Being fat and asthmatic as a child meant I was often fighting for breath and smoke filled rooms made it worse so I was never tempted to try. Besides, they smelled vile and disgusting.

Interestingly, the asthma went soon after the family home became smoke free when my smoker aunt died and my mother quit and has never returned.

I remember an acquaintance of mine used to absolutely insist that smoking made her asthma less bothersome.

I'm not totally convinced even she believed it.

I smoked 1-2 packs of Marlboro reds a day starting at 14 then quit cold turkey 10 years later...one of the hardest willpower things I've done as I was truly addicted. I quit smoking the other stuff a few years ago, it wasn't addictive but it wasn't productive either as I was smoking 4 dutches to the head or more daily.

I don't want to mention depressing stuff here but I really hope that you smokers quit while you can if you have kids or loved ones that need you, things can happen suddenly and much sooner then you expect.

Same here: other stuff didn't quite seem nasty enough. Then again, I encountered Gauloises Caporal which were the world's worst thing ever: they were like smoking old tyres. Pity I bought 200. I thought they were Gauloises Blondes and being typical of me, I wasn't paying attention. A lot of friends smoked either Silk Cut or those minty things which were pretty much cigarettes for people who don't like tobacco.


Yeah. In spite of the fact that I didn't smoke for long (started about 20, on and off for just 10 years or so) it apparently played a part in my blood vessels being really buggered. There's so much focus on lung cancer that people often don't realise it can cause other problems that hit at an earlier age.

But in spite of that, I'm absolutely loath to be a stereotypical ex-smoker killjoy. Yeah I miss it, and I don't particularly agree with it being banned. It just svcks that it can't be as healthy as it was once assumed to be.

Never. I've never been interested. I don't get bothered if other people smoke around me though. I guess i got used to it because years ago my grand parents would smoke daily. They were heavy smokers smoking at least a whole pack a day. I was just a young child back then so at some point they realized that it was bad for them and for me and they stopped. They never smoked again ever. Not a single cigarette. lol

I'm reminded of being regularly sent down the shops to get my grandparents' cigarettes when I was about 10. And a packet of candy cigarettes for myself. I guess that's the seventies for you.

Yeah, I've known a few asthmatics who smoked, they would come out with the same kind of guff too. Amazing the power of addiction to override common sense.

I've smoked on and off for about a year. It never interested me, but university tends to change one's views. I don't smoke regularly however. I can go days and even weeks without smoking, and I never feel like I need one or that I get anything from it. I just enjoy sitting with a cup of tea or a pint and enjoying a smoke while listening to some music. It's a nice change of pace through the day, but I'm smoking less and less now. I have an e cig which I smoke more often now, but I keep forgetting to get the liquids for it.

All in all I can smoke anywhere between zero and twenty in a week. Never cigarettes, though. They're truly awful. Roll ups all the way.

Moderator's note - please try to avoid not-so-subtle hints of drug use. That is against forum rules.


On topic - I've been a smoker for 18 years now, pretty much half my life. I'd managed to quit just before my son was born, but then started again.


I've quit a few times now, but it hasn't stuck yet; I'm gearing up for another attempt soon. My family has a history of cancer and heart disease and I'm no longer immortal like I was in my 20s.


I may try switching to vaping or electronic cigs, and ease off from there.


One pet peeve of mine, somewhat on topic, are people who vape in otherwise non-smoking establishments. Juse because it doesn't leave a cloud of smoke doesn't mean it's appropriate everywhere. Like when I bring my son to McDonald's to hang out at the playland, I don't need some hipster vaping at the table next to me.

I grew up around smokers, my aunt and cousins but since I was determined to follow them, little Berret had to take his inhaler everywhere he went. Dad also burnt stuff like trash or cleaned copper out back and he had me help, he quickly found out that scalding smoke that burnt your throat made little Berret have a huge asthma attack.

So yeah, I don't know how someone with asthma can smoke without dying on the spot. Or maybe I just wasn't strong enough.

Yup. I was a pack a day plus but I'm trying to stop. I've cut down quite a bit. Hopefully I can be done within another couple months.

Smoking along with diabetes contributes a lot to cardiovascular disease. I knew people who had one or the other or both, and some of them ended up with a cardiac bypass or a lower extremity amputation.

Lung cancer is a matter of luck, at times. People with no smoking history can end up having a lung mass or bullous simply because of some genetic disposition or as a consequence of long-term occupational hazard like asbestos exposure (mesothelioma). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one another effect of long-term smoking though. People with lengthy pack-year histories will reveal a whitened out chest X-ray.

Where is the option "I used to; I quit!".

I used too, i quit after about a year when i wanted to get into shape. i still smoke the occasional one that i bum/steal/find, and usually only if i'm drinking or stressed. I bet i don't smoke but two cigarettes a month.

16 for me...."because it was cool" and in the (almost) 30 years since I started I have probably only smoked for halfish that. I've probably quit a couple dozen times over the years for varying amounts of time. I just quit again. March 1st was my first full day without a smoke.

Same. I always said I enjoyed "the act of smoking" but hated the health side effects.

Just in the short time I've quit I can feel a huge difference in my breathing. My lungs are continuing to clear out... ....anyway.....

In terms of family history, mine doesn't seem blessed with particularly reliable blood pressure and cardiovascular malarky, so I'm not really surprised there. I make an effort to keep myself in much better condition nowadays in spite of being resiliently overweight.

Asbestos makes me slightly nervous if I think about it too much, it seemed to be everywhere when I was growing up. Not sure things like the asbestos mats we used routinely in the school science labs would be allowed now, but apparently there was also asbestos in the ceiling and floor tiles, the fire doors, the building structure and pretty much everywhere else. I guess at least I wasn't exposed to asbestos Christmas "snow" like they apparently used for decoration even earlier!

I used to. I still will on occasion when I'm out for drinks or something with friends and someone in our group is smoking. I find I can get away with that without rekindling an addiction.

See where I can not do that. Any time I've had 1, it's lead to 2, then 3...

I stayed at my friends last night (they're away) and he is still a smoker. I had a couple rough moments where I knew there was tobacco in the drawer (We both hand roll.) but thankfully I refrained from indulging.

Isn't asbestos only really harmful if it's disturbed? Like when a building is torn down or renovated and the stuff gets into the air?

I think as a general rule that's the case, yeah. It's just that there's been such a big thing about it that the thought of having so much of it about is a bit uncomfortable!

Moving back to the subject matter, it apparently has a rather nasty synergy with smoking when it comes to malignant unpleasantness: which in hindsight makes it quite scary that one particular brand of cigarettes used asbestos fibres in their filters. Asbestos is actually a great filter medium, and was in fact used in some gas mask filters, it's just a shame that its fibres can get up to mischief.

I don't think killing your lungs classifies as simple mischief.

I smoked for a few months when I was 17 because all my Co workers got like 10x the amount of breaks I did for smoking, so I started so I could get more breaks. I didn't enjoy it though.

People making money from asbestos would go for the "simple mischief".

Not anymore, yay! I was up to almost 3 packs a day in the end, but that was at least 12 years ago now and I've never felt the desire to do it again. It loses its appeal when you watch a family member pass from cancer related to smoking.


Now, if I could just get my other half to stop, that would be lovely.

Someone told me people that smoke tend to not have the ability to have a successful spinal fusion due to the adhesive not sticking