# I smoked my first cigarette this weekend **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399 "2003-05-06T14:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/21 "2003-05-06T16:49:54Z")
Ewwww. I won’t date smokers. Period. I’m not the only one out there who has made THAT decision, either. And how old are you to think smoking is cool? If you’re over twelve, what planet are you from where they think that? Please don’t do it again. You WILL be sorry if you get hooked. ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/22 "2003-05-06T16:56:12Z")
When I was 15 I dated a guy that smoked for a couple months. The smoke and the coughing and the smell were all killers. If my husband took up smoking I would consider that grounds for divorce! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/23 "2003-05-06T17:01:53Z")
Back in her heyday, Brooke Shields was involved in an anti-smoking campaign that got pulled by the tobacco industry because it was mean. I only saw two things from the campaign: a poster and a commercial. The poster had Brooke in her standard cover-girl Cosmo kind of getup, with cigarettes stuck in her ears, with the caption, “Smoking spoils your looks.” The commercial had Brooke in her designer jeans, sitting on a stool on a sound stage. She said, “I was at a party this weekend. Great party, great people. There was this one guy who was just perfect–he had the right clothes, the right haircut, knew all the right things to say to the ladies, he could dance, everything was just perfect. Then he pulled out a cigarette.” “Too bad he was such a loser.” Hey, **Qazzz,** I heard that Christina Ricci used to be into cutting. Gonna try that, too? ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/24 "2003-05-06T17:07:51Z")
Please, for the love of Pete, tell me everyone’s been whooshed. The OP is a joke, right? Oh, wait. [It’s not](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=182147). ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/25 "2003-05-06T17:49:59Z")
**Moderator’s Notes:** Ya know, I’m pretty certain you folks can get the point across that smoking is a foolish habit to start **without** resorting to insults. However, if you find you cannot, you will at least keep them confined to the Pit thread linked by JuanitaTech. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/26 "2003-05-06T19:28:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*lieu \*\*\* > Congradulations, you’re going to die. Congratulations, so are you. So… ? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/27 "2003-05-06T19:29:38Z")
**Qazzz** , I’m [trying to quit smoking](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=182003). You oughta stop by and see just how difficult it is to do. Take my advice and don’t start. I wish I hadn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/28 "2003-05-06T19:42:34Z")
Like so many of the others who have chimed in, I just want to say please don’t start smoking. Ok, you’ve tried it. Let that be enough. I’ve been smoking since I was 13. Like **TwistofFate** , I’m preparing to quit again (as soon as finals end this Thursday). Quitting is one of the toughest thing to do - and it’s very easy to get hooked on these things. So, please, just think before you ever smoke another one. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/29 "2003-05-06T20:20:28Z")
I’m a little surprised at the vehemence of so many of these replies (as well as in the Pit thread.) **Qazzz** could be doing a lot worse. At 23, I had been smoking 2+ packs a day for a few years. Congrats on waiting so long, guy. And congrats on thinking so much about this experimentation. Smoking is a scary thing. But it can be very attractive, and its gradual hold on you may be unnoticeable for a long time. Since you are here on these boards, I’ll assume you favor making informed decisions. I simply cannot imagine the plus side for actively deciding to become a smoker. It will never be easier to stop smoking than it is right now. This is just one thing that will make things more difficult for you later on, without providing any significant upside. It costs a lot of money, the odds are huge that it will adversely affect your health in one way or another, and it will automatically rule you out in the eyes of a huge percentage of folk you may wish to rmantically or socially attract. Like **Lsura** said, you tried it. Great. Now file that experience away and move on. In case you think folks are overstating the addictiveness, I’m 17 or so years after my last smoke, and I would love to have one right now… The rest of you guys - I personally think your approach, while effectively expressing the strength of your views on this subject, communicated something else as well which is not at all complimentary toward you, and not at all deserved by this post. Just MHO. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/30 "2003-05-06T20:48:16Z")
Yeah, smoking sucks. But this little tidbit piqued my interest: > [@](#): > > The 31-year-old model (Christy Turlington) told The Times newspaper that she was diagnosed with early stage emphysema after undergoing a lung scan in New York.", "said she smoked up to a pack of cigarettes a day between the ages of 13 and 26, with a two-year break I had no idea you could get emphysema after smoking moderately for only 11 years! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/31 "2003-05-06T20:50:23Z")
Argh!! Do not start - you are nuts. Trust me, you will attract people much easier by not smoking and not smelling like an ashtray. I started smoking only when I drank back in college - but it turned into a full time event… it’s been 10 years now and trying to kick the habit is hell! Although, I have tapered down to about 6-10 cig’s/day, I still am a “closet” smoker, because I am literally embarassed about it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/32 "2003-05-06T20:50:43Z")
You can get emphysema without ever having smoked at all, but smoking dramatically increases the risk. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/33 "2003-05-06T22:32:50Z")
I smoke. It is his choice. I’m sure he has read the literature. I’m actually kind of impressed he found a bar where smoking is allowed, thanks to the gestapo’s new no smoking laws. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/34 "2003-05-07T14:57:11Z")
It’s easy when you’re young to think most any vice can be practiced in moderation for awhile and there’s plenty of time to quit later. Unfortunately, smoking is not conducive to moderation and there’s a strong likelyhood you’ll not only increase your intake over time but you will also have a very hard time giving it up, something many repentant smokers here have mentioned above. Your most pragmatic and wise decision, **Qazzz** , is to listen to the voices of experienced people here, hack as we may, and never start. Your lungs will thank you later. And **White Lightning** , you anxious to light the guy’s damn cigarette for him? ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@john\_b\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_1)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/35 "2003-05-07T15:10:43Z")
So all of you people are all ultra against ciggs, well that’s good because they’re bad, mainly because they’re so expensive and addicting, but does that also mean you are all against pot so viciously? ---
**Author:** ![Contrary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@Contrary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrary)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/36 "2003-05-07T15:20:09Z")
I am, yes. At this time, it’s illegal to use in the US unless you’ve got a prescription for it for glaucoma. And it has the same sort of horrible effects on lungs that cigarette smoke does. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/37 "2003-05-07T16:09:31Z")
I think I average on about 1 cigarette / month, a pack of cigarettes lasts longer than a year with me. I don’t see anything wrong in the occassional smoke, after all, I am exposed to a lot more smoke when going to pubs, thanks to passive smoking. _shrugs_ ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/38 "2003-05-07T16:58:27Z")
I agree that smoking isn’t really a very good idea but I do actually enjoy it…and since giving up smack and crack its all i’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/39 "2003-05-07T17:13:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalhoun \* > \*\*Well, ya stupid butthead! Nice goin’. Write this on your hand: Smoking was cool in the '50s and’60s. It is not cool now. It doesn’t look cool. It doesn’t make you look smart, sophisticated, or sexy. It makes you look like a butthead. > > Take it from me, an un-cool, un-sophisticated, un-sexy smoker (who started in the 60s…when it was cool.) \*\* Don’t be so hard on yourself; you’re not _that_ un-cool. 😉 And, don’t be so hard on me, either. I prefer not to think of myself as looking like a butthead. It’s not my fault people decided to care about living longer. But, **Qazzz** , if that was your first cigarette, make it your last, too. You don’t want to still be smoking 25 years later, like me. Of course, by then it’ll probably be legal to shoot smokers on sight. ---
**Author:** ![Maltese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Maltese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maltese)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399/40 "2003-05-07T19:42:04Z")
☹ I could kick myself for that first cigerette back in the 50’s when they were 5 packs for a dollar [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-smoked-my-first-cigarette-this-weekend/173399.md?page=3)