9 ms·

Alcohol is also addictive expensive and bad for you, and yet no one asks why anyone would drink alcohol

nine_k 5y ago
To get physiologically addicted to alcohol, one has to drink heavily every day for a year or so. Few people, especially people with college education, do that. One can drink a glass of wine or a cocktail every weekend for life, and form no addiction at all. Such a person can go dry for weeks or months, without any adverse effects. Nicotine forms a physiological addiction much faster, and then the addict has to have a fix daily, several times. So the exposure to nicotine (which is mildly toxic in the quantities needed) and smoke (which is way more dangerous, and hits the lungs directly) is much more intense and sustained.
- tialaramex 5y ago
  One of my friends gave up smoking for exactly a year on a whim, celebrated his success with a cigar, I think largely to rub it in the faces of people who struggled to quit - after a few months smoking again he packed it in permanently. So it doesn't have a strong hold on everybody. A few of my friends reduced their smoking to just a cigar once in a while, others moved to vaping, it is disheartening that then going from vaping to nothing seems to be not really a thing, but at least the vaping doesn't smell atrocious and seems less immediately likely to kill them.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  I'd say many people can drink more than that without dependency. I have a whiskey most evenings, but if I run out, I don't have any problems. Sometimes I'll go days or weeks without a drink, just depending on what else is going on.
namenotrequired 5y ago
The addiction likelihood of alcohol is much smaller. Nowhere near tobacco's ~100%
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- l00sed 5y ago
  Damn, this thread is making me itchy.
defaultname 5y ago
Smoking is magnitudes more addictive than alcohol. Regardless, a lot of people do ask why anyone would drink alcohol, given that it offers up an enormous array of detrimental health effects, the possibility of addiction and social troubles (DUI, violence, etc), and as a mental "holiday" altered state is an incredibly poor mechanism. Alcohol hangs around because it was accessible in earlier eras. There will come a time, I suspect in the very near future, when it will look ridiculous. Where having a `drink' will be an anachronism.
- strken 5y ago
  That's already been tried before, and it resulted in the US government deliberately poisoning people, widespread organised crime, and a lot of methanol poisoning. Turns out it's really hard to ban something you can make in a 20 gallon drum from yeast and sugar.
  - TchoBeer 5y ago
    We wouldn't have to ban it any more than we had to ban cigarettes
    - alethiophile 5y ago
      The decline in smoking has absolutely been accompanied and/or caused by a massive array of state coercion, from requiring all their advertising to prominently state "THIS WILL KILL YOU" to limiting who's allowed to sell it to banning it in almost all public spaces. (Which isn't even mentioning the "softer" approaches of massive state-funded PR campaigns against it.) It seems quite likely that absent all of these, smoking would still be as popular as it ever was.
      - throwaway1777 5y ago
        Not to mention the incredibly high taxes on cigarettes.
- rkk3 5y ago
vxNsr 5y ago
Right but if someone did, there might be some good answers. Do you have any good answers for why someone takes up smoking?
- RobertKerans 5y ago
  It is quite simple: someone is offered a cigarette, and they accept. And they have some more, and it is pleasant and social and/or stress relieving (both in ritual and physically: warm smoke in the mouth and throat is pleasant, as is the slight buzz, as is the act). This will often happen at a young age (teens, early twenties), within social settings. And then the addiction and ritual are the thing, and that thing is extremely satisfying. If you do not and have never smoked, then this will seem stupid, and it is, that would be a completely fair assessment: it is unlikely that any smoker will recommend that you become a smoker. Note that many people who give up smoking will replace it with an equally pointless (albeit generally much, much healthier) addiction/crutch that gives a mild buzz and requires some ritual habits (running, for example).
koyote 5y ago
Alcohol has gourmet attributes and is a good social lubricant. The question is more around whether those two attributes warrant ingesting what is essentially poison. I don't think I've ever heard a cigarette smoker comment on the taste of their cigarette (cigars are the exception here) and the high, especially for regular smokers, is near non-existent. So for cigarettes the initial appeal is much less obvious. I'd assume most people start smoking due to social pressure/trying to fit in.
- ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago
  I quit smoking over 40 years ago (TL;DR: It sucked). Best decision I ever made. I don’t regret it one bit. To this day, I sometimes smell a nearby cigarette, and it smells good to me.
  - throwawayboise 5y ago
    My dad smoked through my entire childhood. I don't like the smell of stale cigarette smoke, but smoke drifting from a lit cigarette smells good to me, and reminds me of being around my dad as a kid.
- MangoCoffee 5y ago
  >Alcohol has gourmet attributes and is a good social lubricant smoking was a good social lubricant as well. you can see that in the old Hollywood movies and in real life back when smoking was the social norm.
  - scatters 5y ago
    Alcohol is regarded as lowering inhibitions, which allows people to express themselves honestly and break down boundaries while returning to the normal social order the next day.
    - akiselev 5y ago
      While alcohol does lower inhibitions, it is generally only acceptable after work or at the odd outing/party. A smoke break is acceptable during work and might be the only time different departments and levels from management to floor workers interact on a day to day basis.
RobertKerans 5y ago
That may be because it's self-evident to most people.

To get physiologically addicted to alcohol, one has to drink heavily every day for a year or so. Few people, especially people with college education, do that. One can drink a glass of wine or a cocktail every weekend for life, and form no addiction at all. Such a person can go dry for weeks or months, without any adverse effects. Nicotine forms a physiological addiction much faster, and then the addict has to have a fix daily, several times. So the exposure to nicotine (which is mildly toxic in the quantities needed) and smoke (which is way more dangerous, and hits the lungs directly) is much more intense and sustained.

tialaramex 5y ago
One of my friends gave up smoking for exactly a year on a whim, celebrated his success with a cigar, I think largely to rub it in the faces of people who struggled to quit - after a few months smoking again he packed it in permanently. So it doesn't have a strong hold on everybody. A few of my friends reduced their smoking to just a cigar once in a while, others moved to vaping, it is disheartening that then going from vaping to nothing seems to be not really a thing, but at least the vaping doesn't smell atrocious and seems less immediately likely to kill them.
throwawayboise 5y ago
I'd say many people can drink more than that without dependency. I have a whiskey most evenings, but if I run out, I don't have any problems. Sometimes I'll go days or weeks without a drink, just depending on what else is going on.

namenotrequired 5y ago

The addiction likelihood of alcohol is much smaller. Nowhere near tobacco's ~100%

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
l00sed 5y ago
Damn, this thread is making me itchy.

defaultname 5y ago

Smoking is magnitudes more addictive than alcohol. Regardless, a lot of people do ask why anyone would drink alcohol, given that it offers up an enormous array of detrimental health effects, the possibility of addiction and social troubles (DUI, violence, etc), and as a mental "holiday" altered state is an incredibly poor mechanism. Alcohol hangs around because it was accessible in earlier eras. There will come a time, I suspect in the very near future, when it will look ridiculous. Where having a `drink' will be an anachronism.

strken 5y ago
That's already been tried before, and it resulted in the US government deliberately poisoning people, widespread organised crime, and a lot of methanol poisoning. Turns out it's really hard to ban something you can make in a 20 gallon drum from yeast and sugar.
- TchoBeer 5y ago
  We wouldn't have to ban it any more than we had to ban cigarettes
  - alethiophile 5y ago
    The decline in smoking has absolutely been accompanied and/or caused by a massive array of state coercion, from requiring all their advertising to prominently state "THIS WILL KILL YOU" to limiting who's allowed to sell it to banning it in almost all public spaces. (Which isn't even mentioning the "softer" approaches of massive state-funded PR campaigns against it.) It seems quite likely that absent all of these, smoking would still be as popular as it ever was.
    - throwaway1777 5y ago
      Not to mention the incredibly high taxes on cigarettes.
rkk3 5y ago

vxNsr 5y ago

Right but if someone did, there might be some good answers. Do you have any good answers for why someone takes up smoking?

RobertKerans 5y ago
It is quite simple: someone is offered a cigarette, and they accept. And they have some more, and it is pleasant and social and/or stress relieving (both in ritual and physically: warm smoke in the mouth and throat is pleasant, as is the slight buzz, as is the act). This will often happen at a young age (teens, early twenties), within social settings. And then the addiction and ritual are the thing, and that thing is extremely satisfying. If you do not and have never smoked, then this will seem stupid, and it is, that would be a completely fair assessment: it is unlikely that any smoker will recommend that you become a smoker. Note that many people who give up smoking will replace it with an equally pointless (albeit generally much, much healthier) addiction/crutch that gives a mild buzz and requires some ritual habits (running, for example).

koyote 5y ago

Alcohol has gourmet attributes and is a good social lubricant. The question is more around whether those two attributes warrant ingesting what is essentially poison. I don't think I've ever heard a cigarette smoker comment on the taste of their cigarette (cigars are the exception here) and the high, especially for regular smokers, is near non-existent. So for cigarettes the initial appeal is much less obvious. I'd assume most people start smoking due to social pressure/trying to fit in.

ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago
I quit smoking over 40 years ago (TL;DR: It sucked). Best decision I ever made. I don’t regret it one bit. To this day, I sometimes smell a nearby cigarette, and it smells good to me.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  My dad smoked through my entire childhood. I don't like the smell of stale cigarette smoke, but smoke drifting from a lit cigarette smells good to me, and reminds me of being around my dad as a kid.
MangoCoffee 5y ago
>Alcohol has gourmet attributes and is a good social lubricant smoking was a good social lubricant as well. you can see that in the old Hollywood movies and in real life back when smoking was the social norm.
- scatters 5y ago
  Alcohol is regarded as lowering inhibitions, which allows people to express themselves honestly and break down boundaries while returning to the normal social order the next day.
  - akiselev 5y ago
    While alcohol does lower inhibitions, it is generally only acceptable after work or at the odd outing/party. A smoke break is acceptable during work and might be the only time different departments and levels from management to floor workers interact on a day to day basis.

RobertKerans 5y ago

That may be because it's self-evident to most people.