How bad is my smoking habit?

Question

Please read before answering. My habit is unique due to the amount I smoke.

Typically, on a month-to-month basis, my cigarette intake is approximately 1-2 packs per month. I might have 1 cigarette after dinner about twice a week. On the weekends if I'm at a social gathering I might have 5-7 cigarettes (2-4 times per month).

I've been smoking this way for about 6-7 years and wondering if there are substantial long term effects to moderate use.

Please refrain from biased opinoins about smoking in general, and try to supply supporting information if you can as I was unable to find any for myself.

Addition:
Thank you all for the great input. Much of the input you've provided supports the information I've learned in my day about smoking in general.

I've also learned through further investigation with some of the information I've found here thus far that people like myself that smoke an average of 1-2 cigarettes per day are very rare among smokers. Which makes it that much more difficult to find information about my habit.

One last thing, I'm not trying to quit. Thanks for the inspiration though. =)

Answer 1

I believe that the toxins from smoking take a ling time to clear from the body, so smoking even a few will gradually havea long-term cumulative effect.
Of course the benefit is that the habit is far less pronounced, and therefore stopping altogether should be that much easier.

Answer 2

every cigarette you smoke takes 7 minutes off your life span... that's 7 minutes of Your life plus how ever long it took u to smoke the cigarette and you could have been doing something useful with your time

lets look at some numbers shall we?

lets say u smoke30 cigarettes a month

30*7= 210 minutes from your life

you may be thinking but that's not that long however there are 12 months in a year so

12*210= 2520 minutes per year

that's a lot of minutes u could have spent with Your wife kids friends etc etc etc

BUT we aren't don't yet. You said you have been smoking like that for about 6 years

2520*6= 15120 minutes you have taken from your life congratulations

that's 252 hours

lets say you have kids or friends that u smoke around that dont smoke

second hand smoke of 1 cigarette is 4 minutes taken off your total life span... Ill let you do the math on that one

do you want to be responsible for ending their life early??? I don't.

Answer 3

Well firstly, I think it's good that you have questions and concerns regarding your smoking.
I would not say that you have a real bad habit. You are more of a light smoker than a moderate smoker (a social smoker).
Some smoke a pack a day, so don't worry so much.
The only advice I can give is to try and slowly cut down...maybe think twice before lighting up. Its actually the nicotine in the cigarette that gets you hooked so you have to wean yourself off.
Nicotine patches can work very well (they work by weaning you off the nicotine by slowly lowering your nicotine intake).
But it can be difficult, especially at social gatherings when others around you are smoking.
I found a few links that may help.

Answer 4

I use to be a "social smoker" as well, but then my boyfriend the non smoker insisted since I do not smoke that often I quit all together. I thought that would not be a problem since like you I only smoked occasionally. I was wrong it was really hard, you get the urge even more. Then if you are stressed its even harder not to have one. I'm sure it was easier for me to quit rather than someone who smokes a pack a day, but it is definitely a healthy decision to quit. Since you don't smoke that much then you should try to quit now before it becomes worse.

Answer 5

Doesn't sound bad to me. I think smoking can actually be a good way to relieve stress. I know a lot of people will say how bad it is but I find it hard to believe when people who actually smoke cigarettes can live to be a hundred. Just depends on ones makeup I guess.

Answer 6

i have an aunt that is 80 years old. she smokes about 10 cigarette's a week. she is doing fine. sometimes when i am talking to her , she will say i have to quit i smoked 11 cigarettes this week. i know people won't like what i am about to say , but i figure if that is what she wants to do , then leave her alone, she's 80 yrs old and actually in better health then most of her siblings that have never smoked.

Answer 7

Your habit is unique due to the amount you smoke? Spoken like a real addict! I used to smoke like a chimney, and I can tell you, it's a deadly habit. With all the information out there I can't believe that you can deceive yourself into thinking it's ok because they way you're doing it. Get a grip.
Go to your search engine and type in "smoking how bad is it" and you'll get all the info you need an more. None of it will be good. None of it will tell you that it's ok to smoke because you're doing it like you're doing. Smoking is smoking.

Answer 8

Naturally, doing anything in moderation is better than full-bore addiction but it's funny how I'm picking up on your unique way of trying to justify the dangers of smoking. On one hand, you can't possibly be serious to ask such a naive question....and then you ask for no biased opinions. All you're looking for is justification for a disgusting bad habit and a threat to your health regardless of the frequency. In short...either way, you're killing yourself and your breath stinks.

Answer 9

im a smoker 33 years and cant hold my breath under water.
its still bad and addicting.
can lead to m ore if heavy stress.
lots of chemicals/toxins too
at least smoke the natural ones or find the non nicotine ones if you wont quit.
you arent addicted so you can quit.
wish i could.

Answer 10

smoking is a horrible habit to have anyways, even if you dont smoke all that much...the tar in cigarettes fills up ur lungs and clogs up your air ways in your lungs and a lot of people die from it...i had a relative who died from lung cancer and its not something you want, its a slow process of dying...i would advise that you stop smoking immediately! just for your health later in years