I am planning to start smoking

[opaque]

What are the advantages and disadvantages of smoking??? I am 25, male

[CroMagna]

Smoking relaxes you and is fun to do while drinking with friends or talking on the phone. But it's not worth getting addicted to it. It's 10 times more addictive than heroin I think. And it causes lung cancer and emphysema. By the way cigars are addictive too.

You can smoke weed. That's not addictive. I don't like it because it's illegal and a lot of times it makes me feel paranoid.

I would just stick to drinking.

Why do you want to start smoking anyway?

[opaque]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

Smoking relaxes you and is fun to do while drinking with friends or talking on the phone. But it's not worth getting addicted to it. It's 10 times more addictive than heroin I think. And it causes lung cancer and emphysema. By the way cigars are addictive too.

You can smoke weed. That's not addictive. I don't like it because it's illegal and a lot of times it makes me feel paranoid.

I would just stick to drinking.

Why do you want to start smoking anyway?

Just because I want to feel high sometimes.

Does it reduce the sex drive?

[firenexx]

Smoking regularly is very bad for you, and so is drinking regularly.

Weed is not physically addictive but it can be extremely emotionally addictive.

But, that's probably not what you wanted to hear.

Just because I want to feel high sometimes.

I hope you understand the concept of physical tolerance. It will make you feel high for a little while. Then your body will begin to tolerate the substance, and you will need it just to feel normal. Normal will be like your current high. As tolerance increases, you will need more and more just to feel OK, and the negative effects will increase.

[CroMagna]

No it doesn't reduce the sex drive. In movies, people smoke after having sex.

Are you talking about smoking weed, because cigs don't really make you high.

[opaque]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

No it doesn't reduce the sex drive. In movies, people smoke after having sex.

Are you talking about smoking weed, because cigs don't really make you high.

Nope, not talking about weed. Just cigs. How about cigars??? Haven't tried them yet

[Agota]

Please forgive me for being blunt, but dude, what's wrong with you???

Smoking is an extremely stupid thing: you would be spending a lot of money on something that will really mess up your health over years and can result in terminal illness such as lung cancer. Do you consider paying money for slowly, but surely killing yourself to be a wise thing to do?

Also, many spiritual teachers have a very clear take on smoking: don't do that. Smoking clogs up your energy channels which leads to all sorts of troubles. In Buddhism it is also considered that the result of clogging up your channels with smoking results in your consciousness leaving your body through places which lead to rebirth in lower spheres. I'm not sure if that makes any sense to you, but smoking really has very negative effects, some of them you might not even know.

You'll probably want to quit after few years if you start smoking now, but nicotine is very addictive. It's easier not to start than to quit.

P.S. Oh, about sex.. I don't know about sex drive, but male smokers often develop problems in bedroom department. Assuming you want to be able to get it up after ten or twenty years, you should really reconsider your smoking ideas.

..and oh, smokers are terrible kissers, because they smell like cigarettes and have yellow teeth.. that's not hot at all and stupidity isn't hot either, so really, God gave you brains, use them: don't start smoking!

P.P.S. Apologies for such an intolerant response, but seriously people, smoking?

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by opaque

Nope, not talking about weed. Just cigs. How about cigars??? Haven't tried them yet

Those don't get you high.

The relaxing effect of cigarettes only comes from first feeling anxious because you feel the withdraw. The cigarette themselves don't help you relax. It just seems relaxing because you are giving in to a craving.

[Beingist]

Originally Posted by Agota

Please forgive me for being blunt, but dude, what's wrong with you???

P.P.S. Apologies for such an intolerant response, but seriously people, smoking?

+1

Look, I smoked for twenty-seven years. Trust me on this one--starting is stupid.

Edit: If you want to get high, marijuana makes an o.k. tea.

[Awesome Life]

It's a free world but I wouldn't recommend you start smoking. Have you seen how hard it is to quit once you start? Most people who already smoke would kill to turn back the clock to before they started.

I don't think wanting to get 'high' is a solid enough reason to start smoking.

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by Beingist

Edit: If you want to get high, marijuana makes an o.k. tea.

Some delicious brownies as well...

[Happy Giraffe]

As a previous poster noted, smoking can cause impotence by speeding up the development of atherosclerosis (plaque build-up in the arteries that restricts blood flow). It also causes lung cancer and emphysema, both of which can kill you. If none of this dissuades you, you might consider how much money you could end up spending over the years on cigarettes that you could otherwise use to take vacations or purchase things that might make your life more pleasant.

[votoshka]

Smoking is stupid. I can't for the life of me even figure out why people take it up. I mean WHY??? And as far as I can see, smoking tobacco doesn't make you high or even give you much of a buzz??

I'm sure it does SOMETHING... but I've never figured out what.

Just... don't do it. There are NO ADVANTAGES to smoking (at least none I can think of). It will make you stink, make your health bad, and can be quite expensive.

[Cado]

Smoking conventional cigarettes will mess you up if you have more than a couple a week but organic tobacco smoked in a pipe isn't nearly as bad because it lacks the additives and chemicals found in most cigarettes. "Smoking is bad" is just as erroneous as campaigns that say "drugs are bad" or "sex is bad." All of them are dangerous if they're done without knowledge or caution but in every case there's a sane and safe way to do it, you've just got to be willing to learn your limits and stay within them.

[Cado]

Originally Posted by votoshka

Smoking is stupid. I can't for the life of me even figure out why people take it up. I mean WHY??? And as far as I can see, smoking tobacco doesn't make you high or even give you much of a buzz??

I'm sure it does SOMETHING... but I've never figured out what.

Just... don't do it. There are NO ADVANTAGES to smoking (at least none I can think of). It will make you stink, make your health bad, and can be quite expensive.

I'm not a smoker, but the one time I did have a few cigarettes I felt incredibly relaxed for the next 12 or so hours. For someone who's normally high strung with an overactive mind that was a really nice break from the status quo, and it didn't require nearly as much focus as meditation or as much energy as intense exercise. I usually have to maintain a regimen that hits multiple fronts to keep my energy in check and that gave me a similar, slightly more potent effect with just a few puffs. I'm sure it would be different if my body were used to it but it's easy to see why someone would do it.

[Harmonium]

It effects people different. I myself cannot get addicted to cigs easily at all, if I have 4-6 puffs that's usually enough to make me sick, just the right amount gives a nice disorienting buzz, but 9 times out of 10 it's not worth inhaling that crap.

[Andrew Gubb]

I would tend towards being one of the people who'd say "Don't smoke!!!" but it's your life and you've heard all that before so I'm not going to say it.

I like Cado's suggestion of organic tobacco and a pipe. Pipes look badass anyway.

I don't know how it is with pipes but I know that with cigars you actually roll the smoke about in your mouth and don't inhale it. That sounds kinda a lot better. The principle issue I'd have with smoking is thinking about all those particles that clog up my lungs. No way dude >.< But if most of it doesn't get into my lungs, it doesn't seem like such a problem.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by opaque

What are the advantages and disadvantages of smoking??? I am 25, male

*gasp*

My LOA powers are weak today. I am unable to to see any positive aspects about the smoking habit.

[rawxstasy]

I worked on a cancer floor in a hospital and saw first hand the effects of smoking. You can look forward to yellow stained teeth, bad breath, decreased lung capacity ( aka shortness of breath ) cancer of the lungs ( incurable for the most part - life expectancy 2 years ) portable oxygen tanks, chronic cough. Just to name a few.

People who smoke look older than their actual age. ( most of them look like crap after a few years )

I was married to a smoker. He tried several times to quit. Couldn't do it. I ended up with chronic lung problems from second hand smoke. It took four years of being seperated from him to start feeling better. I still have shortness of breath though.

Please don't start. This is an addiction that is nearly impossible to stop.

[fantasydreamer]

I have first hand experience of being with a 23 year old male smoker, my exboyfriend.

The disadvantages:
His breath stinks (no matter how many toothbrushing/flossing/mouthwash he uses, and worse he can't smell his bad breath)
He looks like he's 27 when he was 22 when I met him
He has shortness of breath like asthmatic people, he needs an inhaler all the time!
When he forgets to bring an inhaler - he can't breathe!
His teeth is so stained, if you will look at the back of his teeth - it's like tar-colored, not just yellow!
His face is way thinner than his body, it's disproportional...it's like he has a small head in a big body.
He can't do any physical activity for so long.
We were picked as a couple to join the "Amazing Race" reality TV show among hundreds of applicants...but we had to decline because he was afraid he'll collapse on the show 'coz of his lung problems.
His nose is always blocked.
He can't stop or quit even if he said he would, so many times he tried.

---i could go on and on...the point is, it's not sexy at all---

[CoolBee]

I'm wondering if the OP is wanting to give up and trying to identify all the positive reasons for staying a smoker so he knows what other things he will be giving up along with the cigs? Maybe not, maybe he really wants to start which along with everyone else I wouldn't recommend.

Anyway, here's the biggest positive reason for smoking that I can come up with (I don't by the way, probably had 20 cigs in over 50 years and I can't inhale as it sends me into an asthma attack!):

The 'doorstep smokers' network in a large organization is the single most powerful network in the company. It spans the entire hierarchy from postroom clerk to CEO (or board members if the CEO is a non-smoker) and many important decisions are made on that doorstep. If you don't smoke and never join the smokers, you have NO idea! (I used to sometimes!)

To those who live in a country where it's allowed to smoke in a building - in the UK, if you are a smoker, then you generally find yourself on the doorstep or carpark outside the building having a crafty one several times a day thereby increasing your annual leave by around 5 weeks per annum... I'm not going to rant now, no really....

Other positive reasons:

it gives you a bit of a mental breathing space, an excuse to take a short time out if you are feeling under pressure

here in the middle East/north Africa, it's a male social bonding thing - something like 95% of males smoke, many since they were boys - whiling away a few hours in the shisha cafe is the equivalent of having a few pints in a British pub

it kills a few minutes if you are deeply bored

it can give you some emotional cover if you don't know how to make conversation - same way as people these days in breaks at conferences hit the mobile phones - to cover social shyness and feeling unable to start or participate in conversations with strangers.

Anyway, I could go on, but I can't personally see any PHYSICAL benefits to smoking, but there are some social benefits.

[RonSouther]

Originally Posted by opaque

What are the advantages and disadvantages of smoking??? I am 25, male

Why are you planning to hurt yourself? Why isn't fresh air good enough for your body?

And why would you need to ask about the disadvantages of smoking? Terrible health, bad breath, $$$$$$, smelly clothes, compulsive addiction...

I'm almost suspecting this thread is a joke?

If you need comfort sucking on something, use a pacifier.

[Cruz]

You're only smelly to non-smokers. Non-smokers can be equally, if not more, smelly to smokers as smoking covers up a whole range of other bad odours. Being a veggie, I personally rather kiss someone who has smoked than who has just eaten a hamburger, nothing like the smell of decaying flesh. I don't smoke (used to but quit as I know it's not good for you), but I never judge those who do, smokers are more fun and laid back. And smoking is enjoyable, funny how we don't come down on those who eat meat, drink alcohol or use pharmaceutical drugs as much as we do smokers (all equally as bad for you).

[RonSouther]

This isn't judgment against smokers. This is a fact of life.

Physical (and mental) health is the root of your being. It's easy to not worry about health when you're healthy. There's simply too much science and too much observation of the follies of smoking as a habit to say, "sure, go for it!"

The beautiful thing about life is that we have the freedom to make these choices. But with that freedom comes the responsibility of the consequences of our choices. If you get it right, you enjoy the reward of harmony. If you get it wrong, you suffer. And with the body, much of the damage we do is not reversible.

Smoking as a habit is simply unintelligent.

[taylor]

Originally Posted by opaque

What are the advantages and disadvantages of smoking??? I am 25, male

Advantages:
Feels good.
Makes you look like a cool rebel to a certain % of people in certain environments.
Might give you an ego boost for being different than the masses.
Gives you something to do with nervous energy.
Gives you opportunities to take breaks throughout the day.
Adds texture to your personality. (Used in movies for a reason)

Disadvantages:
It's expensive. Add it up and it's no small price.
Death and/or serious illness.
Reduced lung capacity, smokers cough/voice and more moderate general illness.
You smell bad to everyone around you but fellow smokers.
Stains teeth.
Makes you look old.
People like me will avoid you just to avoid second hand smoke.
Turns you into a social pariah. Actually hated by a certain % of people in certain environments.
A % of people will just loose respect for you, see you as a bad influence, low class, ignorant, etc.
Addiction -- Can't Stop. People who are addicted often decide to stop and can't seem to even after extreme measures and years of trying.
Addiction -- Inconvenience. It will be something you have to keep up like a diabetic taking insulin at certain times of the day no matter what else is happening or how inconvenient it is.

It's of course really stupid, but hey I see people riding motorcycles in a tank top and no helmet, not using condoms for casual sex, fat people eating terribly unhealthy food and dying from it, buying overhyped garbage on their credit card and amassing huge debt at 28% interest, etc. You'd be in good company. I don't intend for this to sound mean as I personally think it's your responsibility what you do with your life and I have no ill will towards smokers, it's just really really stupid to me.

I do agree with Cado that if you are going to do it, you might get natural tobacco as those chemical additives are not something you want to be holding in your lungs frequently. Tobacco companies do not care about you and will sell you any garbage as long as it improves their profit for the quarter. A sad fact. Be safe.

[Manasarovar]

Originally Posted by Andrew Gubb

I don't know how it is with pipes but I know that with cigars you actually roll the smoke about in your mouth and don't inhale it.

Actually it's much worse. Mouth smoking cigars/cigarettes can give you oral cavity cancer, which kinda develops much faster than lung cancer.

So yeah, I lean towards 'don't smoke!' as well. One of the most unintelligent things I ever did was to smoke, and believe me, I've done a LOT of unintelligent things

[irfan]

I smoked tobacco in a pipe for a while. It's a completely different thing to smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes seem like a compulsive, ugly thing, but smoking a pipe is a luxury you can enjoy. The jury is still out on the impact on health: probably it spares your lungs, but it might still give you throat and mouth cancers. It definitely doesn't affect your breathing to the same extent. There are some very interesting, organic tobaccos available for pipe smokers, and good pipe tobacco smells much nicer than cigarette smoke.

In the end, I gave it away, though. I put on quite a lot of weight after I stopped and have never really lost it again. Occasionally, I still crave a nicotine rush. When I do, I chew nicotine gum. Mainly, I gave up because it makes doing breathing exercises (pranayama) much more difficult.

[ButterflyWoman]

I quit smoking more than twenty years ago (yes, I'm that old!), and I still have problems with my lungs. It's not constant, but whenever I get an upper respiratory infection of any sort, from a mild cold to the flu, I develop a hacking cough that lasts for weeks, or sometimes months. And even when I don't have a URI, I can get extremely and unnaturally winded in certain situations where I stress my respiratory system.

I believe sincerely that I damaged my lungs with my heavy smoking, and while I have mostly recovered, the damage appears to be permanent. (I am grateful that I quit smoking when I did; I would hate to think how bad the damage would have been if I'd continued!)

I would always say that taking up smoking is a bad idea. In fact, I'd call it a downright stupid idea. It's expensive (and the money is basically being burned up), it's socially unacceptable in many situations, you become an addict and a slave to the nicotine, it's terrible for your health and the health of those around you, you stink, it does bad things to your skin and your teeth, and it's just a nasty habit in all respects.

Honestly, I can't think of any positive aspects of being a smoker (I did see some in this thread, but they seem trivial compared to the weight of the negative aspects of smoking).

[Beingist]

Originally Posted by ButterflyWoman

I would always say that taking up smoking is a bad idea. In fact, I'd call it a downright stupid idea.

Look, you're going to do whatever you want to do with your life, but take it from us ex-smokers, smoking is stupid. I even still have a cigarette, from time to time, and I can still tell you that I'm complete idiot for doing it

I also have friends who smoke, and they've pretty much all told me, in no uncertain terms, that if they ever had children, they would admonish them as much as humanly possible to simply never start. Other friends I've had stopped when their children were born, understanding that there was no way to do that, while still smoking, themselves.

[Somnium Dico]

Originally Posted by Beingist

Look, you're going to do whatever you want to do with your life, but take it from us ex-smokers, smoking is stupid. I even still have a cigarette, from time to time, and I can still tell you that I'm complete idiot for doing it

I'm in the same boat with Beingist here, but let me just say that you KNOW the negative repercussions that can happen with smoking (it's hammered down out throats time and time again by both anti-smoking propaganda and, well, a large amount of random people). If you don't feel comfortable with it, and feel like you don't have all the facts, either just don't do it or do your own research.

In short, make your own decision.