# Is anyone who takes up smoking today a friggin' idiot? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958 "2013-03-25T22:09:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/21 "2013-03-26T02:14:12Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Stupid? I know a 42 year old who started smoking _3 years ago_. She’d been a marijuana smoker since adolescence, so smoking wasn’t _completely_ alien to her, but cigarettes were “disgusting”. In her late thirties, she and a friend were regularly smoking cloves together because “cloves don’t count”. She moved towns, made new friends and the new friends were smokers. She’d smoke cloves when she was out drinking with friends. Then there were times she didn’t have any cloves and would bum a regular cigarette from someone, but she was smoking cigarettes “only when drinking, so it doesn’t count”. So marijuana really is a gateway drug… ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/22 "2013-03-26T02:15:22Z")
Yes, anybody who doesn’t live up to the OP’s own personal standards is an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Made_French_Toast_For_You)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/23 "2013-03-26T02:57:43Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Until you’re roughly 27, you’re immortal and indestructible. Huh, I stopped smoking at 27…maybe you’re on to something. IMO, someone who starts smoking is no more or less an idiot than someone who starts drinking soda every day, or starts spending all their time sitting on the couch, or starts drinking too much, or any number of things that are bad for one’s health. That is to say, they’re human, and probably don’t deserve a thread devoted to calling them idiots. I hope the people here throwing stones don’t live in glass houses. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/24 "2013-03-26T03:20:50Z")
> [@I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](#): > > IMO, someone who starts smoking is no more or less an idiot than someone who starts drinking soda every day, or starts spending all their time sitting on the couch, or starts drinking too much, or any number of things that are bad for one’s health. Soda tastes good, the couch is inviting, and drinking is fun. Smoking, to someone who hasn’t smoked before, is just gross or at VERY best neutral. So I think it’s stupider to start that. But then, to a teenager, having a reason to hang out with the other smokers seems to be a big draw, or so it was when I was in high school. I don’t think anyone stood out with the smokers (first right in the doorway to the school, then across the street when that wasn’t allowed, then in the alley nearby when neighbors complained) who wasn’t also a smoker. This was in the late 90s and now I don’t know where the smokers are allowed to go or if there are as many of them. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/25 "2013-03-26T03:32:16Z")
A lot of people are not proactive about maintaining their health. Especially when easy, satisfying, addictive things like eating junk food, drinking lots of beer, or smoking cigarettes are involved. It has little to do with intelligence. Both my sisters have an IQ and capabilities equal to mine. They smoke because they are both somewhat self-destructive, and young, so they figure they have years to quit before they begin to see the long term harmful results of smoking. ETA: I myself thoroughly enjoy smoking cigarettes. I never did it much, and quit entirely by age 20, because I am health conscious and proactive. If it wasn’t so bad for you I’d do it regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/26 "2013-03-26T03:56:08Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > I myself thoroughly enjoy smoking cigarettes. I never did it much, and quit entirely by age 20, because I am health conscious and proactive. If it wasn’t so bad for you I’d do it regularly. What do you like about it? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Made_French_Toast_For_You)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/27 "2013-03-26T04:28:18Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Soda tastes good, the couch is inviting, and drinking is fun. Smoking, to someone who hasn’t smoked before, is just gross or at VERY best neutral. So I think it’s stupider to start that. Smoking tastes good, is inviting, and is fun. And, like most drugs, it makes you feel great (at least for a while). Which seems like a good enough reason for a young person to try it out. Addiction is bad, of course. The answer that this thread seems to propose, though, is to ridicule the newly addicted, hoping that the increased stigma will prevent new smokers. Even if that tactic works in the long run, it’s a pretty cruel way to go about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/28 "2013-03-26T04:34:39Z")
> [@I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](#): > > Smoking tastes good, is inviting, and is fun. And, like most drugs, it makes you feel great (at least for a while). Which seems like a good enough reason for a young person to try it out. I don’t think too many people who _aren’t_ addicted to cigarettes, especially those who’d never even smoked at all before, who would take a puff of a cigarette and find the taste enjoyable. It’s kinda an “acquired taste”. And smoking makes you “feel great”? Huh? Damn. I think I was smoking the wrong kind all that time. ---
**Author:** ![yawuntz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a5b964/32.png) [@yawuntz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawuntz)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/29 "2013-03-26T04:37:39Z")
Not all who take up smoking are idiots; some are desperadoes: there is overwhelming epidemiological evidence that smoking protects against ulcerative colitis, the risk of developing the disease being significantly lower in smokers than in non-smokers or former smokers [2, 3]. The fact that \*\*patients with ulcerative colitis who resume or start smoking \*\*often experience clinical improvement [4] prompted attempts to verify the hypothesis that nicotine might be the active component of smoking responsible for the beneficial effects on the course of the disease. > **[Nicotine treatment for ulcerative colitis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2014383/)** ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/30 "2013-03-26T04:43:23Z")
> [@I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](#): > > Smoking tastes good, is inviting, and is fun. And, like most drugs, it makes you feel great (at least for a while). Which seems like a good enough reason for a young person to try it out. Yeah, what new smoker thinks it tastes good? Everyone has tried soda before and relaxed on a couch and most people have drank. If you’ve never smoked before you’re not going to think, “Yum, that sounds tasty.” And possibly fun and inviting only for social reasons (like with the kids I went to HS with…still sounds the opposite of fun to me, having to go stand outside all the time even in bad weather) but not for the act itself. I think smoking should be stigmatized. I think it’s stupid to try it. That doesn’t mean the person is stupid, but it’s a stupid thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/31 "2013-03-26T04:45:28Z")
Yes. Posted by someone who quit once again over a year back. When I see teenagers smoking, I really want to slap them upside the head. Stupid, stupid, stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/32 "2013-03-26T05:38:50Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > What do you like about it? Are you kidding? It’s like being french kissed by God’s favorite angel. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Made_French_Toast_For_You)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/33 "2013-03-26T05:42:58Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I don’t think too many people who _aren’t_ addicted to cigarettes, especially those who’d never even smoked at all before, who would take a puff of a cigarette and find the taste enjoyable. It’s kinda an “acquired taste”. And smoking makes you “feel great”? Huh? Damn. I think I was smoking the wrong kind all that time. Good point – “acquired taste” is generally a better way to put it. Comparable to acquiring a taste for beer or liquor, I think. And yes, smoking makes you feel great: it releases dopamine into your brain. > [@Blackberry](#): > > Yeah, what new smoker thinks it tastes good? Everyone has tried soda before and relaxed on a couch and most people have drank. If you’ve never smoked before you’re not going to think, “Yum, that sounds tasty.” And possibly fun and inviting only for social reasons (like with the kids I went to HS with…still sounds the opposite of fun to me, having to go stand outside all the time even in bad weather) but not for the act itself. > > I think smoking should be stigmatized. I think it’s stupid to try it. That doesn’t mean the person is stupid, but it’s a stupid thing to do. ::shrugs:: I thought it tasted good, and it was fun socially and made me feel good. If you’re looking for something more profound than that, I can’t help you. As for stigma: there’s no question it helps decrease the number of smokers. But it also portrays those that struggle with addiction (or obesity/alcoholism/etc.) as socially and morally inferior to those that do not struggle. And intellectually inferior, according to this thread’s title. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/34 "2013-03-26T05:53:47Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > That doesn’t mean the person is stupid, but it’s a stupid thing to do. Forrest Gump and his mother would disagree… ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/35 "2013-03-26T06:54:58Z")
Sure. Getting addicted (In many cases for life) to a drug that doesn’t even get you that high, and after you get really addicted not high at all, just makes you feel shitty when you don’t have your regular dose? Nothing dumber. There’s more of a point in getting addicted to meth. Delicious, delicious meth… ---
**Author:** ![Scholar\_Beardpig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Scholar\_Beardpig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scholar_Beardpig)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/36 "2013-03-26T07:14:10Z")
I like smoking. I enjoy smoking. When I’m smoking, I feel good. After I finish, I feel satisfied. I know it’s going to kill me, but what do I want with living to be 70? Or even 60? Besides, I’m already basically an invalid; why worry about my lung capacity if my leg capacity’s so much lower? ---
**Author:** ![steviep24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/37 "2013-03-26T09:11:13Z")
Reasons teens take up smoking: 1. Celebrities who smoke (i.e. Katy Perry). Kids see that and think it’s cool. Plus the badass factor. 2. Smoking helps relieve stress but so does eating and other things. 3. Smoking helps control weight. Number one reason girls take up smoking. 4. Peer pressure. Is anyone who takes up smoking today stupid? Of course. For many reasons. Besides health reasons smoking is expensive (I wonder how kids can afford it especially here in New York) and there’s not too many places where you can do it legally so smokers become ostrisized. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/38 "2013-03-26T12:17:35Z")
While I do not use tobacco, I have numerous other vices that will undoubtedly shorten my life. I’m more about quality than quantity, though. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/39 "2013-03-26T12:38:34Z")
I knew it was stupid when I started years ago. I do miss it still. If they rendered it harmless and cut the price I’d go right back. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958/40 "2013-03-26T12:48:48Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Inspired by something I heard on the radio; a doc who said she couldn’t imagine why anyone today would start smoking. > > Back in the day of course smoking was the norm, depicted as fashionable for men and women in film; it was a social norm for many, many years. The health concerns where they were even known took a backseat; even the bloody [Flintstones](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvt8skgm2l8) advertised cigarettes, unthinkable today. > > Now, advertising is banned, it’s rarely seen on TV except in negative health ads, packets have things like “SMOKING KILLS”, “SMOKING HARMS YOU AND THOSE AROUND YOU” and gruesome pictorial evidence of what smoking can do. The social norm has greatly diminished - if anything smokers are becoming more ostracised with indoor and even outdoor bans. > > But still there are young people who take up smoking - I have some even in my family. I tend to agree with the doc in the first para; can’t see any benefits and plenty of drawbacks. Anyway, what do you think when you see young smokers (or are you a young smoker - why did you start)? Yes, yes they are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-who-takes-up-smoking-today-a-friggin-idiot/653958.md?page=3)