Despite warnings of disease or death, the Surgeon General estimates that 45.4 million U.S. adults smoke cigarettes — about 21.6 percent of the population nationwide. Thus, People keep smoking. Why?
Nicotine is highly addictive. Often, a person who quits smoking goes through withdrawal. Symptoms of withdrawal include: being irritable, sweating, having headaches, diarrhea, or constipation, as well as feeling restless, tired, or dizzy. Withdrawal is usually the worst on the second day after quitting, and it gradually lessens with time.
Many people become psychologically tied to smoking. It is part of their daily ritual. It helps them wake up in the morning, comforts them when they are upset, and rewards them for a job well done. Smoking also has pleasurable physical effects. It relaxes people and perks them up.
But what of the lame reasons why people smoke? Let us count the ways.
In “Pulp Fiction” John Travolta woos Uma Thurman with his cigarette rolling skills. Whether for pleasure, tension release or image, the act of smoking goes beyond just lighting up — cigarettes are a lifestyle. Or they are perceived as a “cool thing” to do.
“I think there’s a certain culture in Hollywood, maybe it’s the culture of the entertainment industry, that there’s value to being edgy,” says Curtis Mekemson, researcher and author of “Hollywood Speaks Out On Tobacco” “There’s value to being bad. You don’t want to be a goody two shoes in Hollywood.”
The lore of smoking encompasses and encourages images of 1. I can be Glamourous, 2. I can be Famous, 3. It makes me look rich and 4. A certain “don’t mess with me” attitude that holds intrigue for young and old alike.
Here are some other lame reasons that people smoke.
5. It calms your nerves 6. Peer pressure 7. When in Rome, do as the Romans.” 8. If you want to be in with the tough guys you gotta smoke 9. Because of drugs 10. Starting young 11. Fear of weight gain 12. Fear of depression 13. Fear of withdrawal effects 14. An excuse to take a break 15. Stress reliever 16. Its a social thing 17. It’s just a part of me.
The American Lung Association estimates that 4.5 million adolescents in the United States are smokers, and about 90 percent of smokers start before the age of 21. Though the percentage of high school students who smoke has dropped — from 36.4 percent in 1997 to 22 percent in 2003, according to the Centers for Disease Control – – it is estimated that about 4,000 youths between the ages of 12 and 17 try their first cigarette each day. At this rate, the CDC estimates that 6.4 million of today’s children will die prematurely of a smoking-related disease.
These factors make it easy to smoke and hard to quit. The pleasures of smoking start within seconds of lighting up; the bad effects can take years to make themselves known. On the other hand, when you try to quit, your first experience is the bad feeling of withdrawal. Only later do you begin to enjoy the benefits of quitting, such as having more energy. So what is your lame reason for not quitting smoking?
If you think you are ready to quit smoking and are tired of making up lame excuses to continue to smoke, then quit today.
4 comments
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November 20, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Fredrik Eich
My lame excuse for not quitting is that I stopped smoking for two years and didn’t like being a non-smoker very much. So I set a date in the future for when I would take up the habit again. I set a date because this was what I did when I stopped smoking and it would give me a period of reflection to make sure it was the right thing for me. It was the right thing. It seems to me that a lot of smokers get into a cycle of quitting because they are trying to stop doing something that they enjoy because they are constantly being told that they are twenty times more likley to get deseases like lung cancer when their absolute chance of getting lung cancer is not much more than a non-smokers chance. I have since
given up quitting cigarettes and this makes them all the more enjoyable.
However, good luck to anyone wishing to quit – don’t put that white stick into your mouth.
Fredrik Eich
November 27, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Lori Palermo
Hi!
Very informative Blog. I am an Advocate for Lung Disease Awareness & Smokefree Living. My dad passed away 26 Dec. 2003 after a 13 year battle with COPD/Emphysema. I launched my website in June 2006 In Memory of him.
May I have your permission to add your BLOG to my website?
I have designed COPD Gold Ribbon Lapel Pins & Smokefree Living Lapel Pins.
You may view them at:
http://www.loveyourlungsbreatheforlife.com/bookstore.html
Thank you,
Lori
December 27, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Carrie King
I’m deep into my first week of quitting. I’m experiencing a lot of self-reflection since I have to fight with the urge several times a day, and that leads to me trying to figure out exactly why I like smoking; something that costs money, will make me age poorly, and smells bad to non-smokers and therefore makes me less appealing. I discovered that my reasons for smoking were because I enjoyed taking out cigarettes on the street and feeling like they gave me a purpose and an identity. It was an instant membership to a club and the second I put that stick to my mouth I was letting everyone around me know a little bit about myself. I was “cooler” than all those preaching non-smokers and I wanted to advertise that. Right now, one week into being one of those non-smokers that I turn up my nose at, all I’m laughing at myself for wanting such a juvenile method of “belonging.” I will leave trying to “fit in” to teenagers.
September 23, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Molly Coakley
As a former smoker, I feel for those who want to quit and also for those who do not wish to quit. For years, I rode the roller coaster of considering quitting because friends and family told me to, or because society was becoming intolerable of smokers. I heard so medical statistics that I could have run my own seminar on ‘reasons to quit’ (more about that later).
After living in England for five years (pre smoking ban), I moved back to the states, and right into tobacco country. Suddenly, it felt like the right time to quit ‘for me’ and not for someone else. I was lucky enough to find some support through the assistance of former smokers, and have been a non-smoker for five years.
I now facilitate classes for people wanting to quit. It is a relaxed environment, and we share stories of experiences, hopes for the future, and A LOT of laughs! Two ideas that I share with the smokers on their first day of class, and repeat throughout: “We are all in this together”, and “You will be far more successful at quitting if YOU WANT to quit”.
All the best to those thinking of quitting and all the best to those continuing to smoke. May everyone feel good about their choices.