So many people still smoke cigarettes

Paco Dennis said:
I'm sorry, but I loved smoking. I wish I could smoke cigarettes. Newports! :) I still crave it after 20 years of not smoking. Amazing addiction!!! I think it has more to do with the additives than pure Tabaco, although that is bad too.
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I agree except that I [thankfully] do not still have cravings.

A friend of mine that used to work for Brown & Williamson always said that filter cigarettes were the real [supposedly proven] danger . Reportedly the chemicals in the filters were the actual culprit.
 

I started smoking at 21 and smoked heavily until age 40 or so. I've tried unsuccesfully to stop smoking more times than I can count, but have not tried recently. So, I still smoke, but a pack lasts usually 3 days. I don't smoke in my house or in the company of others.

I have a cousin who smoked since she was a teen. She quit cold turkey at age 65, then developed lung cancer 12 years later, and died within 3 months after her diagnosis.
 
My parents never smoked. When I grew up, people smoking were everywhere and all over tv/film media. Didn't bother me being around smokers as much as it later did. I smoked a few cigarettes in the back of a theater, maybe at age 11, from a kid whose parents smoked. Was disgusting. Could not stand being closely around gals who smoked because I could smell it from their lungs. Have never had much sympathy for those that state they are so addicted that they cannot stop. When one questions others complaining about health and or fitness issues, it usually turns out many are also smokers, though don't seem to be aware that is a factor. But each to their own, Let It Be.

Question for AI: demographic still cigarette smokers

While cigarette smoking has declined overall, it is still prevalent among certain demographic groups in the United States. Statistics from recent years indicate that smokers are disproportionately more likely to have lower income and education, experience poor mental health, and belong to specific racial or ethnic groups.

Income and education
  • Lower socioeconomic status is one of the most significant predictors of being a current smoker.
  • Income: A 2023 study showed that adults living below 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) were more likely to be smokers than those with higher incomes.
  • Education: In 2022, cigarette smoking was highest among adults with lower levels of educational attainment, especially those with a GED certificate. Conversely, smoking rates were lowest among those with undergraduate or graduate degrees.
Race and ethnicity
  • Smoking rates differ significantly among various racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.
  • Highest rates: The highest prevalence of smoking is consistently found among non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native adults.
  • Lowest rates: Non-Hispanic Asian adults have the lowest smoking rates.
  • Menthol cigarettes: The majority of non-Hispanic Black smokers use menthol cigarettes, a rate more than three times higher than among White smokers. This is linked to historic tobacco industry targeting.
Mental health and disability
  • Adults with mental health conditions and disabilities have substantially higher rates of cigarette use.
  • Mental health: In 2022, adults with severe anxiety or depression were significantly more likely to be current smokers. In fact, people with mental health conditions, who represent about 25% of the population, smoke nearly 40% of all cigarettes.
  • Disability: Studies have also found that smoking is more common among adults with a disability than among those without one.
Age
  • Though young adult smoking has declined dramatically, a significant portion of older adults continue to smoke.
  • Peak smoking age: Smoking prevalence is highest among adults aged 45–64.
  • Constant rate in older adults: A 2023 study found that the smoking prevalence among adults aged 65 and older remained constant between 2011 and 2022, even as rates in younger adults declined rapidly.
Geography
  • Smoking rates can vary significantly depending on location within the U.S.
  • Rural vs. urban: Adults in rural areas smoke at a higher rate and tend to smoke more heavily than those in urban areas.
  • Regional differences: The Midwest and South consistently show higher smoking rates than the Northeast and West.
Occupation
  • Certain occupations are associated with a higher prevalence of smoking.
  • Construction: In 2023, adults working in construction had a smoking rate more than five times higher than those in education.
  • Military veterans: A 2025 report noted that military veterans smoke at a significantly higher rate than the general population.
 

It seems that quitting doesn't undo the damage that smoking does. The cancer stage may have been set years before. But we don't know that for sure. All we do know is the smoking is a known cause of cancer. Cancer is a silent killer. You may have it a long time before it becomes a problem.

My cousin, a former smoker died of lung cancer. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in his cheek, which was removed, but they could not locate it in his lungs where all lung cancer starts, until several years later when the mass got big enough to detect. By that time it was spreading all over his body, and we were always wondering where it would show up next. The last was in his brain, and they detected it there.

He was describing some new symptoms, and I pretty much knew it was in his brain then. However, he did not accept that until the doctors located it. He died a couple months after that. But by that time, most of his other organs were in failure too.
 
JustDave said:
It seems that quitting doesn't undo the damage that smoking does. The cancer stage may have been set years before. But we don't know that for sure. All we do know is the smoking is a known cause of cancer. Cancer is a silent killer. You may have it a long time before it becomes a problem.
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Yes, quitting may improve odds of survival, but doesn't mean your out of the woods. After 45+ years of smoking I've been smoke free for 14 years, and now wait for "the other shoe" to drop.
 
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Paco Dennis said:
I'm sorry, but I loved smoking. I wish I could smoke cigarettes. Newports! :) I still crave it after 20 years of not smoking. Amazing addiction!!! I think it has more to do with the additives than pure Tabaco, although that is bad too.
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I do so relate, Paco, though I wish I didn't. Every day, every single day, wish I could smoke cigarettes. My last cigarettes were Newport Longs. Before that, Kool Kings. DRAT! A daily battle, not made any easier by talking about it! That starts the craving.
 
rgp said:
I agree except that I [thankfully] do not still have cravings.

A friend of mine that used to work for Brown & Williamson always said that filter cigarettes were the real [supposedly proven] danger . Reportedly the chemicals in the filters were the actual culprit.
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Nope. My dad smoked unfiltered, as did many of his generation. Cancer sticks, he called them. Old Gold was his brand.
 
I loved smoking! I also enjoyed a cocktail at the neighborhood bar, drove home with a little buzz, went to friends homes and played cards, smoked, had a little glass of wine. Had a couple cigarettes while waiting for a flight out of town, then a couple more in the plane. Started going to casino's where almost everyone smoked. Those were the days...cough, cough.
 
Thinking I would look cool like the bad boys I smoked for about 3 days back when I was 11, stealing my mother's cigarettes.

And later on in my late teens and 20's I would puff on an occasional cigar for the same reason. But like Bill Clinton, I didn't inhale. :)

Nothing in the last 50 or so years however.

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My only experience with smoking was when I was in college and it was considered cool and rather cosmopolitan to smoke. We girls would sit on the steps of the dorm with cigarettes in hand and ask the guys for a light as they passed by. I'm not sure why we thought that was so "sophisticated", but we did. We didn't actually smoke them, just held them in our hands and occasionally took a "mouth" puff to keep them lit. I'm sure if I had ever inhaled one, I'd have coughed myself to death. Not a good look....

My late husband smoked. He'd try to quit over and over, but always started smoking again. I had chronic bronchitis from living in Detroit and when the pulmonary specialist said I was developing emphysema and I needed to stop smoking, I told him I didn't smoke. He slapped his hands down on the desk and said, "I can't help you if you don't help yourself!"

I repeated that I don't smoke but my husband smoked about a pack a day. He said that was as bad as smoking myself. I went home and told my husband that. He took the pack out of his pocket, threw it in the trash and never smoked another cigarette in his life. It took knowing what his smoking was doing to me was what he needed to quit. That's love.
 
JustDave said:
I don't know which addictions are strongest, but I was addicted to both nicotine and alcohol at different times. Quitting nicotine was hard. Cravings persisted intensely for a year. Years later I broke the addiction cycle with alcohol. That seemed like a walk in the park compared to nicotine.

30 years ago, when I quit alcohol, I attended AA meetings where many members were sworn off alcohol, but unable to stop smoking. We had smoking meetings twice a week and we had big turnouts for those. The air was thick with smoke in those meetings, thicker I have ever experienced. OK I fought forest fires as a summer job. That may have been worse, but only sometimes.
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Dave, I haven't smoked in 20 years. But if my Doc told me I had 6 months to live, I'd be lighting up my Newport 100s within seconds.
 
I was reading this, thinking, I don't know anyone at all who smokes cigarettes.. My X husband has vaped for at least 15 years... he started pretty much when it frst came to be a thing. He had smoked cigs since he was 11 years old.. and pretty much chain smoked, and had a cough from hell.. hacking, horrible in the mornings...like he was choking to death.. I'd hear him out in the garden beore work with his coffee and cigarettes cughing his lungs up..

he changed to Vaping, and embraced it as much as the cigarettes, and never smoked another cigarette.. his cough completely disapeared pretty much overnight.... but he vapes like he smoked.. chain vaping !!.. He buys ''quality'' liquid online , and makes up his own flavours, never buying cheap liguid from stores..

I'm sure that vaping has to cause problems ultimately at some point, but he doesn't agree. My X is also a very...VERY..heavy drinker...

Anyway it just occurred to me I do know someone who smokes and that's my Eastern European Neighbours.. they sit out in the garden pretty much smoking all the time when they're home.... they do vary it with Vapes as well sometimes ....but I often wonder how they can afford to smoke with only one wage going in there.. 5 people to keep.. a high rent and utilities to pay... and Cigarettes at £18 per pack of 20.. ( I had to look that up)...my eyes nearly fell out of my head when I saw the price, how on earth does anyone aside from the very rich afford to smoke..?:eek::eek::eek:
 
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