# How did you start smoking? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 3, 2000, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469 "2000-10-03T09:23:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/21 "2000-10-04T14:51:15Z")
Actually, BDodgy, you don’t really need to add sarcasm tags. Most people on the board can identify written sarcasm. Obviously, _you_ can’t, but most people can. _(This is a smilie so you know what is said, is said in jest - just trying to help you out)_ —\> 😉 :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BornDodgy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@BornDodgy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BornDodgy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/22 "2000-10-04T16:35:30Z")
Jack I ll through a cushion on you!!! _evil look - actually looks like a serial killer_ (and if that doesnt help I m gonna through a plate) Stonars are such peaceful ppl… Peace Love… and I forgot… Watch out for the sarcsam tags? None found? Well… I was totally serious about this _wiggles toes_ and I ve got nice socks This totally RANDOM POST was supplied by loons Inc. ---
**Author:** ![BornDodgy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@BornDodgy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BornDodgy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/23 "2000-10-04T16:41:21Z")
Yuck I just noticed how “forcedly funny” my stupid post sounds and I cant get into the edit function… grrrr… Well… just sing my last post instead of reading it. That might add to the “nice” factor. _sigh_ Can I blame it on still being a lil ill??? loons ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/24 "2000-10-04T21:55:20Z")
After spending years ragging my mother about black lung and heart disease, when Iwas 16 i wanted to be cool one night at a party. That very first night I smoked a pack, and I smoked a pack or more every day thereafter for 26 years, with two feeble attempts at quitting, until 26 days ago, when I quit for good. I’m very happy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/25 "2000-10-04T22:47:17Z")
It was Christmas Eve and I was a little bit wobbly. In fact, I was wobbly and wet due to seasonal precipitation of biblical proportions. Having worked out the intricacies of the front door, I wound my merry way past the Christmas tree, negotiated past the little pile of presents creeping across the floor and arrived at the roaring fireplace with a view to drying out my trousers. Before long, I became distracted by the cards on the mantelpiece and forgot what I was there for. Shortly there after, I found myself smoking - a lot. Thankfully, it was only for a few minutes (a drunken hopping while swiftly undressing dance) and I haven’t smoked since. It can seriously damage your credibility. ---
**Author:** ![Malarky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Malarky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malarky)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2000, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/26 "2000-10-05T02:03:04Z")
I was highly depressed the summer I was 17…my aunt had just died, my boyfriend had cheated on me then left me for the girl, and my two best friends and confidantes moved to Pittsburg. Plus I was insanely bored. So I smoked for lack of anything better to do. I’m 18 years old and it’s been over a year…I managed to quit for 4 months, but I’m back again ☹ I never thought it was “cool” acutally…I prefer to not smoke w/lots of people around, I feel really really bad when the smoke blows into their faces ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2000, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/27 "2000-10-05T04:35:21Z")
I was actually smoking dope first. So, one night when I was stoned and someone offered me a smoke (cig), I kinda liked the extra dizzy feeling. It complemented the high. What a dope! It would take twenty-seven years before I found the will to quit. ---
**Author:** ![Malarky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Malarky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malarky)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/28 "2000-10-06T00:54:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoidela \* > \*\*After spending years ragging my mother about black lung and heart disease, when Iwas 16 i wanted to be cool one night at a party. That very first night I smoked a pack, and I smoked a pack or more every day thereafter for 26 years, with two feeble attempts at quitting, until 26 days ago, when I quit for good. > > I’m very happy. 🙂 \*\* Ummmmm…interesting website 😃 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/29 "2000-10-06T15:30:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JamesCarroll \* > \*\*\ They say every cigarette takes 7 minutes off your life. Maybe someday I’ll meet someone who wants those seven minutes more than I do. \*\* It’s True! I started smoking 19 years ago, and now I’m only 14 years old! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Sue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Sweet\_Sue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Sue)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/30 "2000-10-08T18:55:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jack Batty \* > \*\*_(This is a smilie so you know what is said, is said in jest - just trying to help you out)_ —\> 😉 > :rolleyes: \*\* \*\*sub         [/sub]O         º       sub)[/sub]         +         A         " \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Sangria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Sangria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangria)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/31 "2000-10-08T20:05:23Z")
I guess I’ve tried a lot of cigarettes, but can’t say I ever started smoking. The first time was at 13, and they passed one around waiting for the schoolbus. They said I bogeyed it, which means got it too wet on the end, and after that I didn’t dare try one for a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Scoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Scoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoop)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2000, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/32 "2000-10-09T02:04:37Z")
The first time I smoked I was seventeen. I had a very hard time making friends at that age, so when a girl I was hanging out with for the first time suggested it, I gladly took a cigarette. It was a menthol and I couldn’t light it at first. By the time I had smoked about half of it I was too dizzy too stand up. A few drags later I threw up all over the movie theater parking lot. Naturally, I took up the habit immediately. I don’t necessarily regret it. I made a lot of friends that way and now that I’m 20 I have stopped for over three months. All in all, a pretty good experience. ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2000, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/33 "2000-10-09T15:41:37Z")
Actually I think I’m just like the OP guy. I smoked weed first. One of my best buddies, still is, would hand me smokes and say “hey try this–it’ll help your buzz kick in.” I kinda enjoyed it. At first I only smoked 1 or 2 ciggarettes a day, then 3 or 4, 5 or 6… Now I’ve been smoking a pack a day, or slightly less, now for 4 years. I do wish I hadn’t started. Bad habit–but enjoyable (hmmph!). ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2000, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/34 "2000-10-09T17:33:25Z")
Well, my parents both smoked-my mom was back on More 100’s(those annoying brown dogrocket-looking things) about one year after I was born. I dodn’t really start in earnest until college, when, coincidentally, my coffee intake went through the roof. Smoked through college-the year in Europe didn’t help much-and decided to quit when the stress from my first REAL job got to be too much, and affecting my health. That was two years ago, and I haven’t had much use for coffee since then either. One good thing it did get me was a bunch of new friends who I would never have met otherwise-who the hell else is going to be outside in 25-degree weather during finals if not to blacken their lungs. Met my wife that way, too. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2000, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469/35 "2000-10-09T17:59:36Z")
Why did I start smoking? I wanted to commit suicide, but wasn’t really in a big hurry. Actually, that’s not really that far off from the truth. I was a disaffected suicidal teen looking for a way of dropping as many hints as possible that I was fucked up without actually having to go through with the suicide attempt. So I started smoking as a ‘warning sign’. Thirteen years later, I’m relatively well-adjusted (yeah, well, I _said_ relatively) but I’m still smoking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-start-smoking/35469.md?page=1)