[SptsNaz]

Quote:

Funnily enough I got a free exemplar of "Quest Braintainment" at Uni the other day. It has an article about the effects of smoking. It says: "On average non-smokers live 7 years longer than smokers.Were you to smoke 10 a day you lose 4 years. Smoke more than 30 a day? You lose almost 9 years." Also: "Smokers not only die sooner but they are also more often ill. Count it all up and smokers are ill for 6 more years than non-smokers."
 

I'm not advocating smoking, but honestly drinking on a regular basis and other things will take far more off your life than smoking. Not to mention how many people die young from drinking and driving, drinking and getting into fights, etc... Yet alcohol for some reason isn't looked upon as anywhere near as bad as smoking for some reason
 
So I can smoke 10 cigarettes for the rest of my life and only lose 4 years of it? Big freaking deal. The life expectancy in the U.S. is now close to 78 years. If those stats are accurate and let's say I was healthy otherwise then I would live up until 74. That's 5% of my life, and that' assuming I never miss a day without smoking, which isn't the case for most people. The way some people bitch about smoking you'd think one cigarette will make you implode or something. It's ridiculous
 
Almost 40% of the population smokes in Japan and Greece, yet the life expectancy in those countries are the highest in the world (over 80 years). Why is that? 
 
I am against smoking in indoor areas though, even bars. Even as a smoker I don't like it when people smoke inside, and I would never do it in my house. 
 
I believe people really need to ease up on all the anti-smoking propaganda. No, smoking is not the healthiest thing in the world, but I also think the stigma attached to it is unwarranted. Many of the studies about smoking are misleading also (for example, it may say it doubles your chances of heart disease, but your chances of getting heart diseases in the first place are very minute to begin with - so an increase from say .01% to .02 percent is hardly significant)
 
I think most Americans should be worried more about their diet than second hand smoke. Obesity rates are at an all time high right now and no one seems to care. 

 

[ForgottenxxRebel]

i saw video of this on the abc evening news tonight.  rofl
 
they say how he gets angry when he doesn't get his cigarettes.  i wonder how he'll be when he's bigger and older, if he lives that long.   beat up his parents??

 

[redshifter]

Quitting smoking was one of the hardest and best things I did for myself.

 

[ford2]

 
 
 
We all need to remember that smoking in one form or another has been around far longer than the tobacco companies.
 
One of the biggest killers today and the cause of many diseases is fatty food/sweets/bad diets but we do very little to stop that.
 
Russia has an endemic problem with alcoholism as do many other countries besides the drug problems.Yet once again very little is done.
 
Smokers nowadays know the risks,it is now up to them,there are far to many evangelicalists in this world.

 

[JxK]

^I suppose smoking is more of an annoyance to people than something like poor diet because it also impacts non smokers. Second hand smoke is not only very unhealthy, it also leaves your clothes smelling awful after spending even a little time around smokers. If you invite an obese person over for dinner, they just eat a bit more. Invite a smoker and suddenly your dining room stinks for a good day after they have left. 

 

[Pepsi]

Quote:

I'm not advocating smoking, but honestly drinking on a regular basis and other things will take far more off your life than smoking. Not to mention how many people die young from drinking and driving, drinking and getting into fights, etc... Yet alcohol for some reason isn't looked upon as anywhere near as bad as smoking for some reason
 
So I can smoke 10 cigarettes for the rest of my life and only lose 4 years of it? Big freaking deal. The life expectancy in the U.S. is now close to 78 years. If those stats are accurate and let's say I was healthy otherwise then I would live up until 74. That's 5% of my life, and that' assuming I never miss a day without smoking, which isn't the case for most people. The way some people bitch about smoking you'd think one cigarette will make you implode or something. It's ridiculous
 
Almost 40% of the population smokes in Japan and Greece, yet the life expectancy in those countries are the highest in the world (over 80 years). Why is that? 
 
I am against smoking in indoor areas though, even bars. Even as a smoker I don't like it when people smoke inside, and I would never do it in my house. 
 
I believe people really need to ease up on all the anti-smoking propaganda. No, smoking is not the healthiest thing in the world, but I also think the stigma attached to it is unwarranted. Many of the studies about smoking are misleading also (for example, it may say it doubles your chances of heart disease, but your chances of getting heart diseases in the first place are very minute to begin with - so an increase from say .01% to .02 percent is hardly significant)
 
I think most Americans should be worried more about their diet than second hand smoke. Obesity rates are at an all time high right now and no one seems to care. 

I too brought this point up in another thread. Diet and Alcohol is just more socially acceptable therefore unfortunately looked over, rather than Tobacco, regardless, i think that these substances are okay within limits. It's actually healthy having a glass of wine or 1 beer per day. 

 

[apatN]

Quote:

I'm not advocating smoking, but honestly drinking on a regular basis and other things will take far more off your life than smoking. Not to mention how many people die young from drinking and driving, drinking and getting into fights, etc... Yet alcohol for some reason isn't looked upon as anywhere near as bad as smoking for some reason
 
So I can smoke 10 cigarettes for the rest of my life and only lose 4 years of it? Big freaking deal. The life expectancy in the U.S. is now close to 78 years. If those stats are accurate and let's say I was healthy otherwise then I would live up until 74. That's 5% of my life, and that' assuming I never miss a day without smoking, which isn't the case for most people. The way some people bitch about smoking you'd think one cigarette will make you implode or something. It's ridiculous
 
Almost 40% of the population smokes in Japan and Greece, yet the life expectancy in those countries are the highest in the world (over 80 years). Why is that? 
 
I am against smoking in indoor areas though, even bars. Even as a smoker I don't like it when people smoke inside, and I would never do it in my house. 
 
I believe people really need to ease up on all the anti-smoking propaganda. No, smoking is not the healthiest thing in the world, but I also think the stigma attached to it is unwarranted. Many of the studies about smoking are misleading also (for example, it may say it doubles your chances of heart disease, but your chances of getting heart diseases in the first place are very minute to begin with - so an increase from say .01% to .02 percent is hardly significant)
 
I think most Americans should be worried more about their diet than second hand smoke. Obesity rates are at an all time high right now and no one seems to care. 

Perhaps you are not advocating smoking, but if I am not mistaken the point you are trying to make is that smoking isn't all that bad.
 
Everything is relative of something else of course. I personally think 4 years is quite a lot from smoking alone but that's really not the matter here. All that matters here is that smoking is bad because of more things than just "you lose 4 years". It's bad for you. Fact.
 
I agree with you however that it really is up to your own whether you smoke or not. But what you are trying to do is point at other things (drinking, eating) to justify smoking. Justify is probably not the right word but you see where I am going. It's like saying "sure, smoking is not healthy, but jumping in front of a train will kill you quicker".

 

[Berserker]

I smoked cigarettes for 18 years before I quit, and 10 of those years I smoked weed as well. Not proud of it, but I did. Nasty habit, so glad I quit. I weighed 155 lbs. when I smoked, and I'm 6'2". I started lifting weights right after I quit, and went from 155 to 212 lbs in just a few months. 

Of course I had to buy all new clothes, etc. I do smoke an occasional cigar however.

 

[SptsNaz]

Quote:

Perhaps you are not advocating smoking, but if I am not mistaken the point you are trying to make is that smoking isn't all that bad.
 
Everything is relative of something else of course. I personally think 4 years is quite a lot from smoking alone but that's really not the matter here. All that matters here is that smoking is bad because of more things than just "you lose 4 years". It's bad for you. Fact.
 
I agree with you however that it really is up to your own whether you smoke or not. But what you are trying to do is point at other things (drinking, eating) to justify smoking. Justify is probably not the right word but you see where I am going. It's like saying "sure, smoking is not healthy, but jumping in front of a train will kill you quicker".

That's four years if you smoke 10 cigarettes a day for 50-60 years though. Almost no one smokes that long. Most people give it up in 10 or 20 years and many, many more smoke for much less than that and not as frequently (1-5 a day)
 
It just seems like if you live an ultra unhealthy lifestyle and then just so happen to smoke a cigarette every now and then, when you die people will point to the smoking even though that was probably the least of your problems. 
 
Unless you live in the middle of nowhere where there is little pollution, eat only organic vegetarian foods, and exercise 45 minutes a day - guess what... you're slowly losing years off your life anyway. 
 
Anyway, I enjoy smoking but I'm not going to do it forever. For example, if I ever get kids I will probably quit cold turkey. I think that people who smoke a pack or more a day are overdoing it anyway. At that point it really interferes in your life because, at the least, you have to constantly take smoking breaks all the time which is unproductive. If I ever get up to that point I know it's time to give it up

 

[atbglenn]

My mother died from lung cancer caused by smoking cigarettes at the age of 70. Her twin sister, who never smoked, is still alive and healthy at 83. Her non smoking brother is 88 and heathy as well.  If that's not a good reason not to smoke, I don't know what is.  

 

[Young Spade]

There are 3 reasons as to why I'll never smoke.
1) Costs money. I could better spend that money on either coffee, candy, or music stuff
2) Don't like the smell. (I know they have ones that don't smell bad but meh
3) Not healthy. I like being healthy. 

 

[SptsNaz]

Quote:

My mother died from lung cancer caused by smoking cigarettes at the age of 70. Her twin sister, who never smoked, is still alive and healthy at 83. Her non smoking brother is 88 and heathy as well.  If that's not a good reason not to smoke, I don't know what is.  

Sad to hear that. I am guessing she smoked for a very long time? 
 
You have to take into account though that there are many people who get lung cancer who've never smoked before. Even if your a smoker, the chances of getting lung cancer are probably less than 1% unless you are a very, very heavy smoker (you can check the exact numbers online if you are bored). Also, for some reason in other countries the lung cancer rates are much lower than those of Americans even though they smoke much more
 
Anyway, I would never encourage anyone to smoke, and I almost never smoke in front of non-smokers. I still think the science is a little screwed up though, and many of the anti-smoking campaigns are insanely agenda driven and thus incredibly one-sided

 

[atbglenn]

Quote:

Sad to hear that. I am guessing she smoked for a very long time? 
 
You have to take into account though that there are many people who get lung cancer who've never smoked before. Even if your a smoker, the chances of getting lung cancer are probably less than 1% unless you are a very, very heavy smoker (you can check the exact numbers online if you are bored). Also, for some reason in other countries the lung cancer rates are much lower than those of Americans even though they smoke much more
 
Anyway, I would never encourage anyone to smoke, and I almost never smoke in front of non-smokers. I still think the science is a little screwed up though, and many of the anti-smoking campaigns are insanely agenda driven and thus incredibly one-sided

My mom was a moderate smoker who started when she was a teen. She gave it up about 3 years before she was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately the damage was already done. The doctors confirmed that her cancer was indeed caused by tobacco. It really pisses me off when I see people smoking. Thankfully, no one in my family smokes, nor do any of my friends. I try to stay away from smokers, not always possible though.    

 

[Happy Camper]

I'm a live and let live person but using our world as an ashtray I have a problem with.

 

[SptsNaz]

Quote:

My mom was a moderate smoker who started when she was a teen. She gave it up about 3 years before she was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately the damage was already done. The doctors confirmed that her cancer was indeed caused by tobacco. It really pisses me off when I see people smoking. Thankfully, no one in my family smokes, nor do any of my friends. I try to stay away from smokers, not always possible though.    

So your mom smoked for nearly 50 years? Not to be an ass, but if you do anything for that long it will probably kill you. 50 years is a long, long, long time
 
You can try to avoid smokers, but 25% of the people here smoke, so that's a lot of people you're avoiding just because they smoke. If they are good friends they probably won't smoke around you anyway if they know it bothers you so much. But I guess all smokers are evil-doers who only smoke and kick puppies for fun, so clearly nothing meaningful can be extracted from these people!