upsides:
-bonding with others who smoke
-the ritual of taking small breaks
-looks cool/attractive to some people
-relieves anxiety in some cases
-gives a bump of energy

downsides
-diminished lung capacity (getting winded during minor tasks)
-dulled sense of taste
-long term health risks
-disgusting to some people
-yellow teeth
-tar buildup in the house/car
-hundreds or thousands of dollars per year to smoke
-colds/flu is much worse
-inconvenience of smoke breaks

I nearly began smoking when I went away to college, but I decided against it when I thought of it in terms of downsides/upsides. I thought about it after I got winded for the first time walking up the steps of my building.

goddammit

I understand the whole using smoke to relax you and take away stress but speaking from experience we shouldn't go to that, it won't lead is into any good. If you need a way out, I can help you, I know a really good way, His name is Jesus :) (if you want more info don't hesitate to add me on steam :)) -fyi, won't mention it again, so don't troll this message please

incoming nuke from edgy teenage atheists.

if jesus so smrt then why he mak cigarete? fukin fegt

i said I wasn't going to talk about it here, I don't plan to preach or anything or ofend anyone, sorry if my post did(if it did i dont mind erasing it) but if you have questions I don't mind answering them, add me on steam :)

How would a false deity help anyone quit smoking? Feel free to enlighten everyone here because I'm sure a lot of people would love to quit. They shouldn't have to add you.

Sorry, Jesus made my ex-girlfriend cheat on me, he was the reason I started.

Praise God

I dip as well, been doing it for 3+ years and its such a pain. Don't fall to the big tobacco companies kids.

I started off smoking when I was like 11 years old,(sad I know but I was 11 and didn't know any better)I did it because at the time my friend was and he was older etc and I was 11 so I was like aww yeah I want to be cool as well. I ended up being addicted to cigarettes till about when I was 14 years old. I ended up stopping and then started with dip because a friend who was in the army offered me some. It gave me a bigger "buzz" I guess and it was citrus flavored and it tasted really pleasant actually. I'm 17 now, and I'm still a slave to the damn stuff. Really wish I never started.

Only smoked a handful of times after being offered to. Simply because it seemed like a polite thing to accept and continue talking with them. It's sort of a nice feeling, but never had the urge to go out and buy my own though. I also have enough crutches and things I'm dependent on, don't need to add smoking to the list.

Adderall and caffeine AND nicotine would just be a heart attack waiting to happen

im not cool enough to smoke

me too :(

When I was in middle school my friends and I would look for used cigs that were large enough to smoke wherever we'd go. We did this for about a week until we realized it wasn't worth the trouble. Haven't touched a cig since.

4/20 blaze it? how about 4/20 praise it.

✟ +Frag if you love Jesus ✟

Ignore if you love the Devil

I started smoking when I found a full, unopened pack on the bus one day. I took it but didn't open it for a while (still not too sure why), and my first smoke was when me and the group I was with finished our project for grade 11 physics, which was to make a string-powered car. The competition was to make the one that would go the farthest in a straight line from the start, and we were all feeling really confident that ours would win (it did), so I'm like, "I'm feeling real happy, so I'm gonna smoke, if no one minds?"
They didn't, and the cigs were mild enough that I didn't start immediately hacking like when I tried my grandmother's cig (she's been smoking for 40+ years and has already had a stroke, refuses to kick the habit). What I liked the most about smoking was just watching the smoke undulate, both from the tip and from the exhale: this is why I never smoke when it's windy/ too bright to see the smoke.
Since then I've tied smoking in with doing something that makes me feel really good, be it really good music, having just done something I'm really proud of, or just hanging out with friends and having a good time. I once tried smoking when I was stressed over something or other, and I just couldn't finish it (music and video games have always been my stress relief, and I'd already tied smoking in with high points rather than low points).
For the first few months I'd hide it from my parents, mainly since I led to both of them quitting: my mom quit when she was pregnant with me, and I made my dad quit when I was like 8 and just off the whole DARE crap. I knew they wouldn't do anything I'd be afraid of: they're firmly Catholic, but unlike AMC up there they had no issue with finding out I'd disowned my faith. I mainly hid them because of the embarrassment I thought they'd make me feel by bringing up the irony of it all, but by the time they found out I'd more or less fully switched over to e-cigs (there's nothing like smoking ice cream), and their major talking point was worry for my future health: I averaged 1 cigarette a month up to that point, and not much has changed since then, so I convinced them that there was nothing to worry about.

I hope y'all don't mind me necroing this thread, but I would really like to share my story.

Up until I was 16 (so 2014), I never once touched a cigarette and had my mind set against ever using them. That summer was the first summer I started going out and socializing. One I was at a bar with a bunch of other people from my extended social circle, and I was really trying to holla at this girl I was into. My friend Joseph, who was a year older than me at this point, was really trying to help me out. At one point though he just decided to offer me a cigarette. I kept denying him but he straight up kept pressuring me with "Come on man. It'll make you relax. You'll feel better and it looks cool dude". I kept resisting and resisting until one point where my mind said "the amount of stress he's giving me could probably be solved if I just smoke this cigarette". And so I did. I hated the taste, coughed a lot and threw it away after smoking just half of it. The next day, I was bumming cigarettes off of friends and just told myself "Welp, guess I'm a smoker now". Not many days later, I was buying my own packs.

I smoked for 3 years after that. Every now and then I would consider stopping and try but never actually manage. There were times where I would take a break off of cigs for a week or two when they made me feel sick, though I had full intentions of continuing afterwards.

In September of 2017, I was making a big effort to stop and was going days at a time without smoking, though eventually at one point or another I would cave in and buy a pack or have a cigarette. In October of that year, Mala and J.Sparrow came to Malta to perform and it was the most hyped up party of the year.I hadn't smoked for like 4 days before the party and went without cigarettes on me. I got to the venue early, realized I was bored waiting for the main acts to start, and decided to buy a pack and smoke. I remember smoking my fucking lungs out that night.
I woke up next morning extremely sick, throwing up every hour. I remember the disgusting smell of cigarettes on me, in my hair (I still had my dreads at the time. Dreadlocks absorb smell like a bitch iydk), and how I tried so bloody hard to sleep through the smell in the night. Waking up and being sick and having to still put up with the rancid smell in my hair is what tipped me over. I was like "no fuck this, I'm not putting up with this shit and this smell anymore", and that party ended up being the last time I would smoke for almost 2 years.

Quitting wasn't really that hard because I really really wanted to stop at that point. There were moments where I craved a cigarette, but I managed to willpower it out. Was very proud of myself. My health improving, my ability to breathe easier, smell and taste things better, not smelling like cigarettes and not having to wash my hair 3 times a week to get rid of the smell felt so rewarding that I only got happier with not smoking. 2 weeks after my last cigarette, I no longer had to fight cravings.

Fast forward to 2 months ago, so early-June of 2019. I was having serious relationship issues with my now ex-girlfriend, whom I'd been together with for 1.5 years at that point. Things were getting really really bad for me, and as much as I hate to admit it, I was considering running away and committing suicide. As I was considering this, I figured that, if I was gonna end it, I might as well enjoy some cigarettes in my last dying breaths. I went ahead and bought some of my favourite rolling tobacco from when I was first a smoker, rolled up, and boom. Like that, I was smoking again.
Thankfully, things in the relationship got a bit better before they got worse again, so I ended up deciding against committing suicide, though like the first time that I started smoking, I went with the attitude of "Welp, guess I'm a smoker now". My then-still-girlfriend was a smoker, so for the last few weeks, I enjoyed some cigarettes with her as opposed to not allowing her to smoke when around me for her own health.

In late June, we broke up. She was guilt tripping me for some mistakes I'd done and coming up with excuses to cover up the fact that she was gaining interested in someone else and flirting with this other person behind my back whilst we were still together. The day after we broke up, they made out together and immediately started dating. A week after our 1.5 year relationship ended, they were calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend.

This week, I've managed to stop smoking once again, this time for good. I read Allen Carr's Easyway to stop smoking and now I can't even imagine ever putting a cigarette in my mouth. Quitting feels extra good this time, considering that I started smoking due to relationship problems. Also my ex is still a smoker, so it feels extra good knowing that I'm working on self-improvement whilst she's still out there choking herself with cigs hahahaha nice one Christabelle I hope Stefan likes the rancid taste of your mouth whenever you kiss him looool

.

I stopped drinking and eating so much unhealthy food and have just replaced those addictions with smoking. I'm going to try and limit myself to 1 or 2 a day just focus on vaping. I never knew my Grandfather who fought the Japanese in the war because of smoking.

My grandad was smoking 3 packs for 30 years, and then got lung cancer. Don't know how he survived. Even with knowing that, I still smoke pack a day. A shit habit I want to get rid of.

oh boy, i'll write mine this afternoon, prepare for a long long story

grandpa died before i was born from lung cancer, so my mom would kill me if i ever smoked

my grandpa taught me how to take care of a pipe when i was kid. he didnt smoke cigarettes by the time i was born, only his pipe. fast forward 15 years, i havent seen him for the past 11 of them but not for a lack of want; life doesnt always turn out the way we'd like it to. anyway, i went to a local retro sorta shop with a friend of mine and saw this pipe that looked like the one my grandad used to have so i just bought it on an impulse. shit must be like, i dont know, 50 years old or something. brought it home, cleaned and renovated it as best i could. now, im only 21 years old and the digital age started when i was really young so i never experienced the level of technological inconvenience or ineptitude that my parents and grandparents did. dont know where im going with this really but anyway, i feel that little analogue rituals like packing, smoking and then cleaning my pipe or winding up my manual watch help me gather my thoughts and maybe connect with who i am a little better. i cant give some grand story about how smoking was incited by some great tragic event in my life, its just a way to achieve a kind of moving meditation while im fiddling with the pipe

i smoked 1 cigarette and it tasted like dog shit so i never smoked again!

a lot of my irl friend smoke, i smoke like 1 - 2 cigarettes a year and only when i am really drunk because they feel super smooth then

This one time i smoked a cigarette but then i got cancer and died. True story.

https://i.imgur.com/14XQILh.jpg

I have a feeling that I might get sucked into smoking a cigarette, and it worries me sometimes. Before college, I always told myself that I would never smoke weed or drink or anything like that and I got sucked into it. I fear that it might happen with cigarettes, hope it never happens.

Not cigarettes but I started vaping because I was hitting my dab pen all the time. So essentially dropped one bad habit for another one. Decided to quit vaping 2 days ago cold turkey and it's going well. Haven't had any withdrawal symptoms thankfully