# Positive effects of smoking cigarettes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598 "2003-08-30T08:14:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Illiniwek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e495f1/32.png) [@Illiniwek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illiniwek)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/21 "2003-08-30T17:56:41Z")
Smokers often can do really cool things with a zippo. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/22 "2003-08-30T18:14:01Z")
**Cecil Adams** on [Does smoking have any health benefits?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_096.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/23 "2003-08-30T18:17:03Z")
Come on, guys. The OP asked for benefits of smoking. We don’t need yet another litany of the hazards. The fact is, smoking offers clear benefits. If it didn’t, people wouldn’t smoke. I’m not a smoker, so I don’t know what it feels like. But smokers who I’ve talked to say it helps focus the mind and calm them down. It used to be a cliche that engineers and writers would judge their work by how many cigarette butts are in the ashtray. I have noticed that the rise in ADD cases seems to correlate with reduction in smoking. The treatment for ADD is to take stimulants. Smoking is a stimulant. Might it be that smoking is a way to self-medicate ADD symptoms? Loss of concentrationn, inability to focus, etc. Smoking is a nearly univeral vice. American Indians smoked. Tribes in Africa smoke. Aborigines smoke. Clearly, they gain some benefit from it. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/24 "2003-08-30T23:49:38Z")
Well, smoking shortens life expectancy and therefore keeps Social Security afloat longer… I think the effects are too slow to impact population growth. Brian ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/25 "2003-08-31T00:06:20Z")
My allergies are often worse when I’m not smoking and I also suffer from more colds. I’m sure this is due to something like my sinuses now being more sensitive rather than completely clogged up from the smoke, but it is a short term positive effect anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/26 "2003-08-31T01:05:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > Nicotine has a few uses. It may be beneficial in treating the symptoms of certain bowel diseases, like Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn’s Disease. Whether it slows the progression of these disease, or prevents their development, is not at all clear. Huh. That I did not know. I think I’ll stick with the Asacol, though, if it’s all the same to everyone else. 🙂 > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > Smoking is a nearly univeral vice. American Indians smoked. Tribes in Africa smoke. Aborigines smoke. Clearly, they gain some benefit from it. Why should we think that the prevalence of smoking indicates any benefit beyond that of staving off withdrawal symptoms? Anyways, the benefit of smoking is obvious. It makes a person coooool. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![mrsface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@mrsface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrsface)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/27 "2003-08-31T02:51:59Z")
BBC story on Nicotine and Alzheimer’s study: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2994304.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2994304.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/28 "2003-08-31T03:10:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Why should we think that the prevalence of smoking indicates any benefit beyond that of staving off withdrawal symptoms? Why do they start? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/29 "2003-08-31T03:48:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > Why do they start? Well, why do people start? I don’t know about other times and places, but right now, I think it’s plenty obvious that people don’t start smoking because there are benefits to be had from smoking itself, or even because they think that there are benefits to be had from smoking, but rather that there are social benefits that accrue due to being a smoker in some circles. Do you think there’s any evidence that it’s otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![hyjyljyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@hyjyljyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyjyljyj)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/30 "2003-08-31T08:16:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > **The fact is, smoking offers clear benefits. If it didn’t, people wouldn’t smoke.** \ Using this sort of logic, rape also offers clear benefits. If it didn’t, people wouldn’t rape. Same with dog-kicking, polluting the environment… Injecting heroin also offers the clear benefits of quelling withdrawal symptoms AND fattening the wallets of dealers and organized crime syndicates, etc. The point is that in no case do the so-called benefits begin to have any real meaning or importance in light of the overwhelming and uniformly negative results stacked up against them. One of these results often is **dying** long before one otherwise would, prompting some not particularly scientific minds to praise the apparent benefit of exempting cigarette smokers from living long enough to be burdened with geriatric illnesses such as Alzheimer’s. Essentially, _“At least if I’m dead, I can’t be sick.”_ Using this line of reasoning, we ought to humanely spare our offspring the challenges of facing any illnesses at all in life by simply euthanizing them–the younger the better, of course. Should you be unfortunate enough to have parents not blessed with such insight or enough love or courage to carry it out, you can always do the right thing immediately–you _owe_ it to yourself–using any of a variety of methods much faster and cheaper than decades of deliberate, methodical poisoning whilst giving off a socially repellent foul stench, followed by years of debilitating conditions like emphysema (imagine hungering for air constantly, never feeling you can catch your breath, a grey-skinned invalid hacking up brownish gobs of goo from your one remaining lung). But hey, it beats not remembering your name. The relaxation that occurs simultaneously with smoking can be attributed to its accompanying deep-breathing exercise. One of the best ways to relax the body and mind has been known for thousands of years to be taking in a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds, then releasing it slowly, and repeating. These just happen to be movements nearly identical to those associated with cigarette smoking, only not as cool. For addicted smokers (avg. age started: 16) the real relaxation is, as the OP noted, the relief of withdrawal symptoms by satisfying cravings for the addictive chemical nicotine. Props go to the OP for being so optimistic as to seek the silver lining in the act of accepting virtually certain illness and early death as tolerable consequences of a pubescent decision made while trying not to look uncool to certain teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![madcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@madcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madcat)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/31 "2003-08-31T10:33:19Z")
I walk & bike frequently & pick up empty Marlboro packs discarded by smokers.The UPCs are redeemable for stuff & UPS just delivered 2 positive benefits of smoking to me yesterday-a Viper pool cue & a Coleman sleeping bag. My BIL’s birthday gifts courtesy of the herd o’ nicotine suckers. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/32 "2003-08-31T13:36:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\*Parkinson’s disease? Try selling that to heavy smoker Michael J. Fox. \*\* How do you know he smokes? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/33 "2003-08-31T13:39:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > Come on, guys. The OP asked for benefits of smoking. We don’t need yet another litany of the hazards. > > -Why do they start? [Nicotine as a performance enhancer? -Research results are spotty](http://www.apa.org/monitor/jan99/nico.html) > [@](#): > > Many researchers commonly name cognitive enhancement as one of the reasons smokers continue to smoke. However, the jury is still out on whether nicotine really does enhance cognitive performance. [Nicotine can be used to treat children with Tourette Syndrome and patients with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s Disease](http://www.rnw.nl/science/html/nicotine2000228.html) [Possible Benefit of Nicotine for Parkinson Patients with Impaired Attention Span](http://www.parkinson.org/nicotine.htm) [nicotine stimulates growth of new blood vessels, helps with chronic pain](http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/report/news/july11/nicotine.html) [nicotine patch is effective in reducing the symptoms of ulcerative colitis](http://www.tobacco.neu.edu/tcu/10-97/patch.htm) ---
**Author:** ![hyjyljyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@hyjyljyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyjyljyj)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/34 "2003-08-31T18:06:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by madcat \* > \*\*I walk & bike frequently & pick up empty Marlboro packs discarded by smokers.The UPCs are redeemable for stuff & UPS just delivered 2 positive benefits of smoking to me yesterday-a Viper pool cue & a Coleman sleeping bag. My BIL’s birthday gifts courtesy of the herd o’ nicotine suckers. \*\* Bravo! Even though these things are not really positive benefits of smoking the cigarettes, bravo and well done all the same. (Obviously the difference between you and a mad cat is that you are not mad.) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/35 "2003-09-02T13:36:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Susanann \* > \*\*How do you know he smokes? \*\* According to his entry in People Almanac, he’s a heavy smoker who asks not to be photographed smoking so he won’t set a negative example for his fans. I’ve also heard that from someone who met him. He got Parkinson’s disease at a very early age for the disease. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/36 "2003-09-02T14:37:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > There have been a few reports that smoking can prevent the onset of Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Of course another interpretation may be that smokers never live long enough to get them, both of them being largely geriatric diseases The studies that measure Parkinson’s and Alzeimer’s risks and concluded that nicotine seems to reduce risk were not “whole population”. Instead, they looked at the folks who managed to survive to those ages and compared risk. Of course, that still doesn’t mean that other tobacco-related risks wouldn’t be greater on a “whole life” basis than the reduction in dementia diseases. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/37 "2003-09-02T14:40:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\*According to his entry in People Almanac, he’s a heavy smoker who asks not to be photographed smoking so he won’t set a negative example for his fans. I’ve also heard that from someone who met him. He got Parkinson’s disease at a very early age for the disease. \*\* How about a little real science to fight some dimwitted anecdotalism? > **[Nicotine and nicotinic receptors; relevance to Parkinson's disease - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12428730/?dopt=Abstract)** > > The development of nicotinic agonists for therapy in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease is an area currently receiving considerable attention. The rationale for such work stems from findings that reveal a loss of nicotinic... > **[Tobacco, coffee, and Parkinson's disease](https://www.bmj.com/content/326/7389/561.full)** > > Parkinson's disease belongs to that small group of conditions that occur less often among cigarette smokers than in non-smokers. The observation was first made in a case-control study over 30 years ago,1 but, as Hernán and colleagues have shown in... I realize that cultists will dismiss it, but the science is solid. That being said, there are probably far safer ways to get nicotine than using cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/38 "2003-09-02T15:11:55Z")
Smoking cigarettes [gives me a lift!](http://www.paperboynews.com/images/y/y7621.jpg) It [helps my golf game](http://www.paperboynews.com/images/y/y6642.jpg). It [keeps my nerves healthy](http://www.paperboynews.com/images/y/y9524.jpg). Even Lou Gehrig agrees. ["Even Lou Gehrig agrees. "](http://www.paperboynews.com/images/3/3q2196.jpg) And smoking cigarettes [will help me bag that tiger I always wanted!](http://www.paperboynews.com/images/y/y9380.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/39 "2003-09-02T16:17:23Z")
Typical response of a cultist. I cite real science. The cultist throws up a bunch of absurd historical curiousities to somehow discredit the real science by association. I thought SD was to dispel ignorance, not maintain it. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598/40 "2003-09-02T16:31:30Z")
Hey bud, gotta’ match? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/positive-effects-of-smoking-cigarettes/198598.md?page=3)