People Who smoke Cigs

[LA.Jgirl]

Iâ??m sorry but I think yall are very wrong to be referring to people who smoke cigs as unintelligent. Most hardcore smokers started when they were young most of them teenagers. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH INTELLIGENCE!! After a very short period of time it becomes an ADDICTION. My momma always said donâ??t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes. If you have never seen anyone try to quit smoking or have never been addicted your self then you have no business calling anyone unintelligent. I appreciate this being posted though maybe some of these young people will see and it will persuade them to never start smoking.

[birdgirl73]

You're quite correct, LAJgirl. It isn't exclusively a matter of intelligence. It is indeed a matter of addiction, and I shouldn't have taken that dig. I fully confess that I was aiming that answer at one of our posters above who was so obnoxious in his defense of his choice to continue smoking that I questioned his intellect.

It might be worth mentioning here that in studies, a direct correlation does exist between education and cigarette smoking. People with higher levels of education are much more likely to be non-smokers or to actively pursue smoking cessation of some type than those with lower levels of education. That's because they have more information about its dangers. Addiction is addiction, it's true. But you're never going to persuade me that, on some level, intelligence, at least that gained through education as opposed to intrinsic intelligence, doesn't play a role.

[LA.Jgirl]

Thank you birdgirl for your honest reply. Yes I agree lack of education on the matter does play and important roll. There should be more done my more suitable people to educate or young children on these matters. A cop or some other authority figure like that does not have the influence they believe on a child. A strong minded child, regardless of how intelligent will start a habit like that just because the "authority " figure told them not to. I think it should be approached differently. Now I donâ??t have the answers for this but I believe it is something that should be looked into by parents, teachers and so forth. We cannot deny human nature, the desire in a child and even a lot of adults to go against what is thought of, as right and normal is too strong for some of them to resist.

[OahuLocal]

I wasnt calling them unintelligent. I was a chain smoker for 3 years then quit. Well sorta ill smoke Cigs occasionally.

Many smokers are very intelligent, I just wish some would get rid of the nasty cigs. Stick to all natural Herb.

[birdgirl73]

I agree, LAJGirl! It should definitely be approached differently.

That's an interesting point you made about how a strong-minded child will make that decision to smoke just to go against an authority figure. I was precisely that type of child, myself (I loved to sneak cigarettes when I was a teenager simply because everyone thought it was so appalling.)

Pardon the slight detour from our original thread topic here. I've been reading some interesting information recently in school about how a similar sort of conditioning happens in the making of compulsive overeaters, another type of addiction, only to food. The tendency to become overeaters as opposed to normal eaters who eat when they're hungry and stop when they've had enough is conditioning/programming that happens very early in kids--before the age of 3. When parents do a lot of food-limiting and taking away of food from toddlers in hopes that they won't get too much or eat the wrong things (sometimes it's simply a matter of trying to limit what parent deem "bad" foods like sweets), kids, who are these naturally smart, intuitive, wonderful creatures, learn that food is more powerful or magical than it really is. That leads them to want more of it, and, later, to want to hoard it and/or overeat it. It's the denial of food that sets in mind that programming that tells kids food is magical and needs to be eaten in greater quantities since, as they've already seen, it might be denied them. Parents who let their toddlers eat what they want and don't limit or deny foods let them learn to be normal eaters. It's not quite the same thing as the sort of "rebellion" motivation that leads some kids to be smokers or risk-takers of other types, but I still find it interesting.

Sorry for the detour--and again, before that, the slam at intelligence. Cigarette addiction is a serious habit. I once heard an addiction doctor say it's as powerful and hard-to-break a physical habit as heroin addiction, and I believe him.

[thcbongman]

Thank you. When I smoke a cigarette, I'll remember this video. Hopefully it'll garner me the strength to finally break this devil habit.

Really I shouldn't be smoking, but I have no idea how to break it, every attempt I made to quit ended up in failure. It's the one thing I'm ashamed about, I went through hell with cancer, yet I'm still smoking cigarettes. I'm a real dumbass.

[Enemy of Real1ty]

Eh I smoke bout a pack a day, and that video hasnt changed much really, I knew full out what I was getting into when I started, But as for the intelligence factor? I would say this has nothing to do whether or not your intelligent ( I know Doctors, Scientists, Shrinks, who all smoked after knowing the facts, ( I worked at a medical center for some months and met all these people who later became my cig break buddies :P ) Im not that scared of cancer either, I figure just breathing in the air now and days will prob cause cancer, not to mention sunlight, foods, ect (of course cigs just speed it up, but who wants to live forever? :P

[birdgirl73]

Thank you. When I smoke a cigarette, I'll remember this video. Hopefully it'll garner me the strength to finally break this devil habit.

Really I shouldn't be smoking, but I have no idea how to break it, every attempt I made to quit ended up in failure. It's the one thing I'm ashamed about, I went through hell with cancer, yet I'm still smoking cigarettes. I'm a real dumbass.

You are FAR from a dumbass, love. You're one of the smartest people I know. I think quitting is a matter of simply continuing to try until you get it right. Anyone who can get through what you've already been through in your young life is capable of anything he sets his mind to. Plus you love fitness, which will help when you make the nicotine break. I think those gums and patches can be very helpful. I'm a lot more wary of those new prescription anti-smoking pills, Chantix. Some of those side-effects are scary!

[Psycho4Bud]

Two packs a day for the last 30 years not to mention the weed for just a bit longer. (We need a cough smiley). My grandpa lived to be 92 and smoked a pack a day...never went to the nursing home either!:thumbsup:

They say it knocks 10 years off your life........with my family history that's the period where they gaze out the nursing home windows seeing shit that isn't there.

I might not be able to run a marathon but I can dance with the lady all night long.

Have a good one!:jointsmile:

[Dave Byrd]

You're a lucky man to be doing that dancing. Maybe you're one of the lucky few who has some genetic resistance to cancer. In Bird's family, her mom and grandpa were/are the same way as far as cancer resistance goes. Grandpa lived to be 93 after a long life with various types of tobacco. He had emphysema at the end, though, and her mom, who smoked for 27 years, still developed chronic pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure even 20 years after quitting. They haven't had cancer, but they're sure not winning any pulmonary health contests.

I've not known anyone yet that it hasn't caught up with in some miserably unpleasant way or another. I know how that goes, though. I had a patient tell me, "Well, doc, if I gave up all the things that made it possible to live to be 100, my life really wouldn't be worth living that long."