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As a smoker who is constantly in the 'I'm quitting..' phase, is there a reason that cigarettes are so bad? Is the burning of tobacco itself lethal or are the ad

As a smoker who is constantly in the 'I'm quitting..' phase, is there a reason that cigarettes are so bad? Is the burning of tobacco itself lethal or are the additives the principal killers?

Synaesthesia 13y ago
It's just the burning of any plant material and inhaling the smoke, that's bad. Smoke is little particles of ash and soot that clog up your lungs. Smoking weed also messes up your lungs.
- stevewillows 13y ago
  Seems logical. I don't touch weed at all. I vape part-time and have found that it helps with the nicotine craving, but man... I love smoking. Reading articles like this push me further and further away from 'analogs', as we say. Addictions aside, vaping is a better alternative for days when I have meetings and have to work around others.
  - Synaesthesia 13y ago
    I know, one gets accustomed to the action of smoking. It's very satisfying. I'm also gonna switch to vaping though
    - stevewillows 13y ago
      I mentioned this in other comments, but I've found a decent replacement in the iTaste variable voltage battery with a dual-coil pro-tank. I've been vaping with 'Toblacco' which is a black honey tobacco --- most tobacco flavoured e-liquids taste like shit, but this one is well balanced. I also enjoyed Blackberry quite a bit.
BugBrother 13y ago
Snus is a relevant data point to support Synaesthesia's claim. It is (non smoke) tobacco, but won't give you cancer or destroy your lungs (still not healthy with nicotine, of course, but many times less bad). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus
- stevewillows 13y ago
  good Lord.. that's not for me.
  - BugBrother 13y ago
    The variants in small bags are easy to use. I smoke/snus when drinking, so I use nicotine ~ once a month. I feel better the day after with snus.
    - stevewillows 13y ago
      If you have a desire for nicotine, you should look into a good vaping option. I mentioned what I'm using in a comment above (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7088395 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7088395).
- russelldavis 13y ago
  > won't give you cancer. Untrue. "Smokeless tobacco is a major cause of oral cancer, pancreatic cancer, and esophageal cancer." http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/snus-tobacco-health-risks http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/snus-tobacco...
  - BugBrother 13y ago
    A better reference than Wikipedia? :-) E.g., Wikipedia says: Thus far, the evidence specifically implicating snus in pancreatic cancer is only suggestive.[25][26] Your link say: [Scandinavian] snus users have a significantly higher risk of pancreatic cancer. That is a contradiction. Wikipedia has references. And snus, according to both references, is less bad than snuff. Your quote ("Smokeless tobacco") generalizes over the same group.
schainks 13y ago
I think it's safe to say that the burning of something that you directly inhale is the principal killer, regardless of what's in it. When burning organic matter, there tend to be many byproducts produced. Often more harmful than not. Odds are we didn't evolve to breathe them on a constant basis. If we had, this stuff wouldn't give us mouth and lung diseases so much, would it? If we had evolved to tolerate doing this to ourselves, then we wouldn't be arguing about this. IMHO, some people do seem to adapt better to burning things and inhaling them. BUT I'm not going to test that out on myself for 20 years only come out the other side with lung cancer (or worse). It's a crapshoot, really. Your call. Plus, I like the fact my sense of taste and smell works better than it did when I was a smoker. If the nicotine in tobacco didn't give you the high you feel when smoking, would people still be smoking and getting cancer? Probably not. People like getting high. Take that away and what reason is there to smoke? But I digress... So, to answer your question, "all of the above". You smoke to get high from the nicotine, but the other shit in the smoke is what your body can't tolerate (generally speaking, as yes I agree there are many instances of people living perfectly normal lives smoking the whole time). I'd take up smoking e-cigarettes if you feel it's safer to you (long term) than smoking cigarettes.
- stevewillows 13y ago
  yeah, I'm progressing toward vaping full time -- but it's the habit. I could set my watch to it. haha When I quit last year (no vaping), the first thing I noticed was how incredibly salty restaurant food was. After years of working with essential oils (for soap making and such), my nose leaves much to be desired. If you do try vaping, try an iTaste variable voltage battery with a dual-coil pro-tank. Also get an e-liquid that's 50/50 between vegetable glycerine (good vapor -- 'clouds') and propylene glycol (throat hit). This is what I'm using now, and as a result I've lowered my 'analog' intake by half.
DanBC 13y ago
The tar is pretty harmful. This youtube video is interesting. I'm not sure how accurate it is. http://youtu.be/k-MRkC5DqFQ http://youtu.be/k-MRkC5DqFQ
agumonkey 13y ago
The sad synergy between the two...
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

As a smoker who is constantly in the 'I'm quitting..' phase, is there a reason that cigarettes are so bad? Is the burning of tobacco itself lethal or are the additives the principal killers?

Synaesthesia 13y ago

It's just the burning of any plant material and inhaling the smoke, that's bad. Smoke is little particles of ash and soot that clog up your lungs. Smoking weed also messes up your lungs.

stevewillows 13y ago
Seems logical. I don't touch weed at all. I vape part-time and have found that it helps with the nicotine craving, but man... I love smoking. Reading articles like this push me further and further away from 'analogs', as we say. Addictions aside, vaping is a better alternative for days when I have meetings and have to work around others.
- Synaesthesia 13y ago
  I know, one gets accustomed to the action of smoking. It's very satisfying. I'm also gonna switch to vaping though
  - stevewillows 13y ago
    I mentioned this in other comments, but I've found a decent replacement in the iTaste variable voltage battery with a dual-coil pro-tank. I've been vaping with 'Toblacco' which is a black honey tobacco --- most tobacco flavoured e-liquids taste like shit, but this one is well balanced. I also enjoyed Blackberry quite a bit.

BugBrother 13y ago

Snus is a relevant data point to support Synaesthesia's claim. It is (non smoke) tobacco, but won't give you cancer or destroy your lungs (still not healthy with nicotine, of course, but many times less bad). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus

stevewillows 13y ago
good Lord.. that's not for me.
- BugBrother 13y ago
  The variants in small bags are easy to use. I smoke/snus when drinking, so I use nicotine ~ once a month. I feel better the day after with snus.
  - stevewillows 13y ago
    If you have a desire for nicotine, you should look into a good vaping option. I mentioned what I'm using in a comment above (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7088395 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7088395).
russelldavis 13y ago
> won't give you cancer. Untrue. "Smokeless tobacco is a major cause of oral cancer, pancreatic cancer, and esophageal cancer." http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/snus-tobacco-health-risks http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/snus-tobacco...
- BugBrother 13y ago
  A better reference than Wikipedia? :-) E.g., Wikipedia says: Thus far, the evidence specifically implicating snus in pancreatic cancer is only suggestive.[25][26] Your link say: [Scandinavian] snus users have a significantly higher risk of pancreatic cancer. That is a contradiction. Wikipedia has references. And snus, according to both references, is less bad than snuff. Your quote ("Smokeless tobacco") generalizes over the same group.

schainks 13y ago

I think it's safe to say that the burning of something that you directly inhale is the principal killer, regardless of what's in it. When burning organic matter, there tend to be many byproducts produced. Often more harmful than not. Odds are we didn't evolve to breathe them on a constant basis. If we had, this stuff wouldn't give us mouth and lung diseases so much, would it? If we had evolved to tolerate doing this to ourselves, then we wouldn't be arguing about this. IMHO, some people do seem to adapt better to burning things and inhaling them. BUT I'm not going to test that out on myself for 20 years only come out the other side with lung cancer (or worse). It's a crapshoot, really. Your call. Plus, I like the fact my sense of taste and smell works better than it did when I was a smoker. If the nicotine in tobacco didn't give you the high you feel when smoking, would people still be smoking and getting cancer? Probably not. People like getting high. Take that away and what reason is there to smoke? But I digress... So, to answer your question, "all of the above". You smoke to get high from the nicotine, but the other shit in the smoke is what your body can't tolerate (generally speaking, as yes I agree there are many instances of people living perfectly normal lives smoking the whole time). I'd take up smoking e-cigarettes if you feel it's safer to you (long term) than smoking cigarettes.

stevewillows 13y ago
yeah, I'm progressing toward vaping full time -- but it's the habit. I could set my watch to it. haha When I quit last year (no vaping), the first thing I noticed was how incredibly salty restaurant food was. After years of working with essential oils (for soap making and such), my nose leaves much to be desired. If you do try vaping, try an iTaste variable voltage battery with a dual-coil pro-tank. Also get an e-liquid that's 50/50 between vegetable glycerine (good vapor -- 'clouds') and propylene glycol (throat hit). This is what I'm using now, and as a result I've lowered my 'analog' intake by half.

DanBC 13y ago

The tar is pretty harmful. This youtube video is interesting. I'm not sure how accurate it is. http://youtu.be/k-MRkC5DqFQ http://youtu.be/k-MRkC5DqFQ

agumonkey 13y ago

The sad synergy between the two...

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]