# Why do people start smoking in this day and age? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 7, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229 "2010-11-07T01:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/81 "2010-11-11T15:56:47Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Exactly. What is the motivation? The compulsion to smoke enough cigarettes for it to become an addiction? > > In my life I have I have smoked probably two cigarettes and a cigar. I think I would have enjoyed smashing my thumb with a hammer more. Your post confuses me (and, apparently, at least one other). You hated that 1st cigarette so much you compare it to smashing your own digit … but you had … _another_ one? _AND_ a cigar? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/82 "2010-11-11T16:26:41Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > Ditto for anyone in retail, although now I’m noticing that it’s mostly the “old guard” out in the smoking area. Very few of the kids smoke. wimps. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/83 "2010-11-11T16:36:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Nicotine acts on many body systems to produce feelings of euphoria, relaxation and stimulation, depending on how it’s smoked. GABA receptors, glucose, acetylcholine, beta-endorphin, norepinephrine, dopamine…a whole slew of feel-good pathways are affected by nicotine, and it does it from your first cigarette, although the effects of course become stronger with repeated exposure. Indeed it does, but the primary cause of “relieved stress” and the source of many of those “feel goods” is the fact that your body is getting a fix of a drug you’re addicted to. You get similar feelings from most addcitive drugs upon getting your “fix”. To continue from your own cite “\*By binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, nicotine increases the levels of several neurotransmitters - acting as a sort of “volume control”. It is thought that increased levels of dopamine in the reward circuits of the brain are responsible for the euphoria and relaxation and eventual addiction caused by nicotine consumption…Smokers often report that cigarettes help relieve feelings of stress. However, the stress levels of adult smokers are slightly higher than those of nonsmokers, adolescent smokers report increasing levels of stress as they develop regular patterns of smoking, and smoking cessation leads to reduced stress[citation needed]. Far from acting as an aid for mood control, nicotine dependency seems to exacerbate stress. This is confirmed in the daily mood patterns described by smokers, with normal moods during smoking and worsening moods between cigarettes. Thus, the apparent relaxant effect of smoking only reflects the reversal of the tension and irritability that develop during nicotine depletion. Dependent smokers need nicotine to remain feeling normal.[34] \*” From the original source: > **[APA PsycNet](https://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037%2F0003-066X.54.10.817)** Does cigarette smoking cause stress? Parrott, Andy C. Current issue feedAmerican Psychologist, Vol 54(10), Oct 1999, 817-820 “The message that tobacco use does not alleviate stress but actually increases it needs to be far more widely known. It could help those adult smokers who wish to quit and might prevent some schoolchildren from starting.” Here is another article (warning PDF) which also refutes that smoking relieves stress: > **[Department of Psychology - Department of Psychology - Dietrich College of...](https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/psychology/)** > > Explore Psychology at CMU: Innovative research in AI, cognitive science, and neuroscience with real-world impact. Join our vibrant community in dynamic Pittsburgh. And there’s also this, which requires a subscrition, [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1994.tb03732.x/abstract](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1994.tb03732.x/abstract) _"However, if smokers are smoking to relieve stress, there is little to suggest that they actually achieve the desired effects. … ’ These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that, far from being stress-relieving, smoking is actually stress- inducing_" In other words, nicotine seems to _cause_ stress, but the rush from a “fix” temporarily relieves the extra stress caused- and more. However, overall, **smoking increases stress**. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/84 "2010-11-11T17:51:37Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > The title pretty much sums the question up. > > I don’t believe anyone these days can legitimately claim ignorance of the damage caused by smoking and second hand smoke. And it’s not like the things are cheap at $5 and up a pack. > > I’d like to hear from some of our younger members who have taken up the habit. What prompted you to start, knowing what you do about the risks? I’ve merged the two threads about this topic. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/85 "2010-11-11T17:53:15Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > Wow. Ignorance fought here. Thank you, **WhyNot** Actually, \*not so much. \* ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/86 "2010-11-11T18:03:01Z")
Okay. Glad to be stood corrected - once again - on this issue. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/87 "2010-11-11T18:09:46Z")
after reading all this… …I need a smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/88 "2010-11-11T18:20:58Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The two things that I’ve seen make my peers start smoking are going abroad to Europe, and feeling overstressed. An extended stay in Europe was probably a factor in my case, but then this was in the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/89 "2010-11-11T18:22:46Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Your post confuses me (and, apparently, at least one other). You hated that 1st cigarette so much you compare it to smashing your own digit … but you had … _another_ one? _AND_ a cigar? > > 😕 I can’t account for the second cigarette, but the experience of smoking a good cigar is decidedly different from smoking a cigarette. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/90 "2010-11-11T18:42:08Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Error Error Does Not Compute > Smoking is dumb. And anyone who chooses to smoke with the knowledge of what it does to themselves is dumb. Dumb and unimaginative if the only way they can think to manage things like stress and lack of mental acuity is through smoking. It’s a foolish choice. But people rationalize threats to their safety and health in many ways; it’s just that most of them aren’t nearly as risky. Most people would probably benefit from eating far less red meat, and reducing alcohol intake, but they do these things anyway. It would be more beneficial for people to read a good book than watch _American Idol_, but people spend time in front of the TV anyway. It’s probably human nature to put pleasure ahead of other considerations, some of the time. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/91 "2010-11-11T18:44:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Indeed it does, but the primary cause of “relieved stress” and the source of many of those “feel goods” is the fact that your body is getting a fix of a drug you’re addicted to. You get similar feelings from most addcitive drugs upon getting your “fix”. Absolutely. As I said, the effects are increased with increased exposure to the drug. But the question wasn’t, “is smoking addictive” or “does smoking increase stress”. The question was, in effect, “show me where smoking makes you feel good with the first cigarette, before you’re addicted.” > [@](#): > > Brief exposure to low levels of nicotine not only boosts the brain’s ‘reward’ system but also blocks a rival system that limits the duration of such rewards, report University researchers in the March 14 issue of the journal Neuron. The finding helps scientists understand why nicotine addiction takes root so quickly and lasts so long. > > In 2000, a team from the same laboratory demonstrated how **the first exposure to nicotine can create an enduring ‘memory trace,’ which instills the desire to repeat the experience and amplifies the pleasing effects of subsequent nicotine exposure.** > **[Nicotine extends duration of pleasant effects of dopamine](http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/020328/nicotine.shtml)** bolding mine In fact, a single cigarette, or the first cigarette after a period of abstinence long enough to deplete nicotine in the body (like overnight) actually has a \*greater \*“high” than the second, third or subsequent cigarettes: > [@](#): > > Initial application of nicotine can increase the activity of the dopamine neurons, which could mediate the rewarding aspects of tobacco use. Prolonged exposure to even these low concentrations of nicotine, however, can cause desensitization of the nicotinic receptors, which helps to explain acute tolerance to nicotine’s effects. The effects suggest a cellular basis for reports that the first cigarette of the day is the most pleasurable, whereas the effect of subsequent cigarettes may depend on the interplay between activation and desensitization of multiple nicotinic receptors5. [http://neuro.bcm.edu/\_web/danilab/files/390401a0.pdf](http://neuro.bcm.edu/_web/danilab/files/390401a0.pdf) Yes, nicotine is highly addictive, no doubt about it. You mess with the dopamine system, and the effects are complicated and long lasting, creating cravings. But the assertion wasn’t about craving or addictions, but about whether that \*first \*cigarette people smoke feels good, despite the coughing and taste many people don’t like. Yeah, it does. It does because it messes with your dopamine, blood sugar and all sorts of other systems. It doesn’t just do that once you’ve smoked a few days or weeks, _but from the very first cigarette._ ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/92 "2010-11-11T19:03:26Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Your post confuses me (and, apparently, at least one other). You hated that 1st cigarette so much you compare it to smashing your own digit … but you had … _another_ one? _AND_ a cigar? > > 😕 The first was in high school. I knew I didn’t care for the smell of cigarette smoke, but with the number of people that frequently smoked I thought maybe there was something to smoking it yourself rather than just picking it up second hand. Such was not the case. The second was years later after time had dulled memories of the first. I was going to bars and the thought was maybe I had just gotten some crap brand the first time so I bummed one from a friend that everyone agreed was one of the better brands. I can’t say that there was any difference. While I have never cared for cigarette smoke there are cigars and pipes that are quite pleasant to smell. But certainly no more enjoyable to actually smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/93 "2010-11-11T19:13:50Z")
> [@ChickenLegs](#): > > Dead right. If one doesn’t acknowledge that there ARE benefits from smoking, he’ll never understand the nature of the problem. These days, to be a smoker, you have to really want to smoke. With the insanely high taxes, the social stigma, and the legal restrictions on where you can smoke, added to the negative health impact, you have to really work at it to be a smoker. There’s got to be something there other than just “being cool”. And as an ex-smoker, I can tell you that there most certainly is. ‘Benefits’ would be hard for a nonsmoker to accept. But anyone trying to get a loved one to quit, or anybody for that matter, has to recognize that people don’t smoke _only_ to service their addiction to nicotine. They also do it because they like it. It’s not as if every smoker is desperately wishing they could wave a wand quit immediately, even if they know they ought to. American cig ads, such as still exist, have always focused on an imagined lifestyle or positive personal trait that goes with their products, rather than on the actual experience of using the product. This makes it even more difficult for nonsmokers to understand. When I got to Germany in 1977 I immediately noticed the difference in print ads. Over there, a cigarette ad would show, for example, the cigarette newly lit, in an ashtray of sparkling crystal, next to the packet prominently displaying the brand name. Arguably that could be considered a “lifestyle” ad too, but at least it showed the actual cigarette being used. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/94 "2010-11-11T19:16:27Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > wimps. Well, considering that all of the places that sell cigarettes around here require an ID, I can understand that. There probably are more people that do smoke at work, but they don’t do it openly like the old guard. We have a wellness clause with our health insurance – if you smoke, they automatically ding an extra $20 from your paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/95 "2010-11-11T19:21:38Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > How about instead some acknowledgment that there \*are \*benefits to smoking, and some suggestions on how to meet those needs without smoking? Some people, for example, find they get “increased mental acuity, less anxiety, weight loss, and stress control” from short bits of exercise during the day. > > But at least working with smokers as rational adults, to find ways to get their needs met in healthier ways, doesn’t make a person come off like an agenda driven zealot. Well, you see, there are no benefits to smoking. None. 1. _increased mental acuity_- clearly, if you continue to do soemthing that you know will kill you and your family- they you have decreased mental acuity. 2._less anxiety & stress control_- as my cites in the above post have shown= _However, if smokers are smoking to relieve stress, there is little to suggest that they actually achieve the desired effects. … ’ These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that, far from being stress-relieving, smoking is actually stress- inducing"_ 2. Smoking doesn’t cause weight loss so much as stopping smoking causes a mild temporary weight gain, which is common amoung quitting many drug addictions. Even if there are some benefits to nicotine use, they are far outwieghed by the addiction. In any case, there are no benefits to _smokin_g, other than killing others around you. Your reply is to “_Originally Posted by the lone cashew And I’d like to see some evidence, any reputable cite that tobacco indeed relieves stress/anxiety, that the perceived relief is not simply a response to an already acquired addiction._” I have shown that tobacco indeed does **NOT** relieve stress/anxiety, and that the perceived relief **IS** “simply a response to an already acquired addiction.” We don’t try _"working with smokers as rational adults_" as they are not rational, they are \*addicts. \* Addicts are by definition- no longer rational. Indeed, most of your posts are similar to they normal 'rationalizing" of addicts for their addiction. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/96 "2010-11-12T11:18:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > …We don’t try _"working with smokers as rational adults_" as they are not rational, they are \*addicts. \* Addicts are by definition- no longer rational. Indeed, most of your posts are similar to they normal 'rationalizing" of addicts for their addiction. I see, I’m an _addict_, and I’m not rational. Thanks for clearing that up. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/97 "2010-11-12T16:09:09Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > I see, I’m an _addict_, and I’m not rational. Thanks for clearing that up. If you are a smoker, then yes you are an addict- and then no, you are not rational about your addiction. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/98 "2010-11-12T16:12:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > If you are a smoker, then yes you are an addict- and then no, you are not rational about your addiction. Cigars too? ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/99 "2010-11-12T16:14:39Z")
One only needs to look outside the entrance to a hospital to see how delusional a smoker really can be. When physicians who treat the very illnesses you get from smoking are inhaling as deeply as they can, that’s when you know how deep the delusion and addiction runs. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229/100 "2010-11-12T16:43:32Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Cigars too? Well, that may or may not be. I have a freind who smokes one cigar every New Year. He’s not addicted. My father smoked Tiparillos, about 10 a day, he was addicted. ☹ **lindsaybluth** : good point. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking-in-this-day-and-age/560229.md?page=6)