# 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:** 4
**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 22, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/61 "2009-11-22T16:23:12Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Health aside, smell aside, money aside…smoking tends to age people. You get tons of lines on your face, your lips lose their youthful pucker, and your skin turns yellow. I can always tell if a woman over 35 smokes. They tend to look as if they’ve lived hard lives out on the frontier somewhere. Even better, take a woman from Texas or elsewhere in the South/Southwest who’s a smoker and spent a lot of time in the sun. The erosive effects are remarkable. This also brings to mind an old proposal for an anti-smoking ad (this was when TV cigarette ads regularly featured vibrant, healthy-looking young people puffing away). The counter-ad depicts a prematurely decrepit, saggy middle-aged New York cab driver. He smiles at the camera, exposing large yellow-stained teeth, waves his cigarette and says “By me, it’s Camels.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/62 "2009-11-22T17:30:06Z")
I think one of the big disadvantages is that it limits one’s romantic partners. A LOT of women (and men) would never date, sleep with, or marry someone who smokes. I wouldn’t, and not for health reasons. Smokers smell terrible. And too much of their income goes to smoking. And they either smoke around me (yuck!) or have to frequently excuse themselves to go outside to smoke. And I don’t want my children exposed to it in a way that would make them more likely to smoke themselves. Better to just date, sleep with or marry a non-smoker. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/63 "2009-11-22T18:32:04Z")
Of course smoking is just an act of accumulating poisons in your system to get high. If you are really ,really lucky you may live a normal life span. But your innnards will suffer. Your lung capacity will be gradually diminished. You organs and circulatory system will suffer. It has a bad effect on skin .It ages you earlier. Then the last few years of your life will be greatly diminished. Your ability to play sports or exercise will be worse. The last few years may be being hooked up to a respirator while secretly berating yourself for not quitting before it was too late. You get to remind yourself that it was all your fault and you should have stopped because you knew better. You knew better. You know better right now. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/64 "2009-11-22T19:35:54Z")
And there’s this: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=486796&highlight=Smoke](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=486796&highlight=Smoke) > **[Apple will not repair computers that have been used in smoking environments -...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=540760)** > > Interesting tibit viathe Consumerist Now, think of your innards. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/65 "2009-11-22T20:20:24Z")
Here’s a cigarette calculator… Hey Superhal, care to learn how much of your money has gone down the tank? [http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/ped\_10\_CigCostCalc.asp](http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/ped_10_CigCostCalc.asp) ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/66 "2009-11-23T18:01:52Z")
Aside from the health issues… And the very, very real stench… And the cost… And the social stigma… And the fact you’re it’s addiction puppet… And the health issues… And did I mention the health issues… …aside from all that, I seriously am having a hard time thinking of a reason not to smoke. I mean, it doesn’t cause a comet to strike the earth and destroy all of humanity or anything (and that would just be a disregardable health issue anyway). So the OP has me convinced - I should definitely start smoking today. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/67 "2009-11-23T18:51:21Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You might get away with not getting cancer, and maybe you won’t start a fire, but there is no changing the fact that **smokers stink.** All of them, every single one. You smell like shit. It’s in your hair, your clothes. You carry it everywhere you go, and it’s a horrifyingly persistent smell that can be left behind for hours, if not days. > > I mean, I wouldn’t want to smell gross. That’s reason enough for me. I was a heavy smoker for many years. When I finally managed to quite, I had been living in my apartment for twelve years. My sense of smell and taste began to revive. One day I came home from work, opened the door to my apartment, and suddenly realized the place absolutely _reeked_ of stale tobacco smoke. I’m not talking about a slight odor you might notice briefly once in a while. I’m talking about a stench so strong that it was constantly in your awareness. I scrubbed down the walls with every household cleaning product I could think of. I left the windows open constantly to air the place out. I used deodorants and air fresheners by the truckload. I had to get rid of the carpet, couch and easy chair because the stench had penetrated so deeply into the fabric that it simply wouldn’t come out–and I was dirt poor with no money to replace them. It was at least two months before I got rid of that repulsive odor. Whenever I’m tempted to go back to tobacco, I remember that stench. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/68 "2009-11-23T23:16:48Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > ps. Religion is also voluntary, unhealthy (Ramadan fasting) and protected. You see, there is this odd part of the Constitution called the Bill of Rights. That includes something called the First Amendment. Which specifically sets out religion as protected! Oddly enough, unless the 28th Amendment has been passed and states “Congress shall make no laws regarding an establishment of tobacco, or prohibiting the free smoking thereof,” you are SOL on a comparison to religion front. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/69 "2009-11-23T23:29:48Z")
I have a similar question. Other than traumatic penis damage, is there any reason to not ram it over and over again into a jar full of rusty razor blades? I mean other than the TPD, which doesn’t count, is there \*any \*reason? My grandfather did it and he only had minor surface scratches. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/70 "2009-11-24T06:13:10Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I have a similar question. Other than traumatic penis damage, is there any reason to not ram it over and over again into a jar full of rusty razor blades? > > I mean other than the TPD, which doesn’t count, is there \*any \*reason? My grandfather did it and he only had minor surface scratches. Not making people worldwide instinctively cross their legs in horror? ---
**Author:** ![independentminded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed8c4c/32.png) [@independentminded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/independentminded)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/71 "2009-11-24T07:00:55Z")
> [@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. > > Second hand smoke (trying to avoid the health argument here) is another can of worms. But, in the research I’ve seen, there’s only been one woman ever who died solely from second hand smoke (her husband was a chain smoker, and they lived in an enclosed space, she developed lung cancer.) The other studies I’ve seen show that second-hand smoke may cause serious or fatal complications in existing conditions (bronchitis, asthma, etc.) but rarely creates them, and that any pollutant would cause the same result. Some are even worse than second hand smoke (e.g. asbestos.) I reside in a state where smoking is banned in public places such as restaurants, bars, etc., and I’m glad of it. Secondhand smoke does much, much more damage than many people care to believe. Why should non-smokers be forced to inhale the smoke of cigarette smokers? They shouldn’t, imho. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/72 "2009-11-24T07:18:11Z")
The argument that other people smell worse is a canard. I volunteer in a homeless shelter. A lot of our clients smell repugnant. I breathe through my mouth and sometimes have to limit my conversations with them, or stay a few steps further away from them than I do the others (who aren’t compelled by addictions and/or mental illness and crave the showers that they can have every time they visit the shelter, if they want). But no matter how close I get to the clients who reek of body odor, human waste and just filth, none of that smell clings to me. But what does? The smell from the “clean” (i.e. showered and laundered clothes-wearing) clients who smoke, and want (or need) to shake my hand or hug me or have long conversations close to me. I come out of the shelter with the smell of cigarettes on my clothes and in my hair, I don’t wear my winter coat inside because the smell would linger in the fiberfill and fleece. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/73 "2009-11-24T17:48:55Z")
People might not want to come over to your house or apartment or ride in your car because of the smell. That could limit your social life, or your kids’ social lives. Your social life might be limited even further if you’re not willing to refrain from smoking in other people’s homes or cars. Most cars I’ve rented have had a “no smoking” sign on the key ring. That limits your options when you’re renting a car, or means that you can’t smoke in the car while you’re driving a rental car. Some hotels or hotel rooms are smoke-free. That limits your options when you travel. You have to spend time outside in bad weather. Airplanes and many other forms of mass transit don’t allow smoking. If you’re not willing to refrain from smoking for that long, that limits your travel options. Or it might just make air travel that much less pleasant for you than it already is for non-smokers. If you’re looking for a roommate or want to rent out a room in your house or apartment, it could limit your options. It would make renting a room, apartment, or house more difficult. If you smoke in the car, and later want to sell the car, that will be a problem. I’m not sure if a dealer would consider that when evaluating a trade-in (my guess, though, is that they would), but if you were trying to sell the car yourself, it certainly would affect how easy your car would be to sell and how much money you’d get for it. You almost certainly have a higher risk of a fire at home than a non-smoker does, since you have burning materials around much more often. You take breaks from your work that a non-smoker wouldn’t. That means either you have lower productivity than a non-smoker, or work longer hours. Lower productivity and less time at your desk per day could affect your career, as could the social stigma of smoking. Working longer hours just sucks. It’s legally and socially acceptable to discriminate against you, in a way that it wouldn’t be to discriminate against a religious person or (in some areas) a gay person. If someone says they don’t want to hire you because you’re a smoker, you have no legal recourse. It’s quite a different situation legally if someone tells me they don’t want to hire Jews. The distinctive smell of a smoker’s hair, clothes, and breath makes it hard for you to hide the fact that you smoke when you go on a job interview, and makes it easy for someone who doesn’t want to hire smokers to do so. It’s a lot harder to hide from a prospective employer than religious practices (at least some of them, a burqa or yarmulke would be harder to hide) or sexuality. Speaking of hair, it will make your hair look worse if and when it turns white or gray. It will give your hair a yellowish tinge that most people don’t find attractive (this is one reason why old ladies used to get blue rinses- to cover the yellowish color in their hair from cigarette smoke). ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/74 "2009-11-24T18:08:57Z")
If you don’t care about killing yourself early from smoking, that’s one thing. But it must surely suck to suffer from a disease that you _know_ would not have happened had you not smoked. With each emphysemic breath, you’ll be reminded of your own stubborness. Every time you hear the wheeze of the oxygen tank, it will be like hearing “toldja so!”. Over and over again. What a haunting existence. Not only will you have to deal with the disease itself, but you won’t even be able to get the paltry comfort that comes from feeling sorry for yourself. And no one else will pity you either. Your doctors, your friends, your family…all of them will be silently saying “toldja so” when they look at you. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/75 "2009-11-24T18:22:06Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Your doctors, your friends, your family…all of them will be silently saying “toldja so” when they look at you. Even if you get a disease like lung cancer or cardiovascular disease that also happens to people who have never smoked, people will have less sympathy for you because you smoked. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/76 "2009-11-24T18:26:38Z")
> [@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, unhealthy (Ramadan fasting) and protected. Ramadan fasting is bad for you? Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/77 "2009-11-24T18:29:49Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > 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? Someone already mentioned that your argument here is illogical, but I’m not sure your premise is even correct. Those things are not worse for you than smoking, especially when you compare alcohol/fatty foods in moderation vs smoking in moderation. The risk of unprotected sex depends on the number of partners and their risk status, so let’s leave that one out. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/78 "2009-11-24T18:45:09Z")
If you’re a woman, smoking limits your birth control options. It’s generally not considered a good idea to smoke and use hormonal birth control. Your doctor might not be willing to prescribe hormonal birth control for you if you smoke. That means you probably can’t use the Pill, the patch, NuvaRing, or injectable contraceptives. Those are some of the most popular and reliable reversible methods of contraception. If you get pregnant, smoking increases the risk of birth defects and pregnancy complications. Secondhand smoke increases the risk of those, too. Once the baby is born, exposure to secondhand smoke makes it more likely to get pneumonia, bronchitis, ear infections, and asthma. Maybe you care about your kid’s health, if you don’t care about your own. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/79 "2009-11-24T19:02:47Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > 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. I’ve worked with people that didn’t smoke but you could still smell them 10 minutes or so after they left a room. Or perhaps, still smell their stench in places they’ve sat on their lunch for the whole day. You must not be hanging out with the right kind of stinky people. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434/80 "2009-11-24T19:04:14Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Even if you get a disease like lung cancer or cardiovascular disease that also happens to people who have never smoked, people will have less sympathy for you because you smoked. There’s a not-insignificant part of me that’s bitter towards my mom who died at the beginning of this year from COPD and complications from chemo and radiation, after smoking all her adult life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationale-for-quitting-smoking/518434.md?page=5)