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Original poster

NON-SMOKERS - what made you decide NOT to experiment with cigarettes?

47 replies

FrannyandZooey · 17/03/2007 20:36

Was there a reason, something someone said to you? I am especially interested in hearing from people who were tempted or who dallied with cigarettes but then decided not to take the risk of continued experimentation. I am cutting and pasting from the other thread I just started, asking smokers what would have encouraged them not to start, but realised it made more sense to ask the people who didn't get hooked - what stopped you?

From the other thread:

I have a friend who is 17 and just starting to have the odd cigarette when out with friends. She feels bad about it, and doesn't want to become addicted, but enjoys trying them and wants to "live life to the full" - experimenting being part of that.

She confessed this to me and I think she partly wants me to have a go at her and make her promise me she won't do it again. What can I say to her? I don't feel that promising another person not to smoke will have any effect, but just worsen her self-esteem if she chooses to smoke again.

I told her I personally wished I had never smoked - told her she WILL get addicted if she keeps having the odd one - and talked about the thousands of pounds I have spent on cigarettes, the wrinkles she can plainly see I have from smoking, and the fact I seem to have some kind of asthma now and for all I know, I will get lung cancer one day.

I also told her it makes you stink and that men that smoke can't get it up so well

I don't see what a lecture will achieve here but I would dearly like to be able to say something that will strike home with her and dissuade her from years of addiction that I had.

I worked as her nanny for several years and now we often go out together as friends so I think she sees me in a sort of big sister type role.

OP posts:

unknownrebelbang · 17/03/2007 23:22

I had TB as a toddler, and had it drilled into me as I grew up that one cigarette could kill me.

frances5 · 17/03/2007 23:23

Hmmm.. I tried smoking twice, once when I was 12 and once when I was 20. The first time it nearly made me throw up and the second time it wasnt too bad. I never had another one because I was scared of the health risks.

I've also tried cannabis when I was at uni. It was a great let down. All that happened was that felt sleepy, it was particularly intesting in anyway.

Roskvawantingsomesunshine · 17/03/2007 23:32

Pure bloodimindedness - I was a very stroppy teenager, so I didn't do what everyone else was doing on principle!

maisym · 17/03/2007 23:33

my dh gave up on the spot when he saw the smoking room at the hospital and the patients in there.

Bugsy2 · 18/03/2007 00:04

I am a non-smoker but I experimented with cigarettes but never got addicted. I have the odd ciggy from time to time, probably about 4 times a year.
I find smoking repulsive & can only do it when bladdered, so that's what stopped me becoming addicted.

Blondilocks · 18/03/2007 00:29

I've never tried smoking. I guess it's because a couple of people in my family who smoked had heart attacks and also the smell is horrid & I'd much rather spend the money on something else. It just never appealed to me before even thinking about the health risks.

I think a lot of it is who you hang around with - hardly any of my friends at school smoked so there wasn't every any pressure to try. Then at uni the ppl who did smoke didn't care who else smoked or not. Also friends whose parents/siblings smoked seemed to smoke too.

Mirage · 18/03/2007 20:58

My dad smoked a pipe,but only whilst on the farm.One day,when I was about 9, he lit it & left it in the milking parlour.I snuck in & took a puff.Euwwwww! Put me off for life.I have never,ever had a cigarette & no desire to.

Mirage · 18/03/2007 21:00

dh has never smoked.He said that he rtemembers having a music teacher at school,who smoked heavily.He had yellow fingers & smelt.That,plus the fact that none of his friends smoked,did it for him.

MadameWeb · 18/03/2007 21:02

i had a few when about 14, but i just thought it was disgusting, stinky, hurt my throat ect...

i still hate it

MadameWeb · 18/03/2007 21:03

oh and my DP doesnt smoke, he has NEVER tried it (or never tried alcohol!)

he just thinks its nasty too

kitty x

alison222 · 18/03/2007 21:15

Just can't stand the smell.
When I was growing up my uncle and grandparents smoked and when they came to stay the house was fogged up with them all chain soking - Bleughh

ShowOfHands · 18/03/2007 21:28

I personally never started smoking as I could not see the point. Seriously, why would you? I couldn't see a single good reason to do it and having since seen my Grandads die from lung cancer and emphysema respectively (one caused by asbestosis, one from mining, so not actually smoking related), I have witnessed the agonising conclusion teenage experimentation can reach and am eternally thankful I wasn't tempted.

I met DH at 17, told him there is no possible way I would be his girlfriend as he was a smoker and he quit, never to smoke again. His parents had tried bribery, reasoning etc but it didn't make him stop.

hana · 18/03/2007 21:31

also didn't see the point - my parents never did, nor did any of their friends, I guess I really wasn't exposed to it. Few friends started smoking at about 14, but I never even tried ( honest) funnily - I married a smoker......who finally got around to quitting when I was pregnant with our first baby.

Nikki76 · 18/03/2007 21:36

Pathology lecture in first year of degree - blackened, diseased lung due to lung cancer....nuff said!

bettythebuilder · 18/03/2007 21:50

I was told that smoking stunts your growth, and as I've always been small I really didn't want to risk any more "stunting"

Socci · 18/03/2007 22:00

Message withdrawn

Fubsy · 18/03/2007 22:05

Heard that the first few make you feel sick - have such an aversion to being sick, chose not to smoke!

mabelmurple · 18/03/2007 22:30

Another non-smoker put off by both parents smoking, particularly in the car, and by the sight and smell of disgusting ash trays - bleurgh! Did anyone's parents do the 'oh you want to smoke, do you - then smoke the whole packet in one go right now!' thing? Mine didn't btw, but I'd like to know if it's effective .

peanutbutterkid · 18/03/2007 23:35

I tried it many times but it was just so thoroughly unpleasant, one puff every few years was enough to satisfy. It never looked at all cool to me, daring maybe, but not truly attractive.

MarsLady · 18/03/2007 23:37

The smell. A girl in Brownies... yes Brownies... tried to get me to smoke. I took one puff and hated the taste. Couldn't abide the smell but definitely hated the taste. She told me that I would soon get used to it. What on earth for???

brimfull · 18/03/2007 23:37

MY dh's father gave him a cigarette at the age of 10 and made him smoke it.I think he's been caught or something.Anywya it made dh sick and put him off for life.
A bit drastic but it worked.

suedonim · 18/03/2007 23:40

Omg, how could I have forgotten suffering from car sickness whilst being in a smoke-filled vehicle? My mum used to wear Chanel No5 and to this day the smell of it brings back memories of days out and fags and being sick.

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