Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Do you smoke (take 2)?

I happened to find myself walking behind a smoker today on the way to work, and it suddenly struck me that it had been a very long time since I'd smelt that particular smell. That led me to the realisation that (I think) most of my Folc friends don't smoke. That in turn led me to this poll - I'm curious as to how many of us smoke.

(this is a new version of the poll with better options included)

Interesting poll, Yvonne. (And d'oh! I'd just hit post when you stuck the new one up there

So...to make a long story short...oops, too late for that ...yeah I smoke.

Sara (do I get bonus points for "coming out of the closet" first? )

Disgusting habit, if you ask me - would never even cross my mind to get started, and it costs a *heck* of a lot of money! What do you mean I used to smoke... :p

Okay. For a brief time. I'm sure you all remember back to the days when you were fifteen, always being told, "don't start smoking, *that* will kill you. And if I ever catch you doing drugs, *I* will kill you." Of course, being the (somewhat) teenage rebel as I was at the time - and that was the year I had to take a break from horseback riding, so I didn't really have anything better to do - I had to try. Started with these flower cigarettes from Poland. <g> Then onto the "regulars" (maybe just a few every week), but after a couple of months, when I started to feel "the urge" to have one, I wanted to quit.

I looked back at the incident I managed to get really sick after trying a different brand - and I remembered that. So, to "scare myself" from getting addicted, I think I smoked three or four of that same brand, and I got so sick I swear you could have seen a green pelican.

So, never again after that. It's been a long time since then, and I'm just really glad I can say that my life doesn't depend on cigarettes.

Pelican

Iwas put off cigarettes for life when I was two. <G>

My parents smoked, but both gave up when they were in their '30's.

Crawlng around, when I was two, I discovered a cigarette butt and decided it would be good to put in my mouth and taste. (Like you do when you're two. ) Well...I've never forgotten how awful that tasted.

When I got to be a teen and was under the usual peer pressure to join in with the experimentation, I was never for one moment tempted to try one. That taste was there and all I ever thought was 'ick'.

So, blessing in disguise there.

LabRat

I'm one of those who never has been tempted to smoke. As a teenager, I found it a disgusting habit, it was expensive and it made you smell terrible. But most of all, I was so big into sports, and smoking would ruin everything.

I still don't like the smell of smoke, but I've learned to live with it now. My host family smokes, and after only two weeks, I find it pretty normal and not annoying at all. I guess it's the process of growing up.

I'd rather no one would smoke, but I won't change people's minds about it. My advice will always be to not start smoking or to try to quit. But you can smoke around me now, in moderation.

Saskia

Put me in the 'intolerant of smokers' group. I had one once and threw up right after..that was a real good incentive to never try it again!

I can't imagine deliberately doing something that can out and out kill me. To each his own, but keep it away from me!

~Liz

Well, I don't smoke and never have, but I have a contrary streak (yes, I know that's a shock) and had to reply to this...

...because there are few things out there that *can't* kill you Driving a car (as opposed to staying home) greatly increases your risk of getting into an accident. Heck, you could drown or be electrocuted while taking a bath... I look at it as a cost benefit analysis -- looking at the risks and deciding if it's worth it to you.

Now, I'm not gonna argue that smoking is healthy <g> but I do think the dangers are somewhat over-emphasized. And that people (adults, anyway) have the right to decide for themselves whether or not to risk it.

PJ

I don't smoke. Never have. I tried it when I was thirteen. I'll never forget the experience. My cousin, who was 16 at the time, handed me a lit cigarette. We were in a public place, but I took it and had a drag. Just at that moment, a woman standing nearby looked at me and said "You're too young to smoke!" Scared the beejeezus out of me, so that was the end of my rebel phase.

True, Pam, people - adults - do have the right to decide for themselves if they want to take the risk of making themselves sick and perhaps even sick enough to cause death. But I can tell you that nothing will get me going more than seeing a person smoking in a car with a child inside. I have absolutely zero tolerance or respect for any adult who subjects a child to second-hand smoke. As far as I'm concerned, it's a form of child abuse.

I lived with two smokers for one semester at college. They respected my situation enough to smoke only in their own bedrooms. But even so, I always smelled like smoke. It made me crazy because I didn't want to smell that way, but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

Guess my views on smoking are pretty clear.

Lynn

Lynn, I completely and totally agree!!! I believed this before I started smoking and I still believe it now. For whatever reason (my subconscience hasn't told me yet ), I'm not ready to quit just yet. I *will* quit. People often say "yeah right" and "Uh huh." They can say what they like, but I know me. I most definitley will not smoke when I'm pregnant (drives me insane that some people actually think it's okay! ) and will *not* smoke around my children, not ever! I don't even think it's acceptable (for me) to go outside to smoke. Not with kids, nope. I will *not* be a smoker in the future and I strongly believe that.

Along those lines...I wouldn't want to marry anyone that smokes. Turns me off really. I know that must sound completely odd coming from a smoker herself, but it does. That and for the same reason I stated above, I don't want my kids to be around it in any form (you know, when I finally settle down and have some ).

Okay...sorry...just *had* to respond to that because it felt like Lynn had invaded my brain for that one. :p

Sara (who's thinking I really can't be the *only* smoker here, not with hundreds of folcs around...come on, be brave ...and about those bonus points... )

Nope, I've never smoked. I live in Planet Allergy, so considering the fact I can barely tolerate my friends smoking around me, I'm sure my sinuses would riot if I ever started lighting up. But that's probably a blessing in disguise. I'm sure I'd puff like a chimney otherwise since it's such a social thing to smoke while drinking on campus.

Everyone else in my family smoked. Most of them have quit somewhere in the past ten years. Growing up, I remember dad smoking a lot. Mom admits that she did sometimes, but she never *ever* smoked around me, so I had no idea until she said so a year or two ago.

JD

I think I must be incredibly lucky, because smoking just never appeared on my radar as a kid. Wasn't interested, no-one in my family smoked (other than my granddad, who smoked a pipe), none of my friends smoked or wanted to smoke - it was a non-issue.

I could never understand this one. I mean, I sort of understand the rebelious teenager thing, but otherwise, why do something that is just plain icky? Are there actually children out there who haven't smoked but who actually *like* the effects and smells of cigarette smoke?

Nope, I honestly can't remember my parents ever telling me not to. I just didn't. I must have been an awfully boring child.

Nope, didn't have any of that, either.

All of which leads me to the conclusion (as a non-smoker) that the less people, particularly children, are exposed to smoking, the less likely they are to take it up. Rebelious teenagers aside, alas.

Responding to Pam's point - yes, I totally uphold the right of anyone to make their own life choices, so long as they don't adversely affect anyone else. Unfortunately, smoking, unless done in splendid isolation with a lot of open space all around you, does adversely affect others.

Anyway, the reason I did this poll was because it seemed to me that there's been a significant social shift away from smoking, and it seems to be accelerating. I wondered whether that was just my wishful thinking or a reality. Incidentally, I think the poll would have different results if our membership was more Euro-centric. My experience is that smoking is more prevalent over there than it is in Britain and the USA.

Yvonne

I chose "other" because I have been a hard core Second Hand Smoker ALL MY LIFE!!!

I lived with my grandparents from birth to 3yrs and my Grandfather and uncles that lived at home smoked.

My mom and dad smoked and I even associate that smell after being away from my mom for a long time as a "good" smell, smell of welcome and security, my mom *waffy sigh*. My brother and sister picked it up and at our family reunions at least 75% of my family over age 15 smokes.

When I joined the Air Force they totally discouraged smoking and I thought, ...cool, a clean smoke free environment... but then I started hanging around the dayrooms in the dorms during weekend long D&D campaigns and wouldn't you know it...the player I hooked up with smoked like a demon, still does. I got the sort of the same thing for him as I have for my mom, whenever we've been apart for more than two days, I get close to him and inhale the intoxicating scent of Marlboro Reds, VO5 hair cream, leather, and Stetson.

I'll never smoke, but I am resigned to dying of emphysima(sp?) or some nasty form of cancer.

TEEEEEEJ

I am a very millitant non-smoker. I've never even touched a cigarette. My parents didn't smoke. My 2 grandparents I knew didn't smoke. None of my friends smoke/smoked.

When I was a kid, apparently, I hated the smell of smoke so much, when my parents went into a priest at our church's office for some reason or other, my sister and I really embarassed them by running around with our noses plugged singing about hating smoke! The priest just happened to be a very heavy smoker . In high school, I remember driving out of the parking lot, and our car being the only one we saw with not one person lighting up as we drove out.

I guess to me, it hasn't even been a question. Like Yvonne, my parents never had to say anything to me about it. My friends never pressured me in any way -- not that I could be pressured -- I'd probably pressure them .

I agree with you completely. Also, to add something -- if you've seen a friend's parent or a loved one die of lung cancer before their 50th birthday, it may also make a child less likely to take it up. I watched my friend's father die before he was 45 of lung cancer, and that just strengthened my resolve never to smoke.

- Laura

I voted "no, but I used to". I haven't bought a packet of cigarettes since June 2003 (that's when my uncle was diagnosed with lung cancer). I just stopped smoking and since then I've never felt the need for a cigarette. Mind you, I wasn't a heavy smoker to begin with (I usually had two packets a week).

I haven't regretted quitting and I'm convinced I did the right thing. Laura's right, watching someone die of lung cancer is no fun (yeah, my uncle didn't make it ), but...yes, there's a but.

LOL, El. Reminds me of that episode of Frasier where they're trying to get smokeaholic, BeBe, to quit and she goes off into this rapsodising rant about how she loves every single thing about cigarettes and smoking...and ends up making everyone listening to her dive for the cigarettes.

LabRat

When I was younger my dad smoked quite a lot, and after spending enough time smelling that there is no way I am going to start smoking.

Which is probably what a lot of people said when they were 16, but I'm serious. I choke each time I come close to cigarette smoke.

Unfortunately, some of my classmates have been smoking since about grade 8, and the number increases every year. When I come out of the school 15-20 minutes after the bell, there are usually about 15 people smoking in front of it. Even marijuana is not uncommon anymore, I know people who are invloved with even worse drug use (though obviously not in front of the school).

Luckily I chose my friends wisely, or maybe just lucked out, so the few of them who smoke (and are 18-20, not 16) don't put pressure on me.

Julie

No. I never have, and I never will. This is something I've promised to myself since I was a little kid. I grew up between my father's Biology books which talked about how smoking kills. I try to keep my friends away from smoking or drive them away from it (and I've sometimes become annoying in the process). Generally, I'm in the DO NOT SMOKE!! campaign and make it clear to everyone. (I say, I make it clear. I don't sit on their throats until they throw their cigarettes away. I'm not THAT annoying.) I sometimes get to be between smokers, but smoke soon makes my eyes red and teary and I then try to excuse myself and leave the smoking area.

True, I'm not much of a rebel teenager. I've never even skipped a class in my life ("extended" school council meetings don't count ) But I'm just the way I like me to be. Smoking could quickly take me between the "trendy" people of my school, but I do have friends one way or another, and I'm happy I don't smoke.

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

Nope; never smoked, never wanted to.

As a kid, if I was in the same room as a smoker, the smoke would make me cough. I hated it. My parents didn't smoke - though I found out years later that my mother had when she was younger - but lots of relatives did. Growing up in Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s, smoking was acceptable everywhere: on the buses, in cinemas, in shops and restaurants and even classrooms in university. What's fascinating is that Ireland is now (I believe) the first country in Europe to have banned smoking in all public places. Even pubs! And it's a great place to visit now - so clean and fresh everywhere.

And, yes, Yvonne, I do agree that it's declining as a habit - statistics confirm that, too. What is worrying is that the incidence of smoking in less-well-developed countries is still high and, among young girls mostly, it seems, increasing.


Wendy

Edited to add: Other than Elena, who doesn't really count, I've only met one FoLC who smokes.

Nope. Never have, never will. Of course, being allergic to cigarette smoke (among other things) would prevent it anyway. Also, my mom died from cancer -- not lung cancer, but I still wouldn't take the risk.

I´m a passive smoker... unfortunately..

I am allergic to cigarettes, but my mom smokes 3 packs a day. The house is infested by the smoke and i often have problems to sleep.

She doesnt care though. I guess she´s so addicted that if i ask her to choose, me or the cigarette, she would choose it. No scratch that... she would choose it for sure.

Oh well.. I hope i can move out before i can have a lung cancer.

MDL. cough cough