# Do you smoke? And how much? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-smoke-and-how-much/213531 "2003-11-16T07:51:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-smoke-and-how-much/213531/41 "2003-11-17T16:40:46Z")
Should read :-now I also smoke a lot of the “good” weed 😉 but have no intention of giving that up. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-smoke-and-how-much/213531/42 "2003-11-17T16:46:43Z")
Pack a day, two if I’m drinking/partying. ---
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-smoke-and-how-much/213531/43 "2003-11-17T17:32:10Z")
I smoke about 6-10 cigarettes on an average day. Throw drinking or stress in the mix, and I’m up to about a pack. I try to avoid that though. Terrible habit, I want to quit! ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-smoke-and-how-much/213531/44 "2003-11-17T20:43:26Z")
2 packs a day, unless beer is involved, then 3 and even possibly 4. That was until 360 days ago. I still crave em too. ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-smoke-and-how-much/213531/45 "2003-11-17T21:34:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by superstar \* > \*\*The funny things is I run up to 10k’s twice a week, and ride 10 -15k’s also. I eat well and am in good shape. Yet people always think a smoker must be unfit and unwell. I haven’t felt smoking has affecting my running. \*\* It does you know - but in your instance it would be doing so in a subtle kinda way. What happens is that smoking (of any kind) introduces a certain amount of carbon-monoxide into the blood stream - which in turn reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of your blood by a direct proportion too. Obviously, the more you smoke the greater amount of carbon-monoxide is being carried by your haemoglobin in your red blood cells - and basically, once your haemoglobin attaches itself to carbon-monoxide, it won’t let go - unlike oxygen or carbon-dioxide. In turn, the red blood cell stays alive in your blood stream for at least 3 days I’m told - sometimes up to 5 days and then it eventually dies. And as another bit of trivia, apparently at least 25% of human faeces is dead blood cells! That’s how quickly we change them over and keep growing new ones all our lives! So, in short, if you’re smoking every day - even if it’s just 5 or 7 cigarettes - you can safely assume that at least 3% of your oxygen carrying capacity is inert due to those red blood cells carrying carbon-monoxide instead. I’m told that if you don’t smoke for a week that most of your red blood cells are replaced with new and healthy ones. And of course, the more one smokes, the greater the percentage of carbon-monoxide carrying red blood cells are existing at any given point in time. The net result is that you puff more during exercise or hard effort. It’s just a fact. You have to puff more to service the oxygen requirements of your body due to the reduced oxygen carrying capacity. I’d say that one carton of smokes per 3 weeks would be hovering at about a 7% carbon monoxide inertion rate in your red blood cells based on my knowledge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-smoke-and-how-much/213531.md?page=2)