# Anyone else who tried out smoking (tobacco) when young and just failed to see the point?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-who-tried-out-smoking-tobacco-when-young-and-just-failed-to-see-the-point/1026591>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 12, 2026, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-who-tried-out-smoking-tobacco-when-young-and-just-failed-to-see-the-point/1026591 "2026-01-12T09:46:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-who-tried-out-smoking-tobacco-when-young-and-just-failed-to-see-the-point/1026591/21 "2026-01-12T20:07:08Z")

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> [@steronz](#):
>
> This may or may not be what happened to you, but…
> 
> […]
> 
> I commented that they didn’t really make me feel anything at all.
> 
> “Well yeah, because you’re not inhaling.”
> 
> “What do you mean? Smoke’s going in, the cherry gets bright, I exhale a cloud.”
> 
> So he had me pull in a drag and hold it, then said, “OK, now pull it down” and demonstrated opening up your diaphragm as one does.
> 
> So I did. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The wave of stimulation

This is what happened to me.

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**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-who-tried-out-smoking-tobacco-when-young-and-just-failed-to-see-the-point/1026591/22 "2026-01-13T15:29:58Z")

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> [@Mops](#):
>
> Has anyone of you had an experience on these lines?

Certainly. My parents were smokers, so of course I surreptitiously tried it.

It was unpleasant, so I did not continue. And at school I was one of the nerds, not the in-crowd, so social peer pressure wasn’t much of a thing.

Very glad I never picked up the habit!

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**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-who-tried-out-smoking-tobacco-when-young-and-just-failed-to-see-the-point/1026591/23 "2026-01-13T16:56:16Z")

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I must have anti-addiction receptors in my brain. My mom smoked, and (because of the TV commercials) I wondered if I stood next to her when she smoked, I could get transported along with her to Marlboro Country. It looked like a fun place. It never occurred to me that I could just smoke my own and go there.

In first grade I grabbed a candy cig and affected a James Dean pose. I had no idea who James Dean was, or even that I was emulating him. Behold the power of advertising! But it did not take.

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