# Why did you first start smoking? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-first-start-smoking/701414 "2014-10-15T17:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-first-start-smoking/701414/21 "2014-10-16T03:07:27Z")
I was in my late teens (I seem to recall it being sophomore year in college), I had just broken up with my high school sweetheart over the summer, and I felt like I needed a vice. That’s about it. Started with Marlboro Reds, then Camel unfiltereds, because I figured if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it right, dagnabbit! 🙂 Eventually, I came back to Camel Lights. I don’t really regret it. I smoked for about 10-12 years, about a pack a day (though there have been nights where I killed a pack in about 4 hours), then one day I just quit. Not sure why–I didn’t intend to quit, I just didn’t buy a pack that day, then I didn’t the next day, and next thing you know, I’m not smoking any more. No idea why it happened like that, but I consider myself lucky. I probably would have some regrets if I were still smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-first-start-smoking/701414/22 "2014-10-16T04:14:31Z")
I was 15 and my boyfriend would have me light his cigarettes for him as he drove. He could blow smoke rings so I eventually asked him to teach me how, which required more puffs and some inhaling. After we broke up I started filching my mother’s ciggs to sneak a smoke. It made me feel still close to him in a way. Although smoking made me throw up one time I quickly became very good at it. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-first-start-smoking/701414/23 "2014-10-16T06:32:07Z")
I started smoking in 1975 when I was 15. My dad smoked, my stepmother smoked, many of my friends did too. I was a light smoker for years. Then in the 80s I became a regular smoker - half a pack per day usually, sometimes more if in social situations and drinking. I had an unusual dependency in that I didn’t feel the need to smoke until much much later in the day, sometimes not until I was off work and heading out to meet friends. In 1993 after almost 20 years of puffing, I gave it up overnight. In the last five years or so, including this year, I’ve taken a few of drags off of a friend’s cig. Each time immediately thinking - what in the hell did I do that for!? Total tobacco smoked since December, 1993, maybe half a cig. Do I miss it? Sometimes, I do. I miss the oral fixation, the ritual of it all. But I’m glad to be done. My heart and my lungs are surely healthier. Even if I decided to start again, I probably could not afford them anymore. When I quit I was living in Detroit and I could buy a pack of Marlboro for less than $3.00 a pack. What are they now? I don’t even know. $5.00 per pack? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-first-start-smoking/701414/24 "2014-10-16T06:35:58Z")
My then-boyfriend was a smoker. The relationship lasted about 6 months; the smoking addiction lasted about 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-first-start-smoking/701414/25 "2014-10-16T09:29:53Z")
I’m going to claim the title of Dumbest Reason to Start Smoking (so far, anyway). I wanted to find out if quitting was as hard as it was advertised to be. So, I started shortly after my 18th birthday in 1974. Kept at it for a few months to make sure that I was good and hooked (I thought it would be cheating if I quit before I was an expert at it. It could be attributable to my not liking the taste, or being unable to inhale). I have quit several times in the past 40 years, with varying degrees of success (I did make it from 1989 to 1996 before starting again). I smoked my last pack of cigarettes in 2001. And I want a smoke every day. So, I guess my little experiment confirms that giving up cigarettes is very hard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-first-start-smoking/701414.md?page=1)