Why do young people think it's cool to smoke?

[justsimon]

It's funny that people still think that peer pressure went the way of the handkerchief system.

Yep. My friend who's in her 40s started smoking a couple of years ago because her other friends were.

 

[Reality101]

I started because I was curious, it looked cool and my friends smoked. Also, I wanted to flirt with addiction. I didn't understand what made people say they needed a cigarette. Why did they NEED one? I was 17 when I picked it up. I cut it out 5 years ago.

 

[sabot3ur]

Why did you try it is the question? To be cool?

hahahaha no, I don't do things to be cool.
I've liked the smell of cigarette smoke my entire life. parents, friends, friends' parents, I didn't think of smoking as cool. I just thought of it as something I'd enjoy. and that first cigarette was exquisite.

 

[freefall]

Young people think it's cool to smoke because it IS cool to smoke.

--' I wouldn't really say that paradigm is right.

They think it's cool because of the over-glamorous advertisement which successfully brainwash some blunt-headed youngsters that smoking makes you look cool (like the hunk or woman in the ad).

And smoking relieves stress...when the one is smoking at the time. Most of people continue smoking because it becomes a habit. They consider it similar to drinking coffee to make you sober.

 

[Nomenclature]

Last year (at 19), I purchased a pack of cigarettes only because A) I was completely stressed out of my mind, and B) It was legal. I made that pack last me a couple of weeks, and quit as soon as I noticed I was starting to get addicted/withdrawal. I haven't smoked at all since October 2009 and will never touch it again as long as i can help it.

I've never thought smoking was "cool".

 

[relaxin13]

What do you mean? Does it make it better?

From what I have heard, the kick from tobacco will help boost your high momentarily... I wouldn't know due to lack of experience, but it may or may not be true.

 

[BRIOHAZARD]

Why is there no such thing as a smokeaholic?

That's a good question. I call people who smoke a lot smokestacks.




I've smoked a total of 3-5 cigarettes in my life, and I don't see what's so appealing about them.
They taste like shit, they smell like shit, and they make ya feel like shit.
So why bother?

 

[Nomenclature]

Those are the same reasons I started smoking. It's been 8 months, and I still haven't been able to quit.

It takes incredible will power. Most people fail to quit because they don't really WANT to quit; They just do it because they know they HAVE to. The cravings were really bad for a few weeks, and I still get the occasional craving, but I just have to be strong enough to not start again. It kinda sucks, but I know it's something I can do.


-----

We also put butter on our skin and laid out in the sun..

This sounds like the punchline of a "Yo mama so fat" joke, or something.

 

[Beachguyj]

I don't get menthol cigs either. Seems weird. From what I understand they are more popular in the black community.

 

[spooger]

so why do young people eat mcdonalds, burgerking, taco belle, kfc and all the other "foods" that are killing them and making them obese?

why do middle aged men buy fast cars in which they will either be killed or burn tons of $$

if you condemn all which you don't understand or agree with, regardless of opinions on health, behavior, etc. we will all dress in black mao shirts and look the same

to me IMHO ... smoking is not offensive it is not a status symbol ... and i sure dont give a rat's ass about what anybody else thinks ... it's a personal choice ...

i smoke once in a while ... like a few times a year ... with friends, at the casino, after good sex, around a campfire ..... i enjoy a cigar, good cigs, or maybe a pipe ...

but for me it is not a habit ... i smoke for a day or two ... maybe a week .... and put it down ... sometimes for months, sometimes for a couple of years ...

dont assume peer pressure or self image ... some of us just like it

 

[guesshoo]

The US government has done more to increase smoking in teens in the last several years with all the hype against smoking than the cigarette companies ever did.

If you really want a teenager to do something.....just tell them they can't ....or it's illegal.

 

[Yohan1989]

I'm glad that I dont smoking

 

[derelictdarrel]

I like the head-rush I get when I smoke a cigar. It works that way if you smoke very moderately.

otherwise, it is very nasty. I don't want to kiss anyone who just took a deep drag from the cancer stick.

I have had one cigarette once, and can see how it can be addictive. They pack a lot of additives into those things to make it so.

I guess this might be why a doctor once told me that cigars are a better alternative to cigarettes in that perspective .

As far as 'being cool' is concerned, any effort put fourth will always come off contrived. You will look like a tool every time no matter what the endeavor might be.

 

[willsboy84]

Is there any other reason to start other than thinking it makes you look cool?

Well...I started because I wanted to see what was so addictive about them. I didn't understand the appeal. Didn't do it to be cool. In fact, I went outta my way to hide the fact that I was smoking. And yes, I know that that's just silly as hell....

 

[just_mills]

Nice stereotype.

I'm 22, and I don't think it's cool to smoke; nor do I smoke.

Just sayin'...

 

[Audio Tech]

Tried it when I was young. It was awful. I really don't understand what's so cool about it, considering the taste and smell of the things. I would never have sex or any relationship with someone who stinks like an ashtray. Sorry.

I know that people who smoke don't smell themselves, but if they COULD, they'd understand.

 

[sabot3ur]

it's NOT cool anymore, jesus christ.. just read this thread op, the smoking nazis are everywhere!

 

[Nomenclature]

Think you've got a fascination with smoking cigarettes lately, illgetbi?

 

[saymyname]

- it's social
- it's great with drinking
- it's sexy in that it extenuates your jawline and your mouth/lips

 

[thewiz]

I am always surprised at the number of young gays who smoke both in DC and when I was recently in Syracuse, NY. The club my friend took me to -- Trexx-- had an outdoor patio and it was packed. Actually there were more people smoking outside on the patio than were inside the dance club during the drag show and later dancing, I think.

For me, I did try smoking and also tried a pipe and cigars. Fortunately I never became hooked nor saw the reason to keep smoking beyond one or two.

But my disdain for smoking is not the smell -- my mother died of lung cancer which was probably caused by her smoking one or more packs every day of her life from the time she was probably 18. My younger sister also had a scare with a spot on her lung that tested negative and it took her having a heart attack at the age of 44 to finally convince her to stop smoking and begin exercising. Cancer runs in my family and, therefore, I am saddened when I see people smoking because I have had to sit and hold the hand of love ones as they passed from this life to the next all too many times.

I also had friends and work colleagues that are tied to oxygen tanks to help them oxygenate their blood supply because their lungs are bogged down by emphasema.

If there is one thing I ask of any friend (and you are all my friends and family): please try to stop. A couple we met on a recent cruise are selling smokeless cigarettes that possess none of the bad things found in cigarettes but give a nicotene patch. They looked like a cigarette and water vapor comes from inhaling but no harmful smoke is inhaled. I am thinking of getting some and giving to relatives who still smoke.