What age did you start smoking and why?

Mookie Blaylock

Mookie Blaylock wrote: »

Tbh, Spud Webb was my hero... Mookie is more of a musical leaning

Gotcha.

Filmer Paradise

Only smoked a few cigarettes ever

Started at 21. It was the '80 & sort of the done thing back then.

Quit at 44 due to the cost. Now 50,I've been vaping for the last 6 years.

Don't miss the fags at all now.

_Brian

Tea rolled in brown paper when I was 8 or 9, my sister had the brainwave

My smoking career was short, never since, I’ve never ever even tried a proper cigarette. Filthy things that make people mad their possessions smelly and dirty.

BeerWolf

Never Smoked

My mother used to be a smoker.

As a little kid I stole one of her cigs to try it. Being the ignorant child, instead of inhaling it I just held the smoke in my mouth... the taste of it had effectively completely put me off the stuff.

myshirt

13-15 and Still Smoke

Mark25 wrote: »

Thought I was bad at 13 but 9 is real young, great life story btw

Yeah was young. I remember watching Die Hard when I was about 11 and wanting to be as cool as John McClane. I was smoking 20 cigarettes a week I'd say, not many, but smoking nonetheless.

I'd still like to be as cool as John McClane, but not via smoking cigarettes.

Mark25

13-15 and Ex Smoker

twowheelsonly wrote: »

13 as well, when I started secondary school although I had a few before that in primary school.
It was easy for me as my family had a small shop so it was handy enough to rob a packet - always the 10s' !!
54 now and still at it... Some days I hate them and other days I still love them.


Ironically, neither my mother or father smoked - with my father in particular totally anti smoking - if you fell and bust your head in our house he'd blame the fags !! Out of 7 children all seven smoked at one stage or another with three of us still regular smokers.

At 13 having a shop would make it easier to get cudarettes alright - big temptation.I was the only one in my family who smoked and wasnt allowed smoke at home (even outside) when I was young so the dog always got a walk

Never Smoked

Smoking in going to disappear before we know it. The kind of social conditions which led to kids mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds smoking have disappeared in the last 5 to 10 years. Kids from such backgrounds used to live in real poverty, with far fewer entertainment options, they had lower expectations in life (didnt see themselves as people who go to college), their parents and older siblings were more likely to smoke than today, their diets were beige and high in carbs and low in protein and vegetables, status was acquired by being the "hardest" and most "grown up" out of the group, they felt different to the better off children. Nowadays kids from the "most disadvantaged backgrounds" are 6 foot tall, ripped, go around with 800 euro iphones aged 13, look the same as kids living in richer areas and socialise with them too, are openly concerned with their image to a degree unthinkable to their predecessors, eat chicken fillet rolls for their lunch in school and avoid soft drinks and they go to the gym, and the thought of smoking or being anti-social or, (the shame of it) violent!, is just off their radar completely.

SEPT 23 1989

13-15 and Ex Smoker

Started at 14 still going strong

All that money wasted could have had a speedboat

r93kaey5p2izun

Never. It just seemed utterly pointless and dirty.

ablelocks

16-17 and Still Smoke

14

Due to pure, utter boredom in the summer of 1987.

My dad smoked, so at a minimum there were always half cigarettes or butts to smoke. I became quite adept at taking a cigarette from a new cellophane wrapped pack - so much so that when my dad complained to PJ Carroll and co he got about 10 cartons from them and a written assurance that they would ensure that no packet left the building with only 19 cigarettes in it.

I quit on feb 11th 1998 so I could afford to buy a car. But there are still times and I would love, love a cigarette.

dasdog

Only smoked a few cigarettes ever

19, had a pouch of tobacco for rolling joints. Myself and a good friend of mine were on two double dip strawberries each, listening to Led Zeppelin II and III. It was easier to put rollies together than get a joint together which we couldn't manage due to tripping off our faces, something clicked and within a week or two I was a smoker.

Gave up 3.5 years ago and still vape but I've zero interest in ever smoking a cigarrette again.

Kevin Finnerty

12 or Under - Ex Smoker

Fieldog wrote: »

Started at 13, gave them up at 36, lungs still recovering...

Only started to impress some lady who's name I can't even remember

For the same reason. I was 9. Puked my guts up afterwards but that didn't deter me. She had a lot going for her, her old man owned the local shop so loads of free fags.

Mark25

13-15 and Ex Smoker

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Started at 17 and quit just over a yr ago at 29.

I was always curious about them, in 6th yr a girl I was seeing got me started. We'd buy a 10 pack in the morning and smoke em at lunch time.


I was told at the time that I'd be the type who'd get hooked on them. Highly strung personality, short temper and prone to worrying and overreacting. And I did, by the time I was in college I was up to a pack a day, about double that when drinking.


Nothing could calm me like a cig could.


It was brutal trying to stop, I was fcking people out of it right left and centre. I found the vape useless.


I still crave them today, if I smell cig smoke I want one. However I'm determined to stay off them for good this time. I'm also enjoying the extra discretionary income I'm saving.

Always associate lunchtimes at school with having a few smokes. We could leave school for lunch so it was easy enough to get away with it but got caught a few times and they would take the rest if the pack - another handy thing abour the 10 pack!!!

Lisha

16-17 and Still Smoke

myshirt wrote: »

I was 9.

I started on the Chocolate cigarettes.

Remember the white candy ones? The were fabulous.... the choc ones were lovely too

JupiterKid

18-20 and Ex Smoker

I started very late - just before I turned 20 in my 2nd year of college. I was out drinking with some acquaintances and someone offered me a cigarette and that was it - within a year I was hooked. I actually smoked my first joint before my I took up smoking - go figure!!

I hid it from my Dad for about a year and was very angry at myself for starting as I was very anti-smoking as a kid. Many of my mates took it up at 15/16 and nearly all have stopped since. I had a few half-hearted attempts at stopping but no success. I have another addiction that I am currently successfully battling so that takes priority for now, but I think vaping might help me to get off the cancer sticks and I do plan to be off them within 2 years.

Here's hoping...

I was about 19 when I first had a cigarette. Partly a case of delayed teenage rebellion, partly sheer curiosity but mostly it was combatting social anxiety - the smoking area of clubs/bars makes it much easier to talk to people. I still smoke socially (and still find the smoking area a good place to blow off steam!) but less so than I did in my early twenties.

Fortunately I've never found smoking to be addictive for me personally, but I do have sympathy for those who desperately want to quit and who try but fail to kick it for good.

twowheelsonly

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Started at 14 still going strong

All that money wasted could have had a speedboat

What I usually get is "How Much?" or "How Many" and "You could get a Ferrari for that..." to which I always respond... "Where's yours ???"

Billy86

16-17 and Ex Smoker

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Started at 17 and quit just over a yr ago at 29.

I was always curious about them, in 6th yr a girl I was seeing got me started. We'd buy a 10 pack in the morning and smoke em at lunch time.


I was told at the time that I'd be the type who'd get hooked on them. Highly strung personality, short temper and prone to worrying and overreacting. And I did, by the time I was in college I was up to a pack a day, about double that when drinking.


Nothing could calm me like a cig could.


It was brutal trying to stop, I was fcking people out of it right left and centre. I found the vape useless.


I still crave them today, if I smell cig smoke I want one. However I'm determined to stay off them for good this time. I'm also enjoying the extra discretionary income I'm saving.

Good on you. I started at 16 in school, have been off a few times - once for 9-10 months and another for 18... don't let that moment of "ah sure it's just one..." weakness hit you, especially at 3am after a long night out, though you're only two years younger than me so if you're the same those are probably becoming a lot less frequent for you than before!

If you've never read it and ever get an itch, read Allen Carr's Easyway to Quit Smoking book. None of those books, leaflets etc ever did a thing for me but that book spurred both of my long times off, the logic he uses is fantastic.

Also in general, the government needs to run less of those "cigarettes kill you" ads because that just makes smokers feel bad, and what does a smoker do when they feel bad? Smoke, obviously. When I was in Australia a few years back they were running a campaign like this all over the place and it was great, actually motivated me to quit for the first time and gave me goals to reach for.



As much as it's a cash grab in actuality, as a smoker I do think the huge increase in prices is also a very good thing - getting a 10 pack for €3.10 if I recall when I started around 2002 was just too easy, nowadays 10s are obviously gone and I don't know what the cheaper ones are but 20 B&H will cost you upwards of €12 which doesn't price teenagers out but unless they have a job it does make it a financial commitment rather than a trade off for a 500ml bottle of coke and 2 chocolate bars, or whatever else. Also much of that 'grabbed cash' probably gets spent on smokers with health problems in a roundabout way at the end of the day.

Gorgeousgeorge

13-15 and Ex Smoker

Holy hand of jaysus had i just listened to the aul fella.

Started at 15

On the vape over a year now and its grand but at the end of the day its still just a crutch

ayux4rj6zql2ph

18-20 and Still Smoke

Sampled them at 14/15, started smoking full time at 17, quit at 23.

It was a choice between the car and the fags, the car won, but my waist size ballooned, I've shed some weight but i'm still about 4/5 stone away from my smokers weight.

Rothko

Never Smoked

Anyone who ever smoked did it because of peer pressure.

Lisha

16-17 and Still Smoke

Rothko wrote: »

Anyone who ever smoked did it because of peer pressure.

Started yes due to peer pressure... continued because it’s feicing lovely

NewbridgeIR

13-15 and Still Smoke

Started at 11.
Didn't smoke much in school - maybe one or two a day (could buy them singly).
When I went to college I smoked around 5-10 a day.
After I got a permanent job that went to 15-20 per day.
Quit at 28 because my new girlfriend didn't like smoking.
Have had four relapses (one cigarette each time) in 18 years.

Always enjoyed smoking.
Never had a problem with weight when I smoked.
Could never understand people who smoked and complained about it.
Also couldn't fathom smokers who welcomed the smoking ban - why? It's a pain in the neck to go outside.
Be proud of your habit.

Would love to start again but 1) health reasons and 2) price would put me off.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes two years ago and the doctor said that "starting to smoke again wouldn't be a great idea"

freshpopcorn

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Also couldn't fathom smokers who welcomed the smoking ban - why? It's a pain in the neck to go outside.

Great way to chat up women!

Tilikum17

Started smoking at 12. Both myself & my friend. Smoked for 20 years.

Got T.B

Took champix.

Off them 8 years.

freshpopcorn

We were one of a few schools in the country invited to a talk by Jeffrey Wigand the famous whistleblower.
Between this and all those chats we had at school on the matter. They sort of made it appealing.
I smoked the very odd time when I was a teenager and then started more at college. Mainly due to social smoking on nights out. Then it staryed to creep into the next day.
Haven't smoked in a few years now.

Mark25

13-15 and Ex Smoker

Deleted User wrote: »

Smoking in going to disappear before we know it. The kind of social conditions which led to kids mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds smoking have disappeared in the last 5 to 10 years. Kids from such backgrounds used to live in real poverty, with far fewer entertainment options, they had lower expectations in life (didnt see themselves as people who go to college), their parents and older siblings were more likely to smoke than today, their diets were beige and high in carbs and low in protein and vegetables, status was acquired by being the "hardest" and most "grown up" out of the group, they felt different to the better off children. Nowadays kids from the "most disadvantaged backgrounds" are 6 foot tall, ripped, go around with 800 euro iphones aged 13, look the same as kids living in richer areas and socialise with them too, are openly concerned with their image to a degree unthinkable to their predecessors, eat chicken fillet rolls for their lunch in school and avoid soft drinks and they go to the gym, and the thought of smoking or being anti-social or, (the shame of it) violent!, is just off their radar completely.

Thats serious enough but interesring and I get some of what you are saying. I was a bit wimpy when I was 13 and thinking like a 13 year old I thought it would make me look older and a bit harder! You said it isnt much like that now but I still see plenty of kids around smoking

Richard Hillman

13-15 and Ex Smoker

I enjoyed the excitement of the vice principal trying to catch people out. I was a rebel, the chase and the challenge excited me. Still smoke 15 years later, have no intention to quit, I enjoy my habitual fags. The key is to not smoke when you need one and not for the sake of it.

sicknotexi

13-15 and Ex Smoker

14. I blame Kurt.

Snotty

13-15 and Still Smoke

Stated in Primary school, I'd say about 10. Didn't smoke much in secondary school, just the odd time. Then in college started more regularly and was on 20 a day by end of college. That was 20 years ago and I'm off them just over a year now. So glad to be off them, they were just a curse.