Smoking cigarettes and watching captain kangaroo....

[Jalil]

Now don't tell me... etc [/song]

Very old song aside, what is the Playground's opinion on smoking?

*remains neutral until debate unfolds*

[Dihan]

If people want to use cancer sticks, then who am I to stop them. As long as they're not forced on me or as long as I don't have to inhale their smoke.

[Miraqariftsky]

Come on! Yer not bringing that here. Cutting it short, I'm about to attend a class chock full of smokers and I'm the fellow who keeps to the sidelines, desperately straining his lungs to hold his bursting breath... It's a choking blight is what it is!

[Winterwind]

Don't do it, never have even tried, do not intend to. I don't really mind if others around me do (as long as I'm not forced to live with that everyday, anyway), even though I think it is not a very wise choice on their part - nevertheless, it is their choice to make, not mine.

Which doesn't prevent me from being glad that smoking is becoming more and more limited legally in Germany - if it is more difficult for people to make a non-wise choice, the world will become a wiser place, or so I hope, perhaps naively.

[valadil]

Tried it a few times (probably smoked a pack total). Didn't like it. I try to be tolerant of friends who smoke since it's not like my shouts of "cancer sticks!" will make them quit.

[Raiser Blade]

"Hey.. you wanna buy some deadsticks?"
"You don't want to sell me deadsticks."
"I don't want to sell you deadsticks."
"You want to go home and rethink your life."
"I want to go home and rethink my life."

Smoking is a disgusting habit in my opinion.

[bugsysservant]

Smoking is foul. I, as an asthmatic, hate the smoke, and I detest the smell. I'm so glad that cigarettes are slowly be crushed into oblivion by legislation. Down with the Deathsticks!

[The_Chilli_God]

Don't smoke, never have, never will, and despite studying propaganda course material on it, I don't understand how people can bear it.

That's not to say I'm intolerant of smokers, but why do they continue to harm themselves?

[bugsysservant]

That's not to say I'm intolerant of smokers, but why do they continue to harm themselves?

Well, people should have the right to slowly kill themselves by damaging their health, if they didn't excersise would be mandatory, and all unhealthy food would be banned. What I, and I believe, most others have a problem with is that they harm others by smoking. If I'm in a room with a smoker, my likelihood of getting cancer goes up greatly. Why should people have the right to kill others? Seriously?

[heretic]

I think that poisons such as tobacco should be available in an injected form so as to minimalize danger to others. Chewing is all right I guess, but if you're injecting it, it eliminates the need for spitting.

Anyway, it's a disgusting habit and I can't stand to be around people who smoke, even if they smoked several hours prior.

[Illiterate Scribe]

[moral manipulation]

Not only are all the above true, but also remember that tobacco companies are evil. I can't go into it too much without going all political on y'all asses, but the BAT-Burma connection is pretty sick.

You don't want to support evil companies, do you?

[/moral manipulation]

[The Orange Zergling]

It slowly kills not only you, but everyone around you, it smells horrid, and the attitude of most smokers really ticks me off. I do not, nor do I ever intend to smoke.

I'd like to emphasize "most", not "all".

[Brickwall]

I am fine with people having bad habits. People having bad habits that affect me, I am also fine with, as long as they don't whine when my bad habits affect them. Like my habit of randomly choking people while putting rotten eggs in their mouth. I figure fair's fair. I only do it to people who are within 20 feet of me, and that makes it reasonable, right? I don't do it if signs prohibit it, and I don't litter. Clearly, that makes it totally okay. Am I right, smokers of the world?

I'm not sure why you thought this thread would turn out any differently than it has so far, Jalil.

Raiser: It's Deathsticks.

[TigerHunter]

I'm all for it. It's natural selection at its finest.

[rubakhin]

I smoke.

Well, somebody had to admit to doing it. Might as well be the vice-riddled Dostoevskian mess.

[Timberwolf]

That's not to say I'm intolerant of smokers, but why do they continue to harm themselves?

Well, as a reform(ing) smoker, I can answer this one for you quite happily.

Lets look at why people start.

Well, lets leave the "all my friends are doing it and I can't say no to them" reason out of it, since that's the reason that most people, especially the young ones start, and look at the reason why I've smoked for the last 6 years.

Those of you who have had much interaction with me over my time here will know that I'm a contrary git who does have the intestinal fortitude to tell anyone be it friend, foe, family member or whatever where to get off if I don't want to do something. The reason why I started is quite simple. I like the taste and, once I got used to it, I liked the nicotine buzz. This may sound funny, but hey, I like licorice too and people who like tripe, liver, sushi, sprouts, radishes, leeks (the list goes on) will be nothing but a mystery to me so I guess me liking the taste of cigars isn't so funny.

Now, the reason why I quit. Again, simple. It was the long term health impact it was having. While I've never been hacking up tar, like my brother was, my blood pressure was through the roof. All in all, not good. So, I've been a pretty good boy for the last 2 years, only weakened once or twice. However, going cold turkey is very difficult and those patches aren't worth bothering with so I advise anybody who reads this...


DO NOT START !!

It really isn't worth it. Yeah, you get a momentary buzz and fortunately I never smoked enough to lose that, but soon you need more and more to get it. You start to need it and can't live without it. You get the shakes and get angsty and on edge if you have to go without. Think the worst coffee addict you know on a detox and that's roughly what trying to quit the ciggies is like. Your teeth also go yellow and you smell funny. It's a massive turn off to any right thinking member of the opposite sex and bloody expensive to boot.

Yes, not worth it in the slightest. One of my worse moves in life, and it has some pretty damn stiff competition.

Anyway, to conclude and answer TCG, people continue to harm themselves because it's such an unpleasant experience trying to stop that they'd rather go on and on and on without making the effort to break it. I got lucky because I was a fairly light smoker anyway but it's still digging at me every now and again and in moments of stress I weaken. Please, anyone who actually got to the end of this. do us all and yourself a big favour, don't start.

[bluewind95]

I'm asthmatic and a simple whiff of the smoke is enough to send me into a nasty choking fit for at least 30 minutes. So, yeah, I don't like smoking. I'm tolerant of people harming themselves, but if it harms other people too... then I'm not so tolerant. It's practically legal murder and suicide in one package in my eyes.

[Neek]

I picked up smoking as a hobby in the Spring of '07. While I had enjoyed a flavored cigarette, such as kretek cigarettes (cloves), I never considered myself an avant tobacco user. This past spring, I decided to change that. I made a decision to go to the store, pick up a carton of Marlboro .72 cigarettes, and started smoking.

I enjoy it. I like it. And I will continue to pour money into it until I tire of it, then I will quit.

[North]

Nope its disgusting and a waste of money.

Both my parents were at least a pack a day. Thats 5-8k a year min we would have had to hmmm go on vacation, finish basement so my room didnt leak, etc.

Growing up with that garbage, Ill never smoke or have anyone smoke in my house or car.

[Icewalker]

As said by a few, my opinion is simple enough:

Feel free to give yourself cancer, terrible teeth, spend all your money, etc etc etc you've all heard it a million times.

Just don't make the air that I and everyone else breathe disgusting. So, feel free to smoke, but don't smoke in public: it is at the very least incredibly insensitive.

[SDF]

Opinion? Doesn't bother me. It's about on par with eating fast food more than once a week.

Oh, and good news! Nicotine lowers your risk of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's by around 50% :P

[Neek]

Opinion? Doesn't bother me. It's about on par with eating fast food more than once a week.

Oh, and good news! Nicotine lowers your risk of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's by around 50% :P

You also forgot to mention that nicotine reduces acne (which is quite weird).

[SurlySeraph]

Smoking bothers me less than a lot of drugs, since it's legal and doesn't have a major effect on the smoker's state of mind. With that said, I think smoking is a terrible idea and should be gradually banned. It has no real positive effects, it's self-destructive, it's expensive, and it's hard to stop. It really says a lot about how addictive smoking is that in the U.S., people continue to smoke even though Congress raises the cigarette taxes pretty much every time it passes a piece of health legislation.

[Tengu]

My breath is already bad enough, I prefer to spend my money on other things, and excrements smell sweeter than cigarettes to my nose. On top of that, half of my family smokes and all of them constantly tell me that was one of the biggest mistakes in their life, and I have no desire to get lung cancer. I think my stance is very clear.

[Rare Pink Leech]

I don't like cigarettes at all. I've never had one, and I don't plan on trying. I think smoking is a disgusting habit.

To fill my hypocrite quotient, however, I have been known to choke down the occasional celebratory cigar (emphasis on choke). I have also been known to enjoy with my friends a hookah (spelling?) filled with fruit-flavoured tobacco. On average I smoke once a month, and sometimes even less frequently than that. But I still maintain it's a disgusting habit, even when I'm doing it :smallamused:

[reorith]

smoking is awesome. all the cool people i know smoke! plus
colin farrel smokes
so does fidel castro
and ernest hemingway.

tobacco was one of america's first cash crops, so by saying you don't like smoking means you hate america!

just kidding

i really don't care about cigarettes or smoking or tobacco subsidies. there are more pressing issues.

[Hazkali]

I don't smoke, but I have no problem with people who do. I take the view that in society if we wish our own vices to be tolerated then we have to tolerate other people's.

In fact, even though I think smoking is terrible, I totally am against the full smoking ban in the UK. I think that if a private enterprise advertises as a place where people can smoke, and people know and accept that when they enter, then it should be allowed.

[Archonic Energy]

Now don't tell me... etc [/song]

Very old song aside, what is the Playground's opinion on smoking?

*remains neutral until debate unfolds*

[#] It's good to see you, I must go, I know I look a fright
Anyway my eyes are not accustomed to this light
And my shoes are not accustomed to this hard concrete
So I must go back to my room and make my day complete

Countin' flowers on the wall
That don't bother me at all
Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one [/#]

non-smoker.
no further comment.

[Telonius]

I've smoked a couple cigarettes in my life (mainly in college when the coffeeshops were closed and I had a paper due in five hours). Haven't smoked since.

In general, I think people ought to be able to do whatever they want as long as they aren't harming anybody other than themselves. Smoking is harmful to other people. If someone wants to smoke, sure! Go ahead. Just keep it away from other people. If a restaurant wants to prohibit smoking, that's its right. If a restaurant wants to allow smoking, that's fine too. (With one exception - it ought to offer hazard pay to its employees). Just post on the door whether it's allowed or not; everybody can smoke (or not); and the market will determine the rest.

[Milanius]

-snip, and:


DO NOT START !!

-more snippy, and again:
Please, anyone who actually got to the end of this. do us all and yourself a big favour, don't start.
Sigh. If only my parents and sister were smart enough and had good hearing, too.

I was raised in smoker's family. I inhaled smoke and watched them, sometimes very gloomily, how they ruin their lungs. Some 30 years later, not much has changed - my sister, who is now emigrated to Canada, still smokes and we send her packs of cigs every time someone goes there on plane. My folks smoke, in average, 5-6 cigs daily. I have stopped preaching to them long time ago, since the war is lost. Even my father, who tried to quit 2 times, went back to cigarettes each time. He is smoking now, some 2 years after he had a heart attack. Says it calms his nerves when I piss him off.

Oh well. Some people bang their heads against brick walls, some chew fingers [like me] and some smoke. Knowing that I'll never change my family's mind about cigs doesn't make me hate those damned things less, it only makes me hate them more.

[marjan]

As a long-time smoker (~8 years) I have to say that it is really ugly habit at least. I agree on that matter with most of the people that posted here.

The biggest problem with quiting it is that you usually become addicted to it.

I am in favor of anti-smoking campaigns (if there was one in my country when I started smoking things might be different now), but I don't like people being arrogant about it.

[Raroy]

I have very sensitive senses and it burns to be around the smoke. People can smoke if they want to, everybody slowly kills them self in some way. I bite myself (Although the marks heal in less than an hour and it has no other effect then that.) and bite my nails (It keeps them looking nice) from time to time because its my choice. I support the death sticks.

[EvilElitest]

Smoking is foul. I, as an asthmatic, hate the smoke, and I detest the smell. I'm so glad that cigarettes are slowly be crushed into oblivion by legislation. Down with the Deathsticks!

I agree, but i think the sale of cigarettes is going up in China actually. Anyways, my option is as long as the companies use sanitary methods (and legal) cut down on their nasty advertisements, and this second hand smocking thing is worked out, then it is really up to the person's choice, however the fact it is extremely addictive doesn't help
But thank you for smocking is a great movie
from
EE

[Milanius]

As a long-time smoker (~8 years) I have to say that it is really ugly habit at least. I agree on that matter with most of the people that posted here.

The biggest problem with quiting it is that you usually become addicted to it.

I am in favor of anti-smoking campaigns (if there was one in my country when I started smoking things might be different now), but I don't like people being arrogant about it.Oy, a fellow Serb! :D I hope you'll ditch the habit one day, or at least cut it down to 4-5 a day. Srecno!

[marjan]

Oy, a fellow Serb! :D I hope you'll ditch the habit one day, or at least cut it down to 4-5 a day.

I sure hope so.


Srecno!

Hvala.

[Trog]

*wanders in, smoking*

*Suddenly there is a zipping noise and Trog lifts his own head off revealing a bald man with glasses inside.*

Well I know I don't smoke because it's really bad for you, others, and generally stinks. If you really want to become addicted to nicotine I suggest chewing the gum or something instead. That way you keep the cancer to yourself and don't stink. I mean seriously. Just put it in soda or energy drinks or something.

*Puts head back on, still puffing on a Coffin Nail brand cigarette*

Mah. Smoking never bothered Trog. And most people agree that it's an improvement over the regular Troglodyte smell. Plus Trog's a ficticious character so it's not like Trog is ever gonna suffer any ill health effects.

*COUGH*KOFF*HACKK*COFFAKOFFAKUFFAHAAAACK*

*Coughs up a black mass. ZZZIIIP! A human hand reaches out and feels blindly on the floor for the missing lung, grabs ahold, and hauls it back in. Trog watches all this with blank indifference.*

Yup. Never felt better in Trog's life. Now if you'll excuse Trog, Trog has to pick up his check from Phillip Morris.

*wanders off leaving a trail of smoke in his wake*

[Thanatos 51-50]

[straightedgepreachiness] I am against Tobacco, Alcohol, illict drugs, et cetera, et cetera. [/straighedgepreachiness]

My dad used to smoke a pipe.
I'm in the Navy.
I've resigned myself to the fact that people will continue to use and support Suicide Sticks (C). That, however, does not mean I particulalry like them at all.
I thnk it says something that most of the smoker's I've met usually take time to tell people who don't smoke to not start.

[EvilElitest]

Hey one question, what are the real differences between cigarettes, pipes and cigars other than the physical shape of the instrument and the tabacoo
from
EE

[rubakhin]

Hey one question, what are the real differences between cigarettes, pipes and cigars other than the physical shape of the instrument and the tabacoo
from
EE

It is mostly just that the tobacco's different - tastes different, is lighter or heavier, etc. A cigarette has the lightest, least flavorful tobacco, and the pipe has the strongest. Me, I like a strong smoke, so I prefer unfiltered Luckies or cigars containing pipe tobacco. I also own a pipe, but I don't use it much because it's a pain to keep lit, although I keep some very powerful pipe tobacco around for when I need it. That stuff is better than pot. Blisses you out in the same way, but you keep your wits about you for the most part.

I don't think there's too much difference between a cigarette and a cigar, other than the cigar is stronger and lasts longer, but a pipe is a whole other realm of experience.

[Amotis]

Send some of those Luckies over to the US, rubakin. :smallfrown:

[Rare Pink Leech]

I don't think there's too much difference between a cigarette and a cigar, other than the cigar is stronger and lasts longer, but a pipe is a whole other realm of experience.

I think cigars have better flavour or different flavours than cigarettes, since cigarettes are wrapped in paper, whereas cigars are wrapped in cured leaves of vavious sorts. Not entirely sure about this, though.

[Jibar]

Oh dear oh dear oh dear...
The last we had a smoking thread it dissolved into nothing but bitter arguments, a lot of flaming and getting a well deserved lockdown.
I'll just sit and wait for it.

For the record though, I don't care. A lot of my friends smoke, and while all the non-smokers have a go, I'm about the only one who doesn't give a flying crap.
Smoking's smoking. People drink coffee, tea, soft drinks, eat junk food and fast foods, smoke weed, do heroin, whatever. Smoking is just another habit people get into. It doesn't matter if it's good or bad for you, it's just another part of life today, like annoying green enthusiasts, people who don't thank you for holding open doors, and those jerks who put all the best baked goods in the window on the day when you don't have any money. What makes a man/woman do that? How do you know I will walk past that day? Why do you taunt me so?
Anyway, smoking = eh.