On Smoking • Hacker News Board

Re: On Smoking

#271

Post by pantulis » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 7:31 AM UTC

mavhc wrote: post #52

dimmke wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I quit smoking back in 2016 and I don’t think of myself as a smoker at all anymore. I sometimes have to remind myself I used to smoke.

Why do people start smoking? Surely they know it's addictive, expensive, and bad for you

First, it's the social aspect. You smoke because it is/was cool.

Second, it's the anti-stress effect. When you take a hit, you concentrate on your breath. It's like a mini mindfulness moment. Under stressful situations at work I used to do it by myself (even walked out of the office to not be seen). Then I did not care and started smoking outside with the rest of coworkers. This combined the anti-stress with the social effects.

In the meantime, addiction kicks in. You don't get any pleasure any more, but you cannot leave it.

I am currently on an average of 6 cigarettes/day, but it's only because I do not smoke at home or weekends. Only on workdays, so really around 9-10 cigarettes/workday.

Re: On Smoking

#272

Post by akiselev » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 7:37 AM UTC

scatters wrote: post #265

MangoCoffee wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Alcohol has gourmet attributes and is a good social lubricant smoking was a good social lubricant as well. you can see that in the old Hollywood movies and in real life back when smoking was the social norm.

Alcohol is regarded as lowering inhibitions, which allows people to express themselves honestly and break down boundaries while returning to the normal social order the next day.

While alcohol does lower inhibitions, it is generally only acceptable after work or at the odd outing/party. A smoke break is acceptable during work and might be the only time different departments and levels from management to floor workers interact on a day to day basis.

Re: On Smoking

#273

Post by cmrdporcupine » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 7:38 AM UTC

legohead wrote: post #243

murat131 wrote: post #3

The thing about smoking is that when you quit smoking you quit it every day. Imagine a light switch on the wall. You turn it off by quitting smoking and you can always go back at a desperate time for instance and turn it on. And some time later off again. Smoking your first cigarette implants that light switch on your mind and you can't make it go away. Since you know how it makes you feel good when the switch is on,…

My SO and I smoke when we walk the dog, which is 2-3x a week, at night. We've done this for 5+ years, neither of us have got addicted. Sometimes we smoke the last cig in a pack and I'm too lazy to buy another one for several weeks, and we're fine. I wonder if there are others who smoke occasionally like us...

I was like that in my early 20s; bumming smokes off friends here and there, smoking sometimes when I was out at nightclubs or raves, bought a pack once every few months, usually couldn't finish it. It just never grabbed me. And once smoking wasn't permitted at bars and so on, I just never did it again. I smoke a pipe once in a while in the summer if I have good tobacco. Or a cigar on vacation here and there.

It's not that I don't get addicted to things. Caffeine has a strong hold on me. I've even felt nicotine cravings, but they didn't feel hard to ignore. I just think some people have a stronger addictive response to nicotine then others.

Re: On Smoking

#274

Post by lultimouomo » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 7:39 AM UTC

DowsingSpoon wrote: post #224

mavhc wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people start smoking? Surely they know it's addictive, expensive, and bad for you

I used to smoke. I started smoking while drinking and the reason is that it feels fucking amazing. People don't smoke for no reason. They smoke because it feels good. Really good. The long-term health consequences don't feel real when you're young. It's easy to dismiss, even if you logically understand the risks. The expense is not a problem. Utterly unimportant. The addictive aspect is a subtle beast. It creeps up o…

> I started smoking while drinking and the reason is that it feels fucking amazing

I have smoked about 5 cigarettes in my life, also when drinking as a young adult. It was honestly unpleasant for me; the feeling of hot smoke in my lungs was definitely not a natural taste to me.

I have always thought that people powered through the initial distaste for smoke to fit in, and then they acquired a taste for it (or became addicted and thus associated the smoke in the lungs with the nicotine rush, not sure).

Was I wrong? Did that first cigarette feel amazing to you? Was the first drag a pleasant feeling? Genuinely curios!

Re: On Smoking

#275

Post by kuschku » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 7:39 AM UTC

refulgentis wrote: post #238

qq4 wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue that sucking on a lozenge is about as much of a ritual as sucking on a cigarette.

In my head, the lozenge is background noise whereas the cigarette means I'm outside, gotta get a jacket, mask on, bring a coffee, etc

So why not do the coffee break outside, without the cigarette?

Re: On Smoking

#276

Post by distantaidenn » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 7:46 AM UTC

pawelos wrote: post #262

qq4 wrote: post #202

Since there seem to be past smokers in this thread, can any of you chime in for me what smoking did or does for you? I don't mean this as a insult, but I've never understood the addiction, at this point I feel like it's impossible for me to experience, and I don't desire to. I've smoked maybe a dozen or so times in my life, each time a dumb decision often for comedic effect where I asked myself afterwards, "am I addi…

If you didn’t actually inhale smoke, than it is hard to feel anything. If you did and you did not see any immediate physical effects, than good for you (as it was really hard for you to get addicted). When I smoked, even after a few years of smoking, first cigarette a day, or a cigarette after a few hours of break, would have quite dramatic effect on me - buzz/dizziness, increased heart rate, and feeling lightly stun…

You need a better vape and a stronger juice -- if you are still trying to transition, that is. Try a proper vape, and not a pen. In most devices, you can alter voltage and resistance to create a custom experience for yourself. I can't even imagine going back to cigarettes. The throat feel is better, and if I want, I can get the buzz first thing in the morning, and all with no smell or waste.

Note, this post does not comment on the health risk of vaping or smoking.

Re: On Smoking

#277

Post by pharmakom » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 7:52 AM UTC

murat131 wrote: post #3

The thing about smoking is that when you quit smoking you quit it every day. Imagine a light switch on the wall. You turn it off by quitting smoking and you can always go back at a desperate time for instance and turn it on. And some time later off again. Smoking your first cigarette implants that light switch on your mind and you can't make it go away. Since you know how it makes you feel good when the switch is on,…

I think it takes more than one cigarette to acquire the light switch.

Re: On Smoking

#278

Post by rytis » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 7:55 AM UTC

mlang23 wrote: post #269

im_down_w_otp wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was much younger I was the only non-smoker in an office of about 10 people. This included the owner and his wife who also worked there. Several times a day one or more of them would spend ~15 minutes loitering around smoking a cigarette. I'm prone to throwing myself into my work, even back then, and so initially this didn't really bother me. But, eventually the imbalance in workplace expectations, around sched…

I find people that envy smokers for their breaks pretty pathetic. All it really implies is that these envious people dont know how to manage their own time. If I want a break, I take a break. If I dont need a break, I go on. But that doesnt have anything to do with my coworkers. As long as I am not the boss, its not my bussiness to do time management for others.

Annoyingly there can be slight imbalance. If a smoker takes 10 min break every hour, it's seen as "ok, he's just having a smoke". If a nonsmoker takes the same 10 mins break to check on their phone, or just chill outside, it's "oh, I've noticed you're away from your desk quite often". It's not a rule, but I've seen this happen more often that not.

Re: On Smoking

#279

Post by sdevonoes » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 7:55 AM UTC

murat131 wrote: post #3

The thing about smoking is that when you quit smoking you quit it every day. Imagine a light switch on the wall. You turn it off by quitting smoking and you can always go back at a desperate time for instance and turn it on. And some time later off again. Smoking your first cigarette implants that light switch on your mind and you can't make it go away. Since you know how it makes you feel good when the switch is on,…

I'm addicted to Coca-Cola. What you described with the switch reflects exactly my experience.

I did have tried smoking cigarettes. It never made an addict. I actually don't smoke (I don't like the "taste" of cigarettes).

And the reason I never tried hard drugs is because I'm afraid I may become an addict, although I would love to experiment them at least once.

Re: On Smoking

#280

Post by sateesh » Tue, Jun 01, 2021, 8:00 AM UTC

TchoBeer wrote: post #137

michaelmrose wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Virtually everyone who smokes for any reasonable duration will become addicted and almost all do so enough to substantially effect their health and longevity whether they know it or not. Most of the people who consume alcohol do so casually and not to excess. Essentially the chance of dying in a given year due to alcohol if this were anything like a random chance is around 1 in 2000 whereas the chance of dying from s…

>Virtually everyone who smokes for any reasonable duration will become addicted and almost all do so enough to substantially effect their health and longevity whether they know it or not. This sounds right enough, but can you cite your sources for it?

Not OP, but this is one study I have came across, which postulates that cigarette addiction is quick to develop, and doesn't take years of smoking to develop. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18444329/

From the abstract:

  New research has overturned the dogma that cigarette 
  addiction takes years to develop. Studies of adolescent 
  smokers show that symptoms of addiction, such as 
  withdrawal, craving for cigarettes and failed attempts at 
  quitting, can appear within the first weeks of smoking. 
  To account for these findings, scientists have developed 
  a new theory positing that the brain quickly develops 
  adaptations that counter the effects of nicotine. These 
  adaptations lead to withdrawal symptoms when the effects 
  of nicotine wear off. The results highlight the 
  importance of boosting government funding for antismoking 
  campaigns, particularly those aimed at youngsters.

The author of the paper (Joseph R.DiFranza, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, USA.) wrote in May-2008 issue of Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/magazine/sa/2008/05-01/ outlining his research findings. The article Hooked from the first cigarette in this issue isn't available online, but if you are subscriber of SciAm checkout this issue.