Are there any benefits to smoking?

Answer 1

Yes, in general you generate more income for the government if you are a smoker.
a) You die younger, but you are usually not incapacitated due to smoking-related problems until after (or close to) retirement age. The length of your retirement is therefore shorter and pensions liabilities are lower.
b) You generate huge revenues for the government through tax on cigarettes.
c) You are more likely to drink more heavily, thereby further increasing tax revenues.

This was the conclusion of one of Margaret Thatcher's think tanks on smoking.

That's how it is, apologies for being so bleak.

Answer 2

I do not feel there are benefits to be gained from cigarete smoking, but a pipe is a different kettle of fish.

I smoked cigarettes until I was 27, then, on the advice of a doctor, changed to a pipe, as I was finding I was getting out of breath easily when playing cricket. I also had acute bronchitis 2 years running.

I am now 49, I still play cricket, and, as an all-rounder, took 3/25 and scored 47 runs (batting at No 5) in my last match.I've had no bronchitis for 22 years, and my last chest x-ray showed clear.

My doctor recommended a pipe because a lot of smokers do not smoke simply for the nicotine, but because they enjoy the mechanics of smoking (such as, fiddling with the cigarette, rolling your own, oral sensation etc).

I would be flying in the face of medical evidence if I advocated smoking per se, but I would suggest that if you are a dedicated smoker, you switch to a pipe. (do not inhale). You may find you are reducing the risk of smoking related illnesses and you will have a more enjoyable smoke, once you get used to it.

Buy a good pipe - the cheap ones are rubbish. Petersen of Dublin make good pipes at around fifty quid. Choose a medium tobacco to start with - Murrays Erinmore Mixture is quite innocuous, with a beautiful aroma. As well as a pipe, you will need pipecleaners (Swan are good), matches (again, use Swan. Safety matches have some sort of chemical that, when lighting the pipe, get drawn into the tobacco and taste vile). A pipe tool will be needed, for cleaning and maintenance of the pipe.

Fifty quid may seem a lot of outlay, but I would say that I am still smoking my first pipe (I now have six pipes).

Go to a good specialist tobacconist to buy your pipe - he or she will give you good advice if you tell them you are new to the game. If there is no tobacconist near you, McGahey's of Exeter will sell you what you need on the web, and they also have a Q&A forum on their site.

Answer 3

It suppresses appetite, thus reducing food intake and in turn reducing weight, although it stimulates the body it is relaxing to the smoker to ease smoking cravings – cravings granted that would not be there without having smoked to begin with.

It significantly increases taxation, because there is no real push behind getting people to quit smoking one has to assume then that the taxation on cigarettes is more than the tax being used to cure people of the illnesses that smoking cause – also bare in mind smoking isn't the only cause of cancer, so taxation isn't just payment for smokers treatment for smoking related illness. From a money point of view it supports economy as well of course.

It is interesting the number of people saying there are no benefits when you consider how many of them use commercial deodorants, which have as many or more harmful cancer-causing chemicals. Interesting also they feel the need to point out smoking risks such as cancer as if logical people would not already know that – because of course as we all know smokers aren't victims of an addiction to a social drug but brainless idiots – detect note of sarcasm here.

Answer 4

You must be a young person. Anyway, the answer is NO. There aren't any benefits from killing your lungs. Remember? You need those to breath. Breathing keeps one alive. Also, your killing the lungs of everyone around you when you smoke in public. Smoking is the most addictive habit there is. Stop while you can. You may be able to repair the damage done already if you are a smoker.

Answer 5

None. Anyone talking about things like "it looks cool", or "it helps you eat less so you keep a better figure" are talking nonsense - all those things can be achieved by far better means.

The only supposed positive effect is as a stress control mechanism because of the dopamine it causes to be released in the brain. However, that benefit is an illusion, as the body habituates and adapts very quickly to stop producing normal amounts of dopamine, so a smoker in effect has to continue smoking just to feel normal. This is how the addiction occurs.

Fortunately however, if you quit, your body's dopamine production returns to normal fairly quickly (I think it's within about 48hrs).

Answer 6

In the old days it was believed that smoking actually had health benefits - but absolutely none today! The only benefit is to the government for all the tax he gets!

Answer 7

Yes. these are
1. Weight control through suppressing appetite.
2. Relieves asthma
3. Controls amount of sugar in your blood and less chances of diabetes
4. Relieves boredom
5. Keeps your hands busy
6. Creates a sense of support when you are depressed or elated

BUT...... Oh! you asked only the benefits!

Weigh these against the negatives and decide for yourself to smoke or not.

Answer 8

When you're a teenager or a young person, your peers think that it makes you look cool because you are rebeling against what society thinks is "Good behaviour". There are no health benefits that come with smoking.

Answer 9

Yes there are benefits! My husband has smoked since 11 yrs. old. (He's almost 54 yrs. old now.) When he comes out of the bathroom the smoking (cigarettes) is all you can smell!

Answer 10

It has been said to prevent dementia... so yes... at 61 my faculties are faster than those half my age... I'll come back in 20 years to confirm again:-)

smoker and not ashamed:-)

And by the way... when my son was hovering between life and death from double pnuemonia two years ago... I asked the nurse how the finger grip he wore worked... she said it measured oxygen in the blood, and put it on me to show my own... which it transpired, was higher than any she had ever measured and unusual she said.

I'm slimmer than my friends and daughters... after six (now adult) children... and have never had to turn to tranquilisers or had a mental health issue to contend with, yet my life has had far more stress than theirs.

I walk between three and five miles a day with my dog... even with arthritis, still run and walk faster than all my friends older or younger... and am always being told to slow down as they get out of breath trying to keep up!

If it's in your genes to get cancer, smoking makes no odds... I've lost four friends from cancer in my lifetime who never ever smoked themselves... and for the record... I never smoked around them in enclosed areas either, because I'm considerate!

So there;-)

And one more thing... my poshest youngest daughter who got nasty at me for smoking... since she never smoked, said to me recently that she doesn't mind me smoking now... since she now uses the smoking room at work for making friends, because... "smokers are more friendly and they smile more often"... perhaps that's because we don't go around trying to victimise everyone else life this thread seems to do! My son's ex does the same at her work place... another non smoker, who finds it friendlier in the workers smoking room...

Get a life.........