# The Rationale for Quitting Smoking **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 21, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434 "2009-11-21T19:24:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/21 "2009-11-21T20:13:34Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > 1. The biggest benefit of smoking, in my opinion, is the same as a person I met on a plane once. He was Indian (from India,) but immigrated to the US when he was a child. He loves coffee, and he told me he drinks about a 2-3 32 oz cups per day. One thing he told me that didn’t make sense at the time (but is very relevant to this discussion): “Coffee is like magic. In the morning, it wakes me up. It gives me energy during the day. When it’s time to go to bed, it relaxes me.” Imho, this probably the best explanation for what I get from cigarettes: what I need, when I need it. It’s not magic. He was addicted to caffeine and you’re addicted to nicotine. No difference. Still, there are ways of getting that nicotine without smoking, and I don’t see why you’d willy want to be addicted to a substance that is quite costly and is coupled with a lot of other unhealthy side effects. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/22 "2009-11-21T20:16:07Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > Uhh do you have any clue what that act refers to? I’m guessing no, and I also think members of \*actual \*protected classes would find you lumping yourself in with them quite offensive. Partaking in a voluntary, unhealthy habit doesn’t give you the right to claim discrimination the same way a black person may feel by a neighborhood preventing him/her from living there. Maybe you should just let it go. You were looking for civil rights in the Constitution, so let’s just assume I have a better understanding of it than you do, so don’t try to question it. ps. Religion is also voluntary, unhealthy (Ramadan fasting) and protected. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/23 "2009-11-21T20:20:17Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Maybe you should just let it go. You were looking for civil rights in the Constitution, so let’s just assume I have a better understanding of it than you do, so don’t try to question it. > > ps. Religion is also voluntary, and protected. Maybe I should just let it go? The fact that you’re claiming it’s a civil right to smoke? No, sorry, I can’t let that go. You do realize the purpose of this message board is to fight ignorance, right? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/24 "2009-11-21T20:37:22Z")
Add to the benefits of smoking: 1. It boosts **Jackmannii** ’s retirement funds. Quite a bit of my income as a pathologist derives from diagnosing diseases caused by smoking - not just the cancers (there are now 15 types of cancer that have been linked to smoking, including malignancies of the mouth, throat, pancreas, bladder, kidney and leukemia) but also the assorted chronic ailments caused or made worse by smoking, such as gastroesophageal reflux. On the one hand it’s depressing to diagnose a new small cell lung cancer in a 48-year-old man who will likely be dead within a couple of years; on the other, the biopsies, brushings and needle aspirates add cash to the till. And while autopsies are a very small part of my overall practice, occasionally I get to collect at the very end for one of those too. So don’t listen to the naysayers, **Superhal**! You’re money in the bank, and i appreciate you and the other dogged smokers. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/25 "2009-11-21T21:04:23Z")
Smoking makes you stink and accidentally light assorted items on fire. It litters. It drops the value of your car and your home. It costs money. It crinkles your skin and stains your teeth, hands and mustache. It makes you look like a dope standing outside in the cold. Some of the secondary health consequences, such as a prematurely soft weenie, are underappreciated, in my experience, but I realize you want to leave those out. Most of all, it limits your acquaintances to those willing to hang around smokers. In the business world and in life in general, this can have substantial consequences. From a social perspective, it’s actually a terrific idea. Smokers are very productive and tend to croak before sucking their retirement benefits (your relatives excepted). This is a net cost savings to society. So by all means, have at it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/26 "2009-11-21T21:14:15Z")
We hate it when you bring back your library books and they reek. (For some reason, Chilton manuals are the worst - do people who repair their own cars just always happen to be chain smokers?) And you do smell. You don’t realize it because you can’t smell anything. You reek and if I stand next to you when you’re smoking I reek too. I hated it like hell when they put in a local smoking ban in bars, because I don’t think it’s the city’s right to tell a business owner what to do like that, but I do like going out for a drink and not reeking like an ashtray afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/27 "2009-11-21T21:22:20Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > And you do smell. You don’t realize it because you can’t smell anything. You reek and if I stand next to you when you’re smoking I reek too. I hated it like hell when they put in a local smoking ban in bars, because I don’t think it’s the city’s right to tell a business owner what to do like that, but I do like going out for a drink and not reeking like an ashtray afterwards. Similarly, I’ve gotten so used to _not_ contending with cig stench that when someone blithely comes in from his smoke break, his or her reek repels me, and I’ll bet ten years ago that same level woudn’t even have made me blink. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/28 "2009-11-21T21:54:21Z")
I’m a smoker. It’s pretty hard for me to quit - I did manage it once, for about half a year. I think the evidence that smoking is quite hazardous is pretty clear and for me was the main reason to try to quit. Economic considerations are not interesting to me since I make enough money to smoke (and I probably spend more on alcohol anyway). If you want a few another reasons: it stinks up everything - really - and it’s bad for your sense of smell and taste. I love good food, and I’m actually bothered that I can’t taste it as well as I could if I quit smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/29 "2009-11-21T22:13:02Z")
It reduces your fitness and stamina, e.g., your ability to walk up a couple flights of steps/play softball/tennis/golf/skiing It makes your teeth yellow It reduces your sense of taste Depending on how much you smoke, you may have to plan parts of your life around your habit - finding a place to smoke after a long plane flight or while you are watching a baseball game or concert Life insurance is more expensive It takes up more time during your day than you think ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/30 "2009-11-21T22:19:46Z")
> [@Quasimodal](#): > > Just curious as to what the benefits are. Can those benefits be found by doing something else instead? Would the alternative be more beneficial? [http://healthliteracy.worlded.org/docs/tobacco/Unit3/1why\_people\_smoke.html](http://healthliteracy.worlded.org/docs/tobacco/Unit3/1why_people_smoke.html) Smoking is good for stress reduction and weight loss. I think those are 2 of the big reasons people take up smoking and do not quit. It’ll take me a while to dig up the polls I’ve seen showing these 2 factors are big reasons people take it up and refuse to quit, but I’ll do it if need be because dammit I love you guys. As far as weight loss drugs like Wellbutrin can help with smoking addiction and weight loss. And a variety of medications, lifestyle interventions and alternative therapies can help with stress. So a person can achieve the goals of weight loss and stress reduction w/o the cost and health risks of smoking. Also young people take up smoking due to peer influences and to look/feel mature as big reasons. I have no idea what other activities they could do to fulfill those urges. Maybe having sex and drinking or something. Damn kids. Plus there is the pleasure some people get from smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Blut\_Aus\_Nord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Blut\_Aus\_Nord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blut_Aus_Nord)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/31 "2009-11-21T22:32:50Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Also young people take up smoking due to peer influences and to look/feel mature as big reasons. I have no idea what other activities they could do to fulfill those urges. Maybe having sex and drinking or something. Damn kids. Kids only _think_ they look mature when they smoke, when in reality, everyone knows they’re dweebs. If they want to look/feel mature, maybe they could ditch the bullshit homeboy anti-culture and opt for a flannel suit, a job, and proper English. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/32 "2009-11-21T22:38:30Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Plus there is the pleasure some people get from smoking. If the good Lord wanted me to get pleasure from _smoking_, He would never have invented illegal drugs or sex! ;)😛 ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/33 "2009-11-21T22:53:22Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Plus there is the pleasure some people get from smoking. Is it really a pleasure in the true sense, or is it just the temporary alleviation of addiction? I’ve tried smoking a couple of times, and I found nothing pleasurable in it at all. I know a guy who can’t sit through a meeting calmly without rushing out to smoke every 40 minutes–especially if it involves any uncomfortable thoughts at all. If he can’t smoke, his rational thought shuts down and he says whatever he thinks will make the meeting finish as soon as possible. I don’t know why anyone would want to be free of this kind of distraction only while in school. On the other hand, smoking a cigarette is a socially acceptable way (amongst smokers, at least) to interrupt whatever business people are doing and mingle. So if that’s what you need, then perhaps that’s enough of a rationale to continue doing it. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/34 "2009-11-21T22:57:53Z")
> [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > It takes up more time during your day than you think I once thought about calculating how much the time that people devote SOLELY to smoking itself reduces the GNP. Maybe someone who smokes could do that instead of their next few cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/35 "2009-11-21T23:31:23Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Maybe off on a tangent here, but smelling bad isn’t a good argument. I’ve smelled far worse from people than smoke, yet we don’t take away their civil rights or get in their face and insist they wash RIGHT NOW. Really? I’ve never smelled anything worse from someone than smoke. Nor have I run across non smokers who leave a stench behind that lasts for such a long time, or attaches itself to everything. When you smoke you are putting out enough that it’s visible to the naked eye, after all. Has it occurred to you that your nose may be rather inured to the stench of it by now? > [@BrandonR](#): > > It’s not magic. He was addicted to caffeine and you’re addicted to nicotine. No difference. Well, except that coffee is a whole lot less damaging to the body, and drinking coffee doesn’t affect anyone but you. Someone drinking coffee can be right next to me and he won’t affect my health in the slightest. Consideration for others is a good reason to stop smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/36 "2009-11-21T23:48:54Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Good luck finding it there, I was referring to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, where no one (in “protected classes”) can be discriminated against at work, employment, housing or school. > > Can I be denied a job because of smoking? Yes. Buying a condo or renting a house? Yes. If I do get a job or housing, will I be treated differently than others who don’t smoke? Yes. In fact, in many cases, they will be upfront about it. I suppose a good reason to quit is to avoid being discriminated against then. ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/37 "2009-11-21T23:51:15Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Is it really a pleasure in the true sense, or is it just the temporary alleviation of addiction? I’ve tried smoking a couple of times, and I found nothing pleasurable in it at all. No, it’s pleasure. At least biologically. Nicotone results in an acute rise of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine The problem with cigarettes is that its combustion aberrantly modifies host DNA molecules. This can be reversed by cellular repair mechanisms (I think they’re called Base Excision Repair and Nucleotide Excision Repair) but as we age, those systems can’t keep up and cancer inevitably results. I’ve always wondered whether if you could protect people from cigarette-induced DNA damage by injecting them with [IL-12](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interleukin_12) which increases cellular output of repair proteins. Grr, too bad I don’t have a lab (yet) and government funding to figure that out. Damn, I want to be a researcher. ☹ - Honesty ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/38 "2009-11-21T23:58:55Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > I suppose a good reason to quit is to avoid being discriminated against then. I don’t smoke but I don’t think smokers should be discriminated against. We should stop treating them like slow-moving suicide victims. I do agree that that they should not be able to smoke in the public. Second-hand smoke is a carcinogen and should be regulated by the government. \ But I hate to see smokers from having employment or housing. That’s absurd to me. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/39 "2009-11-22T00:14:47Z")
> [@Honesty](#): > > No, it’s pleasure. At least biologically. Nicotone results in an acute rise of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine The problem with cigarettes is that its combustion aberrantly modifies host DNA molecules. This can be reversed by cellular repair mechanisms (I think they’re called Base Excision Repair and Nucleotide Excision Repair) but as we age, those systems can’t keep up and cancer inevitably results. > > I’ve always wondered whether if you could protect people from cigarette-induced DNA damage by injecting them with [IL-12](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interleukin_12) which increases cellular output of repair proteins. Grr, too bad I don’t have a lab (yet) and government funding to figure that out. Damn, I want to be a researcher. ☹ > > - Honesty Well, cigarettes have really bad health effects other than cancer. Smoking causes COPD and emphysema, and increases your risk of heart attack and stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/40 "2009-11-22T00:31:32Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I’ve been smoking for over 20 years now. Smoking runs in my family. All the males do it, and my father is currently in his 80’s with no adverse health effects. Imho, once you take health reasons out of the equation, is there any reason to quit, or any reason to stay off the cigs when you do? > > No smoking advocates will always turn to the health argument, but seriously, there’s a lot more dangerous things you can be doing besides smoking, like unprotected sex, alcohol, or fatty foods. Without the health argument, is there really any reason to stay off nicotine? Using your question in the strictest sense I’d say almost none. Perhaps the only reason I could think of is the smell of smoke offends some people around you. I think smokers go on the defensive a bit, because the social norm is becoming smoking is socially unacceptable. Many things in the past that were the norm, we simply don’t do now [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434.md?page=3)