For those of us that do or did use tobacco, why did you start?

Hanco asked this on another thread, and I thought it was a damned good question.

Me? Dip was first. High school sports; there were some other players that dipped, and eventually we all did. A buzz before the game, and there ya go. Smoking came next; parties and had one with a beer or something. Just became a habit then and spread. Chew came during the Marines. Easier to have a chew in than smoke, with better flavor than dip, and seemed to last longer.

Quit them all years ago, and damned glad I did.

Didn't start until after high school.Never less than two packs a day for 51 years. Wish I'd never started.

I started off chewing as a little kid. From about 15 to 31, I dipped. I would go through a can of Cope about every 3 days. I quit back in '95. Smoked for about 3 or 4 years. Quit in 2000 and went for several year with not tobacco use at all. These days I smoke a cigar once a week or 10 days. Although it's been a couple weeks or better since I burned one. I have to be in the mood.

I snuck around in high school and college and smoked cigarettes whenever I could bum one. My dad smoked cigarettes, cigars, a pipe, and chewed tobacco, but was dead set against me smoking while I was still at home. I started smoking cigarettes after I was married. Never smoked over a pack a day, as I would limit myself to that. Quit over 20 years, cold turkey, just laid them down and never picked one up again. I have never chewed nor dipped, as I hate that crap in my mouth. Besides, my wife said if I did, no more kisses for me.

I grew tobacco for almost 30 years. It was my main cash crop when I was depending on farming for a living. I always said that I smoked in order to show support for the crop I grew. It was an amazing change after I quit smoking. Things smelled better, and food tasted better. I don't like smelling smoke on people now days, nor do I like being around people who do smoke. BUT...I view it as their right to do so, especially if they're on their own turf, or someplace that allows them to use it. I also don't want to be around people who consume too much alcohol, and can't stand a damn drunk. As far as I'm concerned, it should have been alcohol that's been banned in most places, instead of tobacco.

I started with cigs in high school. We all smoked. I smoked through college then about 2 years after. I got broncitis bad on year and had to stop for a couple months as I couldnt keep the smoke down. When I started up again they tasted like crap. So then I started on black and mild cigars. After 5 years of those they started tasting like crap so I started with dip. I dipped for for ten years. I started to have some tooth and gum problems so I stopped that. I been tobaco free for about 8 years now. Seems that issues not necessarily caused by tobaco use but made use unpleasant saved me.i dont miss it or crave it in any way.

started smoking when I was a lad. All the cool kids were doing that. Adult smoking percent was near 50%. There were no warnings that doing so might not be prudent, from a health standpoint. Common sense though, should have tipped everyone off.
I quit in 1978. Was smoking three packs of non filtered PallMall and Camels a day. Decided it was time to stop. Put them down, never looked back. I found cold turkey was fairly easy.

I started when I was 15 'cuz it was the cool thing to do.

Red Man, Skoal, and Copenhagen until I was upper 30's.
Been tobacco free for 20 years this year and don't miss it one bit.
Just hoping I quit soon enough to avoid any health issues later on.

mine mirrors Sean's except i started in junior high.

Started at 15 in fishing camp, all the oldtimers smoked. Dating my wife, she smoked so it became more than just occasional. Smoked until 8 years ago, quit cold turkey, wife finally quit when the granddaughter was yet to be born 5 years ago.

Other people smoking doesn't bother me, but I'm not even going to puff a cigar in camp because I know I'll start up again even now.

I killed a bunch of animals archery smelling like a cig, stomped up a bunch of mountains no problem. I don't crave it but I miss it.

Kent

Ft. Sill. Basic training.....

Pall Mall reds.

Red Man when I began playing baseball in HS and then softball in college. Chewed for about 20 years.

Saw an ad about mouth cancer and laid it down cold turkey.

Got drafted in '69, got put on a train in Minneapolis with about a hundred other guys headed to Sea-Tac and Fort Lewis. It was a 3 day trip so you got to know some of your fellow maggots. I'd say about 50% us smoked.

By the end of Basic--everyone smoked.

Exactly the same. BUT I do not believe I would have ever started had my Dad not smoked. Like many others my first cigs came right out of my Dad's Pall Malls. Not blaming my Dad BTW!!

Gave all tobacco products up well over 20 years ago. Best decision I ever made. Also, my company via benefits pays me not to smoke.

Good thread!!

Watching someone you love die from the effects of smoking is strong incentive to avoid destructive behavior for some.

Dipped for nearly 40 yrs. Started with RedMan, then Days Work and Brown Mule working in the fields with the older kids. Switched to Cope freshman year in high school.

Been quit for 1583 days now. Nicotine is quite an insidious bitch.

Red Man in high school... Skoal short cut at about 20... dipped for 30 yrs... quit the Skoal about 15 years ago... no tobacco since

Started chewing in junior high. Mostly because it seemed cool and adult like. Quit when I was in my early 30's and my wife was pregnant with our first child. I didn't want my kids growing up with a dad who was addicted to chewing.

Never got into smoking. Seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

Both are nasty expensive habits. Really glad I quit, but it was tough for the first couple years.

Watched my dad hack up his lungs most days when I was at home, so I never started. Lung cancer killed him at a young age.
It was real easy not to start.

Started smoking earlier than I care to admit to[peer pressure-brothers & friends].
Added dip later on.
Gave up the smoking not long after son was born and after seeing grandparents everywhere lugging air tanks around which somewhat hindered their ability to actually play with those grandchildren.
One of the days I'll beat the dipping.

At 30cts a pack in the 1960s, I couldn't afford
not to smoke.

Started smoking in College when I noticed how many good looking girls would sit outside of the dorms and smoke(looking for an excuse to chat them up)...wasn't too bright, didn't quit till my oldest son was born...that's 20 years of stupid on my part.

For whatever reason, I didn't and don't enjoy a buzz. Tobacco gave that to me the times I tried it and so I just didn't.

Seems sports is a major place to start tobacco use for many though from what I"ve seen.

It was a sign of getting "mature", cool in social settings. I was 13 and just got done baling hay, a new neighbor kid walk over to introduce himself and offered me a cig. That was all it took. Was hooked since.

Mom never smoked, but watched my old man smoke for years, so it came natural. He quit off and on, and finally for good years ago. He always was after me and my sister to quit, but neither of us could quit...even after chantix, patches, gum, etc. Vaping now, but still smoking also. The habit itself is hard enough to break, quitting altogether I can see happening with vaping. Just gotta get it in my head.

What gets me is, ive been sick for awhile(not smoking related), seen folks a WHOLE lot sicker than me, and for some reason this [bleep] is addictive enough to keep us smoking. When I got sick from Lyme and Bartonella, I thought the disease was gonna kill me. And it might. But im positive smoking will kill me if I cant shake it. Nicotine addiction is very real, much more than I ever thought possible.

what puzzles me about smoker is smoking one last cigarette before going to bed , tobacco is an upper !



P.

Started at 15 swiping my old man's Camel non-filters. Got booted from school many times for smoking in the student parking lot. 3 days or 3 swats with a wicked paddle was the punishment. Took the swats most of the time so the old man wouldn't find out.

Went to menthol "Salem" for years then moved to Marlboro light menthol and smoked them for many years. Not much else to do trucking but smoke to stay awake.
Quit in 08 when I got the tonsil cancer diagnosis, been smoke free and cancer free ever since.
Sadly all it would take after all these years is 1 smoke and I would be a smoker again. It's that damn powerful.

It also has calming effects. Both of which are short lived, but the very reason why its so addictive. Its a viscious cycle. Nicotine is rare in action, not many other chemicals work both ways.

My weekly or semi-weekly bowl of Cavendish is the absolute least of my present health concerns.

I started smoking at 15. Everybody did it and I didn't want to be left out. Over the next 15 years, I smoked as much as two packs of Cowboy Killers, a day. In September of 1991 I got a scare. I thought I'd had a heart attack playing football. It turned out to be a torn muscle in my chest. I decided that was close enough. I had my last one that day and have never looked back. Quitting is very hard but I learned one thing... once you truly decide that you want to quit, more than you want to smoke, you're done. Quitting smoking was absolutely the smartest thing I ever did. I'd say "good luck" to anyone trying to quit, but luck has nothing to do with it. It's a decision you make for your life and your family.

They claim the same about caffeine. I can drink a full on caffeinated drink and lay down and be asleep in a minute or so typically...

My Dad quit smoking the minute he read the Surgeon General's report in 1965, he quit cold turkey threw the pack of cigarettes in the trash and never smoked again. He lived to be 89 and had no cigarette related illesses. My Mother and her sister continued to smoke, Mother died at age 50 of a bronchial spasm which triggered a massive heart attack. Her sister developed epiglotal cancer at age 50 and later in life bladder cancer. I never had any desire to smoke having grown up in a smoking household, I didn't like the smell and especially emptying the trash with the ashes from the ashtrays blowing up in my face.

Started as a little chithead kid in middle school with my buddies. Stole smokes from friends folks and hit up the cigarette machines that were in range of our BMX bikes.

Started dipping as well in High school and continued to smoke and occasionally dip and chew through my 20's up until 2008.

I quit probably 50 times over the years. Lol. Got my head right and finally gave that stupidity up.

Absolutely the stupidest habit I ever acquired. I can't believe that folks still smoke.

At least real drugs are fun.

middle school with my buddies, mostly because our older brothers did it and we looked up to them.

Quit for good about 5 years ago.

I started smoking in high school. Never anywhere near a regular user though. Just had a few cigarettes in HS and college. I don't think I ever bought a pack although maybe a pack of cloves (gayer than a .270!). I don't think I ever finished a full cigarette either. Eventually in college I figured out tobacco makes a hangover worse and cut back from what very little I was smoking.

I never did chew/dip. But I did try snuff once. That was... interesting.

I also smoked cigars in college. I think it's been near about 1.5 years since I consumed any tobacco. Currently I have a pipe if I ever feel the need.

Wow ... that represents a lot of money over time.

Yes it does. When I started I could get them for 11 cents a pack.

I started in high-school. Dad went through two packs a day, and since he was always my hero...
I quit twice, once for 6 months while I was in the army, and for about 8 months six years ago. Army stress got me started again, and when Dad landed in the hospice in 2010, I bought a pack.
I probably smoked a pack and a half at the peak, but now a pack will last me 3 or 4 days. (Unless I'm in the beer) I never smoke around Wifey, and I'll sometimes go for days without lighting up.
7mm

I started chewing in Jr. High. Quit after college after a story I'm not telling while sober.

Never even tried smoking anything.

To me there's one way only to reduce that all-powerful nicotine craving - to avoid nicotine.

I started smoking anything as a kid, dry grass, butts whatever we could get ahold of but I was always the ring leader and had packs as early as nine. Also chewed at times. From age 13 to 35 I had packs, always, usually burnt one a day unless partying a lot and then lots more, which was often +P. Managed to knock it off for several months a few times in my early thirties but would always do something to screw it up, like thinking I could have a cigar or one time I watched an old WWII movie and the guys smoking straights did it to me and got some Lucky Strikes.

Finally, quit drinking, went dry, and learned a lot about myself and addictions. One year later to the day I smoked my last dammed cigarette. Tobacco free since May 30 2005. Months of constant conscious effort was required. That chit killed one grandfather young. The other said they dammed well knew it was bad for you in the 20's and said the way to quit was easy - just don't put one to your mouth. And that's the absolute truth of it. I don't care what anyone says in opposition, in my opinion, modern cigarettes should be banned. What a waste, absolutely zero benefit.

After 39 years of smoking I quit on Mothers day 2010. Coming up on 7 years. My grandmother, a smoker, died of lung cancer, my mother, a nonsmoker, died of breast cancer at 42 years old. And my dad, a smoker, died of lung cancer at 69 y.o. History is there. Wish I never started and hope I quit soon enough.

I started smoking driftwood when I was 12, went to Salem when I was 15, quit cold turkey in '75 when I was 36. Been off them nasty things for 45 years.

Big CONGRATS to the quitters!

I came up on a ranch and was deep into National High School Rodeo. That white circle on the azz pocket of your Wranglers was kind of mandatory, and I was totally into 'Cope' by age 13. Then, in '78 I went off to college at Auburn, where the latest edition of Playboy's "Girls of the SEC" had said "there's an old saying that the prettiest girls in the world are from Alabama, and after visiting Auburn for this edition we agree..and the prettiest girls in Alabama are at Auburn." Well, my awkward Idaho azz finally scored one of those gals, who told me that if I didn't do that gross chew I could be really popular.

Oookaaaay...nicotine...or...unlimited Playboy certified world class beautiful puzzy... Now, with all sympathy in the world to thiose who can't kick the habit... it was EASY for me!!

Our high school had a smoking area.
Like I said...it's just what ya did back in those days.

Took a dip when I was 10. Tasted like ass and I could have shat through a screen door at 50 yards

Never smoked. Between seven years in the military and then the rest between being in smokey bars and working in the shops I didn't need to. My cardiologist told me that there is a correlation between coronary artery desease, genitics and smoking.

Started chewing when I was 11. Dabbled in smoking in HS and early twenties but just never liked waking up smelling and tasting like a stale cigarette. All the adult I knew growing up that smoked heavily died from Cancer. I haven't known anyone yet to die from chewing. That being said the day I had 1.5 feet of my intestine removed due to Colon cancer was also the last day I had a real chew. Doctors said it was in no way due to chewing but why take a chance. I use the Smokey Mountain herbal chew now. Havent had a real chew since 3-28-16. That could end at anytime. I still have the last 3 cans I bought setting on my dresser. Every morning I glance at them and say [bleep] you not today. I dont think I will ever not miss chewing.

Had it breathed in my face by both parents since I was born. Never took a puff myself. Mom got wise when she was told no contact with her first grandchild until she quit. Pop gave it up in the hospital after colon cancer surgery. He died from emphysema last February. I have the rooter done every three years and get a dozen polyps removed. Younger bro had surgery.

Dad smoked a pipe most evenings, mom was a non-smoker.

All my siblings became cigarette smokers, for no particular reason I can recall I never started. My brother and sisters all quit sooner or later for health reasons.

Prob'ly had ten or twenty cigars my whole life, always good cigars under special circumstances.

Tried a dip once at age 25 courtesy of a co-worker from Texas, it made my heart race so fast I thought I was gonna have a heart attack

I did smoke a few bowls in a antique-looking pipe recently so as to blacken the bowl and make it looked used for a display of Alamo-era personal artifacts. Neither the pipe nor the cigars affected me anything like that one chew did.

Birdwatcher

Similar experience. Enlisted in 1966 as a non-smoker. Became a smoker before the end of basic. All our instructors were smokers. It was the singular activity for which breaks were given.

Not everyone became a smoker, but majority did. It was treated as a harmless vice, and even breaking rules to catch a smoke wasn't treated very harshly.

I was in the Air Force, basic training at Lackland AB in San Antonio. We had 2 story barracks with rooms.....4 to a room. In the basement we had a laundry facility with a huge exhaust fan. After the first couple weeks the TI stopped staying nights in the barracks (He had an attached room). About 6 or 7 of us sneaked down to the basement about midnight and lit up beneath that big exhaust fan. Not sure if the TI was gonna make an inspection, or if he drove by and saw the smoke cloud being exited. Regardless, we heard the front door open and his boots coming down the stairs. Lights came on and we just stood there in our underwear staring at him. He took in the scene and pronounced "The only thing that's gonna save your asses is if one of you is smoking Viceroys." One of us was. We all had another smoke with Sgt Utofka, and he sent our asses back to bed. No repercussions.

The guys I hung out with smoked, so I picked it up. Funny thing is, we were all H.S. athletes at the time. We all smoked "Old Gold" cigs. Coaches always told us if they caught anyone smoking, they were gone. I almost think it was a contest to see who couldn't get caught. I'm talking late 60s and early 70s here, so most of our parents smoked anyway. Continued to smoke into my mid 50s, and then finally "woke up". Quit about 8 yrs ago, but am now feeling the toll it took. Shortness of breath and no stamina. I did the Skoal thing for about 2 weeks, one time, while I was trying to quit smoking. As addictive as smoking is, that chit is, or was for me, unbelievable. I knew I'd have a problem with it, so I went back to butts. Finally gave up cigarettes when the E-cigs came on the scene. Still use E-cigs, but in very low dose of nicotene. I once took a smoking cessation class for several weeks and I remember the instructor saying nicotene was one of the hardest addictions to beat. I wish they were $7 a pack back when I started. I think it would have been a short romance.

I mostly only smoked when I didn't have a wad of Copenhagen in my lip. Started snuff in 7th grade and quit in 2011 after almost 25 years of a can a day. It was damn tough to quit, but best thing I ever did. Can't believe how much money I wasted over the years, although I do miss it a little when I'm hunting.

I have often told people who never smoked that there was nothing better than that first cigarette in the morning, as you were drinking that first cup of coffee. Or lighting up after a good meal. Or lighting one up and puffing the hell out of it when something mad you nervous.

Smoked from 15 to my heart attack when I was 52. Heart attack that only five percent survived. Seven IV's and they thought I aspirated something, so they cleaned my lungs out. Five days in the hospital and one stent. Got out and it was like I never smoked. That was fifteen years ago. Tried a puff once and it was nasty. The smoke from others around me doesn't really bother me. But, if they get close enough, their breath smells like something dead.

Started at 15 with chewing tobacco. Was not long until I was introduced to dip. Used both for a few years then pretty much went to dip full time when I was in college.

Sad to say I still dip. I have quit a couple years at a time several times over the years but I was stupid enough each time, usually after a few drinks, to bum a dip off a buddy. Well in every instance I was full on back at it within a week. This is all over a period of about 40 years.

Whomever above said the only way to quit is cold turkey is correct IMHO. It's kinda like only sticking half way in...ain't gonna happen. Hopefully I will get me head right again for good again soon.

That was dirty..I would have told you to P h u ck off if you were my Son....I smoke and have two Grand kids..I do not smoke in front of them or around them...A lot of the people that bitch about Smokers are 100 lbs over weight and Drink like a fish...

It's hell to be a drug addict isn't it? People like you remind me of my ex-Father-in-law. When his oldest son and his wife told him he couldn't smoke in their new home he cut off all contact with them and he left this son out of his will when he died. I don't know one non-smoker that is overweight or an alcoholic but I've known a lot of nicotine addicts who were both before they an early painful death.

P H U C K....YOU......You don't know me, I do not smoke in my House or any ones house or public places..I also do not smoke around Non smokers... You don"t know one nonsmoker that is over weight!!!!! Bullchit....I smoke about two or three Gigs a day...And you call me a Drug addict!!!!! I Do Not Drink... I DO Not Take any Kind of Drugs. I do not judge other people for there choices ...People like you are the problem with the world today... I just happen to enjoy a smoke after a meal...What a judge mental a## Hole


But for a Son to tell his Mother she could not see the Grandkid unless she quit smoking is just Wrong!!!!

As long as she did not smoke around the Grandchild.....That would be like me telling my Son He could not come around as long as he drives a Dodge...You sound like a Democrat..

My grandfather told me my Great-Grandfather was absolutely furious when cigarettes went up to 25 cents a pack.

My father was a smoker, from very early in life (probably before 12). His father smoked. His brother was a chain smoker. Grandfather died of emphysema when I was little. My grandmother, who never smoked a day in her life died of emphysema from second hand smoke from her husband my worthless uncle. My uncle got the house and lived in it for 20 years after my grandmother died, and he literally lit come cigarette off the previous all day long.

When he finally died, my father got the house. The stench of tobacco smoke and tar was so overwhelming that he literally puked when he walked into the door. I went in and opened the house up, and puked when I got outside and I was still smoking at the time.

After a long weekend, and acquiring a couple respirators, we went back in, cleaned the house out, and did a gut remodel on the entire thing - we stripped everything down to the studs, floor, and ceiling joists. The wall boards were yellow all the way through; literally, the Sheetrock was yellow from the smoke and tar. My father lives there today. It's a nice house.

Dad quote smoking that day.

Not everyone that smokes is a complete dumbphucqk, they're just addicted. But anyone that smokes and claims they're not addicted leaves little to argue otherwise.

Still smoking? Man up and quit!

Chewed once, puked my guts out and never again. Smoked a cigarette once and decided that was about the most retarded thing ever and never did it again.

You're right I don't know you but I suspect you are overweight and smoke way more than 2 or 3 cigs a day. I also don't believe that you only smoke outside. You don't enjoy smoking after a meal because you like smoke you like it because you get that nicotine hit. Sound like a Democrat? I am a big believer in individual rights but nobody has a right to do something that harms other people. All the non smoking friends I have are healthy and of normal weight. I only have one friend and his wife that smoke but they don't smoke inside. They smoke in the their vehicles so I never ride with them. They are both in terrible physical condition and in bad health. They both take many prescription drugs and I take none.

Started with Red Man after gaining 9 pounds my first finals week of cowledge. The routine was, chew to the start of the buzz, then top it off with tea.
KABOOM. No appetite, and better study focus.
That went on for about two years, escalated to Copenhagen when I went to the railroad in Alaska.
Then had an economics professor that chewed but didn't spit during lectures. Never mind that I had a full-face helmet for my bike.
Chewed steady for like 20 years, about a can every six days. Quit while on a long road trip where I didn't have to talk to anyone or be nice. Did Mint Snuff for five years, because I liked the ritual.
Finally, one day with deadlines up the yin yang, I bought another can of Copenhagen, put it in, and it's been a 5 day per can habit ever since. I'll quit the day I croak.

[bleep] OFF...Democrat

Lighten up Francis.

Is that all you got? It might hurt of it was true.

If you have a need to smoke everyday, even just a few, you are a drug addict.

You just choose to be addicted to a schitty drug that isn't much fun.

I suggest cocaine.

I knew people who were pissed when they went to 50 cents. Swore they would quit when they went to 75 and then again when they went to 1.00 and so on. I bet most of them are still smoking if it hasn't killed them yet.

Dude.....take a chill pill

I don't do Drugs!!!!So.... There for I can not take a pill...I will shoot me some Nicotine if thats OK....

Can't take a chill pill. That is good! It'll get better after a few months of NOT smoking... Otherwise it just gets worse. That's the truth. Damm things - nearly twelve years and I still want one - sometimes. As others have said, sure hope I quit soon enough! Now lets get back to the name calling... Dammed dopers and closet Democrats! LOL

Both parents were smokers.

Me, for about a year as a kid (1965). Started work as a meat cutter and was too busy with both hands to think about lighting up. Was never hooked at all, but I think there might be some genetic basis for dependency development.

As a young adult, any chick that was smoking was immediately off my list.

Only acquaintance smoking now is my son, and he's hooked. Took it up rooming with some college buds.

Looking around, it's pretty much those that can least afford it that I see lighting up in public. Among my professional and social buddies, there's no one.

Actually, you are doing drugs. Nicotine is a drug. So is alcohol. So is caffeine. So are a host of other things. Most are addictive.

I can respect that but maybe....just maybe...consider some prescription happy pills...just to take the edge off a dab.

Or start smoking more

chewed and dipped since i was 13, because all the horse traders we did business with did. as an adult i never dipped at home or any place else mainly just while working. a can would last a week or so. have quit dozens of times and currently off the Copenhagen.

Older cousin gave his brother and I a pouch of Redman when we were 11. Every time we got together we would pull that pouch out and chew it. After that was gone, we tried Beach Nut.

A year later, same older cousin let us try his Copenhagen and that is what both of our Dad's chewed so it was cool!

Even after turning green a couple of times back then, We both have stuck with Cope and here I am not too far from turning 47 with a dip of cope in my lip.

I know I should quit but damn I like it so much!

A got a pouch of Beechnut an uncle left at my grandmother's house when I was 8 years old and started because baseball players chewed. I used pouch chewing tobacco until I was in junior high school and switched to Skoal because the father of a kid in my class was a distributor and would give us rolls and Walt Garrison used to put a pinch between his cheek and gum. I am 54 now and have a chew of Grizzly wintergreen fine cut in my lip now. I don't ever intend to quit as some days it is the only thing that keeps me off tall building while being armed with an accurate center-fire rifle.

Perry

Yep. You just keeeep on chewin!

One thing people that still chew need to know is Cope is WAY more gentle on your cheeks and gums than ANYTHING wintergreen.

Wintergreen is really bad. I've seen Kodiak tear the hell out of my friends mouths and gums.

Skoal/Grizzly etc. wintergreen isn't quite as bad but still eats the hell out of your gums.

I stick with cope and when we compare gum deterioration from cope to say Kodiak, its a HUGE difference.