This is kind of a play off Dex's thread about bad influences, but can the org smokers explain to me what caused them to start...? I have always hated cigarettes and smoking. Not smokers, mind you, who number amongst some of the most near and dear to me. It's just that I never understood it.

I can remember my first beer and how horrible I thought it tasted, but it was a means to an end at that time. I wanted to get drunk/tipsy, and drinking was a necessity. Obviously, over time I developed a taste for it and thus my current status as a drinker.

But no smoker I've ever met has ever told me they enjoyed their first cigarette. And being as it offered no immediate benefit that I'm aware of, why on earth would a person continue with it? I know peer pressure or the desire to appear cool has often been cited, but is cigarette smoking that closely aligned with coolness...?

Help me understand...

my first cigarette was awesome. i used to bum them off friends when i was out drinking. and then one thursday, i just bought my own pack. i lived with 3 smokers. the next tuesday was 9/11 and i think i smoked 4 packs a day for a week straight out of nervousness.

you could say that maybe that got me hooked.

It's just extremely addictive.

Raze said:

You, honestly, are the first person that I've ever met who said their first cigarette was awesome. See, I've never had the expectation that a first cigarette could be awesome, and maybe that's why my perspective on this is what it is.

Fauxie said:

The first one, though..?

violator said:

I think I was on the verge of blacking out from a sambucca bender when I had my first smoke. So, it was all good to me.

i dont find it extremely addictive at all

for about a month i was really into cigars, not that i needed to smoke them - but that they tasted good and i have this thing with thick smoke coming out of mouths - its hot...
and i enjoyed smoking them, and will have them once in a while now but not as often as i used to

i'm more into shisha and well..mary jane

violator said:

Well no. I think it's a disgusting taste. I always did and I still do. I was someone who never smoked through high school and never even tried just one puff. I didn't understand why anybody would smoke. I felt sure I never would. Then I just fell into it over here. My best friend smoked and I stayed with him a while, helping him with his education masters. We'd take a break and go out on the balcony and he'd smoke. So I had one. It became a routine and probably after a week or so I was hooked. Bought my first packet for myself about 2 years ago and I'm still smoking now. Have given up many times, for months sometimes, but always seem to come back. I'm going to try again shortly.

my first one sucked...but for whatever reason, I tried several times to make it a habit and never could...
but black & milds on the other hand...
it's been a few months since I had one.....


but they be calling me, man!!

roodboi said:

I know so many folks who don't smoke cigs, but smoke Black & Milds. I guess I've just kinda accepted that they like the taste.

sammij said:

And for some reason, cigars don't bother me nearly as much as cigarettes.

Fauxie said:

That's interesting. You still find it to be a disgusting taste and yet you smoke. I'm assuming that's the nicotine at play. But it's amazing to me that in spite of thinking it's a disgusting taste, you still took it up.

That is some persuasive shit right there...

roodboi said:

Dude, I don't smoke, but these things smell so good for some reason!

these are my faves:

violator said:

i really enjoy those
and with those you don't inhale (although if i want a buzz i'll do it)

violator said:

Actually, I should clarify. The first time I didn't think it was disgusting, per say, but let's just say that were I buying a drink or foodstuff and it tasted like that I'd never buy it again. There are a million things on this earth that taste better. It was the habit, the routine, when I stayed with my friend that got me started. Now, when I'm smoking more than back then I do find them disgusting at times. It's the nicotine that keeps me doing it.

sammij said:

about 3 months ago, i switched over to something called "little cigars" which are just like cigarettes, but because they're wrapped in a tobacco leaf, they're technically considered cigars and are way cheaper. $8 a carton in fact.

which is unfortunate, because i switched over to them because of financial concerns, and now i just want to quit smoking altogether. i kind of wish i hadn't found such an irresistably cheap alternative.

Raze said:

those are exactly what i smoke, little cigars
and occasionally some cubans

Smoking was undoubtedly one of the most overrated experiences ever.

I was expecting to go "WOW NOW I GET IT!" and instead it was like sucking on a piece of cardboard then trying to find a certain taste in it to make me go back.



Waste of time and money.

purplesweat said:

Sounds like peer pressure/influences... but that would have been my reaction as well.

KidaDynamite said:

It smells good because it's pipe tobacco...

Overrated.

Bad breath, yellow teeth, yellowish hands, lung cancer and they don't even taste good.

No thanks.
[Edited 12/16/07 14:42pm]

FuNkeNsteiN said:

That's kinda my reaction to them. And certainly I understand the addictive properties of nicotine. I just don't get why, after the first puff, you'd ever be compelled to continue.

I went through a smoking phase, its disgusting

violator said:

Wasn't really pressure as such, I just tried it to see what all the fuss was about.

i could go for a cigar right about now

You DO get a buzz from cigarettes. A kind of light-headed, airy feeling. The first pack I bought (well, had bought for me) I smoked almost all of in an entire afternoon listening to the new Morrissey album.

CarrieMpls said:

DAMN

yeah i can't smoke that much (tobacco anyway)
the most i can have is 2 cigars in a day!

When I was 14 I got sent off in football. Realising I had 3 or 4 hours to kill now with none of my friends around I wondered about what to do. I started thinking about smoking because earlier that week I'd found out all the top year kids were smoking. It made them seem older and they looked like they were enjoying it. Once or twice they'd invited me up because I was friends with them but I was far too scared of being caught.

Anyway, the curiosity of wondering what the hell a cigarette felt like to smoke got me on that walk back; I walked back to the house, asked a top year if I could have a cigarette, went upstairs and lit up. I remember being stunned by how big they were, and also by how much they did stink once lit up. Anyway, I smoked away (didn't cough!) and finished it. I remember the head rush hitting me about half way through and I almost had to sit down. They all laughed at me when they saw it hit. I loved that feeling; totally made the rough feeling on my throat seem worthwhile.

So I smoked on and off about 3 a week I limited myself to, until it worked up to 14 a day by the summer of that year (I started in winter, and never smoked during school holidays). Then I got busted, suspended, came back, didn't smoke for a year, final exams hit, I started again and now I'm where I am today. About 10 a day, still not smoking during school holidays (really only comes on when I'm working to kill any stress).

CarrieMpls said:

Yeah, but is that buzz the reason you smoked...? Like, for me, my drinking started solely out of wanting to get drunk.. not because of any taste I had for alcohol. The taste was developed after the fact.