Thanks, I know what an analogy is, it’s just hard to spot it when it makes no fucking sense.
Perhaps it would have been better if you’d said, “We wouldn’t give advice on how to do heroin, would we?”
Qadgop, I’d be among the last to question your encylopedic medical knowledge, but are you aware of evidence such as this that nicotine can sharpen attention and enhance memory? (Is that what you’re referring to with your mention of Alzheimer’s treatment?) I agree with the point you’re making, though. Tobacco use is unhealthy and it’s pretty pathetic to see young people (or anyone, for that matter) start smoking nowadays after they’ve been warned countless times about the dangers.
Hopefully the same choice SonOf will come to after he finishes experimenting.
No need to brand all first time smokers as idiots.
So Worldeater
How many smokes did you have today?
The OP was flaming someone because they thought them to be an idiot because they were considering smoking. I Reckon they are right, If i could go back a few years and change my decision about becoming a smoker i would. Stopping another person from becoming a smoker is a good thing not a bad thing. Thought I’d try and help a little!( it doesn’t hurt you know) Maybe provide some insight from someone a bit wiser on the subject.
As for your claims about smoking, binge drinking and Big macs. They are wrong, Qadgop the Mercotan has provided relevant statistics.
Buy a telescope and use it to find reality because your way out!
Yes, I did read what you posted. God only knows why, since you sound like a shill for The Truth, but I still read it. And yes, because SonOfArizona wants to start smoking, he is inevitably doomed to a slow agonizing death by emphasema, heart failure, five types of cancer, and terminal halitosis. No argument from me there. But this affects the members of this board (assuming no one here is a relative or close friend) precisely not at all. Alcohol, on the other hand, can cause people to become violent or dangerously impaired, which can lead directly to the injury or death of innocent bystanders such as you or me. However, no one is getting Pitted for talking about how they want to start drinking. Yes, cigarettes are more addictive. So fucking what? The issue isn’t which is harder to stop, the issue is which is more likely to destroy your life and (more importantly) the lives of those around you. You want to talk social ills, alcohol wins hands down. But, because you are (I presume) at least an occasional drinker and not (again, I presume) ever a smoker, you feel free to moralize about one potentially destructive and pointless behavior, but not the other.
Excuse me for seeing a double standard there.
I’m aware, Already. Caffiene, cocaine and amphetamines give similar effects when taken in appropriate doses. I don’t consider transient increased alertness to be a true long-term medical benefit.
Note also that it in the study you cite it was smokers that were tested, both before and after being given nicotine patches. Smokers without nicotine were less attentive with worse memory skills, while smokers with nicotine were more attentive with better skills. Non-smokers were not tested. It just sorta shows that smokers need their drug to be more attentive, and that the edge is lost within 15 minutes of their last dose.
Zero, do you have a point?
**
The OP also included a nice generalization.
**
Ok so you told him don’t do it, no need to preach. To be honest, I wouldn’t change a thing, I smoked and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Then I quit.
**
Sounds fine to me.
**
What Miller said.
**
Christ that was sad.
World Eater it’s a damn shame you quit!
Yes, horrible.
Can’t help but wonder if that counts as “wishing death on another poster.”
Yeah I thought of that, but I wouldn’t give him that much credit.
Miller,
Thankyou!
You smoke, you die sooner…bad idea to start. Anyone that has a cigarette is an idiot, those with a death wish continue to smoke.
Where’s the argument?
Gosh, I walked right into that, didn’t I, lurksfromwork! Your impressive little gambit is only undercut by the fifty other times in this thread where I said cigarettes were dangerous. But still, solid effort on your part.
The point, Sophocles, is that pitting someone for smoking while giving a pass to the countless posts celebrating drunkeness is a double standard.
I hesitated posting a single anecdote, but looking at all the sweeping generalizations in this thread, I decided ‘what the hell’.
Both my parents smoke, and have smoked since they were teens. They’re in their late 60’s now, and both in reasonably good health, as are my smoking grandparents who are in their 90’s. Me? I’ve never smoked.
Guess which one in the family got cancer?
I’d consider myself a social smoker. My trick is to never buy a pack of cigarretes… just bum one from a friend. If I buy an entire pack, then I feel compelled to smoke the entire thing to get my moneys worth… and well, that leads down the Dark Path of Addiction.
Greek dramatist!? Thats a first…
Granted,there is a double standard between smoking and drinking being accepted but it is unbalanced. One is more dangerous and will definately cause more damage than the other, the numbers prove that.
If SonOfArizona doesn’t start smoking…fantastic, if the pitting helped in that decision, fine. If he starts smoking he’s a fool. Either way, he’s in a different country and if he became ill, none of my taxes would go towards his medical expenses anyway.
I’m with Matchka.
I had my first cigarette when I was 21 or 22. For a couple months, I’d bum a smoke at a pub or nightclub most weekends and enjoy it along with my beer. I’d have one, maybe two smokes a night.
Nowadays, I’ll have a ciggie maybe once or twice every four to six months – at most. I’ve still never bought a pack. I’m hardly alone amongst my peers: I know only a handful of people who smoke, but practically everyone else I know has enjoyed a social cigarette at some stage. We’re not addicted by any sense of the word. No long term harm has resulted.
For this reason, I believe the characterisation “all people who smoke their 1st cig”, is nonsense.
Give the kid a break.
I am one of the rare ‘social smokers’ - except it’s not socially. If I have the opportunity, maybe twice annually, I will use a cigarette to halt a panic attack or extreme anger (such as that which has been instilled in me by the INS/BCIS at times.) It’s also rather nice in that, since I have no tolerance to tobacco, it gets me more stoned than weed - in less time. (I also don’t partake of weed on a regular basis - less than I smoke, actually)
I have thought of buying a pack but never did. I drink on a regular basis but can stop at any time (and have for months for lack of money). I also have access to a ton of cigarettes as my husband is a smoker (though he wants to quit and I want him to.) I am also a self-respecting non-smoker who did marry a smoker. You’re free to argue against my own self-respect… but it really won’t matter to me.
Just one more for the statistics. 
Why don’t we lambast him for his diet while we’re at it?
:smack: Socrates! Jesus. I even googled to make sure I spelled his name right. Didn’t think to check if I had the right fucking Greek.