[net.religion] Why Smoke?

nowlin@ihu1e.UUCP (Jerry Nowlin) (06/11/84)

     I've always been opposed to the practice of  smoking.   Whether  a  pipe,
cigar,  cigarette,  or  some  other  variation  on  the theme.  I've heard and
repeated various arguments against it.  Personal health, public  health,  cost
to  taxpayers, sin to most religions, fire hazard, and on and on.  If you work
around computers you've probably heard a couple others like the real  aversion
some disk drives have for smoke particles.

     I have yet to hear a valid reason *for* smoking.  I've read the arguments
about  the  loss  of income to individuals and tax revenue to governments, but
maintaining the economic base that rests on the tobacco industry isn't a valid
reason  for  an individual to start or continue to smoke.  It's just an excuse
used by legislators to  justify  getting  their  campaign  contributions  from
Reynolds  etal.  I won't even give credence to the "I'll start to gain weight"
type of response.  That's just defending one lack of will power with another.

     This isn't tongue in cheek.  I'm trying to solicit tangible  reasons  for
smoking.   I want to try and understand what motivates people to start or keep
smoking in spite of the overwhelming evidence that they are seriously  harming
the  health of themselves and the people they associate with.  I've got 3 kids
that are going to have to make the decision to smoke or not  some  day  and  I
want  to  be able to understand both sides of the issue so I can explain it to
them.  Experience tells me that dad saying no isn't going to cut it, and  I've
got enough respect for my kids not to try it.

     If you smoke you must have a reason.  Let me hear it.  I'll  be  glad  to
hear  from  non-smokers  too.   I realize this is an issue akin to religion in
that logic doesn't always prevail.  I stayed  of  my  soap  box  (as  much  as
possible) so please don't get too carried away.  If you know of a better group
or other forum to carry on this discussion please let me know.

Jerry Nowlin
ihnp4!ihu1e!nowlin

jlh@loral.UUCP (06/12/84)

Well, when I have lots of fireworks to shoot off I tend to light up
a cigarrette because the punk sticks designed for that job don't work
well at all.  Other than that, I too see no reason to smoke.  Of course,
I assume you are talking about tobacco.

					Jim

The opinions expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and
probably have nothing to do with reality.

plunkett@rlgvax.UUCP (Scott Plunkett) (06/12/84)

"..dad saying no isn't going to cut it.." ... it depends on *how*
you say no.  I know a chap, of Polish extraction, who once told
me how his father convinced him never to smoke.  Understand that
his father had the strength of several bulldozers, was the size of
a house, and had hands the size of shovels.  Father once said to
son slowly with unflinching eye contact: "Son, if I ever catch
you smoking," he said, "I will break both your legs."  To
reassure his son that this was not infact an act of mercy, he
continued, "..and if that doesn't make you stop, I'll kill you."
Son never smoked, never particularly wanted to, after that heart-
to-heart.
-- 
..{allegra,seismo}!rlgvax!plunkett

labelle@hplabsc.UUCP (06/12/84)

     I used to smoke 2 packs a day, I have quit for 3yrs now. I originally
  started because "everyone else did". Later I continued (until about
  31 yrs old) because 1) I was hooked and 2) I enjoyed it (probably due to
  1)!!  Honestly, if you're a smoker, there's nothing like sitting back after
  doing something and having a smoke. If it didn't bother others so much
  and didn't carry such a health risk, I WOULD STILL SMOKE!

     I respect the rights of others to smoke (or anything else they may wish
  to do for that matter) so long as it dosen't infringe on someone elses
  right.

     I have two teenage kids. One smoke lightly probably for the same reason
  I started. She is 17 and old enough to know what she is doing to her own
  body. There is a point beyond which you no longer have control over your
  children and they reach that individual status. All you can do is advise!
  She is not allowed to smoke in or around the house because we as her   
  parents feel an obligation to her as a child (until 18 or moved out of the
  house) to protect her health. At this point example and education are the
  only tools we have to work with!!
    
     My advise to you is 1) If at all possible, educate your children as to
  the health risks, bother to others, and expense of smoking such that
  THEY DON'T START IN THE FIRST PLACE!!  2) Do not condone smoking even
  if you know that they are smoking anyway. I started smoking at about
  14 and heavily smoking at 16 WHEN MY MOTHER DISCOVERED I WAS SMOKING
  AND GAVE UP TRYING TO DISCOURAGE ME!!

    I must reiterate however smoking was pleasurable and I respect other
  adults right to indulge.    

   P.S.     I like cheap wine

                            GEORGE

heahd@tellab1.UUCP (Dan Wood) (06/12/84)

See reply in net.misc.
-- 



                                  /\      /\
                                 / /~~~~~~\ \
                                ( (  \  /  ) )
 Yrs. in Fear and Loathing,      \ [~]  [~] /  
    The Blue Buffalo              \ / || \ / 
    Haunted by the -               \ /||\ / ~~~           
                              G     \(^^)/ )    o
                               h     `--'\ (   z
                                o         \)  n
                                 s           o
                                  t   of    G    
                                        
...!ihnp4!tellab1!heahd         

john@plx.UUCP (john butler) (06/12/84)

<Here's a rolled-up line for the line-smoking bug!>


This is in response to Jerry Nowlin's request for information
on why people smoke. I feel particularly qualified and interested
in responding to the subject for the following reasons:

	1. I smoked a pipe for 3 years.
	2. I smoked cigarettes after that for 5 more years.
	3. My wife smoked cigarettes for 10 years.
	4. I had a 1-1/2 pack-a-day habit.
	5. My wife had a 3-pack-a-day habit.
	6. We quit smoking together last summer (July 1983).

I am going to present two sets of reasons for smoking: 

1. Why do people start?

2. Why, in the face of such overwhelming evidence, do they
   continue? (In other words, why don't they just quit?)

Before I begin, I want to clear up a misconception
in the original article.

Nowlin states that he won't give credence to the excuse that
"I'll gain weight if I quit." He calls this substituting one
lack of willpower for another. There is now physiological
evidence for weight gain in people who quit smoking. A certain enzyme
has been isolated, the amount of which can predict how much
the quitter will gain. The national average weight gain for
people who quit smoking is 15 pounds.  The higher the level of 
this enzyme *before* the subject quits smoking, (I don't remember
the name of it--it just came out in a medical journal a month
ago) the more weight the person will gain. The lower the level,
the less the gain. Let's stop beating people over their body
chemistry. 

Now to the subject:
Why do people start smoking? One barrier to this answer is
that until medical professionals acknowledged the seriousness
and strength of tobacco, nobody gave a rat's ass and therefore
never researched it. Research is just now beginning to surface.

1. It's a drug. Nobody seems willing to admit this, but when
   you first start smoking, it makes you high after a fashion.
   It gives you a "hit". When you first start smoking, and
   suck burning nicotene into your lungs, it jolts your system
   to constrict the blood vessels, raise the blood pressure,
   and speed up the heartbeat. When I first started smoking,
   I couldn't believe it was legal to smoke and drive. I damn
   near blacked out a couple times when I took a hit from
   a non-filter Camel.  Later on, the effects are nowhere
   near as pronounced, but by then you're hooked.

2. A recent study has shown that nicotene desensitizes a person
   (or a rat) to random sensory input. I can vouch for this. 
   As a writer, I found it much easier to concentrate in a noisy, 
   open office when I smoked than I do now. This may indicate 
   a cause-effect relationship between the higher incidence
   of smoking found in urban dwellers and workers. It may
   also explain the higher rate in non-professionals, since
   they tend to live in more cramped living conditions and
   with larger families than the professional, suburban types.

3. Nicotene stimulates the colon somewhat like coffee does. 
   I had a small constipation problem until I started smoking
   a pipe. After a bowlful at night, however, I was always
   then ready to "lighten my load" and then go to bed.

4. Cigarettes serve as a mood enhancer. Studies have shown
   that even though nicotene physiologically speeds up the
   metabolism, it can have the opposite effect under certain
   circumstances. As I noted in item 3, above, it helped me
   calm down and go to sleep.

5. Although this is diminishing rapidly, smoking has several
   social aspects: Lighting someone else's cigarette, offering
   a light or match, offering a cigarette, sharing a pack,
   etc. all denote familiarity, courtesy, generosity, or intimacy,
   depending on the context. Smoking makes extra opportunities
   to be generous or grateful. No such phenomenon occurs among
   non-smokers (Hey, can I offer you a pair of Adidas shoelaces?).

6. Cigarettes are a boon to self-conscious people. It gives
   them an outlet for venting random anxieties,
   allowing them to speak more directly and forcefully in
   situations wherein they might otherwise be intimidated.
   I speak from experience. You may call this a "crutch",
   but it enables self-conscious people to function
   in circumstances they would otherwise avoid altogether.

7. One of the strongest reasons to start smoking is pre-addiction.
   My wife's mother smoked 2 packs of unfiltered Pall Malls
   while pregnant with Renee, who is now my wife. 
   Thereafter, for the next 20
   years, Renee shared 988 square feet with her mother and step-father
   who each smoked at least two packs of cigarettes per day.
   When Renee took up smoking at about age 17, she was simply
   following a craving she'd had all her life. It's like craving
   eggs if you have a protein/cholesterol deficiency.
   When my wife took up smoking, it also desensitized her to the
   asthma, allergies, and other respiratory irritations she'd
   suffered all her life (from secondary smoke).
  
 
Now, here are the barriers we encountered when we quit smoking.

1. Couldn't wake up all day.
   We had come to depend on nicotene to wake us up in the
   morning and regulate our metabolism throughout the day.
   We doubled our coffee intake, and still felt sleepy all
   day. In fact, after a month of total body shock 
   we felt like we had defective voltage regulators:
   we'd alternate periods of hyperactivity with lethargy.
   There was no normal pace for the first 3-4 months.

2. Weight gain.
   We each gained 15-20 pounds within the first 2-3 weeks
   after quitting! That is nearly impossible through simple
   overeating. So two weeks after we quit, NONE of our clothes
   fit. We both had to buy new tops, bottoms, and underwear.
   The only thing we could keep was our shoes. This cost at
   least $500 just to get some lightweight, low-budget stuff,
   as we didn't want to buy nice clothes for our F-A-T selves.
   So if quitting smoking is going to save money,
   don't count on it for at least a year. Our top weights,
   Me: 5'9", 200 lbs (normally 165-170). 
   Renee: 5'2", 147 lbs (normally 115-120).
   If you don't think this would alter one's self-esteem and
   send most people back to their cigarettes, guess again.

3. Anxiety-induced ailments.
   We had major intestinal gas problems. Sometimes I nearly 
   knocked myself off my own chair. Renee had it so bad she 
   got a spastic colon and went to the doctor. He prescribed 
   Tranxene, which cleared it up.

   Stress produces illness. Quitting smoking creates much
   stress on the body. (Nicotene is the most addictive substance
   known to man, both in terms of the quantity required to
   addict, and the persistence of the addiction after quitting.)
   We both got sick and had to stay home more last summer
   than we had had to in the previous five years. The stamina
   just wasn't there--for AT LEAST SIX MONTHS!!!

4. The irritability factor is phenomenal. I almost punched
   out a co-worker because he knocked over some of my papers.
   Nearly every weekend my wife and I fought over something
   really stupid, to the point where we began to doubt the
   soundness of our marriage (that is, until we got the Tranxene).

5. We were unable to make rational decisions for at least
   six months. We hired a landscaper to put ground
   cover on our yard. He hosed us for $3000 which came up
   weeds.  It would not have happened under any other 
   circumstances in my life.
   
6. For all the above reasons, it jeopardized my job. Who wants
   an employee who doesn't wake up all day, who is distracted
   very easily, who doesn't have the stamina to work a full
   day, whose attendance record is suspect, who is surly and
   irritable?

One final note: to add insult to injury, the medical insurance
company disallowed our claims (a total of eight-five piddling
dollars) for the doctor's visit for the
spastic colon, the diagnosis (nicotene withdrawal), and the
treatment (Tranxene, a mild tranquilizer) even though they
cover illness (spastic colon?), drug treatment (but nicotene's
not a drug??), and anxiety and nervous disorders (but since
it was just cigarettes, it couldn't have been too bad???).

Would the insurance company have paid for a coronary bypass
or lung removal? 

You Betcha!

So quitting smoking is possible, but not easy. I lost a year
of my life to quit smoking. I wasted $4000 from buying clothes
to fit, making irrational decisions, and experiencing medical 
problems. There is no immediate reward in spite of the BULLSHIT
the American Cancer Society spews out. I lost wind and stamina
for six months. I lost my sense of health and well-being.
I continued to refrain from smoking because I knew I'd be
better off in the long run. And now, nearly 12 months after
I quit, I am finally beginning to feel the benefits.

fish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (06/13/84)

(oo) <- a healthy set of lungs....

Nice horror story, John, but you've made the mistake of projecting
your own experiences on others.  Just because you had a horrible
time kicking, there's no reason to assume everybody does.  I'll
try to relate my own experiences:

I started smoking at age 17 for the usual stupid reasons.  At the time,
it seemed like something I was supposed to do, just part of becoming
a man.  Why not? Both my parents smoked, as did many of my friends. I
really got hooked when I went away to college and discovered that
smoking is a way to relieve tension.  It gives you something to do when
you don't know what to do next, a real boon to the activity addict.
Needless to say, there're a lot of times when I don't know what to
do next, so I smoked a lot, as much as three packs a day, with a mode
of 1.5 packs.  It probably averaged out to 2 packs per day, and this
went on for 13 years.

My decision to quit came about as part of the traumatic process of
turning 30.  I realized that I was not really going to live forever
and that my health was nothing to screw around with.  Now, I couldn't
climb two flights of steps without getting dizzy, and couldn't swim
a length of the pool underwater.  What really did it for me, though,
was realizing just how offensive my habit was to others.  My breath
and clothes stunk, I had a yellow sheen all over everything I lived
with, and I polluted the air around me for several yards every time
I lit up.  I used to think that it wouldn't bother anybody as long
as I didn't exhale in their direction.  What put the cap on it was
my non-smoking office mate's remark that his wife could smell my
cigarette smoke on his clothes when he got home from work.  He was
never nasty about my smoking, either, just civil as could be.

I quit cold turkey in late February, 1980.  The experience was very
uncomfortable, but not unbearable, and the worst of it was over after
three days.  For a period of about three weeks, my sleep and bowel
habits were disrupted, but that, too, was not unbearable, and it passed
altogether after a few months.  I did gain about 15 pounds, but I lost
all of it and more thanks to watching what I ate and riding a 10-speed
bicycle.  

I have not had a cigarette in over four years now, and I feel better for
it by several orders of magnitude.  Nowadays, cigarette smoke offends
me just as much as the most vehement, never-smoked, anti-smoker, thanks
to the quick return of my sense of smell after stubbing out that last
butt.  In short, it's the biggest favor I ever did myself.

So, for any of you out there who are contemplating quitting, DO IT!
It's well worth whatever temporary discomfort you might experience,
and not as bad as some people would have you believe.
-- 

                               Bob Fishell
                               ihnp4!ihu1g!fish

dgary@ecsvax.UUCP (06/13/84)

<>
>From: plunkett@rlgvax.UUCP (Scott Plunkett) Tue Jun 12 09:38:23 1984
>...  "Son, if I ever catch
>you smoking," he said, "I will break both your legs."  To
>reassure his son that this was not infact an act of mercy, he
>continued, "..and if that doesn't make you stop, I'll kill you."
>Son never smoked, never particularly wanted to, after that heart-
>to-heart.

Who says health warnings aren't effective in discouraging smoking!
By golly, those packs ought to say

    WARNING:  The Surgeon General has determined that he will
    kill your ass if you smoke.  Thank you.

Call this Damned Assured Distruction (DAD).  :-) (if you need help)

D Gary Grady
Duke University Computation Center, Durham, NC  27706
(919) 684-4146
USENET:  {decvax,ihnp4,akgua,etc.}!mcnc!ecsvax!dgary