Is it me or is smoking cigarettes becoming cool again?

[Sonato]

Just that really.

Seems like its coming back as an aesthetic, bit worrying for the younguns but also has me itching to light up having packed in 20 odd years ago

It is definitely on the rise. For a number of years it was mainly older people buying cigarettes where I work but definitely now there is a lot of students buying them. Just from my observations I would say the the increase in Chinese students within our area has contributed to this as they all appear to smoke and also a lot of exceptionally beautiful Eastern European ladies also smoke. The actual food part of their shopping is usually very healthy with lots of veggies and fresh foods, next to no upfs. It all seems very strange, eat healthy carry water bottles everywhere and then go and buy cigarettes

Smoking keeps your hunger levels down and keeps you thin. That’s likely why. I quit smoking 10 years ago and I’ve put on 3 stone. Despite the fact I eat healthy most of the time. I do however feel hungry all the time and crave crap. I never ever had that when smoking.

I would also say for a lot of the European ladies the heated tobacco products are their choice rather than traditional cigarettes

I like to binge watch Below Deck when I'm ill and I am always shocked that they are all filmed smoking

I have a friend having terrible health battles in her late 30s as a result of smoking since her early 20s, it's heartbreaking seeing her regret

I think it’s pretty funny. Antipathy to smoking has been expressed for so long in such ludicrously exaggerated terms that it’s refreshing to see youthful middle fingers being raised.

I actually agree with this. The way people act about smoking is absolutely ridiculous at times. Someone having a quiet cigarette on a bench is compared to actual child murderers etc. I quit a decade ago but sometimes I actively want to start again reading some of those comments.

Nothing cool about smelly cancer sticks...

Would you say you're generally oppositional in nature? I've noticed that cigarettes are a shorthand for 'rebelling'. Tattoos used to be too, but now they're normalised, even face ones.

It’s definitely trending as an aesthetic amongst the young folk - vaping has become tacky and passé and smoking is cool again . The difference is that I don’t think they are smoking all the time - it’s more like they buy them when they are going out only and smoke at pubs, parties , events etc .
Not a coincidence it coincides with skinny being fashionable and a general push of 90s cool on social
media … or whoever controls and pushes social media trends .

Not at all actually. I generally follow rules religiously and even years ago was one of the mythical “considerate” smokers. I would walk far away from absolutely everyone if I was smoking outside (unless with other smokers).
I don’t take offence to someone saying “I don’t know why anyone would smoke. It smells and causes so many health issues including passive smoking for others so I don’t think smokers should smoke near others and it should be banned in public places.” I have absolutely zero issues with that. What weirdly makes me want to smoke is people saying “Smokers are fucking thick as shit revolting barely human things that stink so much that I actually threw up in a lift once then had to take my baby to hospital where I waited 12 hours in a&e because a smoker walked past me carrying my baby in the street and now my baby will die young and it’s all the fucking disgusting smokers fault. I hope they all die fucking awful deaths because they deserve it and should all be banned from accessing any NHS services because they are so thick as shit they need to die”. That. That is what I object to. And while it may sound exaggerated, it’s honestly not far off what people say on smoking threads.

Online is very extreme. They wouldn't say it to your face, I trust. But what you described is also a reaction I have read to people being obese. They get horrible abuse online.

I’m too old to be a reliable barometer of what’s “cool” any more and I don’t get out enough.

If it is cool its probably a backlash against vaping which is naff as fuck and arguably no better than smoking.

What do people expect when the one product that massively reduced cigarette consumption has been treated with such derision and histrionic revulsion?

Its a fair cop. I am just not convinced that vaping is a good off ramp for smokers. And the way it was licensed and has been marketed is scandalous.

Deffo a thing. My theory is that the young ones realise the world is fucked so no point trying to live as long as you can 🤷🏻‍♀️

From what I've read people seem to be buying them under the counter. Probably illegally imported or made.

Oh yeah there was a BBC story about it not so long ago. The cigs are the tip of the iceberg.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqj1rkqqrgro

Illegal mini-marts, barbers and vape shops could be shut for up to a year under new powers announced by the government, following lengthy investigative reporting by BBC News into organised crime on British high streets.
We have exposed drug gangs, child sexual exploitation, money laundering and immigration crime linked to shops selling illegal cigarettes, vapes and drugs.

Definitely is in the music world. I see a lot of musicians in up and coming bands smoking and find it quite disappointing.