On the down slope of an outdoor party last night/this morning I noticed a scene I’ve seen repeated several times where a pack of cigarettes will appear on the table, and suddenly half or more the women at the table (who are generally non-smokers) will start puffing away. I don’t notice men doing this nearly as much.
The interesting thing about this phenomenon is that these are women who normally don’t smoke, and the next day will go back to a mainly smoke free existence. It won’t be like they are suddenly jonesing smoking fiends in that they may have smoked in the past, but on an everyday lifestyle basis can take it leave it, which is kind of contrary to my understanding of the compulsive nature how smoking addiction usually works.
I know a lot of guys like this too. I also used to do this. I don’t anymore. Tobacco isn’t like crack cocaine. And it’s amazing what a bad hangover will do to keep you from ever wanting a cigarette again (as a non-smoker).
I know a lot of guys (myself included on occasion) who do this. I’ve never noticed women doing it, don’t know if it’s a new phenomenon or not. I have, however, noticed the ratio of female to male smokers is on the rise, at least around here.
I think tobacco might be turning into a once-in-a-while drug instead of a (no pun intended) chronic one. At least, almost all of my friends (and I) have quite smoking regularly in the last 4 years or so, but many of us will smoke on occasion - that occasion usually involving copious amounts of alcohol.
What can I say? Alcohol lowers inhibition, including that iron-clad control an addict needs to pass up a cigarette when it’s just sitting there, taunting you with its loveliness…
My husband used to be a party smoker in college. He graduated to being a break smoker at work, years later and when under stress, but broke that habit.
The interesting thing in that context is the reversion after sobering up to a hard “take or leave it” attitude. It’s interesting how there’s no nicotine compulsion after you step out of that alcohol bubble.
I know a couple of guys that do it. But I know more women that do this, myself included.
I’ve been a ‘social smoker’ since I was about 23 or 24 or so. I’ll occasionally smoke while out drinking (unless it’s a wine related event), but I never smoke at home or anytime else. Over the years I could smoke every night for a month, then not have another one for a year or two, smoke on the weekends, smoke once a month, etc. I’ve never really been addicted.
My husband smokes a little more than a pack a day and he is terribly addicted. He loves it. He’s tried to quit a handful of times, but he so far always ends up back at it. Obviously, when he quits, I quit.
As I’ve gotten older though, I’ve noticed ‘cigarette hangovers’ or something like them. My mouth feels dry and icky and awful the next day, so lately I’ve become even less of a social smoker than I ever was. I don’t like that feeling, and like I said, if it’s wine I’m drinking, I won’t even want one. Oh, and I have asthma, and wheezing really sucks.
One of my close girlfriends is the same way, so when we’re hanging out together we sometimes end up sharing a cig or two throughout the night, since smoking an entire one at one time would be too much for me anyway.
Right now I’d say on average I smoke about two cigarettes a month when the puffs are totaled.
I think some people can do that, sure. Others find themselves buying a pack on the way home from the party and - bam! - they’re “smokers” again.
Me, I’m somewhere in between. I feel a great compulsion to smoke another once I’ve had one, but for me it ends when the night ends. I’ve had three cigarettes in four years - all in one night. Am I a smoker or not?
This is why I don’t like the AA/NA system of all or nothing for every addict. I can smoke three cigarettes in a night without honestly feeling like I’ve lost my chip even though I was certainly “an addict” to nicotine at one time. But I recognize that not everyone’s process works the same way.
Smoking and drinking has a synergistic effect - it amps up the buzz. That’s why I’ve always craved a cigarette when drunk, although I’ve (mainly) not been a regular smoker in my past (I’m neither a smoker or a drinker now, although I am going to a wedding with an open bar tonight, so we’ll see). When alcohol is in my system, my impulse control is greatly diminished, and I find myself eager for another drug to increase the feel good effects (potentially dangerous, I know). In the cold light of day, the appeal of cigarettes is gone.
I agree, it’s fascinating. Ever since I’ve cut beer out of my diet, I have no desire whatsoever for a cigarette. Even though my hubby smokes a couple of packs a day, and I’m often around him when he’s got one lit. I feel no cravings, nada. I used to smoke two cigarettes per beer (I could tell how many beers I’d had by counting butts in the ashtray).
I used to be a pack and a half a day smoker. I quit for about a year five years ago, went to the bar, had a few drinks, and reverted to smoking nearly a pack a day almost immediately. I quit again when I got pregnant four years ago. For about three years I didn’t have a single cigarette, but now I very occasionally (maybe once or twice a year) have a few. I loved to smoke, and frankly, the only reason I don’t start again is because I have two small children at home who I don’t want to expose to second hand smoke. I never smoke at home or when I’m around the kids.
I remember reading once at University (no cite found because I’m a lazy bastard) that if one is pre-conditioned to enjoy the stimulus of nicotine (read: if you’re a smoker) that alcohol upon the gum tissue will increase the desire and enjoyment of nicotine upon same tissue.
Although, IANADoctor. Just something I read once somewhere.
Another female checking in. I’m a very very occasional drinker and an even less frequent smoker. I’d say I have 12 or so alcoholic drinks a year (one at a time) and have a cigarette with one or two of those. Incredibly enjoyable, except for the “I’m harming my health guilt.”
Another confirming the OP. Smoke free for 5+ years except for that one night where I was very drunk and had half a dozen smokes. Haven’t had one (or the desire for one) since.
On the other hand, I know a couple of guys who will only have a cigarette once in a blue moon - whether drunk or sober - and have a very hard ‘take it or leave it’ attitude. I don’t know how they do it.
I always envied women who could do this. I smoked all through college and quit shortly thereafter. It wasn’t all that hard to quit. I would be perfect for the drink in one hand and cig in the other except that now when I try to smoke, my throat closes up–I can no longer inhale. Also, I’ve had one bout of pneumonia and think my lungs are not up to even the challenge that occasional smoking brings.
Re the addiction part of it all: I think that nicotine is somewhat different than alcohol in terms of how the body responds to the social behavior. I’m probably not making much sense but I mean to say that one cigarette does not an addict make (even if you kicked the habit years prior to); alcohol seems to work much faster (falling off the wagon seems easier). I could be talking through my hat, but there it is.
I am guilty of this. I smoke at parties or when gambling but that is about it. It is a vice that I know indulging in more than once in a while will be deadly but it is still fun in its place.
I think it is just the lucky 10 percent who can take or leave nicotine. I’ve seen the addictivity rates (if that is the right word) and alcohol was 15 percent (meaning that 15 percent of alcohol users will become addicted) while going up through other drugs to the top rate of 90 percent for nicotine.
It is very addictive, but I know a few people who can only smoke when drinking. I know a lot more people who TRY to only smoke when drinking, but turn into pack a day smokers.
I’m a guy, and only smoke other people’s cigarettes, but it’s only a few times a year, and only when I’m drinking and the other person is smoking a lot.