# Ok, so who here actually likes Smoking? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451 "2003-01-18T12:20:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/21 "2003-01-18T18:21:44Z")
I enjoy it, I enjoy it very much. If I could quit, I would. I get very emotional when I quit, crying, depressed, anxious, irritable. Even as a child I had to be doing something with my hands at all times; fiddleing with the silverware, tapping pencils, stuff like that . I don’t know what I’d do with my hands if I quit. ---
**Author:** ![DLurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@DLurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DLurker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/22 "2003-01-18T18:27:30Z")
I only smoke under certain conditions. When I drink heavily or after great sex. So I pretty much only smoke one day a week. And then, it’s someone else’s… Yeah, I don’t get out much… (but when I do, it is all worth it! 😃 ) ---
**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:** [January 18, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/23 "2003-01-18T18:51:28Z")
From a great movie, that isn’t really that great … but it cracks me up … [Real Men](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0093828): Bob: I didn’t know you smoked. Nick: Just after sex, Bob. I’m trying to give it up. Bob: Well, at least you don’t smoke that much. Nick: About a pack a day. Bob: That’ll kill ya! Nick: Bob, it won’t kill ya. But it will make you very sore. ---
**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/24 "2003-01-18T18:57:44Z")
I enjoy smoking so much so that my quitting is not working out very much, I feel like I fell off the wagon again. I like smoking and talking on the phone and drinking tea. Its kind of like a love hate relationship with my Benson and Hedges. But I am really trying to quit. As much as I like it I want to quit too. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/25 "2003-01-18T21:06:45Z")
> [@](#): > > _ **Athena** said:_ > I like to smoke. I’m a nonsmoker, but do like to have one or two when I’m out at night… \ Isn’t that inconsistent? If you smoke even one cigarette, you are a smoker, right? Note that “smoker” does not necessarily mean “habitual smoker”, “addicted smoker” or “desperantely trying to quit smoker”. _Is_ such as thing as non-addicted voluntary “social smoking”? How easy is it for that to turn to addiction, as \*_Skeezix_ mentioned? At what point after smoking a last cigarette does a “smoker” become a “non-smoker”? \ Has anyone seen the article\* in the latest issue of _Wired_ (11.02) describing that company in the States that is growing _nicotine-free_tobacco? The idea is to separate the physiological addiciton to nicotine from the psychological habit. For those who want to quit, this lets them take one part of the problem at a time. They can break the nicotine addiction first, then deal with the habit. \*It’s not up on the website yet. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/26 "2003-01-19T01:19:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sunspace \* > \*_At what point after smoking a last cigarette does a “smoker” become a “non-smoker”?\*_ Never. The best you can be is an “ex-smoker”. It’s been 10 months since I quit and I want one every minute of every day… ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/27 "2003-01-19T05:45:46Z")
Count me as another that actually likes smoking. I am trying to remind myself daily how much I dislike the way my mouth feels in the morning, the nagging cough, the restricted breathing, the general feeling of “blech”, and the constant voice in my head letting me know that I am mortal and enjoy life on this little planet and perhaps you shouldn’t be so cavalier about dying from smoking. Three weeks, 15 hours, 44 minutes and 10 seconds. 866 cigarettes not smoked, saving $151.59. Life saved: 3 days, 10 minutes. This is probably the 100th time in the last year and a half I have tried to quit. I hope it is the last time, but I’ve felt that way before and ended up starting back up again. I’m frustrated, discouraged, and really cannot visualize never smoking again. Yes, I hate all that too! But damn, a smoke tastes unbelieveable after a great steak dinner… MeanJoe ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/28 "2003-01-19T06:10:08Z")
One may think I am making this up, but I took up smoking because I decided I needed a vice. After I had wracked up just about every other vice there was (excluding heavy drug use), which was about a year and a half later, I decided the smoking thing wasn’t worth the energy of getting on my coat, and freezing outside. Plus, I got a viral lung infection (I am prone to bronchitis) and could barely breathe AIR, much less ciggies. So I stopped. Although at my worst I was only smoking 5 ciggies a day or so, so I wasn’t terribly hardcore. I was sick about a month ago, and since then, I’ve had one or two a WEEK. When I’m out. This is not because I had any deep rooted hatred of smoking or smokers, but because I just rarely want a cigarette anymore. And I’ve switched from American Spirit Lites (yellow) to Marb Mediums, because they’re WAY more icky, and I figure if I can brave the cold, and the hassle of going outside to smoke, AND deal with the chemically taste of Mediums, I really DO need a cig. Frankly, getting over cigarettes was NOTHING compared to getting over my last relationship. I guess I wasn’t in love with cigs. Just a friends-with-benefits situation. 😃 Fun fact, though. Freud was a lifelong pipe smoker. He died of lung cancer after attempting for YEARS to quit. He had quit cocaine within two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/29 "2003-01-19T16:45:09Z")
This thread is better suited for **IMHO**. I’ll move it for you. * * * **Cajun Man** - SDMB Moderator ---
**Author:** ![The\_MacDairmuid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_MacDairmuid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_MacDairmuid)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/30 "2003-01-20T06:47:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sunspace \* > _Is_ such as thing as non-addicted voluntary “social smoking”? Yes, there is. I am not addicted to tobacco, nor have I ever been. I smoked cigarettes for four months in high school, just to try them. The smell of cigarettes, cig smokers, their houses, cars, clothes, breath is repulsive to me. But I enjoy smoking pipes and cigars. Every now and then (the last ‘then’ was over six months ago) I’ll pick up a couple/few cigars and smoke them with a friend. Once a year I have an opportunity to use a friend’s extra pipe, and we sill sit and smoke and talk for long hours. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/31 "2003-01-20T06:58:56Z")
I gave up a couple of years ago after twenty odd years. I mostly enjoyed smoking and would love to be like a guy I worked with who smoked 3 a day most days but never got hooked. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/32 "2003-01-20T13:50:27Z")
I love smoking, I enjoy it completely, no ifs, ands or buts (haha). Love the taste of it, the feel of the smoke hitting my lungs, the smell of it. I love the rituals surrounding smoking and I love the chemical effect it has on me. Mmmmmmm smokes. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/33 "2003-01-20T18:44:31Z")
I really love to smoke. I must smoke differently than most, though. I’ve been at it for 35 years and I don’t have a cough. I smoke a pack a day (sometimes more) and I guess I don’t inhale very deeply. Boy do I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/34 "2003-01-20T21:41:01Z")
I like to smoke. I smoked a bit, maybe a pack a week, when I was in high school. I stopped around the time I went to college. I never went through “quitting,” though. I just sort of stopped. I guess I was never really addicted. But I miss it. I really do. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/35 "2003-01-20T22:14:43Z")
I stopped smoking this past August. I still dream about smoking cigarettes. I truely enjoyed smoking. Too bad it is unhealthful and expensive. ---
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/36 "2003-01-20T22:50:12Z")
I completely love smoking. I only do it in the evenings when I’m hanging out at home or when I’m out drinking, but it satisfies me in a very odd way. I want to quit, but find it hard to imagine never going outside after dinner for that much-loved smoke! Damn, why do they have to be so BAD for you? ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/37 "2003-01-20T22:58:35Z")
I love to smoke. I’m another one that loves the rituals surrounding smoking… I love the comaraderie with fellow smokers. I love watching people smoke. I honestly think its sexy. Aside from the whole lung cancer thing, there’s really nothing I _don’t_ like about it. Man… 20 minutes till my last break. _stomps around_ ---
**Author:** ![kirk280980](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c77e96/32.png) [@kirk280980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk280980)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/38 "2003-01-21T01:01:42Z")
Looks like **malkavia** said it all for me. I’d agree with everything he said. I don’t ever get the feeling that I MUST have a cigarette RIGHT NOW, and even if I go without smokes all day long, never suffer cravings. It’s just something I enjoy and look forward to, rather than a crutch to get me through the day and keep me going. The whole slave-to-smoking thing never really manifested itself in me, which is probably why I still get pleasure from it. Other people I know, who only continue to smoke out of habit, don’t seem to enjoy it nearly half as much. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451/39 "2003-01-21T01:10:22Z")
I love smoking. I like the taste, the calming familiarity of that first drag, the way sitting back with a smoke when you get home kind of puts closure on the evening. I have no illusions about the health risks, and I suppose I’ll quit eventually, but I really do like it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-who-here-actually-likes-smoking/149451.md?page=1)