People who smoke cigarettes

[jaekn]

I'm an (ex) smoker, currently switched to 'Swedish Snus' as it by far the safest way to get nicotine into your system. But I can say that you will find more people smoking on campus than anywhere else. Regrettably, most people have one image of smoking...its unhealthy, however, all of the research related to lung cancer is done on multiple pack smokers and not smokers like I used to be (three cigs a day). I've gone on 5 hour hikes and smoked in the mountains and have had no noticeable negative effects to my physical health. I quit because its generally a good idea to limit negative substances and because I tend to have more of a motivation to excercise when I feel "clean," mentally. My next door neighbors smoke throughout the day and I always hear them hacking and wheezing.

Also there is very little cigarette trash in Boulder as it is a town that tends to be environmentally conscious, even among smokers..

[qfrost]

Originally Posted by jaekn

all of the research related to lung cancer is done on multiple pack smokers and not smokers like I used to be (three cigs a day). I've gone on 5 hour hikes and smoked in the mountains and have had no noticeable negative effects to my physical health.

I'm glad you quit. But don't be fooled, there is damage done to your body no matter what level you smoke.

[Pierce2011]

Happy smoking everyone. Know what I got for Christmas? My 60 yr old mother in a hospital bed days before the holiday because of her smoking for 40 yrs. Her Christmas presents were severe COPD exacerbation, emphysema and huge oxygen tanks. She really loves the one size fits all oxygen tubes running around her ears and nose. And she loves to show off the latest fashion of her portable oxygen tank she has to use everytime she leaves the house. (Which isn't often anymore)

My Mom used to be very active and nothing could slow her down. Now she's on a tether and can't even go down the stairs. She's embarrassed, mad at herself and the whole world around her. I bet that $31K hospital bill is only a fraction of what her 40 yrs of smoking financially cost her. When we'd tell her she needed to stop smoking, she used to think her snappy comeback of "we're all going to die of something", was so funny. She's not laughing anymore. Happy New Year!

[Redsox1972]

Originally Posted by jaekn

I'm an (ex) smoker, currently switched to 'Swedish Snus' as it by far the safest way to get nicotine into your system. But I can say that you will find more people smoking on campus than anywhere else. Regrettably, most people have one image of smoking...its unhealthy, however, all of the research related to lung cancer is done on multiple pack smokers and not smokers like I used to be (three cigs a day). I've gone on 5 hour hikes and smoked in the mountains and have had no noticeable negative effects to my physical health. I quit because its generally a good idea to limit negative substances and because I tend to have more of a motivation to excercise when I feel "clean," mentally. My next door neighbors smoke throughout the day and I always hear them hacking and wheezing.

Also there is very little cigarette trash in Boulder as it is a town that tends to be environmentally conscious, even among smokers..

Yikes: "Regrettably, most people have one image of smoking...its unhealthy"

Smoking it IS unhealthy. Why is that image regrettable? Studies have been out for a few years now that just ONE cigarette can cause DNA mutations. I'm not a scientist, so I won't begin to interpret the rest of the studies out there. Point being, one cigarette (or even second hand smoke) is enough to start irreputable cell damage.

My dad died a few months ago from pancreatic cancer. He quit smoking 20 years ago, but the damage was already done. While pancreatic cancer is a terribly under-reserach disease, and yet the fourth deadliest cancer, more and more links are being made to cigarette smoking and this ultimate deadly disease. Smoking doesn't just cause lung cancer (which is the #1 deadliest cancer), it is links to oral caner, throat cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, kidney cancer, cervical cancer, and a certain type of leukemia. Because of research I've done on pancreatic cancer, I can tell you that it is pretty much a death sentence.

I guess it's scary to see people having a seemingly non-chalant attitude towards the dangers of smoking. Maybe you haven't been affected yet with a loss which was either caused or accelerated by smoking?

And, with over 4000 chemicals added, and studies indicating just one exposure can start the mutation trigger, there is no "safe" number of cigarettes one can smoke.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box. It's a sore subject for me but also a real shock to see certain attitudes still exist.

[jaekn]

Well its regrettable because smoking is probably only THAT dangerous at THAT level of consumption. There is absolutely no evidence that I've ever seen that links any second hand smoke to cancer. The Japanese, in fact smoke more and live longer than us because they have a diet rich in fish oil and are not dangerously obese. THe oldest women/person ever verified smoked two cigs a day from 21 to 116 years old. Like anything, eating included, these effects are largely due to excessive consumption and, unfortunately even quitting after such excessive inhalation of smoke can be too late. Can anyone provide me any evidence of any cancer patient existing who smoked a few a day? I would highly doubt it.

I'm non chalant because people are up-in-arms about many issues based on scare tactics and unbalanced information, not because I'm naive about the number of deaths/chemicals. Our air in the city is often filled with similar unknowns and dangers.

Now I'm not arguing for a position that maintains smoking is in anyway "healthy," but rather, that it is ok if you can excercise some control and if you, like me, enjoy the mood stabalizing effects of nictotine which can be hugely beneficial to those suffering from anxiety...

Apparently most people cannot excercise this level of control (smoking more than a cigarette or two/three a day has usually disgusted me). I quit because of the cost, the phsycological consequence to my patterns of excercise, and because I don't like the way it smells. AND because there is a remarkably safer alternative (Swedish Snus).

[DressageRider]

Originally Posted by jaekn

There is absolutely no evidence that I've ever seen that links any second hand smoke to cancer.

Secondhand Smoke and Cancer - National Cancer Institute

Originally Posted by jaekn

Can anyone provide me any evidence of any cancer patient existing who smoked a few a day?

» Blog Archive » Is Smoking a Couple of Cigarettes a Day OK?

[qfrost]

Thank you DressageRider. I can't believe anyone would be so uneducated of the dangers of smoking in this era of information. That's just scary. I don't mean any offense, Jaekn, but this is important.

[soscrewed]

I gave up arguing with smokers many years ago. Once you have a few years under your belt, you realize that longevity is a function of many, many factors, and if you harp on smoking, you also need to harp on weight, lack of exercise, stress, driving too fast, and a hundred other things, too. It isn't worth it.

I live my life, and smokers live theirs. Away from me, generally. I grew up with a pack a day mother, and inhaled the equivalent of thousands of cigs worth of smoke in my childhood, so I figure I am already overexposed.

BTW, my mother lived to be 80, but she was forced to quit smoking at 60, and the last twenty years of her life were spent dealing with the effects of 40 years of smoking. She certainly would have liked a do over on those 40 years.

[Scott5280]

Smoking in Boulder? CHeBA HUT good place to stop afterwards.