Smoking
 

A poll, just curious to see the trends. A ton of my friends smoke.

There are a couple of people I work with who smoke. Other than that, I know very few people who smoke at the moment.

I quit in basic training over 10 years ago. Haven't lit up since.

2.5 to 3.5 packs a day.

I smoked a few times in high school at parties.... didn't enjoy it....

Wow, Jon are you serious?

I'm pretty certain that he is.

Never have, never will. Ditto with drinking alcohol and any type of non-medicational drugs.

Went through a phase a few years ago where I would smoke when I was drunk, but that thankfully didn't last long.

Got a better buzz from cigs than I do from booze, though...

I used to smoke very occassionally. A few times a year tops. Then one night in Prague me and a friend of mine split three packs of cigarettes. When I woke up the next day I swore I would never smoke a cigarette again. It's been almost 6 years and I've stuck to it. Nasty shit.

I would guess but worked with a guy from France and he smoked 2.5 packs a day no lie.

Completely ... which is down from my previous high years ago of about 4.5/day.

Technically, I don't think you can really smoke 4.5 packs a day, you can just burn that many. Lots of light & get interrupted, caught on the phone, etc., sort of stuff once you get to that point.

As comic James Gregory puts it "I smoke about 2 packs a day ... I'd smoke more, but there just isn't time."

Wow.

I smoked for 12 years, but quit cold turkey last June (June 13, to be exact). I still think about it every day. This week I had two dreams where I smoked a cigarette.

I tried a few times in high school and once in college, but could never stand it fortunately.

My cadaver in medical school was a heavy smoker for 30 plus years my anatomy professor guessed. He had the nastiest lungs I've ever seen. I couldn't believe the vast difference when looking at the lungs of a previous non-smoker cadaver.

To be honest, I thought 2.5 sounded a little low.

I quit, twice. Once for 3 years and currently my streak is 20 smokeless months...

that's very chimney-like

It varies, depending almost entirely upon how much I'm awake/asleep.

Longer days, I'll burn more, virtually chaining them late if I'm staying awake past when i'd like to for some reason. If I actually get 7-8 hours sleep, I'll smoke less.

I also smoke about a half-pack a day less now than I used to, now that I don't spend much time in the car.

I never understood the whole fascination with cigs. I like a cigar now and then, but the couple of cigs I have smoked I just found nasty.

Are you on fire?

You should really consider cutting back to 1 pack a day and taking it from there. That seems like over-kill on the lungs and circulation. You're never giving your body a chance to chill.

This is my situation as well. When I was in college I would smoke when drinking, but couldn't stand the leftover smell the next day. I think I've had maybe one smoke (cigarette)in the last 2 years.

While I worked in the lab at Mead, the folks who operated the machines would go through two packs in a 12 hour shift. It was crazy to watch because it was like they were trained...

5 minutes of work.... 25 minute smoke break.... 5 minutes of work.... 25 minute smoke break....

Its funny how different people really are when it comes to smoking, even quitting smoking. I also smoked for 12 years and quit cold turkey sometime last fall before my birthday. Usually went through about a carton a week, sometimes more based on social activities and bar hopping. Everyone in my house smokes and half of the people I work with also. Still I rarely think about it and havent touched one since. Never 'tried' to quit except the one day I woke up and decided that I didnt want to smoke anymore. Want to say I had a pack or so that last day of smoking, but certainly didnt plan on quitting or make some ordeal up about it the night before.

No gum, or lozenge or patches. Quitting had nothing to do with anyone else like a newborn baby or stopping at the same time as another smoker. It certainly didnt have any sort of a financial impact on my decision either and there wasnt a nagging g/f pushing to quit. Basically it comes down to what do you want? I just cannot imagine not being able to do something or not being able to stop doing something thats happening in my life on a daily basis. Suppose its been about seven months or so but I dont know exactly. Doesnt matter. If I wake up tomorrow and want a cigarette or a carton - I'll have one.

Ditto

I know a lot of people who smoke...they didn't in high school, but once college started, they started smoking when they drank, then just all the time. I also know a lot of people who dip...many started in high school. I also know people who dip in class.

Personally, I've only tried cigs a few times and dip a few times. I try to stay away from it all though...just the occasional cig while I've been drinking (maybe twice a year).

Smoked about a pack a day for five years or so. One night I decided to quit, and I haven't had one since. That was just over four years ago.

I usually smoke 3-5 cigs a day.

My parents were in that two-pack range. Didn't believe it would hurt them at all. So my son only has one set of grandparents.

I tried it when I was 12 or 13. Didn't like it at all, luckily, so I've probably had about 20 in my life, total. My little sister did, and still smokes, though she's probably in the half-pack range.

You can tell the amount someone smokes by the time it takes their interior walls to require a fresh coat of paint.

My sister took to it immediately, and thought she needed to hide it from my parents when she was 12. So one day my mom found a cigarette still smouldering in her trash can. She just put an ash tray on my sister's desk. No lectures, nothing. By 15, my sister was bringing home clove cigarettes.

Ditto his ditto to MJ4H

And to quote Casey Jones

"I'd rather suck a dick then smoke a cig"

(They're an overly straight edge band, I don't consider myself sXe but it's a funny lyric)

Same here... Now a cigar, that's fun to smoke every once in a while. When my family traveled to Paris over winter break, we went to Belgium for a couple of days, my older brother, who I hadn't seen in 6 months (because he lives in Paris), and I smoked a Cuban Cigar in the hotel lobby. One of the highlights of my trip:)

By the way, where's the smoke marijuana option?

Likewise...

I grew up with parents, grandparents, aunts, etc. who smoked a lot. I grew to detest the way it smelled, the way it made my clothes smells, and the way it gave me headaches and made me cough. I vowed at an early age to never touch a cig, and I am happy to say that I never have. Tons of friends smoked and I got ribbed about it alot, but I never buckled.

I'm almost a bit psychotic about it; I won't go to bars, I won't hug my mom if she smells of smoke, I'm unable to hang with friends who smoke in thier homes and cars, etc. Just the smell of smoke on someone's clothes makes me want to retch. I'm glad that I've never smoked, but I really wish I didn't have this big of a hang-up. It's actually limited me in a lot of areas.

for future reference...do you think your parents handled it correctly? would you handle it the same way? would she smoe more or less had responded differently?

That's largely the point I think -- if my body decides to "chill", it means I'm not moving as fast as I can, and that's pretty much the only way I can keep up with everything going on here.

Minus caffeine & nicotine, there's no company to pay my salary, those are pretty much the only two things that keep me (and it) going.

Besides, those two things are also on the fairly short list of things I genuinely enjoy, and I really have no desire to cut back on either of them.

That was their style. We did whatever we wanted, as long as it didn't bother them. Which meant making absolutely no noise in the house, but I stayed out all night at a party when I was 16, for example, because I called and told them I would (they didn't set a curfew, they asked me when I would be home and expected me to stick to what I said).

No. If I caught my son smoking, I would take away his computer for a week, or something like that. I have more ability to do something about it than my parents did, since there is no smoking in our house.

That last question is the toughest. She smokes because she likes to smoke. She's had health scares, but she doesn't seem to care that much because she's single and has no kids herself. And she plays tennis something like five times a week in the summer, so she's not yet limited by her decision. So, no, I don't think it would have changed anything.

smoking right now, Jon? :)

no offense but thats a shame. Could hurt cha in the future.

Shorty, that's usually a pretty safe bet ;)

Smoke away, Jon. It's still legal in most states.

In college, one of my nicknames was "Chimney"

I was smoking in the 2+ pack a day range for awhile. It probably would have been more, but I had to spend at least some time working and at class. :)

I have not smoked in awhile though. I quit mainly because of money issues ($8-10 a day on smokes adds up when you're broke) and now when I smoke, since my body is not used to it, they make me feel like crap so I end up just not smoking at all.

In my hayday, though, when at parties or just hanging out, I would smoke through cigarettes like they were just paper and air.

I was at 2 packs a day and rising when I quit last month. The constant wheezing and hacking were a bother at work and in the gym.

I don't think anybody is questioning the legality of it.

I started pretty late in life, really. Never touched a cigarette till I was 19. Traditionally smoke a whole helluva lot (on drinking nights, I can prolly compete with Jon), though I can and have gone days without a cigarette. Sitting at a computer writing code all day is very condusive to lighting up.

Same here. My dad quit when I was a baby. But mother, grandmother and all the females basically in my family for the most part - well, with some notable exceptions - all were smokers. My mom wasn't one of those - smoke everywhere smokers - she'd only smoke outside or in the bathroom (she had an ashtray in the window and smoked out the window, literally) so she was a really considerate smoker, if you will.

I think since I've spent so many years away from it, that I find it pretty gross and avoid places like bars and such that have it - for the same reasons. But I won't say, not go someplace because there is smoking. I obviously would prefer to avoid it, when possible tho.

smoked mostly during my teenage years. when I hit my 20s, got bored with it and just quit. Had no issue doing it, probably due to the fact that I wasn't really ever that heavy of a smoker. Occasionally would have one when drinking, but the last time I did that I thought it was nasty. I do like cigars, but rarely get a chance to enjoy one.

the wife was a heavier smoker - quit cold turkey for me as a Christmas present 9 years ago. unlike me, she still craves them pretty badly.

New Years must've been a real joy! :p

My guess is this poll will swing a bit in the other direction once the European contigent weighs in.