I know I did it. My best friend Kim Snelling and I wanted to be cool in the summer after the eighth grade. We snuck her mom's cigarettes and tried them on the slide at the elementary school playground. Our throats hurt. But we were hooked.
I smoked off and on until I was 28 years old. I smoked as a teen, college student and then during the breakup of my short, first marriage. I can't believe I did that now. It was crazy to pay money for packs of cigarettes that will just wind up killing me. I quit for good and forever by my 29th birthday.
This is the question smart health blogger Marijke: nurse turned writer asked on her blog this week. She says that sure, as a teen, some of us think it's cool or do it because of peer pressure. But why do we continue to do it when a) we have to stand outside in the cold and rain and heat for smoke breaks, b) it's very expensive, c) it's not good for us?
Check out this interesting online map from Good that tells us the areas of the U.S. where the most Americans are still smoking. I am from the state of Kentucky where the most people in the country still light up--28.6 percent. Maybe that's why I did it. I grew up in tobacco country.
Are you trying to quit? Check out the Stop Smoking Support Group and see my recent post on No More Addictions: Stop Smoking & Other Bad Habits.
What do you think? Did you ever smoke or do you still? Why?
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Comments 14
It's a bad habbit that's why most do it they just are so use to it, some say social but there are other ways to be social although I must say with the money you can save and the health risks it would be first on my list to STOP. But it's very hard for some. Takes a lot of willpower and strength it can be done but a lot of Americans are too lazy.
I used to smoke, starting as a teen. So glad I quit.
I quit 12 years ago and smoked off and on for about 12 years before that. I think I started much like you did...my friends and I thought we'd look cool. My highschool actually had a smoking lounge for students.
I HATE smoking now.
I didn't even start until my mid-20s and now I can't stop. Okay, maybe "can't" isn't the right word, I don't really want to stop but I know I have to.
I've often wondered the same thing I never smoked and I've always wondered why they did it
I have quit off and on. It is so hard to quit!!!!! Believe me, If I could quit, (easily) I'd quit!!! I know it has something to do with the Brain because at one point I quit EASILY. (A friend said I couldn't quit and that pissed me off) I quit for a year. And then one day I was so stressed...I ended up buying a pack of cig. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!! I think if people could quit easily then they'd quit. I can't imagine someone REALLY WANTING to be a smoker.
What I don't understand is Why people are so rude to people who do smoke. Especially ex-smokers. You'd think they'd be more understanding. I was when I was an ex-smoker. I smoke...It doesn't mean I'm a nasty person or a bad mom. It means I have a nasty habit that I'd love to break, that I will break.... I clean for a lady and I heard her tell her kid one day "don't play with the boy down the street, his parents are weird, they smoke" I found that really odd since her own mother is a smoker. I would never EVER smoke in front someone's kid. Believe me...I try to hide it. I'm not proud. Plus I don't want people not wanting their kids to hang out with mine.
I'm allergic to cigg. smoke so I dont get it.. but I understand why its so hard for some people to quit. Good luck to everyone who is trying!
I started smoking when I was 14 years young. Many times I would try to quit, only to let myself and everyone else down- again and again. I know why I smoked- I started to fit itn with the "in group". Then I needed them. In the year prior to my latest attempt at quiting, I was getting up in the middle of the night to have a smoke.
While pregnant with my youngest, I had a recurring dream. My oldest was hold my youngest (in the dream he was still just a newborn). Both kids were charred black. My oldest kept asking me why I just couldn't quit smoking. My smoking killed both of my kids. This dream scared the hell out of me. I have been smoke free since Dec 2 2006.
Smoking is a very difficult addiction to get over- I should know, I am a recovering drug and alcohol abuser. Cigarettes have been the hardest to quit and the hardest to stay away from. I still crave them- every day.
I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke. Cigar and pipe smoke is OK for me. I always couldn't understand why people couldn't quit, but now I know it's just like me not being able to stop eating and lose weight. It's hard.