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On cigarettes

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Re: On cigarettes

#51

Post by fc417fc802 »

Gigachad wrote: post #37
thrixton wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think they were really effective or was it more the large price hikes (which have now been undone by vapes and black market cigarettes)? I guess it might have had an impact but it's hard to tell for me with the impressive mishandling of vapes and now the black market.

I mean it's hard to know the exact split, but obviously the combination of the negative advertising and price hikes killed smoking. It went from something that everyone did to only something addicts and homeless people do. Even with black market cigarettes now, kids still haven't taken up smoking. While vaping has exploded, and while it isn't harmless, it's clearly safer than smoking so the current situation is still…

> while it isn't harmless

Have you actually seen reputable evidence of this? Because I went looking for it at one point and as far as I can tell there isn't any. Just a bunch of entirely baseless FUD that I'm not entirely clear who is driving.

I did come across a few papers purporting to show toxic chemicals but when digging in they had exceptionally poor methodology regarding temperature and time. Like yeah if you get a custom vape and crank the temperature up until it's belching black smoke that's going to be bad for your health but that's neither here nor there.

Re: On cigarettes

#52

Post by IAmBroom »

catapart wrote: post #36

In college, I wanted to test my resolve for addiction, so I started smoking a pack a day for six months. The idea was to see how hard it is to quit so that I could better understand what people go through. Never took, though. Every cigarette was gross to me from the first one down to my last day. I threw away the box on the last day and never had a single moment where I wanted another one. Instead of learning about a…

You... are deeply weird and driven by attempts to think utterly logically. I like you.

Re: On cigarettes

#53

Post by wink »

It's really weird how smoke breaks are still more accepted than coffee breaks in some companies.

And for all the terrible chemicals they blast in the air, I don't remember ever having enjoyable small talk with strangers except when accompanying people to a smoke break, be it outside the office or a bar.

Re: On cigarettes

#54

Post by IAmBroom »

vlian2088 wrote: post #44
Waterluvian wrote: post #16

Despite having never smoked a single cigarette in my life, I have an intensely strong reaction to a very specific brand. Early in high school I met my first crush, and one summer learned that she liked me back. She was my first everything. And the scent of a lot of that teenage exploration was the awful but sweet smell of her parents’ basement, stained with that brand of cigarette. I have no clue what brand it is. Bu…

I don't think I ever saw anyone identify a brand just by the smell. it's impossible. most brands from the same parent company are made at the same factory from the same batch of the same chemical-soaked tobacco pulp. it's just the filters and packages that are different. when I smoked, chesterfields, l&ms, pall malls, winstons, parliaments, etc, all tasted and smelled the same to me. only the cheapest godawful local…

Maybe. But my grandpa exclusively smoked Camels, and on the rare occasions I like (don't dislike) cigarette smoke, it turns out to be Camel smoke.

Ooh, counter-evidence from counterpoint9986 in this thread:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48713334

Re: On cigarettes

#55

Post by throw0101a »

> On the whole, society is better off with fewer people smoking. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t lost a little something along the way. Cigars can fuck right off, though.

What about pipe smoking?

Re: On cigarettes

#56

Post by stasomatic »

I find it irrational to see so many smokers in Europe, on the street, in the cafes, old and young. In the States, you are perceived as a social pariah and an addict. Booze is fine though, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . Ex-smoker here, going on 10 years, don't miss it, but it took nic salt to kick it.

Re: On cigarettes

#57

Post by IAmBroom »

shon wrote: post #41
wildzzz wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love going to restaurants that were built when smoking indoors was a thing and trying to figure out where the smoking section (or non-smoking section in older places) used to be. There are a few bars around that still have smoking sections in my area but the requirements are more stringent now (closed room, seperate air handling system). One of my favorite bars in college allowed smoking upstairs (and still does, a…

The good ole days ;) In San Francisco, you can still find buildings where the elevators have ashtrays, though usually the actual tray is gone.

By FAA regulations, commercial flights can't take off in the US without functioning ashtrays in the restrooms.

Apparently the thought is: better a smoking cheater stubbing it out in the loo ashtray than hiding a burning ember in the seat backs.

Re: On cigarettes

#59

Post by klondike_klive »

throw0101a wrote: post #55

> On the whole, society is better off with fewer people smoking. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t lost a little something along the way. Cigars can fuck right off, though. What about pipe smoking?

Pipe smoking has always seemed a bit more acceptable than other methods. The smell of pipe tobacco burning is much more fragrant than that of cigarettes or cigars. It also has a kind of nostalgic charm.

I made a herbal smoking mixture recently with various dried herbs and leaves. Mullein, lemonbalm, marshmallow root, hazel, blackberry and beech leaves, which I smoke in a briar pipe that I've had for years. It's a nice way to relax in the evening every couple of days or so, although I'm sure it's not entirely free of harmful chemicals. And I wouldn't do it outside of my own garden, not until I'm into my 60's I think. I'd be too self-conscious.

Re: On cigarettes

#60

Post by kaizenite »

I'm a contractor but often ride on US Navy ships. Before my first ship, I was told to buy a few cannisters of Zyns as that would help me earn rapport with the sailors. Nicotine makes me sick but having some on me certainly helped getting the enlisted trust me. They would take me to parts of the ship other contractors wouldn't really know to go to and even watched movies with them in the movie room. They ended up buying me a hat and all signing it. I'll never forget that cruise
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