Much of the population of the United States has taken up smoking; though a lot of these people know that smoking can lead to lung cancer, they continue to smoke.
What are your views on this?
What may be some reasons that you think people continue to smoke when they already know the consequences?
Rachel Rudder (12:00)
22 comments:
I think many people go into smoking thinking they won't get addicted . . . then once they are addicted they think that the long-term consequences won't affect them until they are much older so they continue to smoke, and think that they will quite once they are facing the consequences. It is usually just something that people do while they are socializing or it is a way to relieve stress. I think people continue to smoke even after they know the long term consequences because people tend to think in the "now" and if they aren't experiencing any affects right now, then why quit? People need to realize how damaging and life threatening it is and that their decision to smoke affects not only them, but their family and friends who care about their well being.
Abby Pennington (12:00)
Smoking is a nasty habit. I could see someone smoking every once in a while, for certain occasions but, not everyday. I know people who are 15 and 14 who cant go 20 minutes with out smoking a cigarette. People at this age have a hard time getting money since they cant get a job so they start to sell illegal substances. The consequences are known by everyone who smokes. They just cant stop or truly don't believe it will happen to them. Many people do it just to relieve stress, while other do it because they cant stop from the nicotine inside. Their addiction levels are so high they can't stop. Young user I believe have an easier time when they try to stop. Older people, who have been smoking for 20-30 years are almost ineligable to quit. There are some casing when one can quit, but its will seem impossible.
I have been around people that smoke for 40 years, many of them began smoking because everyone else was smoking. My dad died of a massive heart attack when I was 18, so I know first hand the evils of smoking. Many adults I know smoke either because it helps them with their weight control or it helps them with their stress. I have seen many adult start using Chantex, I have heard it's really good with helping people quit smoking. I don't think anybody will quit smoking until they decide it's time to quit. I have heard many adults say "give me another nail for my coffin" in a joking way, but to me it's not funny at all. Overall the greatest problem with smoking is once they start, usually in high school with friends at parties, they don't realize how hard it will be to quit.
I belive smoking is a terrible thing to do. If smokers would look at pictures and read things, then maybe it would let them know that they are killing themselves slowly. I think many people continue to smoke is because when they were younger, they thought it was the "cool" thing to do but now, I think they may be too addicted to stop. And some smokers even say that smoking helps "calm their nerves". I just know if I were a smoker and I found out all the possibilities of what could happen to me if I smoked, then I would quit. Just because I wouldn't be able to do any type of activities without coughing, I couldn't go anywhere without having the faint smell of smoke in my hair or on my clothes or simply because I know I'm not as healthy as I were before I started.
I belive smoking is a terrible thing to do. If smokers would look at pictures and read things, then maybe it would let them know that they are killing themselves slowly. I think many people continue to smoke is because when they were younger, they thought it was the "cool" thing to do but now, I think they may be too addicted to stop. And some smokers even say that smoking helps "calm their nerves". I just know if I were a smoker and I found out all the possibilities of what could happen to me if I smoked, then I would quit. Just because I wouldn't be able to do any type of activities without coughing, I couldn't go anywhere without having the faint smell of smoke in my hair or on my clothes or simply because I know I'm not as healthy as I were before I started.
In the beginning, i believe that people think they are immune to smoking and will not get addicted nor cancer. However as time goes by, it gets harder to go an hour without a smoke and they start coughing frequently. It is also very expensive, but just like gasoline, it is in demand so people will pay for it.
I think people smoke now a days because it is habit. There are ways out there to help quit, but their mentality is that they will die someday, so why bother quitting. It is sad to think, but it is something that is just too difficult to do:live without a smoke.
I believe that most smoking starts when someone see's there friends doing it and thinks that since their friends are having fun, if they smoke they will have fun to! I also dont think that when someone takes that first puff, is truely thinking about all of the harmful side-effects of smoking, like cancer. Smoking is so addictive, and i believe that smokers think that they can quit anytime they want, which then leads to them trying to stop once it is to late and the damage is done. People take their youth for granted sometimes and I believe that they think that since they are young and healthy they will only smoke for a little while and they they wont do it anymore. I watched my grandfather die from lung cancer from smoking, he started at age 15! I believe thats why i never started smoking, I know what it does to not only the smoker, but their families. I have been asked by many of my friends if i would like to smoke with them, but i know that in the end its not worth my life!
-EMily Stege
There are any number of ways in which a smoker can start smoking and even more reasons which can keep them on the cancer-sticks. Peer pressure, trying to be cool, genuinely doing it to try and relax, etc. Some are more understandable than others, but it doesn't matter to me; you smoke to relieve yourself after a stressful day, fine, you smoke because that one person you dated smoked and you wanted to fit in with them better, I'm okay with that too, so long as they're doing it responsibly (read: not blowing smoke in my face), if they choose to sacrifice their health in the future for their comfort now, that's fine, it's their decision to do that, not mine. The second they start to disrupt others with their habit is when things change; it's their choice to give themselves cancer later on in life, but once it affects me, directly or indirectly, is when I have an issue with it. It may be your choice to die an early death, but that doesn't give you any sort of special right that allows you to make that choice for the people around you.
I personally think smoking is a terrible choice for one to make. Why do people do something that harms your body everytime it is done? For myself, it is not worth it, especially when the negatives outweigh the positives. Whenever I am around smoke, i get sick and can not wait to breath fresh air again. It makes one smeel terrible and turns their teeth yellow. The list goes on for the side effects. The main reason people smoke is the calmness relaxation it brings. The main reason people continue to smoke is that it is addictive and extremely hard to quit. Also, the effects that 2nd hand smoke has on people are quite drastic, which should give people more motivation to not smoke.
Jason Brown
Some people use smoking as an anitdepressant. My parents can't stop smoking because they have been doing it for so long. They say that they enjoy smoking. They think that it's all a hoax and they won't get lung cancer. I have tried to get them to quit, but then they just smoke more. I believe that they should stop for their health, but it's hard to get them to stop.
Katelyn Watterson 9:00
I think that the majority of people who start smoking in the first place do it because of peer pressure. I noticed that people started smoking just because their friends were smoking and a lot of the people they hung out with smoked. It is stupid to do it, especially given all that is known about the hazards of smoking, but people have trouble quitting when they've been smoking for a while already. People continue to smoke because they can't, because they think it relieves their stress, even though it doesn't, and because many of their friends and co-workers smoke, so they're always surrounded by people who smoke.
i hate smoking it is a nasty habit. there are no advantages to smoking. it causes cancer, it stains peoples teeth, it makes peoples breath smell awful, and it just makes the person and everything around them smell awful. my dad used to smoke but quit before i knew he even smoked, he was just a closet smoker. he had knee surgery a while back and it hurt so bad that he couldnt imagine having lung cancer and having another surgery just because he wanted to smoke. recently one of my friends aunt was diagnosed with lung cancer but refused to accept it so she shrivled away to a mere 70 pounds and then passed away. my friends mother (the sister to the aunt) was by her side the whole time she was in the hospital and with her when she died, she knows that she got the cancer from smoking, but my friends mother continues to smoke still. i dont get it, but then again i have never been addicted to something so i dont know what it is like to try to stop smoking. another example of that is one of my friends date have emphzyma for 10+ years and continued smoking and slowly killing himself and then this past summer he passed away. you would think growing up with your dad suffering all the time you would think that you wouldnt smoke but my friend and his 2 brothers both smoke which just is so confusing to me. i dont know why anybody would want to start smoking, but i think it is nasty.
kaleen bittner
I think that people smoke so they look cool and/or their parents or siblings mighthave done it, or it becomes a peer pressure to fit in. Smokers know the consequences and how it will affect their lives but a lot of them dont want to face the facts or just dont listen and think that it will never happen to them. Some hold onto the habit till they are on oxygen and still have a cigarette in their hand; or like me and just up and quit one day. I started smoking when I was 14 I just recently stopped about a month ago, I am now 23. I was lucky I just woke up one day and it tasted like shit. I have to say a lot of the reason it is hard to quit is the nicotine but also the busy fingers that you get. I dont know what you call it but its the hand to mouth habit that is so hard to shake. Like now I keep 3 to 4 packs of gum in my car or in the house because its just something to do and so I dont go stuffing my mouth because I need to keep myself busy. Its something that I wish I had never done and am really realizing the damage that it can do now that I dont smoke. I wish I hadnt taken those years off my life and hope that my good diet and going to the gym everyday will pay off and help in rebuilding the lungs that God gave me.
Elizabeth Moore (0900)
...HILLARY FEARS.... MY MOTHER USED TO SMOKE CIGARETTES FOR SEVERAL YEARS. MY MOTHER KNEW THE HARMS OF CIGARRETTES,AND YET SHE CONTINUED TO SMOKE THEM. SHE WAS A LAW STUDENT FOR FOUR YEARS, AND I THINK THE STRESS OF RAISING FIVE KIDS ;AND GOING TO SCHOOL TOOK OVER AND SHE TURNED TO THE CANCER STICK FOR ADVICE. I DON'T LIKE THE IDEA OF SMOKING AND WHAT IT DOES TO YOUR BODY. LIKE I SAID ABOVE I THINK PEOPLE SMOKE TO FREE THEMSELVES FROM STRESS; AND PROBLEMS IN LIFE OR THE MAJOR ONE TO BE COOL(LOL).
I personally don't smoke and don't like it. I grew up around my parents smoking and my boyfriend even smokes. I do not understand why people smoke because they all know what it will do to them. I think most smokers believe in the "it wont happen to me theory" because smoking has a lot of harsh outcomes. I do know smokers who say that it would also be to hard to quit but i don't believe that at all. I am concerned for my health a lot also mainly because i grew up around it my whole life and now my boyfriend does it. I really wish people would realize exactly what they are doing to themselves and stop it. The consequences are so horrendous and with all of the anti smoking commercials telling us that 5 million people are dieing a year from smoking is horrible we all should be doing something to stop that.
Michelle Carr
12:00
I started smoking at a young age because all of my friends were doing it. I soon became addicted. It was hard to quit but I finally did. After a few months I started taking the bus and would have to wait twenty minutes and sometimes longer for the bus. I began smoking again because of plain boredom and wanting to make time go by faster as I waited. I have finally quit again due to pregnancy. Sometimes when I see someone smoke however, the urge comes back to smoke. Physically withdraw from nicotine takes about a week, but emotional withdraw is forever! When you're smoking you don't really care about lung cancer because you think, "It won't happen to me."
I think smoking is really stupid. Usually when someone starts to smoke it is to look cool. they is no logical explanation why people start except for that. when people start they don't think about the consequences and they don't think that they will get addicted to smoking. When they do realize that what they are doing is stupid it gets really hard to quit. They get addicted to the tobacco and as much as they say they are going to quit they usually never do. I have a lot of family that smoke and no matter what you tell them they just don't give it up. They think it relieves stress when it is really just all in their heads.
Omar Al-Chaar
I think smoking is really stupid. Usually when someone starts to smoke it is to look cool. they is no logical explanation why people start except for that. when people start they don't think about the consequences and they don't think that they will get addicted to smoking. When they do realize that what they are doing is stupid it gets really hard to quit. They get addicted to the tobacco and as much as they say they are going to quit they usually never do. I have a lot of family that smoke and no matter what you tell them they just don't give it up. They think it relieves stress when it is really just all in their heads.
Omar Al-Chaar (12:00)
I dont smoke, but i think that it is everyones choice to do it. Some of the reasons people continue to smoke is that they are addicted. They may have started smoking thinking that they could quit anytime they wanted and then when they want to quit they can't because they got addicted to it.
I believe that smoking is a very bad habit. So many people die from smoking a year, yet it doesnt seem to affect tobacco companies. I feel if people dont know someone that smoking has affected than they really dont think about the consequences. Tobacco is addicting and when smoking becomes part of a persons everyday routine than its hard to stop. Under stress people tend to smoke more often, so when a person is caring to much about what they are stressed about, than the affects of smoking arent in mind. Smoking is a very common thing, and I feel that peer pressure is a huge part of why people get started on smoking when they are young. I feel that people need to be more informed on when smoking really does to thier bodies, and then maybe there might be a decrease in people that smoke.
Kristen Duitsman (12:00)
I think people usually start smoking because there friends are doing it and it is the “cool” thing to do. Although people know it causes lung cancer they think it just won’t happen to them, and that they won’t get addicted to it. I think people usually continue to smoke because they can’t stop. Although there is that knew prescription you can take that will help you stop, it does not always work for people. My aunt was taking it, to try to stop smoking, but she had to stop, because in made her sick, and she felt like she was on drugs. I also think people don’t quite because they don’t want to.
Kristine D'Urso
I believe even if you don't smoke you could get cancer. I'm sure smoking can decrease the risk of you getting cancer. I believe people still smoke because they believe everyone dies of something whether they smoke or not. Smoking is the biggest habbit people get into. Once you start it's probably the hardest thing to quit. When people are stressed out they have a smoke and feel better. Once people start it is in there daily schedule and too hard to brake.
Jennifer Woodward (12:00)
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