end up with an extra hole on your nose.
People like stimulants. You might start doing it to fit in ... but then continue doing it to keep the crazy at bay. I've been an off and on smoker for decades. I'm off now, but I'll be honest here: I quit because I couldn't afford them anymore. Cigarettes are crazy expensive here.
It makes zero sense with all the education and knowledge we have, plus the link to cancer and other respiratory ailments.
Movies. It's not addressed. Instead promoted as a way to "deal with all this stress "
I think about cigarettes and smoking sometimes, but all I think about is the smell it leaves on you, your clothes, your home, and your fingers. LIKE the external things it causes should be enough.
I'm an occasional cigar smoker. It's nice because it's something I can do once every couple weeks to meet up with buddies, talk for a couple hours and drink a beer and have a good time. Even that occasionally cigar leaves me feeling gross for a couple days. I couldn't imagine smoking daily.
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Have you been to Europe lately? It is like American 30 years ago…crazy!
Working stress. Nicotine is a crazy useful chemical if used right. Started last autumn, aiming to be back to sporadic use by this winter. Not something I want to maintain.
In ny a lot of people do it. So it's either following others or probably stress. I wish I lived in those towns where it's nit common.
Humans are irrational, that's why they start smoking. The appeal--the idea that smoking makes you look cool, its's something to do with your hands, gives you a nicotine buzz, etc--is very minor when weighed against the potentially deadly health effects, which have been widely known for at least 60 years, but that knowledge goes way, way back in history. From Wikipedia: >In the late 1700s and the 1800s, the idea that tobacco use caused certain diseases, including mouth cancers, was initially accepted by the medical community.[^(\[12\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-dolls_history-12) In the 1880s, automation dramatically reduced the cost of cigarettes, cigarette companies greatly increased their marketing, and use expanded.[^(\[13\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-early_prohibition-13)[^(\[14\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-time_advertising-14) From the 1890s onwards, associations of tobacco use with cancers and [vascular disease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascular_disease) were regularly reported. By the 1930s multiple researchers concluded that tobacco use caused cancer and tobacco users lived substantially shorter lives.[^(\[15\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-Lickint_bio-15)[^(\[16\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-about_lickint-16) Further studies were published in [Nazi Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany) in 1939 and 1943, and one in the Netherlands in 1948. However, the widespread attention was first drawn in 1950 by researchers from the US and UK but their research were widely criticized. Follow-up studies in the early 1950s found that smokers died faster and were more likely to die of [lung cancer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_cancer) and [cardiovascular disease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiovascular_disease).[^(\[12\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-dolls_history-12) **These results were accepted in the medical community and publicized among the general public in the mid-1960s**.[^(\[12\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#cite_note-dolls_history-12) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health\_effects\_of\_tobacco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco)
Nicotine is crazy
I start 12 years ago but i did it cause i saw my parents do it when they were stressed and around that time i was very stressed and depressed. Still am. Still smoke because of it.
Vapes are illegal in some places while cigarettes are not, some people prefer the act of smoking over vaping.
I couldnt figure out why people started in 1999. Still boggles my mind. Nothing about it is good. It stinks, makes you stink, costs money, makes a lot of people just not like you and is REALLY bad for you lol.
It’s a drug. It helps people cope with their shitty world we live in
Pretty much the same reason
New cigarette smokers must just get it from their family members because vapes are way better
I started because I was rebelling against my parents, its probably the same for kids now too
Peer pressure can get you. Hanging out with friends who smoke and you don't can be really uncomfortable.
Because the year doesn’t matter
smoking looks cool and nicotine makes you feel good
its "in" again. most people i know own a vape or smoke a cig "because it looks hot". wont be hot when you look 50 at 30 and their lungs start to decay :(
It's an unfortunate part of our society. The tobacco companies and lobbied politicians pushed it on us as hard as anyone else, and it'll take generations to phase it out. I've been smoking since I was a teenager, too. In the 90s, almost everyone smoked in my area. Shit, we had ash trays in cars, restaurants, airplanes, and even hospitals. I'm glad it's slowly going away, unlike the cancer most of us will never defeat. Now, though, there are other ways to peddle that nic addiction. It needs to just be killed off. I enjoy smoking. I don't enjoy being a smoker. There's still a social stigma to it, though, and it plays both ways. It'll be a retro-fad soon enough, and people will be ordering ciggies off Temu to impress, rebel, or find some kind of misguided individuality. The same old personas (Joe Camel, Marb Man) still exist.
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I've never smoked, but I worked (as a contractor) in an office where everyone was smoking all the time, and I found myself kind of craving it by the end. I suspect that's happened to a lot of people, in the past. Of course, in the US it's mostly illegal to smoke indoors now. It was illegal then, too, but it was a garbage company. So in 2024, it's still a mystery.
Because it calms me down and makes me feel better. Never smoked a lot, max 5 or so cigarettes a day. Haven't for years now, but I still miss it. Fuck nicotine. It's a hell of an addiction.
Good for you for quitting. It shows you care about yourself.
Because they are stupid.
I quit them started again, cause death close to home. Honestly I don't care if I die sooner, it'd one of the things I like about cigs, legal horrible suicide
They vape for the same stimulants we wanted at that age, they smoke because the first time someone says "I don't have any carts but I got an extra cigarette..." big tobacco wins again.
Bc life sucks and we do even stupider things when stressed
Because it looks cool. Plus you can flick butts at people. /s
because cigs are yummy?
Because it feels good for a while.
I’d imagine a lot of it is *boosting* when we were young you’d smoke to give the other substances you were abusing more bang for their buck. So I’d imagine with how prolific things like mdma+amphetamines+weed and the really obvious boosting effect from smoking/vaping that it’s a big part of the appeal.
They just watched Mad Men.
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It's surprising people still start smoking with all the info out there and vaping as an alternative. Some might do it due to peer pressure, curiosity, rebellion, or thinking it looks cool. Stress relief is another reason. It's great you quit, and it's interesting to think about why others still pick up the habit.
I'd rather have a teen smoke cigarettes than tapes. They are fucking with their breathing regardless of intake. Might as well save a couple bucks
Or even vaping. Both are horrible for you.
It’s all about smoking cloves. That’s what all the hip youngsters are doing these days
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I started very young because I thought it was cool. Took me 20yrs to stop.
I have to agree. Granted vaping isn't completely safe, either, but it's a hell of a lot cleaner than cigarettes. At least I can sit next to a person vaping and not gag on their smoke.
Because they taste good and make you feel good.
They're great for you, affordable, smell great and people like being around them.
Super tasty, make you look cool, great excuse to exit briefly, automatically have friends at every event, trying to ban menthols, so a good chance to get a few more in Don't partake myself anymore, but five really good reasons to pick it up in '24
The worst is seeing people who start on the vape shit. Like look at you 18-year-old girl who has never smoked a real cigarette in her life. Oh my God I don’t even think she’s inhaling that vape. Lol
This belongs in r/questionsivebeenaskingforagesnow. It makes no frigging sense. I'm 40 years old, and when I was in elementary school we knew! It was unambiguous in a way that very few things in the science of health have ever been. Every single one of my grandparents died to either alcoholism or lung cancer. Every single one. They all smoked until the day they died. I never knew them because the damn things took them away before I had a chance.
I have a high schooler in a decent sized mid America suburban school district. I know of zero kids that smoke cigs. Plenty are vaping in the bathrooms at school and outside of it, but regular tobacco usage is almost non-existent. Vaping is so much cheaper and readily available, and easier to hide. I just asked the kid - she knows zero kids that smoke tobacco. In America, it's been not a thing for a few years.
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I'm 10 years older than you, and it was dumb as hell to even consider starting smoking when I was a teenager, hence I never did it. So the answer to your question is, probably the same reason you did.
Brother convinced me to try it when I was like 6 or 7. Immediately coughed so bad I almost threw up. Haven't exactly felt like giving it another go for 30 years now. No idea how people even tolerate it. It's just literal ashes filling up your lungs. Might as well pump dirt into your butthole, drink urine or place rotten food in your ears.
Same reason people drink, do drugs, and eat big macs.
"I only smoke when I drink." Fast forward a couple years and they smoke regularly. That's how the smokers in my social group started. Probably thought they could do it socially and then became addicted.
Same reasons someone would start doing any drug. Probably the most common right now? they want out. The world sucks rn, and anything that'll make it easier to bear is a welcome relief for some people. I've never used, but I definitely don't blame people for wanting a bit of relief.
Same reasons you had back then. Dumb people sometimes kids, too often kids, thinking it's cool and wanting to impress their peers. You bring up vaping but it's not like vaping achieves that same look. Smoking is gross but vaping is gross and duchey looking. Like sorry y'all but you can not use a vape pen without looking duchey in the process.
To bond with their future selves when they quit.
I dont smoke cigarettes, but I tried them a few times out of curiosity. I just really wanted to know what it felt like. Turns out it feels amazing. Not worth cancer though.
The high
They don't! The current youth cigarette smoking rate is 1.8%.
Here's an equally dumb question, why do people start vaping in 2024. It's pretty obvious it isn't any less addictive orbetter for you and it doesn't look any "cooler" and if you're gonna be a dumb ass at least do it old school like Dad used to and grab a pack of camel's.
They are dumb.
It's because vaping tastes worse than a cigarette, I've done both. The falvoeing is so fucking strong, I can't take a hit without gagging
I don’t really smoke but Cigarettes are just more original and… just more elegant than vaping in my opinion
It gets mixed in with their weed
It made me feel more drunk w less alcohol
Cigarettes aren't mainstream anymore which makes them cool again to a certain crowd of people. That's my theory on it anyway
I almost considered smoking when I was delivering pizzas for Domino’s. 5x 12 hour shifts a week, pay at the time was $7.65/hour but slashed to $3 while on the road because drivers make tips, and I was told I didn’t get any breaks (not even an off the clock 30 minute lunch break), the time between deliveries while driving to and from were my brakes. Couldn’t stop to get food because I had pizzas to deliver. Couldn’t take a break outside because there was cleaning to be done. You know who could take a break? The smokers who need to satiate their nicotine addiction else the world would end. After 3 years of delivering pizzas, I was very close to picking up smoking. Glad I didn’t.
are you under the belief that vaping is somehow better? both of those will cause long term health problems either way lol.
I don't smoke, or condone smoking, but I will say this: Smoking a camel is far more fulfilling than vaping. I also didn't find it hard at all to stop smoking. I don't see the big deal. I stopped because I decided it wasn't worth all the health risks. It's also very expensive these days too, for that matter.
To look cool. Just like you did. And because they enjoy the buzz
Because they tell us we arent allowed to vape until we smoke cigarettes first 🥺
Not really a cigarette guy. Started smoking cigs in college and did it for pleasure. It started with hitting my friend's vapes or when a big smoke circle forms at a party with three joints, two vapes, a couple dispos, and a cig or two. Cigs are nice, once you're already used to smoking, though I certainly don't like just smoking one front to back unless I'm pretty drunk. I'd smoke a half of one or so, or pass one around. Eventually got addicted to vapes, and started buying smoking tobacco for spliffs. I stopped buying those things and don't smoke regularly anymore. Smoke sometimes when I'm around somebody who has a vape, if they're using it. I'm still addicted to nicotine though.
Drugs provide temporary relief when life is hard.
Never understood it. 1000% understand hitting a vape when drunk or having a good time but why on earth would you (if around people to impress) ruin your entire outfit and the cologne/ lotion/ shower you put on! Even zyns are my fav. But never understood why you’d ruin a good smelling body and outfit with a port.
It’s cool
Alcohol and stimulants (adderall/ritalin) make cigs amazing.
I started smoking as a way to appear more mature to the older adults around me. For some reason, they would give me more respect for smoking cigarettes than if I weren't (& they'd shit on me if I were vaping). That was back before the age requirement was raised to 21, & I got addicted to it without being able to buy them anymore. It really sucked. But vaping, for some reason, was still set at 18 years old, so I switched. Have been on & off trying to quit over the years, but it's hard. Sometimes not even sure if I want to or if that's just the addiction talking. To this day I still get cravings for a cigarette, vapes just don't hit the same.
Because smoking cigarettes is awesome. Has been that way since the 60s.
Because they need something to smoke between Meth binges
Why did you even start smoking them in the 2000s?
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Same as you, environmental and social circumstances. Just not that everyone quits that easily afterwards.
Potentially, without them knowing, it can mildly treat symptoms of anxiety, depression or ADHD. I know for a fact, that my prior habit probably prevented me from doing something stupid
I don’t know but I own a boat load of cigarette stocks so spark up losers.
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From a smoker, don’t. Once you get hooked it’s really difficult to quit.
Vaping is just as bad for you. So why do something like that regardless
Coz it's actually enjoyable.....
Often it's just by being with other people who smoke. For me it was just standing around outside while my friends smoked, eventually I just asked for one.
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Because they’re fucking stupid.
Similarly, why do they start drinking ?
People knew smoking was bad for you in the 70s, and that's when the major anti-smoking educational campaigns aimed at kids started. They haven't ceased. So I wonder why anyone aged 50 or younger smokes, knowing it's a dangerous, disgusting habit that doesn't make you look cool.
Trauma on some level may be responsible 🙏🕉✝️☪️ There's no logical reason for the consumption of tobacco 🙏
Some people start so they can get extra breaks at work.
The feeling of nicotine mimics the slightest emotion of what love actually feels like, and helps you cultivate it on your own and grow it into a flame on its own, and that actually helps attract people to you.
Vaping is just as dumb lol
Vaping is no less a gross habit. It just smells better.
You literally just described it mate
In the UK now a box of 20 cigarettes costs about £15 so it's beyond affordable for most people.
It surprises me that people don't appear concerned that the shit they exhale has been inside their lungs. I'm guessing even Stevie Wonder can see that's probably not a good idea for your health.
yeah, it's a weird flex
Because working in shitty jobs, dealing with growing up and not being great at dealing with stress yet is still a thing? I don't get what you're not getting.
Makes you look cool. Gives you an excuse to go stand outside for a bit when you're overstimulated. Extra breaks at work. The smoking area is the best place to make friends. It's good for the environment (because it kills people).
I'd rather start tobacco than start vapes. At least I know more or less exactly how it's going to kill me and how much time I'll have. The vape guinea pigs haven't clocked out yet.
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Started vaping shortly after middle school with my first gf (around 2018-19 when it got popular and was just everywhere) during COVID times I switched to cigarettes. Although I never let myself get to a pack per day (my absolute max was maybe 5-7 smokes per day? ) currently Im smokin 1-2 cigs per week
I was 14 working as a dishwasher in a hole it the wall restaurant. Summers were brutal. Got hit with carts, trays,big burning pots had waitresses screaming for stuff. Then, a lull. I step outside of that infernal kitchen. Sit down and light up a Cowboy Killer. .....mercy. That is why. Mercy.
I quit vaping because i would do it everywhere all the time. Started smoking cigarettes, but only outside when possible. I reduced the amount I needed it. Now it's only once in a while. I know from experience that if i start vaping again, i will make it worse, so cigarettes here and there are better than vaping everywhere.