Hi guys. About smoking. I never was a "real" smoker.

Why don't you just pick up literally anything else to cope with stress? Go for a walk or a run or something

>>18026231
I do that, but it's not always available and of course not so instant.

Any other experiences?

Don't do it anon
Not only is it super expensive, it'll cause you MORE stress in the longrun

(over health, running out, periods where you cant have a smoke etc)

>>18026213
>but I currently see no negatives about it (apart from stink).
Just wait until you get smoker's cough. Just wait until you absolutely need a cigarette. They start as a stress reliever, but quickly turn into something that stresses you out when you can't have one.

If you absolutely feel you have to smoke, get a targard. It's a plastic and metal filter that you put your cigarette in. It's not a magic cure, but helps cut back on the tar/other nasties found in cigarettes.

I smoke about 5 or 6 a day which isn't bad considering I started smoking at 16 years old and am 23 now.

Best way to not get addicted is to not start. I know people who have only been smoking for a few years and are already up to a pack a day.

Self control is key if you are going to start this habit. That's also the only way they'll stay as a good stress reliever.

My other suggestion is to roll spliffs and put a cotton filter in them alongside the targard. Marijuana is illegal, yes, but it's far less dangerous for you than tobacco. Also, THC at low doses (ie - smoking a spliff with a pinch or two of weed versus ripping a bong) is one of the best anti-anxieties/stress relievers out there. Once you get super stoned it makes it worse due to how it acts with dopamine/serotonin.

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>>18026213
Just enjoy it. You only live once then you're forgotten forever. Nothing you do matters. Just smoke if you want. I smoke about 4 packs a month.

Any smoking history puts you at higher risk for lung cancer.

I really dont care if you fuck yourself, job security for me as respiratory therapist.

>>18026246
Combine both then. Exercise a few times a week and only smoke when you absolutely need it.

>>18026344
THIS. Soon you're going to need a cig to NOT feel stressed in the first place. If there is any actual real stress in your life it will no longer work at all to help it.

>>18026354
Epicurus wouldn't be proud of you. He's explicitly against pleasurable things that will bring more pain in the long run.

>>18026421
care to extend that thought?

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>>18026421
Fuck Epicurus. I'm my own man. I can control myself and if I can't I will reap the consequences.
>>18026417
Not with self control.

"such a great mitigator" -- very well put. Amid all the retards on 4chan, you get these lovely moments of alacrity.

Nah, don't do it.

You're still at the point where you can casually turn it down. It'll be a slippery slope that will wind up costing you a lot of money - before you know it you'll be at half a pack a day or more, it happens all the time.

Even if you don't care about your health that still adds up to, like, $1500 a year, at least.

>>18026427
Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who believed there was no higher purpose than pleasure. However, he was very rational about it, and part of it was insisting that no pleasure should be taken that would result in greater pain in the future.

Not much of his writing left, but he's mostly famous for expanding the atomic theory of Democritus to include the spin of atoms.

>>18026213
10 sticks a day here.
Man, if you gonna smoke, make sure you moderate yourself, or you'll end up like me, 10 sticks a day and counting.

And yeah, dunhill best cigs

Nicotine will literally prevent your neurons from producing normal levels of dopamine after getting accustomed to it. Don't fucking do it.
There are tons of ways of enhancing your dopamine production without creating dependance.

>>18026213
Sounds like you're looking for some stress deflection through distraction.
Try taking up going to the gym or a team sport and work that into your schedule.
Failing that, find a healthy alternative to a cigarette! As lame as it sounds try a carrot stick or toothpick, just something to help bridge the void.
Good luck my educated anon

Reluctant smoker here. I've smoked 0-3 a day for maybe 7 years. Many times less or none at all but I could never stand more than 1 or 2 a day. I hate myself for smoking and lots of the time it's not even pleasurable. I think I just like to worry about something else for a while, stress deflection like previous guy said. I still don't consider myself a smoker even though I am. It's just something to do I guess. I think the best thing and maybe one of the only things keeping me smoking is the social aspect. I just get along with them better. They're all kind of dark and perpetually upset with life. Maybe that's just the shame that comes with smoking.

Don't smoke. I don't allow my nonsmoker friends to. I don't have what it takes to stop though. Hopefully someday.
If anything get a vape. Don't get used to the cig chemicals.

>>18027206
>Nicotine will literally prevent your neurons from producing normal levels of dopamine after getting accustomed to it.

No it won't fucking lmao and you have no idea what downregulation actually is.

The EXPRESSION of dopamine will be lowered over gradual periods of time. This does not mean your brain produces LESS dopamine, or has LESS dopamine neurons as a result because nicotine isn't neurotoxic (in fact it's neuroprotective and the only health benefit of smoking known to modern medicine is the reduced risk of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's in smoking cohorts). Downregulation means your dopamine neurons become LESS SENSITIVE TO DOPAMINE over time. It does not mean you produce less, it means what you already have is less sensitive to what you were already producing which is why you will need more nicotine over time to produce the same feeling.

>>18026213
I've been smoking for 5 years.
Been trying to quit for 4.

Dont. Just. Dont.

>>18026354

A pack a week here also. I've heard every smoker has to quit eventually, but today's not eventually and neither's tomorrow. I'm a Turkish Silvers man myself, you?

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>>18026213
i used to smoke occasionally, like probably a cigar or cigarillo twice a week, but i stopped two years ago and sometimes i get strong urges to smoke, especially after drinking really heavily. but honestly tobacco is fucking terrible and i feel better without it