Poll: Does Anyone Smoke Cigarettes Anymore?

[Car-Guy]

I remember when they used to smoke in Planes also....

Yep, done that many times. That was also back in the days when I could get to the airport about 20mins before my flight and make it on the plane easily. No lines, no security, no crowds... Life was good.

 

[Major Tom]

I always suspected a lot of folks in California were smoking something.

 

[mistermike40]

Never smoked... I always found it distasteful (even as a kid)... never understood why someone would even try it.

 

[tmm99]

I smoked total 7 years in my early 20's. I had a lung surgery this year to remove a tumor which turned out benign. From the pictures that my surgeon took, he pointed out the black spots of my lung from smoking, and I quit smoking more than 35 years ago!

I have an acquaintance in his 70's who died of lung cancer a few years ago. He was a smoker when he was younger (He probably quit smoking a couple of decades ago) but he worked as a bartender in the 90's. I do believe the stuff stays in your lungs for decades after quitting, although quitting is obviously still a wise choice.

 

[Midpack]

Smoked about pack/day Mon thru Fri (not much Sat or Sun) for about 8 years, quit 34 years ago.

 

[aja8888]

I smoked a pack a day Camels until I was 29, then quit cold turkey.

DW, on the other hand, smoked until she was about 65 and quit when she got put on oxygen full time. She now is constantly hooked to hoses carrying about 3 liters/minute 95% pure O2.

 

[tmm99]

There's no upside to smoking cigarettes. I mean it doesn't make you feel particularly happy, or relaxed, or excited or anything, the way other legalized drugs might do (alcohol, weed (almost legal), etc). And they do put signs to warn the uninformed how dangerous it is like warnings on cigarette labels, ordinances banning smoking in all sorts of areas including multi-complex apartments, etc. Strange we can still buy this stuff.

 

[tmm99]

My grandfather smoked all his life and died of lung cancer, but he was already 96 when he died. My mom still smokes too at age 90. I don't know. I guess some people are just lucky.

 

[aja8888]

Strange we can still buy this stuff.

Tax revenue.

 

[Ian S]

Just to alert everyone especially men: if you have ever smoked (as little as a total of 100 cigarettes in your lifetime) you should get screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Medicare will usually cover it but if not you can get it done for a reasonable price by one of those mobile package deal screening outfits that you often see ads for.

 

[Aerides]

Smokers/Smoking is the reason I hate Vegas. It would be fun to go there if it were smoke free, but even in non-smoking rooms/floors the whole hotel stinks.

 

[W2R]

I quit smoking cold turkey 41 years ago because my late ex and I were planning to have our first child. I didn't want our baby to be exposed to nicotine in the womb. I never had another cigarette so she wasn't; she is now 40.

Although cigarette smoking may not be considered "cool", it sure seems to me like a lot of younger people are vaping and think that is ultra-cool. I don't see the point in vaping, personally; either smoke or don't.

 

[VanWinkle]

I'll go with that. On the few occasions I see a young person smoking cigarettes in these parts, I really notice it, as it is now relatively unusual. On the other hand, the smell of pot is a common thing. I'm not sure which is worse!

I am not sure the effect of smoking pot over long periods of time has been studied like cigarette smoke. 2nd hand pot smoke has also not been studied over long periods. I guess what is "cool" now may also be linked to serious health concerns in the future.

 

[Nemo2]

Just to alert everyone especially men: if you have ever smoked (as little as a total of 100 cigarettes in your lifetime) you should get screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Medicare will usually cover it but if not you can get it done for a reasonable price by one of those mobile package deal screening outfits that you often see ads for.

If they find one what are you options and how effective are they?

 

[omni550]

Well, a long time ago cigarettes were advertised as healthy for you....recommended by doctors and dentists, too.

Here's a sampling of some of those ads:
https://www.healthcare-administrati...intage-cigarette-ads-promising-better-health/

omni

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Just goes to show you should NEVER believe the content of any Ad in the USA as they typically not checked for accuracy. Makes me wonder about the drug ads. In Other countries I forget which, I seem to remember that it is forbidden to advertise any feature or benefit that is not proven true.

 

[bloom2708]

3 reasons to never smoke:

Double Bypass
Triple Bypass
Quadruple Bypass

Stents and death if you want to add a few.

My dad smoked for 50 years. He was a polite and ardent smoker. Said he didn't want to quit. Loved the whole scene. When asked about death he would smile and say "when it's my time, it is my time".

At 69 he had two heart attacks. Died and was brought back. Quadruple bypass saved him.

After that he decided that he wasn't ready to die quite yet and that dying and recovery wasn't much fun. He quit and never smoked again.

He is now 74. So 5 "bonus" years. Far too many smoke still. It pains me. Not for the smoker themselves, but for the families. Kids, grandkids, spouses. There are many ways you can harm yourself but none as blatant and legal as smoking your whole life.

 

[Dtail]

Smoked cigarettes at 15. Felt the effects on the basketball court, then quit forever.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Seems 2 people here do according to the Poll results.

 

[MichaelB]

Just goes to show you should NEVER believe the content of any Ad in the USA as they typically not checked for accuracy. Makes me wonder about the drug ads. In Other countries I forget which, I seem to remember that it is forbidden to advertise any feature or benefit that is not proven true.

That’s a very broad statement, and I think it is misleading.

 

[Amethyst]

Those sound like pretty serious battles, to me!

Had to battle smokers at work, too. Until smoking was finally outlawed in Government buildings around 1990, there were tons of chain-smokers in the offices, and the attitude was "Smokers' rights." Indeed, to complain about smoking was to be labeled a crank! I actually turned down a job with excellent promotion prospects, because there were 50 people in the room and 40 were chain-smokers. You literally could not see the other side of the room for the smoke.

But there was a silver lining to the smoke cloud: If everyone in a particular office space agreed, it could be declared a No Smoking Area. I went looking for an assignment in such an office, and guess which ex-smoker was working in the one I finally selected? Yep, the man destined to become Mr. A.! If I hadn't minded smoke so much, we would never have met.

My battles in the 1980s weren't as large or severe as yours, but I had my share. I (and others, I presume) asked my dorm's manager to set up a separate non-smoking section in the cafeteria. It wasn't separated by a complete wall-ceiling barrier, nor was it separately ventilated, but at least we had a bunch of tables which were away from the rest of the large room where anyone could smoke. I also got the dorm manager to put up no-smoking signs in the elevators. The elevators! And it was a frequent battle to spot smokers who would try to sneak in lit cigarettes, turning the elevator car into a gas chamber. I would ask them to put the butts out.

That elevator battle (and that was illegal since at least the mid-70s, as it was a fire hazard), was one I had to deal with in and out of the college. Just minutes after my last final exam in 1985, I was in another NYU building and some smoker tried to enter an elevator with a lit cigarette. I asked her to please put it out and she refused. I held the elevator door open and repeated my request. She still refused. I yelled for security and the guard at his desk nearby in the lobby came over. I explained to him what was going on and he ordered the woman out of the elevator. She sneered at me, and I entered the elevator alone and happily went to my floor.

Less than a year later, a similar thing happened at my office building (and on my birthday!). But this time, it wasn't just me and the smoker. Despite the other passengers giving me a hard time for keeping the elevator door open, I asked the offending smoker to put the butt out or leave the elevator. I yelled for security and some lobby attendant walked over (smoking a cigarette, a bad sign). I told him what was going on and he walked away. The other passengers, rather than join me in asking the offending smoker to put his butt out, all left the elevator, along with the smoker. The last non-smoker to leave told the smoker to "Stay in the elevator with him (me)!" I rode to my floor alone. I only wish I had reported this to my HR people so they could report the lobby attendant to his boss. for ignoring me.

 

[dtbach]

I smoked in the 80's for maybe 5 or 6 years. Then quit cold turkey.


Lately I'll treat myself to a cigar about once a week. Suppose that's stupid but it's my only vice.

 

[Mmm Rrr]

I never have.

I'd rather spend the estimated $3,000 a year in my state (1 pack a day) on another vice, good wine.

 

[6miths]

I remember when they used to smoke in Planes also.... Yuk....

I remember being struck the first time I flew commercially as a 20-year-old thinking how incredibly stupid this was.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Recall how many of the talking heads insisted that banning smoking in restaurants and bars would put them all out of business?