Spin off... Why do people start smoking

I have no idea.

I often wonder that when I seen teens smoking today.

My only guess is that they were around people who did/do and it was normalized. My brother started when he was 14, after growing up with my mom who had smoked all her life. She was an enabler, and would buy them for him.

When I started as a teen (I have long since quit - haven't had a cigarette in 30 years) it was to be cool. Plain and simple.

I smoked from age 16-26. I started because my friends did, so yes, peer pressure. I quit before I became pregnant. Like all other addictions, it’s not an easy one to give up. I tried to quit several times before it stuck.

I will never understand...it is beyond gross. I actually cannot wrap my head around it being cool. When I see a smoker all I see pathetic/weakness. How are people even affording them and why would you waste money.

I am wondering if you also think fat people are pathetic and weak. I wonder why people feel such disdain for smokers but not others struggling with addiction.

Immature brains. Same reason young people do a lot of things they shouldn't do.

My own personal disdain for smokers is that they are causing the air that I need to breathe, to become filled with particles that are not healthy for others.  Second hand smoke and consequences is a REAL BIG DEAL, to me.

Alcohol and other additions do not personally affect me and the air that I breathe.

That's a great argument. If you are exposed to smoke. I don't smoke in my house or in my car. I try not to expose anyone to my smoke. The post I quoted said she thought smokers we're pathetic and weak. I was specifically responding to that aspect of it. I respect the second hand smoke argument. I am a little dismayed at pathetic and weak.

That's me, except it was my father.

But smoking is an addiction so anyone, even healthcare professionals who DO know better - now - may be unable to quit.

It's the million dollar question, isn't it? Why do they start in the first place?

I tried a cigarette when I was about 17. My reasoning was that I loathed Dad's smoking and what it was doing to his health, but I couldn't justify speaking out against it unless I'd tried it. Didn't like the taste much, didn't do anything good for me, so it wasn't difficult to say OK, I've tried it, not doing it again. But the part that scared me was that for 6 months after those few (maybe 4 or 5?) puffs, I would wake up from dreams that I wanted a cigarette. I didn't when I was awake, but that was the effect (chemical? psychological? I don't know) that it had on my brain. That shook me up.SaveSave

RedSquirrelUK when I was pregnant I never smoked. I would have dreams that I had a mouthful of cigarettes. My dad quit years ago and said he still dreams about it.

I smoked as a teen, I was a punk and it fit my image! I stopped after a while when I realised it made me feel ill.
I have friends and a brother who smoke and I don't judge them for it, they're good people who have a bad habit. Our next door neighbour started smoking when he was 9, where on earth was he getting them from at that age?!

It's perfectly acceptable to say that about smokers. Yet no one would dream of going over to the weight watchers thread and saying that.

I actually liked the taste. I started in my early 20's and quit in my late 30's. I smoked and none of my friends at the time did so there was no trying to be cool. I quit because DH asked me to but every once in awhile I have one that I've bummed from a friend.

jeremysgirl your struggle is yours. You know there are peas here who support you no matter what. You don't owe ANY of us an explanation about anything.

It's ok @jenny2. I have read a lot of pea threads about smoking over the years. I know the strong feelings involved especially given that many of you have watched your loved ones die from smoking related illnesses. I have complete empathy for that point of view. And I also have complete empathy for those that were exposed to second hand smoke as children whose parents smoked in their homes. You aren't telling me anything I don't already know and feel about myself. I beat myself up about it too. Why can't I just ditch it? It seems so easy right? Just simply don't smoke. Peas who haven't struggled with addiction just don't understand it. And I get it. We all come from our worldview. Our life experiences shape our thoughts and if you've never had any addiction, you just don't understand.