Cigarettes; The Latest Invention

cormie · 27-03-2006 04:47PM #1

I was just thinking, if cigarets were just invented and released now, would they be so popular? In the age of everyone being so health conscious, what would the reaction be? Would they be allowed into the country even? If you're a current smoker, do you think you would be drawn to try them out and maybe end up hooked?

Kingp35 · 27-03-2006 04:50PM

Im not sure. One of the biggest mysteries of this world is why the hell do people decide to start smoking?

Kiera · 27-03-2006 04:52PM

Tut tut cormie: Cigarettes you mean!

Gegerty · 27-03-2006 04:57PM

I thought there was a new type of cigarette invented called cigaret. People start smoking because its mad and makes them feel grown up. Then they get hooked and can't get by without them. Not to mention the pleasure you get from feeding your addiction. If they did invent a cigaret, smoking only it doesn't hurt you or something, it'd be good. I miss smoking.

astrofool · 27-03-2006 05:50PM

Whichever cigarrette company managed to get them outlawed to kids was a genius.

27-03-2006 05:56PM

Kingp35 wrote:

Im not sure. One of the biggest mysteries of this world is why the hell do people decide to start smoking?

Cos it looks cool. Would have given them up ages ago but would have messed with the image. Blowing rings is the best. Deadly.

Rockdolphin · 27-03-2006 06:13PM

Kingp35 wrote:

Im not sure. One of the biggest mysteries of this world is why the hell do people decide to start smoking?

Why do people climb mountains ? Why do people do anything !!

[Jackass] · 27-03-2006 06:28PM

It's my theroy (and many others) that people start smoking to be "cool" .

Why is smoking "cool"? (or at least percieved to be?)

Because from 50's Hollywood right up to today, smoking was used in cinema to depict sexy for women and smooth for men...all the sex symbols, men and women, smoked in movies...the cool bad guys always smoked, all the tough hero's smoked..you've got your John McClean (Die Hard), Jewels (Pulp Fiction), infact all the cool guys in Tarentino smoked...you look at Senatra & the Rat pack or black and white movies with the long ciggarret holder things with sexy women on the end...Ganstar movies...Bradd pitt smoking his brains out in Fight club...It's engraned in our culture as cool. (or at lteast you might think that way when you're 11).

Here's a little thinker for you though. Tobbacco was brought to Europe on the return of Colombus from their discovery voyage to America, amognst other exotic, herbs, spices, animals and foods.

What he didn't bring back, but was in vast quantity, was cannabis....if he had, it would probably be the regular tobbacco we know now...smoked like we smoke ciggarrettes...or at least be a legal substance world wide....world could have been a very different place...Who knows? Hitler could have been a pot head and said "Invade Poland? Nah, I couldn't be arsed"

Ragazza · 27-03-2006 06:40PM

DubGuy wrote:

Hitler could have been a pot head and said "Invade Poland? Nah, I couldn't be arsed"

I like the way you think...

DublinWriter · 27-03-2006 06:47PM

Probably not, but you could say the same about alcohol, a drug that:

- Makes you agressive
- Makes you depressed
- Was addictive to many
- Had no medical benefits

As for Cannabis, governments are down on it because it's almost an impossible drug to tax because it's so easy to grow one's own supply. Tobacco on the other hand is very hard to grow and prepare.

Kernel · 27-03-2006 06:57PM

DubGuy wrote:

Who knows? Hitler could have been a pot head and said "Invade Poland? Nah, I couldn't be arsed"

Yeah but all the great people and minds of the 19th and 20th century could have had the same attitude, and our civilisation would be some kind of Victorian stoners world, where nothing ever got done. It would be like in Futurama, the 'Don't date robots' video.

Rockdolphin · 27-03-2006 07:06PM

No doubt there would be a clamber to ban any such new product ensuring it's success and widespread usage !

R-KEANE · 27-03-2006 07:56PM

There are adults today that start smoking all of a sudden. I imagine its because thye hear it helps with stress and start because of a tragedy or something like that in their lifes. However, I cant see such a thing being legal if it was introduced now. There are too many helath checks on anything about to break through. This would be an instant cancer risk and so probably get declined. I admit, when I started smoking it was for two things. To be cool and to see what it was like. Didn tlike it 1 bit, thought I looked silly coughing all over the place but I was then hooked. Thats how soon it happens. Off them 4 years now.

cormie · 27-03-2006 08:55PM

Kiera wrote:

Tut tut cormie: Cigarettes you mean!

Well that's what I thought until I double checked here

simu · 27-03-2006 10:14PM

No. What company would introduce a new product that they and the public know gives you cancer?

Kernel · 27-03-2006 10:29PM

simu wrote:

No. What company would introduce a new product that they and the public know gives you cancer?

I wouldn't put my faith in corporations to show ethics tbh. There's a lot of evidence surfacing recently that the clinical tests on Aspartame were flawed or even fabricated, and that Aspartame (the chemical found in Nutra-Sweet and diet drinks) causes neurological problems and cancers.

http://www.321recipes.com/aspartame.html

There are many cases where corporations have put profits before people. Cigarettes are a great product from a sellers view. It's not like people crave Maltesers, or another consumer product, and consume it all their lives - even knowing it's killing them.

Steoob · 27-03-2006 11:57PM

DublinWriter wrote:

Probably not, but you could say the same about alcohol, a drug that:

- Makes you agressive
- Makes you depressed
- Was addictive to many
- Had no medical benefits

As for Cannabis, governments are down on it because it's almost an impossible drug to tax because it's so easy to grow one's own supply. Tobacco on the other hand is very hard to grow and prepare.

those dastards

aidan_walsh · 28-03-2006 12:10AM

simu wrote:

No. What company would introduce a new product that they and the public know gives you cancer?

But of course, would you know if you only released it as a new, never before used product now?

Mimikyu · 28-03-2006 12:30AM

This post has been deleted.

valor · 28-03-2006 12:39AM

Theyd probably be made illegal if they were invented today

Dizzyblabla · 28-03-2006 01:06AM

I dunno, I think if they were invented today people might them that they were a little ridiculous, inhaling smoke like that. Unless poeple already smoked the pipe, then it would be the best invention ever, cause you wouldn't have to clean out your pipe or pack it with tobacco yourself!
like in a movie I saw once (can't remember the name of it for the life of me) where she invents the quick burning cigarrette? so she could smoke it all between classes? remember? anyone? that made her rich! (fiction, yes, but so is the topic!)

simu · 28-03-2006 02:50PM

Solitaryman666 wrote:

This post has been deleted.

People would know about cancer from pipe-smoking and so on.

They smoke today because they see other people and people on TV etc doing it.

Rockdolphin · 28-03-2006 03:49PM

simu wrote:

They smoke today because they see other people and people on TV etc doing it.

So why did people smoke before there was TV ?

Furry Burger · 28-03-2006 03:53PM

DubGuy wrote:

It's my theroy (and many others) that people start smoking to be "cool" .

Why is smoking "cool"? (or at least percieved to be?)

Because from 50's Hollywood right up to today, smoking was used in cinema to depict sexy for women and smooth for men...all the sex symbols, men and women, smoked in movies...the cool bad guys always smoked, all the tough hero's smoked..you've got your John McClean (Die Hard), Jewels (Pulp Fiction), infact all the cool guys in Tarentino smoked...you look at Senatra & the Rat pack or black and white movies with the long ciggarret holder things with sexy women on the end...Ganstar movies...Bradd pitt smoking his brains out in Fight club...It's engraned in our culture as cool. (or at lteast you might think that way when you're 11).

Here's a little thinker for you though. Tobbacco was brought to Europe on the return of Colombus from their discovery voyage to America, amognst other exotic, herbs, spices, animals and foods.

What he didn't bring back, but was in vast quantity, was cannabis....if he had, it would probably be the regular tobbacco we know now...smoked like we smoke ciggarrettes...or at least be a legal substance world wide....world could have been a very different place...Who knows? Hitler could have been a pot head and said "Invade Poland? Nah, I couldn't be arsed"

Tobacco was brought back because its easy to process for smoking, "cannabis" doesnt burn particulary well on its own.

oh yeah and smoking gives you something to do

Kolodny · 28-03-2006 05:06PM

cormie wrote:

In the age of everyone being so health conscious, what would the reaction be?

The health issue aside, I'd imagine people would now be less inclined to take up smoking where the ban exists. I'm not saying no-one has started to smoke in Ireland since the ban came in because I'm sure they have but I'm reckon the prospect of standing outside a pub in the rain and freezing cold has been a bit of a deterrent to people tempted to 'try'.

rubadub · 28-03-2006 05:32PM

cormie wrote:

if cigarets were just invented and released now, would they be so popular?

They wouldnt even be considered for legalisation! end of story. Jesus they say paracetomol wouldnt pass todays drug tests.

"cannabis" doesnt burn particulary well on its own

thats because cigarettes contain small amounts of explosives to keep them burning, pipe and rolled cigarettes go out as easily as cannabis.

So why did people smoke before there was TV ?

Because of peer pressure, they saw everybody else doing it and thought it must be nice. Little knowing they were really only smoking to stave off the withdrawl symptoms of the most addictive substance known. Convincing themselves they smoke to "feel good" or "release stress", it is not feeling good rather feeling less bad from the withdrawl syptoms and the stress the symptoms cause.

No. What company would introduce a new product that they and the public know gives you cancer?

a company that wants to legally make a profit. Alcohol can lead to higher cancer lists. In fact almost everything you hear about these days leads to cancer risks, fried food, burnt toast.

cannabis....if he had, it would probably be the regular tobbacco we know now...smoked like we smoke ciggarrettes

cigarettes are the perfect taxable drug, little or no high and the most addictive substance known. Cannabis is easy to ban since it is non-addicitive prohibition is easier to (half) maintain. You could not be allowed smoke cannabis during working hours if legal, like booze.

[Jackass] · 28-03-2006 06:44PM

As for the cancer aspect...Mobile phones potentially give you cancer, we havn't got a long enough time scale to measure it, but theorys are it does, or at least is very harmfull (particularly the Signal towers)

That is one of the fastest growing industries on the planet.

Rockdolphin · 28-03-2006 07:06PM

rubadub wrote:

Because of peer pressure, they saw everybody else doing it and thought it must be nice.

Peer presure has bearings on lots of things we do, but doesn't explain all motivations involved in our actions. Walter Raleigh didn't smoke because of peer pressure, he certainly considered the native Indians beneath his stature let alone his peers.

Rockdolphin · 28-03-2006 07:13PM

Kolodny wrote:

The health issue aside, I'd imagine people would now be less inclined to take up smoking where the ban exists. I'm not saying no-one has started to smoke in Ireland since the ban came in because I'm sure they have but I'm reckon the prospect of standing outside a pub in the rain and freezing cold has been a bit of a deterrent to people tempted to 'try'.

More people are smoking more in Ireland since the imposition of the ban which is the total opposite of what we were told would happen by the OTC. Then again they have consistently lied about passive smoking and ignored the blatantly obvious, If you ban something it will increase demand and it's appeal partricularly to the young !

The ban has singularly undone all the previous years hard work in convincing people smoking was uncool and reducing the amount of new users. The tobacco companies could not have done a better job in getting the younger generation back on the ciggerettes than the idiots who backed the smoking ban.

simu · 29-03-2006 01:28AM

Rockdolphin wrote:

So why did people smoke before there was TV ?

There was the fillums. o_O

CiaranC · 29-03-2006 01:40AM

Uuuuuuuuuuh,

Id just like to be the first to say, 2 pages into the thread, that smoking is quite enjoyable. I smoked for several years, quit due to the health implications, but enjoyed it very much. Are people really this brainwashed by the media that they cant even comprehend that people smoke because its enjoyable and they like it? People have been smoking for at least 10000 years for gods sake!

I suggest that everyone in this thread go and procure a fine cuban cigar and enjoy it some saturday afternoon in the garden. Maybe read a book on critical thinking while you are at it. :rolleyes:

Cigarettes; The Latest Invention

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