Smoking – cigarettes in particular. Straight up? I think it’s stupid and one of the worst thing you can do to your body.
Someone try to give me a logical answer and I will consider – or, most likely not. This is not to berate smokers or make a judgment on anyone’s character as I kind of understand the… Social pressures? Familiarity? Genes? All pretty much empty excuses, I think. Also, the cool factor is not an answer either.
Excuse the diatribe, but there is just insurmountable evidence about the effects of smoking. Does your body need it? Initially, before the first cigarette, not thereafter. I am trying to understand why anyone would continually poison their bodies in this way. Why would you risk higher probabilities of disease and cancer? Physically, mentally, economically… in none of these areas can I even begin to proport any rational reason to smoke, given the cost-benefit analysis.
Last Wednesday, I went to the track hoping to get in a short run before the marathon and my calves felt like wooden blocs. I couldn’t run, literally. There was this stiffness in my calves that was punctuated with every step on the rubber track. It was a terrible feeling to not be able to do something so simple, something that some people take for granted – being able to run. Now, I’m limping around with sore quads and walking is basically a concerted effort between my brain and my legs to not fall down the stairs. That said, if smoking impairs (I purposely didn’t use “‘may’ impair” because it is a definitive statement) your physical ability, your lung capacity – tell me why you would smoke.
I suppose it’s difficult to discourage smokers with vague, distant things like “coronary heart disease” or “lung cancer,” just as it’s hard to organize a collective effort to combat global warming warning of distant future catastrophes. But, some immediate effects of smoking are nearly just as unattractive: bad breath, yellow teeth, smelly clothes. Maybe this is the way to go about solving the climate crisis – make it sexy!
That said, I do believe that quitting is always an option. Running the marathon this past Monday, sans proper training I am embarrassed to admit, proves that it really is MIND OVER MATTER. A marathon is basically a really long mental exercise – you don’t run fast (I was running at a 11-12 min pace) and after about the 10th mile, your legs go on auto-pilot and the rest is just you getting over the mental wall (Mile 23 for me) and trying to distract yourself from realizing that you’re going to run 26.2 miles.
This marathon has seriously gotten me believe I can do… anything. Ha!
/Ad nauseam/
so is the question why do people smoke cigarettes? or are you just challenging smokers to entertain you with “excuses” that you’ll disregard anyway?
I think the question is, did you read past the second sentence?
Anyway, a more thoughtful answer would have been along the lines of something my friend Jen said:
PRO:
1. Lifestyle – cigarettes are never taken up on their own. It’s always with alcohol, a party scene, etc.
2. Weight loss – I know a lot of girls who smoke instead of eat. Their complaint is that burning 500 cal. at the gym just doesn’t do it.
3. Social – It is a very social activity. Asking for a light or bumming a cigarette usually yields friends.
4. Variation – It is an excuse to leave a situation or place without upsetting social dictates. For example you are stuck in a bad conversation at a mixer or a party, and you want to bow out gracefully. Just say you are stepping out for a cig, and you’re usually safe.
CON:
1. Lifestyle – It’s easy to move into other drugs. I mean, you’re already fucked.
2. Wrinkles — you start looking like shit.
3. Your contacts dry up.
4. You lose your palate. My foodie and sommelier friends don’t smoke.
5. Lungs, etc. get fucked.
Millie, I think you’re usually an insightful person, but I couldn’t disagree more with this post. I’m not a smoker and don’t see myself becoming a smoker anytime in my life, but I’m fine with smokers.
In your first paragraph you talk about not passing judgment, but you completely refute that point by the end of that sentence by calling your examples “empty excuses” for smoking. Passing judgment is fine. Everyone does it. For me though, smoking’s not a reason for it.
I think people that smoke for “fun” have reason enough. EVERYONE has their vices, and although smoking is one that causes a lot of physical harm—it’s just another vice. As a non-smoker I don’t think I have any place to tell people not to smoke—I mean the surgeon-general’s warnings are enough in my book. And I don’t see you as telling people not to smoke in this, but people who do that are out of place in my view.
In short, I’m okay with smokers.
I’m the son of two smokers, each of whom has “quit” at least a dozen times in my memory. I can say with confidence that all of Jen’s pros dry up after the first decade.
1. Lifestyle: You’re right – my mom started smoking after she met my dad. However, they’ve been together 25 years, and both of them acknowledge that there’s no reason for either of them to smoke anymore. They can’t kick it and it’s such an expensive habit.
2. Weight loss: I could write a book about this (the American ideal is too fucking skinny anyway) but basically, I despise shortcuts. If burning 500 calories at the gym doesn’t cut it, it’s time to study how your body processes things, rather than introduce lethal crap to it.
3. Social: Tobacco is an excellent conversation starter; however, in the overall calculus of things, I’d rather use food or drink (pouring a drink or opening a bottle, for example.)
4. Variation: I can understand, if not agree, with this one. I’m disgustingly blunt, though. I’d rather piss someone off than bother smoking.
Asad, I’m not condemning smokers. I guess as a general blog post, it may seem like it, but it’s subtly directed at a few people I know personally who smoke. I pass judgements on their reasons for smoking, yes – but the purpose of that is to spur some conversation about why people smoke given the obvious health risks. And that’s where the problem of priorities and values lie. I can’t argue against someone’s priorities and I suppose it is rather self-centered of me to assume that everyone should value their own health above whatever reason they have for smoking. Again, I’m not talking in absolutes in that smoking is purely good or purely bad, just that they pose definitive risks, health-wise. I’m not trying to tell people not to smoke, that’s useless preaching. I’d rather try to understand why they choose to continue given the costs.
Sam, I don’t think Jen is defending or advocating either side but rather dissecting arguments for both. I generally agree.
This little thread here really needs some smoker representation.
I’ve been smoking for a little over a year now. I took up cigarettes on their own, not with alcohol or partying. While I enjoy the social aspect of cigarettes, that’s not why I choose to continue smoking. Simply put, I enjoy the physical feeling. I enjoyed my first cigarette buzz and I enjoy that same buzz today. I enjoy taking five minutes out of my day once in a while because during those five minutes that I enjoy a smoke, I relax, and I collect my thoughts. To me, this is worth the consequences.
I’d also like to add that in my experience, cigarettes never lead to drugs. From what I’ve seen, it is almost always the other way around. (Fyi, I have no wrinkles and my contacts are very, very hydrated. Unfortunately, can’t say the same about my lungs.)
Millie, Asad just showed me your blog. Interesting topics, but I think that in this one you are underestimating the effects of the chemical addiction. Yes, as Karan said above many people enjoy the buzz, but when that wears off or they take to heart the consequences of smoking, it is not just a matter of saying enough is enough.
I could not tell you what it is like to overcome an true biological addiction, and from what I gathered in your post you fortunately do not either. However, when I think about how difficult it is to break simple mental addictions such as nervous habits, sports, etc., I begin to get an understanding of just how much people who face both a mental and chemical addiction such as cigarettes are up against. In cases like this, knowledge may be able to undo the mental part, but it takes an entirely different kind of focus and determination to overcome the physical part, and some people just do not possess the fortitude to accomplish this for a multitude of reasons that are too complex to list in a comment (but would make an excellent post in and of itself).
So considering that the decision to quit is much less controllable than it may first appear, I think that the better question is why people armed beforehand with the knowledge of the harm cigarettes do still choose to start. You touched upon it in your post, but you seemed to abandon it in your response to Asad’s comment when you said “I’d rather try to understand why they choose to continue given the costs.” Many of the comments here like Karan’s and Jen’s (which you posted) have shed light on the reasons to start, and while I do not blame any smoker for choosing to do so, I think that questioning the situation in which the person still has complete control is a much more appropriate and interesting topic to debate.
As per passing judgment, I’ll come out and say it: I am a very judgmental person. If you wear Uggs, I’ll smile gleefully and giggle. Wear it with an Ed Hardy sweater, and add fringes to said Uggs, I’ll laugh my ass off and point.
I know a lot of people who smoke. Almost all of them took it up at a relatively young age (say, 15-20 years old), and they all want to quit (24-30).
So long as they are aware of the risks, then their choice is informed. I shan’t judge (bad fashion sense is unforgivable!). That is the beauty of human agency.
After all, aren’t we all here to craft our own destinies and find our own?
Hi Drew, thanks for your comments. This isn’t usually a normal topic choice of mine, as I usually don’t care to tell people what’s good or bad for them. But, after completing something the marathon, which I will argue is 99% mental, I have a lot of faith in people to do anything… in this case, smoking. I recognize the chemical addiction and biological components that make it difficult for smokers to quit, but knowing that your family has a history of addictive behaviors coupled with the harmful effects of smoking – this is where my logic fails me – I’m at a loss for a reason to start. I know someone who knows he has a history of addictive behaviors in his family, so he doesn’t drink – very admirable.
Good catch on my comment to Asad, I didn’t mean to narrow my question that much. I’m curious as to both why some begin and why they continue. And, I very much agree with your last statement in regards to starting given complete control of the situation. But I think the question’s been asked many times before, or else someone would have an answer already. I’ll concede now and say that it’s too difficult to dissect every individual’s personality, priorities and values to generalize such a decision. Ah.
OK, why I began…. I was pissed at my folks and my school and my schoolmates. Smoking was not cool at my high school, wasn’t accepted, wasn’t done. I did it to differentiate myself from people that I didn’t care to know and people who wouldn’t know me. My folks for being smokers and telling me not to smoke, or do drugs, or have sex, or drive fast, or…. Just to push back. The reasons I started weren’t social or physical, they were psychological. Once that started and the physical aspect took over, then things got even more complicated. So, there it is.
As for lung cancer and heart disease…. I think it is a debate how much smoking leads to this. Not to say it doesn’t, but it you look at other societies, some with more smokers than CA or the USA and the cases of cancer are lower. Look at cities with lower smoking rates and higher smog rates and lung cancer and heart disease go up. Smoking is not good for you, don’t get me wrong, but I think that a lot of the risk of lung cancer and heart disease come out of the cities we live in and the cars we constantly drive in.
Other than that, interesting dialog and thanks for sparking thought. You’re well? Haven’t heard from you in a while, but from reading this, seems like you are well enough and keeping Millie Millie. Congrats on the marathon, I smiled and am proud.
I’ll respond to this blog post with an excerpt from one of your own NYT links:
So how do we discipline our brains to be more open-minded, more honest, more empirical? A start is to reach out to moderates on the other side — ideally eating meals with them, for that breaks down “us vs. them” battle lines that seem embedded in us. (In ancient times we divided into tribes; today, into political parties.) [it] is an attempt to build this intuitive appreciation for the other side’s morality, even if it’s not our morality.
I guess I will accept even if that morality leads to mortality. Ha.
Millie,
It’s almost as if we have switched roles, and YOU have become the overbearing Aspie.
Wow…Based on the number of comments, Millie needs to switch focus to only cover topics related to smoking. Quite the response.
yo, stumbled upon your blog. as a smoker, i felt i should speak up! i don’t understand why smoking is demonized nowadays, especially in california. people feel free to tell someone that they shouldn’t smoke. i even have complete strangers come and tell me i shouldn’t smoke. but what about other unhealthy things? what about a really, really unhealthily obese person eating a cheeseburger or something? it isn’t often that you hear people telling them they should be eating salad instead
as for quitting…if you haven’t been addicted to cigarettes, it’s really, really easy to tell someone to suck it up and quit. while i would say that completing a marathon is pretty commendable and i would also say that quitting smoking after smoking half a pack more a day for a year or something is also commendable…i don’t think the two experiences are much comparable beyond that. a marathon is something you train for, not just decide to do one day like quitting smoking. and, especially in college, you don’t have the whole world telling you not to finish that marathon. whenever i even THINK about quitting, my body, friends, etc. tell me not to. my roommate smokes. all my best friends smoke. when a person is trying to come clean off drugs, they tell them to get away from those people and that drug lifestyle. but cigarettes are everywhere, espcially in college. what is a smoker supposed to do, stop going to the grocery store?
while i don’t see myself smoking for the rest of my life, i think that at this point in my life the benefits of smoking outweigh the risks and cost of smoking and the trouble of trying to quit. if you’re truly addicted to smoking, trying to quit doesn’t just make you irritable but depressed and it isn’t just “hey i miss cigarettes and i can’t get over it” kind of thing but is something neurological. trying to deal with that along with the other things one has to deal with as a college student seems tough to me. better to quit after college when i’ll be at fewer parties and have fewer smoker friends and won’t have finals. give your smoker friends a break! =)
this is also going to sound ridiculous but i’ve only ever tried to quit seriously once and i stopped for an entire quarter but it was finals week that broke me. prior to that i dreamed about cigarettes nearly every night. the addiction is unbelievable for someone who hasn’t experienced it.
Katrina,
I like your thinking – the situation you described is the same reason my mom hasn’t quit in nearly 30 years. I apologize if my earlier post reeks of sanctimony – I’ll admit I lost my head a bit.
Also, you wouldn’t be the same Katrina Kay who goes to UCLA, would you?
Millie,
Smoking is often used as a form of self-medication by people with neurological disorders. For people suffering from many of these disorders, smoking may be much less unpleasant solution than the alternatives (Prozac, Zoloft, etc) available. Perhaps most of the heavier smokers out there fall under this category?
Also, the experience of life can’t always be reduced to one’s physical being–this is especially true of people who tend to ‘live in their heads’. Do you feel good about running marathons simply because you want to feel self-righteously healthy? No, right? You run them because you want to experience the feeling of being in them.
I’ve known a number of smokers suffering from depression who say the same of smoking–except that the ‘feeling’ captured in this case is one of gradual death. Sounds morbid, but it’s true. Where do you think ‘art’ comes from? Not from people like you, I’m sure.
Zuodi
We need to have a word. Where are you?
The reason I started is less profound–I was very, very curious. And then I realized that I really, really liked it. And sadly, I’m the type of person that stops at nothing, even when there are warnings.
Though I’m sure other things may suggest otherwise, smoking did not go along with drugs or partying AT all. (And for the record, I’m drug-free.) It began as an endeavor in my garage: once there because I was curious, another after college apps, another after this reason or that. I was so afraid of what people would think; I smoked in the closet.
Now .. I try to space my smoking out by doing it at parties only. And because I rarely do, I use both the party and the cigarette as a stress-reliever. Sad, isn’t it?
Get on Chantix.
It’s a mild anti-depressant that blocks nicotine receptors in the brain. It will not help someone who has an oral fixation quit, but it absolutely destroys your cravings.
drink coffee non-stop….you will never want for a cig
Also, nicotine in lab tests have proven that it is comparable to being on heroin. No doubt, look how many people want to quit and can’t. For me, being a former pro athlete, smoking was never an option