# Why do people start smoking? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 25, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722 "2010-05-25T17:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/121 "2010-05-31T14:29:25Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > There is a baby on Utube that smokes two packs a day. His Dad got him hooked. Nice thing for a Dad to do for his baby! :eek: Yup, he’s been mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Krebbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@Mr.Krebbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Krebbs)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/122 "2010-05-31T15:21:43Z")
I never wanted a cigarette until 19, but seeing so many others in the Army smoke convinced me I could at least try it. My first cigarette gave me a pleasant buzz that lasted about five minutes afterward and I don’t recall coughing much at all. Now, I’m nearly 25 and I have few regrets about being a smoker though I am certain many reasons to regret that choice are to come. There’s no question in my mind that smoking a cigarette after smoking marijuana enhances and otherwise alters one’s high. > [@Wilbo523](#): > > For those that started in the past 25 years, some combination of the following: > > Low self esteem > Low IQ > Limited direction in life > Depression I’ll cop to all but one of these. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/123 "2010-05-31T16:02:01Z")
> [@Mr.Krebbs](#): > > Now, I’m nearly 25 and I have few regrets about being a smoker though I am certain many reasons to regret that choice are to come. You are so young… it would be so great if you could stop now, before you do too much damage. If you (or anyone) decides you really want to be done with it…[this](http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Way-Stop-Smoking-Non-Smokers/dp/1402718616/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275321671&sr=8-1) book saved my life after 26 years. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/124 "2010-05-31T16:18:12Z")
It occurs to mention that the amount which one uses of an addictive substance is not a cause of addiction. It’s reasonable that the more often and the more one uses the more rapidly one may develop an addiction. And, after an addiction is developed, it’s general pattern is to increased use for several reasons. But the most significant factor in addiction is: 1. That one is using an addictive substance. 2. That one returns to the use of an addictive substance In common sense speak this is “playing with fire.” Addiction, by it’s nature, has a built-in illusion of control and it’s easy to forget that it is not times, amounts which define addiction (although they are strongly indicative) but rather what happens to the physical, emotional and psychological health of the user which determine whether the individual has developed the addiction. Interestingly enough I just caught the tail end of a program on youth and nicotine use on Public Radio and the announcer made the statement that in youth as infrequent use as once a month is sufficient to create a habit. I didn’t hear what study to which she was referring and would temper that comment with the reminder that it is the return to use that is the issue, not the time between uses. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/125 "2010-05-31T23:16:48Z")
My dad started smoking while in Basic Training back around 1950, 51. Apparently they would go on bivuoac (sp), march 10-odd miles then set up camp. While they were setting up camp, smokers were allowed to take a periodic smoke break, while non-smokers were supposed to keep working. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/126 "2010-06-02T21:36:23Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Well, are you sticking them in your ear? It’s easy to limit yourself if you do that. Wait, you’re not supposed to… Forget those stupid cancer warnings; they need to put _instructions_ on the box. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/127 "2010-06-02T22:00:28Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Didn’t read the entire three-page thread, but my observation is that smokers simply come from families where at least one parent smoked. Out of all my childhood friends and relatives, invariably the guys from smoker homes ended up smoking while people coming from non-smoking homes never started. There was this one guy, an athletic go-getter and an exceptionally level-headed guy, who almost beat the odds, only to start smoking at age 23, long after any “cool” factor was at play. None of my friends who smoke have smoking parents. Some of the non-smoking ones, do. In my circle the children of smokers tend to hate cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/128 "2010-06-02T22:14:00Z")
My best friend from high school began smoking not merely as an adult, but WHILE IN NURSING SCHOOL. She says it as to help with stress. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/129 "2010-06-02T22:27:54Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Didn’t read the entire three-page thread, but my observation is that smokers simply come from families where at least one parent smoked. My parents were rabid anti-smokers, even in the 1970s when it was de rigeur. Neither of them had ever smoked in their lives. My dad used to open windows in other people’s houses when they smoked. And yet, despite all the justifiable propaganda with which I was raised, I noted as a teenager that a vast number of people still smoked. So I got very curious: “there must be _some_ reason everyone’s doing it, despite the awful thing that it is”. When I was 14 a buddy and me managed to get a pack of Marlboro. We tried one each and felt sick. Then a few days later we thought we’d give it another go, and got a buzz off it. But I was still take it or leave it. Then when I was 15 a friend at school said it helped concentration before our exams, so I used to have a smoke with him before each exam, and within a couple of weeks I was properly hooked. I tried giving up the next summer and got horrendous physiological withdrawal symptoms, all of which which went away after smoking two cigarettes. And that was that. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/130 "2010-06-03T04:18:42Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > My best friend from high school began smoking not merely as an adult, but WHILE IN NURSING SCHOOL. She says it as to help with stress. Actually, it does the opposite. Nicotine _causes_ stress. Now yes, when you get a new fix, your body briefly does destress, but over all, you increase the level of stress. Nicotine is a stimulant. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/131 "2010-06-03T04:35:59Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I dont’ think it’s “reality” to portray the attitude in this thread as one of intolerance for a smoking addiction at all, in terms of whether smokers can change or not, nor a lack of sympathy for those who smoke. A lack of tolerance for the smoking itself, yes, because it affects others directly. I think the “reality” is that, as a group, Dopers have tolerance for some things and not others, and that what they deem to be tolerable and intolerable does not match up with what people in the real world around me think. Smoking is just one of many issues. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/132 "2010-06-03T14:20:14Z")
Both of my parents and my sister smoked growing up. Some of my friends did too. I can easily pinpoint why I never started; sports. I wrestled and that meant I had to be at peak physical shape. Smoking was just out of the question. Come to think of it I never ran into any wrestler or even athlete atthe top of their game that smoked. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/133 "2010-06-03T15:10:46Z")
> [@Scotty Mo](#): > > Both of my parents and my sister smoked growing up. Some of my friends did too. I can easily pinpoint why I never started; sports. I wrestled and that meant I had to be at peak physical shape. Smoking was just out of the question. > > Come to think of it I never ran into any wrestler or even athlete atthe top of their game that smoked. Sports - that’s why I started chewing tobacco and dipping snuff. All the big names back then, especially in baseball, had a wad going 24/7. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/134 "2010-06-04T02:11:14Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > I think the “reality” is that, as a group, Dopers have tolerance for some things and not others, and that what they deem to be tolerable and intolerable does not match up with what people in the real world around me think. Smoking is just one of many issues. It’s basically a matter of informed choice. Dopers tend to be very tolerant of things where someone has no choice or could not reasonably be expected to be informed. Smokers definately have now made a informed and foolish choice to be addicted to a substance that not only kills them, but kills others around them. The\* others \*have not made the choice, but they get poisoned anyway. Thus, by and large, Dopers are not tolerant of smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/135 "2010-06-04T05:22:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It’s basically a matter of informed choice. Dopers tend to be very tolerant of things where someone has no choice or could not reasonably be expected to be informed. Smokers definately have now made a informed and foolish choice to be addicted to a substance that not only kills them, but kills others around them. The\* others \*have not made the choice, but they get poisoned anyway. Thus, by and large, Dopers are not tolerant of smoking. And naturally all smokers do this (smoke around non-smokers). Even if that were the case, I think the level of hatred does not match the crime. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/136 "2010-06-04T06:32:44Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Smokers definately have now made a informed and foolish choice to be addicted to a substance that not only kills them, but kills others around them. The word you forgot before the word “kill” was “may”. Or go with “harms them, and may harm others around them”. I could live with it either way. As for “foolish”; I do lots of foolish things that can harm myself and others. Big ugly cigars and fast motorcycles that I tend to push to their limits, high stress jobs and cheap booze. Heck - add late nights at the computer participating on message boards to the list. And at this point I’ve outlived the doctor who told me I was being optimistic buying green bananas _and_ the doctor who replaced him. So I don’t really see a need to put any of my hobbies away, do you? Anticipating your response, you will forgive me if I think the debate is a little more complicated than most folks make it out to be. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/137 "2010-06-05T02:02:59Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > The word you forgot before the word “kill” was “may”. Or go with “harms them, and may harm others around them”. I could live with it either way. > > . No, it **does** kill others. Maybe not all others and the effects take a while, but it does kill other people. [http://www1.umn.edu/perio/tobacco/secondhandsmoke.html](http://www1.umn.edu/perio/tobacco/secondhandsmoke.html) About 50000 people a year: [http://www.tobacco-facts.info/second\_hand\_smoke.htm](http://www.tobacco-facts.info/second_hand_smoke.htm) Warning video starts auto. You may have a right to kill yourself, you have no right to kill others. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2010, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/138 "2010-06-05T06:05:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No, it **does** kill others. Maybe not all others and the effects take a while, but it does kill other people. > > . Given enough “second-hand” exposure, given enough years, and given a small vocal group to keep pointing and yelling “there’s your demon for you”, I can think of few things that don’t make your hit list as easily as smoking does. I stand by “may” - it seems just as appropriate after your post and link than it did before. > [@DrDeth](#): > > You may have a right to kill yourself, you have no right to kill others. Tell that to the morons with their cars, booze, drugs and about a hundred other things we could all name; things that _may_ kill innocent bystanders the same way a good smoke can. And things we may - just may - enjoy the same way. Until then I think **Autolycus** said it best: the level of hatred doesn’t fit the crime. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722/139 "2010-06-05T06:36:53Z")
I still think my “not all smokers puff in others’ faces” point is the stronger one, but hey thanks for the props. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-start-smoking/540722.md?page=6)