Why should I give up smoking?

Question

I enjoy having a smoke after a meal, in the morning etc. I know it's bad for my health but so is too much of anything. Do you really need to cut out completly; something that is bad for you?

Can i just say, i am fully aware of all the horrible things that smoking causes that in itself is not a motivating factor (i don't know why, ask any smoker they'll tell you they are aware of the health implications of coninuing to smoke)
Too much alcohol is bad
In moderation it's fine
Too much fat is bad
Some is good
That's the point i'm trying to put across
Smoking 20-60 a day is really bad
I smoke 2-9 per day

Answer 1

That is true...too much of anything is bad for you. But, coffee in small amounts is beneficial, same with chocolate, etc. etc. There are NO health benefits from cigarettes. Have you ever investigated what is in just ONE cigarette? There are other ways to relax at the end of the day. Plus, they stink! The only people who like to be around a smoker are other smokers, so then you are inhaling their secondhand smoke which can be just as bad if not worse!

Answer 2

Rob,

You answered your own question when you said it was bad for your health. Smoking is probably the most addictive legal drug available.

Once you have the desire for smoking, it never goes away. The actor, Jack Lemon had stopped smoking for over 20 years when he made the movie "Days of Wine and Roses".

In the movie his part called for him to smoke. He said later that he immediately had the same cravings again.

I don't smoke now, but did for many years. I stopped many times. First time when I was 23 years old. I thought I could just smoke a few cigarettes a day. That lasted for about 6 weeks.

The next time I was about 32 years old and stopped completely for 3 weeks. I went out with the guys on a Friday night and picked up the habit again.

When I was 34 years old (when my mother died from lung cancer). I decided this time I would stop. Things went fine for 6 years. About that time I thought I could just have an occasional cigarette after work with a beer (bad move).

After that I smoked fewer cigarettes (6-8) a day than I had when I was smoking as a teenager, but the craving was ALWAYS there.

In 1993 I quit drinking. I decided that if I could quit drinking for one year, I would then quit smoking too. After all, one led to the craving for the other. Well, a year went by, and then two. I still didn't drink but continued to smoke. I rationalized that smoking was the lessor of two evils and that it wasn't that bad since I only smoked when I was alone (hidding like a kid out behind the shed).

Four years ago I quit smoking for my grand daughter. I didn't want to smell bad around her. Now I wish I had my grand daughter around 40 years ago!!!

Rob, point is simple. You either smoke or you don't. There is no halfway point. If you don't care about your health, that's your business, but think of how smoking effects others.

Hope this helps.

P.S. I can tell you a similar story about drinking and what it took to stop in 1993.

Answer 3

It's not just bad for your health, it has a negative effect on those around you as well. Not only is it a known cause of many cancers, you are also forcing others to breath in your smoke and risking making them ill too.

You will probably end up wheezy and with very little resistance to any colds / chest infections. You'll find that you can't walk for very long without feeling breathless too. It won't be that much use if you're out on the pull either, there are very few decent women that want to kiss / make love to an ashtray.

If you don't do it for yourself, do it for your born / unborn children. You are also setting them up for a lifetime of health problems by smoking all over them. There are very few things worse than smokers with kids. They really don't deserve them.

Answer 4

I'm kind of with Bungle Bonce on this one.
Ive given up smoking and started again at least twice now, and it doesn't matter what people (usually people who have never been smokers themselves and enjoy feeling totally self righteous about it) tell you- that there's a proven link between various cancers and smoking, that it stinks, that its expensive-once you have been a smoker, you never, ever forget how good cigarettes are. Even when it says on the packet in big letters SMOKING KILLS, we still do it.
You either need to smoke moderately and not beat yourself up about it, or give up if it is not making you happy because you are worrying about the potential affects on your health.

Smoking forfils a role that no other drug does. Its up to you mate.

Answer 5

Yes and what will bring you to reality is if you get over to the library and take out a video of the effects of smoking that should do the trick,but if you still continue to smoke maybe you should try to kill yourself becuase thats alot faster, smoking only makes you die a slow death,I hope you kinda get the point,my step grandfather just past from smoking this is serious stuff,its not a joke quit now while your ahead.

Answer 6

I don't know the answer to that one. Smokers must be healthier than non's because smokers get out of the office etc, instead of sitting in a warm air conditioned atmosphere for hours on end.

Yet it might be worth getting in contact with NASA to find out what the carbon immissions are from their space rockets and all other tests to see if smoking is worth giving up while you inhale the rubbish already in the air.

Answer 7

There is not much bad effects of smoking. Its all hyped. But now as the society in general believes this bullshit, it will be a good idea to give up smoking. You are doing this not for a health reason or but for the same reason as you will stop wearing cloths of yesterday's fashion, eventhough you felt so comfortable and good looking in them.

Answer 8

Well there was a recent report that said just cutting down was near useless unless you stopped completely.

Just think of the money you will save. Plus you wont be able to smoke in pubs from July next year.

Answer 9

No, you do not need to cut out completely something that is bad for you. Many illnesses are bad for us, but doctors in hospitals are introducing viruses in us, in order to vaccinate us.... It's ideal to smoke as you say... Don't smoke as my old wife does...50 cigarettes/DAY.... An ugly smell gets out of her.... and sometimes, I must walk in the night to buy cigarettes for her. I'm every time forgetting, because I'm not a real smoker but a passive one. They say is more dangerous...

Answer 10

we're all told you should give it up completely if you dont want to die of lung cancer or whatever.

but you never hear about the millions of smokers with a 40 a day habit who lived til the age of 87

to coin the phrase, you could get run over by a bus tomorrow, so do what you want within reason and enjoy your life - there's always a new report coming out on what's going to kill us all next - cabbage, watching the corrie omnibus etc. if you bought into all that you'd never leave the house