Smoking Kills...Time

WindSock

Smoking is now the biggest killer of Irish women, seems it is on the rise too.

'Over 40% of women in the 18-30 category smoke as opposed to 29% of the overall population'

Smoking has become the latest — and most deadly — fashion statement for women, as lung cancer now kills more women in Ireland than breast cancer.

Tobacco-related diseases in women are reaching epidemic proportions here, according to the Irish Cancer Society, which yesterday launched a campaign aimed specifically at young female smokers.

Data from the National Cancer Registry shows that the number of lung cancers in women is increasing by 3% a year. From being a predominantly male disease for the past 50 years, lung cancer is projected to be a mainly female disease by 2025.
And, despite decades of anti-smoking health promotion, the tobacco industry is succeeding in making smoking fashionable again, particularly among women.

"Superslim cigarettes have been the key design innovation of the last five years, with particular appeal to the female smoker," says Kathleen O’Meara, head of communications at the Irish Cancer Society.

"Japan Tobacco International has developed odour-reducing technology and added flavours in order to reduce odour emitted from burning cigarettes. All this product innovation is aimed at female smokers who the tobacco industry sees as a key growth area.

"Their success is highlighted by the fact more women are now dying from lung cancer than breast cancer."

The ICS is particularly concerned at the high level of female smokers under-35, particularly those from poorer areas. More than half of disadvantaged women aged between 18 and 29 years of age smoke — twice the rate among non-disadvantaged groups.

The campaign to coincide with Ash Wednesday which is National No Smoking Day, seeks to encourage young women who smoke to quit and to direct them to support services. The "I’ll Quit When I’m 30" advertisements being launched by Grace Batterberry, the ex-smoker on Operation Transformation, are targeted at the women who set a date to quit but find it difficult to stick to it.

Research published in The Lancet last year found that women might extract more carcinogens and other toxic agents from the same number of cigarettes than men.

"Smoking is not just a behavioural habit," says Ms O’Meara. "It is an addiction, and one that women sometimes find harder to fight than men."

* Contact the National Smokers’ Quitline on 1850 201 203 or go online to www.quit.ie

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/smoking-the-biggest-killer-of-irish-women-184546.html



I have to say I am beginning to notice loads of women smoking now, seems to outnumber men in establishements and on the streets at a glance.

who what when

Since smoking is a totally voluntary act, would it not be fair to say that women are the biggest killers of women?

WindSock

who what when wrote: »

Since smoking is a totally voluntary act, would it not be fair to say that women are the biggest killers of women?

It might but it'd be a pedantic nightmare of a thread that results in the topic not being discussed properly.

Lia_lia

I don't get the smoking addiction. I smoke verrry rarely, maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Always when out and just kinda fitting in with others in the smoking area. Been doing that since I was about 16. And then I regret it a few minutes later because they are mank. Can some people just not get addicted or what? I don't know.

Loads of women do smoke in Ireland but I've noticed in other countries it's a lot more common. I guess a lot of women do it for the appetite suppressant thing.

I once had I girl say to me: "How do you know when to eat? If I'm hungry I just smoke a fag and then if I'm still hungry after it I know I'm actually hungry"

bfocusd

I don't understand why they are still legal, they money the government gain from taxes is short lived because of the thousands they spend on treating people who have gained illnesses because of it.

I know it would end up being sold on the black market, but surely there has to be a solutions to entice people to quit, it's never going to be gone, and it is the individuals choice to start, but maybe it's schools that should be targeted to teach kids the dangers, blatant straight up teaching too, not just a leaflet.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

smokers end up paying more in taxes than they cost in healthcare and they tend to die younger so they end up costing less than "healthy" people.

goz83

Lia_lia wrote: »

I don't get the smoking addiction. I smoke verrry rarely, maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Always when out and just kinda fitting in with others in the smoking area. Been doing that since I was about 16. And then I regret it a few minutes later because they are mank. Can some people just not get addicted or what? I don't know.

Loads of women do smoke in Ireland but I've noticed in other countries it's a lot more common. I guess a lot of women do it for the appetite suppressant thing.

I once had I girl say to me: "How do you know when to eat? If I'm hungry I just smoke a fag and then if I'm still hungry after it I know I'm actually hungry"

In a way, you've answered your own question. You say you smoke 3-4 times per year, always when you're out, fitting in. Well that's your crutch and your association with cigarettes. Most smokes, over time develop many more crutches and associations with cigarettes and they are usually learned by other smokers. Smokers effectively learn smoking behaviours from other smokers. You might have only one association with cigarettes, but it's surprisingly easy to develop more, without realising it. Before you know it, you're smoking more often and at times you never had before. Very few people manage to stay smoking as little as you are smoking at the moment.

Many will disagree and this is a debate, but I don't believe nicotine to be the main factor (on the ingredients end) to keep people addicted. I firmly believe that it is the glucose (sugar) they put into the cigarettes, which keep people smoking consistently. The glucose helps to keep the cigarette burning (unlike a cigar for example). It improves the taste and it gives a false sugar hit, which is why most people pile on the weight when they stop smoking. The mind finds a way to replace the perceived loss of sugar into the body, resulting in sugary foods being consumed, sometimes uncontrollably. Ask yourself how many people you know that are addicted to nicotine patches/inhalers/gum. The chances are, you know nobody addicted to these, with the rare exception of nicotine gum with sugar in it.

I work in this area and help people to give up smoking almost every day. It's a tough habit to kick and many people have cravings decades after quitting unless they correct the original sub-conscious suggestions learned when they started smoking.

wonderfulname

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

smokers end up paying more in taxes than they cost in healthcare and they tend to die younger so they end up costing less than "healthy" people.

I don't have stats but I've heard the opposite, that taxes on smoking fall short of expenditure on smoking related healthcare, care to share your source? I'm curious now as to which is the case.

Oh, wait, Google came through for me - “In Ireland 5,700 people die from smoking every year and the Department of Health estimates that the cost of smoking-related illness to the State over the next decade will be €23 billion. But we have a crazy situation where the Department of Finance decides tax policy purely from a revenue-raising standpoint ignoring the health cost – which at €14.7 billion over the next 10 years is far less than the €23bn associated with the cost of treating smoking related illness.” The words of a lobbyist granted, but explains where I got the idea, still open to suggestions he's wrong.

What about the amount of people that drinking kills?
Honestly, I think the whole anti-smoking mentality is ridiculous. People do people that put their health in danger ALL THE TIME. Ultimately it's their decision; let them have a fag if they want to!

Jesus Wept

wrote:

The "I’ll Quit When I’m 30" advertisements being launched by Grace Batterberry, the ex-smoker on Operation Transformation, are targeted at the women who set a date to quit but find it difficult to stick to it.

What a counter productive campaign.

Ophiopogon

Lia_lia wrote: »

I don't get the smoking addiction. I smoke verrry rarely, maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Always when out and just kinda fitting in with others in the smoking area. Been doing that since I was about 16. And then I regret it a few minutes later because they are mank. Can some people just not get addicted or what? I don't know.

You don't get addicted from one smoke... if you increased that habit then you could slip into the addication. That's what happens with all addictions.

I started smoking at 13 and didn't realise I was addicted till about 18 when someone pointed out to me I was lighting cigerettes of one another.

To be honest, I know smoking to crub appetite prob does happen but I've never come across it. It was a given that you would put on a bit of weight if you stop smoking but it never seemed to be a reason to keep smoking. I just smoked because I like it as did my friends and it never seemed to stop me eating.

I'm in the process of giving them up and have put on a stone since christmas because of shoving sugar in my mouth instead of a smoke. I'm now trying to replace sugar with running

Icemancometh

wonderfulname wrote: »

I don't have stats but I've heard the opposite, that taxes on smoking fall short of expenditure on smoking related healthcare, care to share your source? I'm curious now as to which is the case.

Oh, wait, Google came through for me - “In Ireland 5,700 people die from smoking every year and the Department of Health estimates that the cost of smoking-related illness to the State over the next decade will be €23 billion. But we have a crazy situation where the Department of Finance decides tax policy purely from a revenue-raising standpoint ignoring the health cost – which at €14.7 billion over the next 10 years is far less than the €23bn associated with the cost of treating smoking related illness.” The words of a lobbyist granted, but explains where I got the idea, still open to suggestions he's wrong.

I think it's very misleading. Most people "consume" the majority of their lifetime health care expense in the last year of their life, which makes sense. I've heard figures as high as 80% but I don't know if that's true. The point is that whatever gets you in the end, unless it's sudden or quick, is going to be expensive. Treating terminal lung cancer isn't much different from an expense point of view than any other terminal disease.

Apologies if anyone finds the above callous. I appreciate it's quite cold, but I think it's important to understand where the money goes.

wonderfulname

Fair point, those figures ignore other taxations going towards health and give no comparison to non-smoking related illness. Still wondering what the truth of the matter is, although in an area where everyone has an agenda I'd imagine it's tough to find.

Caraville

I'm just so grateful I never really started. I've probably smoked a grand total of 4/5 cigarettes (and one cigar!) in my lifetime.

None of my friends smoke, either male or female, and no one in my family smokes. I reckon that has to be one of the main reasons I was never bothered with it.

I think it's so disgusting, and whilst I can't understand how people like it, I do understand how it's hard to break bad habits. I always feel so sad for the families of people who smoke, because ultimately they're the ones that may have to face the consequences of seeing someone they love get horrifically ill.

It's an awful thing, and I wish anyone trying to quit every luck in the world.

Lia_lia

goz83 wrote: »

In a way, you've answered your own question. You say you smoke 3-4 times per year, always when you're out, fitting in. Well that's your crutch and your association with cigarettes.

Ophiopogon wrote: »

You don't get addicted from one smoke... if you increased that habit then you could slip into the addication. That's what happens with all addictions.

Yeah, fair enough I guess. The longest I've smoked for was about two weeks (about 4 cigarettes a day) in a few when I was on holiday about 4 years ago. Still never craved anything though. I just don't see how people can enjoy doing it.

I don't understand addictions so well. Same with alcohol. Loads of people in my family are heavy drinker/alcoholics and although I do drink a bit socially, but never craved a drink. I took lots of (apparently addictive) drugs in my past too and never been addicted. I find it very easy to give up things. Gave up sweets/chocolate/all that crappy stuff for a year just to prove I could do it

I know many people who claim to have been addicted to cigarettes after their first one. It must have something to do with personality/willpower, no?

iguana

Lia_lia wrote: »

I don't understand addictions so well. Same with alcohol. Loads of people in my family are heavy drinker/alcoholics and although I do drink a bit socially, but never craved a drink. I took lots of (apparently addictive) drugs in my past too and never been addicted.

Nothing is instantly addictive. There is no such thing as a substance that you take once of a couple of times and bam! you're an addict. Addiction occurs when you take a substance with addictive qualities often and regularly. When you do that your body/brain adapts to the substance and comes to operate in a way that 'needs' the substance to feel normal. When you stop using the substance it takes varying lengths of time for normal function to recover. Until it does you crave the substance you are addicted to as that will bring you back to how you are used to feeling.

There is also a psychological aspect to addiction, in many cases this is why the person abused the substance in the first place. By using a substance as a crutch to get through whatever issues they have they fail to develop proper coping mechanisms. So to overcome the addiction they will also usually need to figure out exactly why they smoked, drank, over ate, etc. And then find new ways to cope whenever those events occur. Or just learn to think in new ways to avoid old bad habits.

themadchef

goz83 wrote: »

In a way, you've answered your own question. You say you smoke 3-4 times per year, always when you're out, fitting in. Well that's your crutch and your association with cigarettes. Most smokes, over time develop many more crutches and associations with cigarettes and they are usually learned by other smokers. Smokers effectively learn smoking behaviours from other smokers. You might have only one association with cigarettes, but it's surprisingly easy to develop more, without realising it. Before you know it, you're smoking more often and at times you never had before. Very few people manage to stay smoking as little as you are smoking at the moment.

Many will disagree and this is a debate, but I don't believe nicotine to be the main factor (on the ingredients end) to keep people addicted. I firmly believe that it is the glucose (sugar) they put into the cigarettes, which keep people smoking consistently. The glucose helps to keep the cigarette burning (unlike a cigar for example). It improves the taste and it gives a false sugar hit, which is why most people pile on the weight when they stop smoking. The mind finds a way to replace the perceived loss of sugar into the body, resulting in sugary foods being consumed, sometimes uncontrollably. Ask yourself how many people you know that are addicted to nicotine patches/inhalers/gum. The chances are, you know nobody addicted to these, with the rare exception of nicotine gum with sugar in it.

I work in this area and help people to give up smoking almost every day. It's a tough habit to kick and many people have cravings decades after quitting unless they correct the original sub-conscious suggestions learned when they started smoking.

I dunno, i wont disagree with you as you say you work in this area and all i can offer is my own experience of giving up smoking.

I smoked since i hit first year in secondary school. I used to smoke 20 B+H a day and then 20 started turning into 30 and i was growing weary of smoking. My eldest child started complain about me smoking so i started to despise the fact that i smoked and hated that i was so chronically addicted to them.

I set a date, with a friend at work about 4 weeks away and we smoked our little heads off until we reached that date. When that date arrived we both threw our cigarettes away and neither of us have smoked since. That was 1st Sept '10.

I could go into details about how hard it was, yes we did it cold turkey, i believe it is the only way to do it. I was a wreck the head, my mate was legend. She practically carried me through it. We did it though, if you want it badly enough you will do it and it really boils down to that.

Now i want to address the weight issue. This is where i really disagree with you. I have lost almost 4 stone since i stopped smoking. Smoking was one of the main reasons for my being over weight. I couldint fecking breathe to go for a walk! A smoke was naturally followed by a coffee and a biscuit or something calorific, coke, chocolate, who knows, it certainly wasint water.

I'm sorry, but i dont buy into the gums, patches, tablets or any hokey pokey for giving up cigarettes. In fact i think they make it worse by keeping the nicotine in your system. Flush it while youre strong, then focus on keeping it out. Whatever works for you though. Im sure some people have success on them. Each to their own i guess, maybe im a skin flint and wouldint waste the money

Even now, i could picck up a packet of fags a light up. I loved smoking. It is a disgusting habit though and i thank my kids for helping me help myself.

I would say to anyone reading this who is thinking about giviing up to make a list of all the reasons why they should give up, and all the reasons why they should stay smoking.... and see how they feel after reading it. It's a hell of an eye opener.
Just pick a date, circle it on the calander and do it!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

the thing about smoking is that nicotine is awesome, and it just is. it's the burning of plant material (and all the dirty additives in cigarettes) and inhaling smoke into your lungs that's the problem. Nicotine is like caffeine, sure it's not exactly good for you but in moderation and so long as you're reasonable healthy in the rest of your life.. what harm

I quit smoking about 15 months ago, but I still use nicotine through my e-cigarette. I started off on 24mg juice, moved down to 18 after a few months... now i'm on 12, probably going to move down to 6 by the summer when I've used up the remainder of my 12mg juices. I get all the effects of nicotine without the majority of the health disadvantages, and I'm saving about 50+ euro a week.

my sense of taste and smell came back after a couple of weeks, my lungs improved so much so quickly.. it was only a month or so until I was no longer wheezing climbing a flight of stairs or walking to the shops. I think focusing on the nicotine is the wrong way to go about it, it's just a drug it's not the problem and it's not the cause of the health disasters that come from smoking, it's everything in cigarettes but the nicotine that does the damage.
things like the patches, inhalers, lozenges try to do that but they're just nowhere near as effective as e-cigarettes.. not even close.
now excuse me while I dig out my bottle of tirimasu flavoured juice.

saa

I have and can give up any substance, I can't get rid of the addiction though it just switches to something else.

I'm smoking rollies now, I've had one today, have 2-3 on a regular day 5-6 when I'm out, been smoking everyday for over a year (with a couple of weeks not smoking here and there) I smoked socially growing up it wasn't a problem, I hope not to go up to beyond 6 a day and not to be smoking into my 30's.

Little bit anxious about working at a camp this summer probably won't be allowed a smoke during my break or before or after my shift, which seems ridiculous for an adult employee but it might be a fantastic thing that the choice to start again isn't there.

Eve_Dublin

I smoked since I was 14 or 15 and quit 2 years ago almost to the day and I'm 31 now. I used the Alan Carr book and nothing else.

I started because I wanted to be cool. Pure peer pressure went on and I wasn't confident enough to say "no". Then I got addicted but that didn't happen 'till my early 20s. Kept smoking and for me it wasn't to keep the weight down as I was drinking a load as well. As Madchef above says, I've actually lost weight since quitting because I'm looking after my health overall now and can move around without getting wheezy. I was just plain addicted and really loved the socialising outside and because I've got crappy hearing, the beer gardens were the best place for me to be. It gave me something to do when I'd nothing to do during breaks in classes at work and I loved getting up in the morning and sitting on me little balcony and having a fag before everyone woke up.

But I always hated being a smoker and would get the guilts after every cigarette and it got to a point where I was smoking more and more and I knew I was doing myself damage. Had planned to quit on my 30th birthday but quit just before my 29th. It had to be done. I couldn't ignore the effect it was having on my health.

I still miss it. I've female friends here who ask me to go outside for a cigarette and I have to say no because I know I might be tempted but I miss the chats outside.

There was a time when I thought life wouldn't be worth living without them I was that bad and now I couldn't start again and I'd hate myself if I did. Couldn't live with the self-loathing.

Why do women smoke? The Spanish women here smoke like chimneys and they're gorgeous and well-groomed and fit in every other way, so I really don't get it. Perhaps it's to keep the weight down but there is a kind of social element that goes with them...groups of women standing huddled together chatting and laughing. If you don't smoke, then you won't join them.

I don't know though. Stupid habit and I hope to jaysus I don't start again. Can't believe I'd such little regard for myself back then.

amacachi

wonderfulname wrote: »

I don't have stats but I've heard the opposite, that taxes on smoking fall short of expenditure on smoking related healthcare, care to share your source? I'm curious now as to which is the case.

Oh, wait, Google came through for me - “In Ireland 5,700 people die from smoking every year and the Department of Health estimates that the cost of smoking-related illness to the State over the next decade will be €23 billion. But we have a crazy situation where the Department of Finance decides tax policy purely from a revenue-raising standpoint ignoring the health cost – which at €14.7 billion over the next 10 years is far less than the €23bn associated with the cost of treating smoking related illness.” The words of a lobbyist granted, but explains where I got the idea, still open to suggestions he's wrong.

Factor in an average of 10-15 years less pension payments for each smoker, less nursing home costs and the cost there would have been to treat them when they did eventually get ill if they weren't smoking and the gap is more than closed.

I hate that I love smoking. For me it's not the nicotine. Obviously in addictiveness terms it's the main thing but it's the feeling of the smoke etc. that I like.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

amacachi wrote: »

I hate that I love smoking. For me it's not the nicotine. Obviously in addictiveness terms it's the main thing but it's the feeling of the smoke etc. that I like.

head over to the e-cig forum, seriously. 50-60 euro will find you a kit that will stop you smoking, just about everyone i've introduced to ecigs has quit because of them. and even if you're the minor minority that doesn't quit outright, still better/cheaper to only smoke a few cigarettes a day instead of 10-20

amacachi

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

head over to the e-cig forum, seriously. 50-60 euro will find you a kit that will stop you smoking, just about everyone i've introduced to ecigs has quit because of them. and even if you're the minor minority that doesn't quit outright, still better/cheaper to only smoke a few cigarettes a day instead of 10-20

I don't like them, tried a couple. I've moved to rollies the last while, less than a tenner a week and it might be in my head but any time I smoke a cigarette my chest gets wheezy straightaway, the rolling tobacco seems a good bit milder on the lungs.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

yeah rollies can be a bit milder alright

were the ecigs you tried ones that looked like cigarettes?

amacachi

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

yeah rollies can be a bit milder alright

were the ecigs you tried ones that looked like cigarettes?

One was, had the light at the end of it, can't remember what the other one was like tbh.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

ah, yeah the ones that look like cigarettes can be pretty woeful
but horses for courses I guess, what works for one won't work for another
*shrug*

Lia_lia

Lia_lia wrote: »

Yeah, fair enough I guess. The longest I've smoked for was about two weeks (about 4 cigarettes a day) in a few when I was on holiday about 4 years ago. Still never craved anything though. I just don't see how people can enjoy doing it.

Why do you smoke then, if you don't enjoy it at all? Personally, I find smoking really enjoyable. I've smoked very little in my life, less than you, because I don't want it to affect my health, but the act/taste is quite pleasant, IMO.

I don't understand addictions so well. Same with alcohol. Loads of people in my family are heavy drinker/alcoholics and although I do drink a bit socially, but never craved a drink. I took lots of (apparently addictive) drugs in my past too and never been addicted. I find it very easy to give up things. Gave up sweets/chocolate/all that crappy stuff for a year just to prove I could do it

I know many people who claim to have been addicted to cigarettes after their first one. It must have something to do with personality/willpower, no?

I think some people do just have more addictive personalities than others. But I'm not sure it's all about the physical addiction. A lot of people smoke because of the social side of it and drinking is the same. Back when I was in college, most of my friends were religious types or outdoorsy types, so I never really bothered with drinking or pubs, but now that I get free drinks through work every Friday night and all my friends/colleagues spend most of their weekend drinking, it's really hard to avoid. It's also hard to resist the temptation to smoke when almost everyone heads out for a fag and leaves you with the bags. I think it's more of a lifestyle thing myself, but I also don't have much of an addictive personality (or whatever causes some people to be able to stop easily while others can't).

Dolbert

The odd 'social smoke' used to be a guilty pleasure of mine. Even now if I'm having a few drinks, I'd be tempted... I just really enjoyed it! I stopped because I knew it'd be a matter of time before my social smoking became full-time, even though I didn't feel addicted (yet). That, and the hangovers were absolutely killer.

Even so...



:pac:

beks101

I think the social-smoking thing is a big thing for women. I've definitely got a lot of female friends who wouldn't describe themselves as 'smokers' but will always have a sneaky fag if they're out drinking.

Personally, it's my biggest pet peeve. I succumbed to peer pressure as a teenager and tried it a few times, but it was always one of those things I did when absolutely hammered and massively regretted the next day when I woke up with dirty finger nails smelling like stale tobacco. I just don't see the appeal at all, I find it quite repulsive and can't even stand to be around smokers. If I'm walking past someone who's smoking I'll hold my breath.

My Dad smoked for more than 40 years, started at 15 and stopped two years ago at the age of 60. For most of my life I rarely saw him without a cigarette in his mouth, he was on about 40 a day. Then his best friend died and it put the fear on him, he just quit cold turkey. He's a changed man now, just happier and more free I suppose, having shaken the addiction of a lifetime.

You really can't quit until you're ready though. One of my best friends is an avid smoker, she thoroughly enjoys the pleasure and release it gives her and completely ignores the detrimental impact it's having on her health. It drives me crazy, especially when she says that she's 'perfectly healthy' because she goes to the gym and tries to eat well. You just can't be perfectly healthy if you're filling your lungs with black sticky tar twenty times a day.

wonderfulname

amacachi wrote: »

Factor in an average of 10-15 years less pension payments for each smoker, less nursing home costs and the cost there would have been to treat them when they did eventually get ill if they weren't smoking and the gap is more than closed.

I hate that I love smoking. For me it's not the nicotine. Obviously in addictiveness terms it's the main thing but it's the feeling of the smoke etc. that I like.

Yeah I copped the many external factors after, just relaying the heavy impression the media has left on me over the years it seems.

I love smoking too, but since the last time I tried to quit I copped I don't actually love smoking every cigarette, I'm pretty sure I couldn't place a large percentage of what I smoked today, and a lot of the rest were the habit ones, like that 11am one I've been having since I was about 13... Sorry I'm not very fond of people claiming they smoke for the love of it, unless you smoke at max one or two a day - and if you do, sorry - you don't.

That's pretty pathetic on my part... right, I'm quitting, just thought I'd tell you all so I can't chicken out :P

Faith

I've smoked socially for a long time. In school, it was a habit thing - I'd go with my friends at lunchtime. In college the first time, no-one smoked so I didn't either. When I was back in Cork, I smoked with my friends. My boyfriend is a social smoker too so I really enjoy having a cigarette with him. Up until about 6 months ago, if I got through 20 in a week, I was smoking a lot. But then I moved into a smoking household, and got into the habit of smoking with my housemates as a way to get to know them. Now one of my housemates smokes mostly in his room, and the other has quit after a bad chest infection. I still smoke on my own a little bit (maybe 2 or 3 a day), but it's out of boredom. I'm only working part time so I'm home a lot. I'm currently working my way through a 200 carton, but once I'm finished that, I'm going to stop smoking at home. It's WAY too expensive. I might still have the odd one if I'm out with smoker friends, but I'm going to put my foot down about smoking on my own.

Ilyana

Tbh, I think that the smoking ban has totally backfired in terms of discouraging people from smoking.

It's created a divide between smokers and non-smokers in pubs and clubs. In smoking areas it's much easier to talk to people, and some are practically indoors now anyway (totally enclosed, heaters, bars etc). The smoking area is where you find the banter, so everyone goes out when a few people want a smoke.

But you feel like a bit of an eejit standing outside without a cigarette, so you have one or two just to blend in. Rinse and repeat several times a night, once or twice and week. It's no wonder young people are getting addicted, it's part of our socialising routine.

I've fallen victim to the peer pressure, and it's something I have to nip in the bud before I get hooked. My parents are both smokers who just can't kick the habit, and I don't want that for myself.

Posy

I agree 100%, Emily. I don't smoke and yet spend lots of time on nights out in the beer garden. Otherwise I just get second hand stories of the great fun and hilarious incidents everyone else has had while I sat inside. I prefer the second hand smoke than the second hand stories.
Being one of the few non smokers is very alienating as everybody heads off in their little packs (no pun intended) to have their cigarettes laving me alone. This often happens if I'm in a group of 4-5 girls. I will often be the only non smoker and join everyone for some 'fresh air' anyway!

Ilyana

Posy wrote: »

I agree 100%, Emily. I don't smoke and yet spend lots of time on nights out in the beer garden. Otherwise I just get second hand stories of the great fun and hilarious incidents everyone else has had while I sat inside. I prefer the second hand smoke than the second hand stories.
Being one of the few non smokers is very alienating as everybody heads off in their little packs (no pun intended) to have their cigarettes laving me alone. This often happens if I'm in a group of 4-5 girls. I will often be the only non smoker and join everyone for some 'fresh air' anyway!

Exactly, not going outside during the night is like not going to Supermacs after the club :rolleyes: You'd end up being a social pariah!
It sucks because I actually hate what smoking does to people, but here we are. It's not going to end anytime soon either.

Honey-ec

Completely disagree with Posy and EmilyO about the "having" to go to the beer garden thing. You couldn't drag me into the beer garden/smoking area on a night out. I hate if I even have to walk through one, because ALL I can smell on my hair/clothes the next morning is the smoke.

Having said that, literally not one single person in my family or any of my friends smoke, so it's a complete non-issue for us anyway. Although a few years ago when both my sisters smoked, I ended up just going home from a night out because I didn't want to sit in the smoking area in Doheny & Nesbitt (which has to be illegal, it's so closed in). Quite frankly, I'd rather go home and miss the "craic" than sit in a fug of disgusting, smelly smoke for the night.

Seomra Mushie

EmilyO wrote: »

Tbh, I think that the smoking ban has totally backfired in terms of discouraging people from smoking.

It's created a divide between smokers and non-smokers in pubs and clubs. In smoking areas it's much easier to talk to people, and some are practically indoors now anyway (totally enclosed, heaters, bars etc). The smoking area is where you find the banter, so everyone goes out when a few people want a smoke.

But you feel like a bit of an eejit standing outside without a cigarette, so you have one or two just to blend in. Rinse and repeat several times a night, once or twice and week. It's no wonder young people are getting addicted, it's part of our socialising routine.

I don't agree, I love smoking areas but have never as a non-smoker felt any pressure to start smoking. You can enjoy them without smoking.

Ilyana

Seomra Mushie wrote: »

I don't agree, I love smoking areas but have never as a non-smoker felt any pressure to start smoking. You can enjoy them without smoking.

That's good, I wish it was the same for more people. I think for me, smoking is almost familiar behaviour as my parents and grandparents all smoke. It's something I've come to associate with winding down and relaxing. It's no excuse though, but at least it only happens every once in a while.