News, If smoking is so bad for you, who still does it? (blood, chantix)

[John1960]

(CNN) -- Smoking is bad for you, and by now, most of us know it.

It seems that studies on the dangers of smoking come out every week. Just recently, after an article appeared in the journal Pediatrics, we were introduced to the concept of third-hand smoke, the potentially toxic residue that lingers in curtains, clothing, hair, etc. after the smoke itself blows away.

If smoking is so bad for you, who still does it? - CNN.com

[xavierob82]

I'm an occasional social smoker. Smoking is harmless as long as you don't abuse it. People who are addicted to nicotine just have weak minds.

[karibear]

Some of those studies are a tad bit bizarre. My husband got hepatitis C from a dirty transfusion back before they started checking blood for nasties, and died eventually of liver failure. The death certificate claimed smoking was a contributing factor! I fail to see the connection, myself, but I'm sure it figures into the statistics somewhere. In actual fact, I'm of the opinion that his death was more attibutable to the docs who refused to either treat him or put him on a transplant list.

[Granny Sue]

Originally Posted by xavierob82

I'm an occasional social smoker. Smoking is harmless as long as you don't abuse it. People who are addicted to nicotine just have weak minds.

That's a false statement.

[pitt_transplant]

Originally Posted by xavierob82

I'm an occasional social smoker. Smoking is harmless as long as you don't abuse it. People who are addicted to nicotine just have weak minds.

Not true. Just with one smoke your blood starts to thicken. When I quit I was reading all the things about it. And really when you think about it. If you quit and feel different in 3 days...That crap HAS to be bad for you. I don't even WANT to know what multi-pack smokers feel like.

Of course they have weak minds. The brain was genetically set to be prone to addictive tendency and the chemicals in cigarettes broke the brain even further to be slave to the dopamine created by drug use.

[ttz]

Originally Posted by pitt_transplant

Not true. Just with one smoke your blood starts to thicken. When I quit I was reading all the things about it. And really when you think about it. If you quit and feel different in 3 days...That crap HAS to be bad for you. I don't even WANT to know what multi-pack smokers feel like.

Of course they have weak minds. The brain was genetically set to be prone to addictive tendency and the chemicals in cigarettes broke the brain even further to be slave to the dopamine created by drug use.

Very well said, if these addicts only knew what they are doing to themselves! But they will never know until after they are out of the woods. (after they quit) But each and every cig smoked ensures a chain reaction to their drug habit.

Good luck to all smokers, I hope you one day get out of the dense forest you are now stuck in.

[Chesapeake Man]

I quit smoking back in '98. Never looked back. Other than quitting drinking, it's the best thing I could have done for myself.

[AnalyzeThis]

I feel sorry if long time smokers. The people who started smoking decades ago when it was still being glamorized. I don't understand the rash of new smokers with all the studies and statistics on how bad/addictive it is. I was pissed when my mom who smoked for five years decades ago, started smoking again 5 years ago after a twenty year hiatus. I was like WTF?!?! Her excuse was that her boss smoked and she (my mother) started accompanying her on her smoke breaks as a means of socializing outside of the office environment and eventually she started taking a puff here and there until she bought her own pack of cigarettes. It went downhill after that. I lost alot of respect for her when she started smoking again after all this time.

[ShayLove]

Originally Posted by ttz

Very well said, if these addicts only knew what they are doing to themselves! But they will never know until after they are out of the woods. (after they quit) But each and every cig smoked ensures a chain reaction to their drug habit.

Good luck to all smokers, I hope you one day get out of the dense forest you are now stuck in.

I wish I could quit smoking. Although I have a new job and not able to take my cigg breaks like I used to, I have cut down a huge amount. I have a 6 month (sealed) supply of Chantix.. I will admit, it worked for me for about a month, but I couldn't take the nassua. Being so judgemental to those who smoke, as if some of us could help it, does not help us. A lot of these articles and commercials makes us feel bad.... but when its over we light up. I am not sure of any smoker who is thinking about this as we light up. Although all the research in the world gives us many reasons not too, it really takes a true scare to guide a smoker to quit.

[Jillaceae]

Smoking is a vice; that is why people continue to do it. Eating an entire pint of ice cream is bad for you, too, but people still do that on occasion.