# Do other non-smokers have an urge to smoke? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897 "2009-04-30T22:23:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/1 "2009-04-30T22:23:30Z")
I’m 23 and have heard smoking horror stories all of my life. I’ve heard about how it destroys your lungs and your vascular system, and basically wrecks havoc on your body. Hell, I’m in nursing school, and I’ve seen the effects first hand. I’ve heard what a nightmare it is to quit. I know that it stains your teeth and makes you smell, and that’s generally a bad idea. Why the fuck have I spent my life craving cigarettes? I’ve always been fascinated by smoking. Just the concept – having something to mess with while you talk to people, curls and rings of smoke drifting from your mouth - entices me to no end. A month or so ago, I smoked two cigarettes at a party. It didn’t feel especially good, but it felt strangely right. I cannot stop thinking about it. I want to go out and blow six bucks on a pack right now. I wont. Bad idea. Obviously bad. But I want to. Do other people who don’t smoke feel like this? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/2 "2009-04-30T22:30:05Z")
Nope. I’ve found it disgusting since long before the current backlash, and would refuse to even touch cigarettes as a kid in the eigthies. Even now, knowing full well that it’s just paper, I still don’t like touching them. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/3 "2009-04-30T23:18:48Z")
I’m familiar with the craving. Did your parents smoke often when you were younger? That could factor into it… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/4 "2009-04-30T23:24:51Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > I’m familiar with the craving. Did your parents smoke often when you were younger? That could factor into it… Yeah, growing up around the smoke might habituate you. On the other hand, _I_ grew up around it, and I loathe it. On the third hand, just because I loathe it doesn’t mean that I’m not habituated to it in some ways… ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/5 "2009-04-30T23:40:30Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > I’m familiar with the craving. Did your parents smoke often when you were younger? That could factor into it… No. A few of my friend’s parents did, and later, several of my friends did, but I would hardly say I grew up around smoking. I’ve just always found it attractive and interesting. And I like the smell, in small doses. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/6 "2009-04-30T23:40:33Z")
Smoking. Bleech. I might also add that I just got back from the hospital where my father-in-law will have a quadruple-bypass _only if he quits smoking_. Sure sounds like a fun way to spend your golden years. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/7 "2009-04-30T23:50:44Z")
No, it’s always been disgusting to me. I’m a child of two smokers and most of my mom’s family smokes. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/8 "2009-05-01T00:12:28Z")
No. I can’t see any attraction whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/9 "2009-05-01T01:57:54Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > No. A few of my friend’s parents did, and later, several of my friends did, but I would hardly say I grew up around smoking. I’ve just always found it attractive and interesting. And I like the smell, in small doses. My father smoked until I was in high school and I always found it disgusting. He almost never smoked cigarettes…it was usually cheap cigars or his pipe. One day, he watched a soccer game I was playing in from the sidelines while puffing on his pipe, and several of my teammates told me how good it smelled. “You’ve got to be kidding!” I said. Perhaps if I was used to cigarette smoke instead, I would have agreed with them. It probably did smell better than that. (My dad once told me he didn’t smoke cigarettes because he didn’t like the thought of inhaling smoke from burnt paper!) Sometimes at work, people ask me if I’ve ever smoked, and when I say no, they say something like, “Good for you!” Honestly, it’s one of the easiest things I’ve ever done, because it has never appealed to me at all. However, most people as children find it disgusting, and yet some of them start the habit later, and I’m not sure what changes there, because it never changed for me. I can eat broccoli, but I’ll never smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/10 "2009-05-01T02:34:48Z")
I guess I’m pretty unusual then. Huh. I wonder why it is that I have such an attraction to smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/11 "2009-05-01T02:40:37Z")
I started smoking at around 14 and quit in my early 30’s. Everyone once in a while I still crave a cigarette. The craving isn’t so bad that I can’t walk away but the craving is very real. I was never particularly infatuated with the whole cosmetic attraction as an adult. Once that hook was in me in my teens, I continued to smoke due to addiction/habit. I didn’t know when I was a smoker how nasty it really is. The smell of smoke really gets my attention anymore. It’s like my nose is on hyperdrive. I can smell a smoker in another car in traffic. I can smell smoke on my gf just when she’s been around another smoker for a short time. Now that society loathes smoking, it suits me fine. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/12 "2009-05-01T02:50:04Z")
I lived with a smoker for 25 years and I expect to die early from it. It is a filthy, disgusting deadly habit. If you want to live on the edge and explore the dark side, fuck your dog. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/13 "2009-05-01T02:52:07Z")
I’m a child of a smoker and I’ve smoked a couple while drinking years ago, but I’ve never been a smoker or wanted to be a smoker. Decades later, I still dream about smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/14 "2009-05-01T02:56:59Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > I guess I’m pretty unusual then. Huh. I wonder why it is that I have such an attraction to smoking. Do you manifest any other forms of addiction? ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/15 "2009-05-01T03:02:44Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Do you manifest any other forms of addiction? No, I don’t think so. I probably drink more than I should, when I’m not too busy, but when I am, I’ll go weeks without a drink. Maybe addicted to my computer, sometimes. Are you asking if I have an addictive personality? Because I’m still not sure why I would so strongly desire something I’ve barely had. [QUOTE=featherlou] I’m a child of a smoker and I’ve smoked a couple while drinking years ago, but I’ve never been a smoker or wanted to be a smoker. Decades later, I still dream about smoking. [/QUOTE] Dream about it as in you still want to do it? Or do you mean literally? ---
**Author:** ![Sonnenstrahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sonnenstrahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonnenstrahl)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/16 "2009-05-01T03:07:00Z")
I’ve truly never smoked a cigarette, I hate the smell (I’ll run to pass a smoker if I find myself downwind of them on the sidewalk) and yet I still kind of understand the urge. I think I crave having something to do with my hands, and, to be honest, I still see cigarettes as somewhat romantic. Probably moreso because they’re a symbol of self-destructiveness to me. It’s more romantic than constantly cracking your knuckles, at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/17 "2009-05-01T03:40:48Z")
I get it. When I was growing up my father smoked. He quit when I was still at home. We all knew that was a good thing. Growing up around it, I didn’t have any opinion about it – the smoke, the smell, whatever. It was just … there. I didn’t have any interest in picking it up, inhaling smoke had no appeal to me and I couldn’t imagine what made it addictive, it didn’t seem romantic, etc. But, I never said, “Ewwww disgusting!” In college, my best friend smoked buckets. Again, the smoke and whatnot was just a fact of life. It still didn’t appeal to me, I couldn’t really get into the idea of voluntarily sucking smoke into your lungs. But. I can TOTALLY see the appeal of smoking from the perspective of having something in your hands to fiddle with, and it is totally appealing from an oral fixation point of view. I can’t say “fascinated” is the word, but I could see the attraction of having that slim tube between your fingers and lips, and the ritual of pulling it out of the pack, lighting, etc. It’s also a way to draw focus to yourself, you know? In fact, way back in the dark ages when I used to play on IRC (it was a channel that was a virtual bar), I would sometimes “light a cigarette” when things had gotten dull. It was just a little suggestion of an action that would draw attention or comment, and then things perked up again. Anyway. Got sidetracked. Back to college … I went through a phase where I tried to smoke – again, not wanting the habit, not because I thought it was cool, or wanted to fit in, or be rebellious, or wanted whatever drug effect it had, but just to try out the ritual and the hand/mouth thing. I guess over the course of a year or two I went through 2 or 3 or 4 packs. Here’s the kicker: I could never get myself to inhale. I’d draw the smoke into my mouth and blow it out. But it never hit my lungs, really, and I never got any effects from the nicotine that I could tell. It didn’t taste good and I never got used to it or got to like it. Now, I’m not close to anyone who smokes, haven’t been for years. Now, I can’t stand the smell, etc. and I’m really happy that smoking in most restaurants is no longer allowed in my area. I hate walking through the “smoker’s gauntlet” to get in and out my office building. And, never in a million years will I ever be tempted to pick up a ciggy again. I am just a wee tiny bit OCD, and I do have problems with compulsive overeating (not binging/purging, just eating more than I should almost without realizing it). There are some addictions in my family. I’ve never had any sort of problem with alcohol (and I do thoroughly enjoy a drink occasionally) and I’ve never tried any sort of mood-altering drug other than caffeine. So, I consider myself DAMN LUCKY that I didn’t get hooked on ciggys. Some people are just wired so that a drug or drug will get them hooked pretty darn quick, just more susceptible than another person might be. Am I one of those people who might have become addicted to smoking? I might have been if I had ever gotten enough smoke into my system. So, the fact that my susceptibility wasn’t really put to the test is something I’m very, very grateful for. All that to say … my advice is to just not even try it. I’ve heard former smokers say a million times that quitting is the hardest thing they’ve ever done, in spades. Don’t put yourself in that position. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/18 "2009-05-01T03:51:27Z")
**Small Hen** you and I are meant to be… YES YES YES YES!!! I have gone my whole adult life having really really strong urges for cigarettes, though I have never been addicted; and I always thought I was the only one. My dad was the only one who smoked in my family, but he always tried his damndest to hide it, so it wasn’t an influence that way. On campus I would love to walk behind people who were smoking because I liked the smell. I would be angry/happy/sad/ whatever and I would be sitting my room and just think “God I wanna smoke right now” although I never ever have. Whilst at a parties I would smoke cigars, or cigarillos, but never cigarettes…mostly because I was CONVINCED that if I ever did start, I would never be able to stop because hell I was already pretty much addicted to them, why bring myself closer? I only have actually smoked cigs once. I was drunk, everyone else was doing it, I was out of cigars and didn’t have anything to smoke, and figured I was strong enough to smoke a couple of em. I did, I didn’t die, and really didn’t like it that much. Oh Ms. Hen you and I are very much one in the same, and I have never met anyone else who has this “ordeal”. I am glad that I can share this with someone finally! ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/19 "2009-05-01T04:49:30Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > **Small Hen** you and I are meant to be… > > YES YES YES YES!!! > > I have gone my whole adult life having really really strong urges for cigarettes, though I have never been addicted; and I always thought I was the only one. > > My dad was the only one who smoked in my family, but he always tried his damndest to hide it, so it wasn’t an influence that way. On campus I would love to walk behind people who were smoking because I liked the smell. I would be angry/happy/sad/ whatever and I would be sitting my room and just think “God I wanna smoke right now” although I never ever have. > > Whilst at a parties I would smoke cigars, or cigarillos, but never cigarettes…mostly because I was CONVINCED that if I ever did start, I would never be able to stop because hell I was already pretty much addicted to them, why bring myself closer? > > I only have actually smoked cigs once. I was drunk, everyone else was doing it, I was out of cigars and didn’t have anything to smoke, and figured I was strong enough to smoke a couple of em. I did, I didn’t die, and really didn’t like it that much. > > Oh Ms. Hen you and I are very much one in the same, and I have never met anyone else who has this “ordeal”. I am glad that I can share this with someone finally! God, the following smokers around thing - I do that, sometimes. One of my favorite places when I was still at a smoking university was to hang around the smoking sections and enjoy the scent. I have no idea what I find so appealing about that smell. I’m not sure I’d want to smell like that all the time (reason #239 not to start smoking), but it kinda makes a happy center in my brain light up. Almost like sence memory, but without the actual memory. I’m so glad I’ve met a fellow ‘never smoked smoking addict’. Maybe we should start a support group. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897/20 "2009-05-01T04:56:17Z")
Ew, no. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-non-smokers-have-an-urge-to-smoke/494897.md?page=2)