Why do people start smoking?

[Osborn F Enready]

Well, a lot of us feel that way about religion too.

[Epistemologist]

Quote by: Isherwood Getting old sucks, but it's still better than the alternative.

That brings to mind a certain kind of people in The Neverending Story who get born as old people and get younger as the years go by, finally dying as babies.

Quote by: Kuldeep Why do people start smoking? Just for fun in their childhood. This in their latter years becomes habbit!!!

Yeah, that often happens.

Quote by: Madeline I work in an office building so many of the workers are high-strung or stressed out, this is probably why they take up smoking...but not entirely sure. Anyways, I think it's a disgusting habit ingesting poison into your system -- plus cigarettes stink!

That's why I suggested that many people smoke because it's a sadness escaping-compounding means, because you're just taking in more poison for the poison that you perceive is your life.

[CoffeeSaint]

Quote by: StrongHeartsWin I can`t believe you are going to argue, or analogise an addict justifying his habbit as self medicating to that of someone taking medicine prescribed by a licensed therapist or doctor. I presume that is what you are doing with your Tom Cruise reference.

No, actually that's what you did, when you referred to some people needing drugs to feel normal. If you were castigating addicts for falsely justifying their habits, then say so -- the way you put it sounded as though you were insulting people who didn't feel "normal," and were weak enough to need medicine to improve their state of mind. I don't think there's anything wrong with using medication to improve your state of mind, and I would also say that your perception of the improvement is really all that matters: if the drugs are placebos, but you believe they work to reduce your stress and make you happier, then your stress will be reduced and you will be happier. If the drugs have harmful effects, but still make you happy, perhaps it is worth it. Perhaps it isn't, but that should be left up to the individual to decide.