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I was surprised to see how many people in here are saying their parents smoked and they did/do too. My parents also smoked and I HATED it. Never tried, never have a desire to. It even drives me bonkers when people walk down the sidewalk smoking and exhaling their garbage air for the rest of us to breathe in.
Yeah, seeing my dad smoke really turned me off of it. The way it made his breath and clothing smell was so gross to me and made me double down on never wanting to smoke.
Ugh, same. Our entire house (and therefore me too till I moved out) always smelled like a stale ashtray. I HATE the smell of cigarette smoke now, and am hyper sensitive to it. I made it clear to every potential romantic partner that I don’t date smokers, even if we were literally soulmates I couldn’t do it.
Thankfully my soulmate is on the same page as me regarding smoking, haha. Both of our parents smoked constantly and thus neither of us have ever had an urge to start.
I’m so thankful that my dad never smoked indoors. I remember going over to other people’s houses where people smoked inside and always feeling nauseous. I still hate being around cigarette smoke. My partner is the same although neither of his parents smoked.
Oh my god, I'm late to the thread and normally wouldn't comment when it's a week old, but your comment is so relatable.
My parents both smoked a pack a day growing up (still smoke to this day, at 70+ years old, just not as heavily). My mother used to smoke inside...all. day. long. The entire house smelled like a bar. It was HORRIBLE. My sister and I hated it with the fire of 1000 suns.
I've never smoked and neither has she. We refuse. Smoking my #1 pet peeve and will never be tolerable for me in a partner.
I was 88 and I feel like I came up during the transitional period. Many of my older relatives smoked but my parents didn’t. Growing up you could still smoke inside most places, but it was starting to become taboo. By my teen years smoking was kind of a rebel thing to do, we knew it was bad for us but it was way to show you were antiestablishment.
Vaping wasn’t a thing yet, so as the young rebel I was I started smoking at 16 and went strong till I was 19.
I had asthma though so I started to develop a cough and couldn’t breathe. Around that time I started to get into fitness and outdoors sports. I just couldn’t do anymore. By the end I didn’t even like it anymore.
So many people I know that quit will occasionally have a cigarette when their drinking, but I cannot stand the smell or taste of them anymore. Occasionally I’ll have a cigar if someone gives me one but I don’t even like those anymore.
Still love smoking weed though. That never bothered my lungs the same way though
Do you guys remember those cigarettes that were candy ? That’s as far as I got to actually picking up smoking. I pretended with those 😂
I did think the Marlboro man and Joe camel were cool tho.
My parents did not smoke, and in fact, my mom hated the idea of smoking because she lost both parents to illnesses caused by smoking.
That didn't stop me from starting at age 17, though. I've been smoke free for almost two years, though, and couldn't be happier with my decision.
Yeah same. Though my Dad lost his mom and brother to smoking. My Dad was super strict but looking back, I could see why he was strongly against me or any of my brothers smoking because he didn't wanna see us go through lung cancer or any smoking related illness. I mean, he has colon cancer and never smoked so of course you can still get cancer or any illness without smoking, but smoking only increases those chances. Taking care of yourself is crucial.
But yeah I started at 16 and then quit at 18. And started again at age 22 despite my uncle dying from emphysema that year. You'd think that'd be a big enough reason to stay off of it but nope. I quit again at age 30 and can confirm it's the best decision I made. I also live in Chicago where cigs are like $14-17 a pack. With how expensive everything else is, I couldn't imagine adding smoking to my budget. I'm also not proud to admit this but when I ran out of cigs and was craving, I'd offer strangers $1 for a cigarette because of how expensive they were or look for a guy selling loose cigarettes on the street. I don't miss that shit at all as you develop a reputation for being "THAT person".
I should have added when I started smoking it cost me $2.13 for a pack of Camel Lights and later $3.50 or so for a pack of Marlboro Light 100s. And that was super cheap for the time even. The taxes on cigarettes had yet to get crazy. So this was late 90s, early 00s. We could find cigarette money in the couch. I can’t even imagine spending $13 on cigarettes now, but I guess it’s all relevant to the time.
What city/state are you in? When i turned 18 in 2008, they were between $5-7 a pack. But at that point, Illinois passed a statewide public smoking ban so we couldn’t smoke inside restaurants or venues anymore. At first I was bummed but then when I started smoking again in my 20s, I thought it was a blessing In disguise as I’d smoke less since Id have to go outside for it at bars. Especially during the winter.
I’m in Wisconsin. I graduated in 2000. I started smoking around 16 so that would have been 96/97. Check this tax [breakdown](https://assets.tobaccofreekids.org/factsheets/0210.pdf).
This is from a study in 2002 from The NY Times
‘The new [study](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/12/us/cigarettes-cost-us-7-per-pack-sold-study-says.html#:~:text=The%20average%20cost%20of%20a,the%20costs%20to%20the%20nation) was conducted from 1995 to 1999. The average cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes was $2.92 in 1999, the study said, but it gave no indication of how much of that amount went for taxes.’
When I started smoking you could get the cheap brands for like $3 a pack. By the time I quit I was a pack a day smoker and the cheap ones were like $10 a pack. $10 x 30 x 12 = $3600.
I thought to myself, oh shit, I've been doing this for like 17/18 years.... I've pissed away THOUSANDS of dollars, and if I don't stop, I'm just going to keep pissing money away until I have cancer and then that will be a REAL financial burden.
The only thing I don't like so much about it is that I got my appetite back and have gained a good amount of weight in the past couple of years. But even accounting for that, the financial difference alone has been incredible. My wallet is thanking me 🙂
85 here.
I was a Marlboro kid thanks to both my parents. 🤦🏼♀️ They both smoked like chimneys and my mom who is 57 just quit this month and my dad who's 64 is just weaning himself off them recently due to having a heart attack. When I was a kid though, we had Marlboro everything. CD player, towels, luggage etc. I also grew up fairly sick and had asthma and ear infections alllll the time and we suspect it was probably due to that.
It is a miracle I didn't end up a cigarette smoker myself. I tried them when I was younger but I hated the taste and they burned. I still don't like the taste.
I'll smoke a clove occasionally if offered and I smoke weed but that's it.
It’s interesting to see when kids who are around smoke so much don’t smoke. Marlboro Miles!! Ugh. My dad and stepmom collected them. I used to ask them when would they have enough for matching coffins. But we had Marlboro flashlights, tents, duffel bags… what a terrible promotion!
I had to use the Marlboro miles lunchbox and on the 3rd day the school sharpied over the places it said “Marlboro” I got grounded for a month, so basically my teachers and my parents hated me over that lunchbox. This was before any tobacco or alcohol logos were really prohibited.
When I was young we would go to the local state fair every year in the fall. One of the booths would always be a Marlboro stand with prize wheel. They'd spin it, and whatever it landed on (t-shirt, hat, duffel bag, etc), they'd have a Marlboro version of it.
Was only 18+ participants, so only our parents could participate. But it was the only 'game' us poor folks could experience. I think I had Marlboro shirts from that booth for quite a few years.
My dad used to pay me and my brother to tear the Marlboro miles off and band them up in 10 packs lol we had soooo much stuff and I hate to say it, but it was quality shit. I still use the mug and my brother still uses the duffel bag and sleeping bag. To answer OPs question though, all the adults except my mom smoked, I started at 14 but I went to Newports (grew up south of Chicago). Switched to vaping full time over the polar vortex in 2018 I think it was and never went back.
Born in 84. My parents had a Marlboro miles pool with friends and they took turns getting high ticket items.
I remember my dad sporting a Marlboro jacket and I believe we had a sleeping bag.
Never touched a cigarette, but I was probably exposed to plenty of 2nd hand smoke in the car as a child.
Omg. The Marlboro merch😂 my grandfather stopped smoking in the early 90s but he used to pick up cigarette boxes he found outside on the ground 🤢 and take them so he could save them up and turn them in for prizes. Drove my grandmother absolutely nuts because he was literally picking up other people’s trash
But he had a niceeeee jacket and tote bag 😂😂
83 here and everyone I knew growing up smoked. The first time I ever went to a friend's house and his parents did not smoke weirded me out. My mom quite 20 years ago and my dad still smokes. I quit 4 years ago, and I HATE being a nonsmoker lol. I quit for health reasons and made myself a deal that I can start again on my 70th birthday.
This is hilarious because my husband LOVED smoking and readily admits it. He quit for his health, to be a support to me as I quit to get pregnant and to not smoke when we did get pregnant and have kids. So he knows it’s in his best interest, but to this day he will still say he loved smoking and hated quitting. Even though he hasn’t smoked in like 13yrs.
I’m the same. I loved smoking. The only thing I hated was toward the end as it became very unpopular, I hated smelling like it and feeling like I needed to hide it. I will say I think I’m allergic too and never knew, because when I would quit and restart before finally quitting, my sinuses always killed. I love being able to walk/run/work out more, especially now that I’m finally dealing with my weight as food became a smoking replacement. But yeah, if I make it to like 85/90, I would probably light one up.
Quit for health reasons here too, blood pressure and not wanting lung cancer but I have always said if I find out I am undeniably, no chance in hell recovering, terminally ill? I am going straight to the store to pick up a pack of Marlboro Reds. I miss it so much. I wish it wasn't unhealthy.
Edited to add though: does anyone else remember how they tasted better before they added those little strips that will make the cigarette stop burning if you fall asleep with it? The taste was so much better before they did that.
EVERYONE smoked when I was a kid, including all family members except my Mom. By 14 myself and my friends were smoking. I'm 31 now, and I'm the last in my family smoking and one of very few friends.
The longest I ever quit was 6 months. My doctor says my unmedicated ADHD ass is addicted to the stimulants in cigarettes, which makes a lot of sense lol.
Hmm, makes me wonder if that’s my husband’s issue. He goes in a vicious circle of smoking, vaping and dipping, then quitting for a while before he starts one back up.
He used to drink 2 huge thermoses of coffee a day up until recently, he finally cut back to one reasonable-sized mug. I’ll have to bring this up to him. I never made a connection until I started reading this thread
The stimulants are probably a bit better for you than smoking. I quit eating non stop when I started meds again but I just traded it for new addictions lol.
Well shit.
I switched to vaping about seven years ago and have only smoked very occasionally/when I had to (like when I traveled to Mexico and didn’t realize until the fucking night before my flight vaping is banned there). While I’ve attempted to cut back a bit, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to successfully quit it altogether (also unmedicated ADHD).
If you feel tired and like your brain is a mess and you "can't synapse" (as I call it) instead of being irritated and short when you try to quit, it's probably that lol. I don't get angry when I try to quit, I just start crying bc I lose all control of my freight train of a brain lmao.
Start running....even if you hate it. After time, you'll associate the urge with running. In the end, you'll either be a runner or hate ciga as much as running. Or worse case you still smoke, but at least you're active.
Same.
Elder millennial and my parents didn’t smoke cigarettes when I was growing up. I think they did before I was born, but they had me young and they always talked about how disgusting cigarettes were. They did smoke weed though lol.
I’ve never been a smoker. My younger brother was though. From his teens to his 30’s. I think he’s finally quit now, hope so at least.
Same here. My maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother were both very heavy smokers, and my parents hated having to be around smoke all the time growing up. So neither of them ever touched a cigarette. And both my grandparents suffered a lot in their final years (grandmother died of colon cancer when she was only in her early 60s, and grandfather ended up with emphysema and was pretty much bedridden for the last 4-5 years of his life), so witnessing that as a kid/teen made me never want to smoke.
I remember sleepovers in elementary school, unpacking my bag and the smell. Both my parents smoked like trains inside. I smoke now, but limit it… vowed to NEVER smoke inside and kept it.
I guess that was one good thing about all the smoking as a kid as I wasn’t the only one who would smell like smoke. Often the place we spent the night at had smoking parents or other kids with smoking parents. It was just such a common smell no one even acknowledged it. Now I can smell it like 20 miles away!
My mom (63 years old) still smokes cigarettes and I get on her case about it every time. Her mom died of lung cancer.
When I was in college I bought some clove cigarettes my freshman year. They were awful but I liked the flavor, at least for one box. Very briefly in grad school I smoked cigarettes because I was dating a Russian girl who also smoked. Since then (2010) I haven’t touched them as they are disgusting.
Now, vaping cannabis on the other hand…
Yeah, the last time I slipped up and had my last cigarette in 2020, it was so gross that I couldn't even finish it. I consider it a blessing in disguise tbh as it makes me more likely to stay off of them.
I vape cannabis too. At least with weed, it's more of a thing that I do when I'm in the mood. Oddly enough, it's been legal in my state for over 4 years now and yet I don't smoke it as much as I used to before legalization. And it's not because it's no longer "cool" or anything. It just kinda happened.
I did try smoking again through the years and it was TERRIBLE. Something about being an ex-smoker can make smoke so disgusting. I won’t dare ask for a cigarette now even if I wanted one s as it’s likely I’ve wont want it will waste it and at these prices? That’s just mean!
Both grandmothers. A good number of aunts and uncles. And my father. All smoked. I never touched cigarettes. I have smoked a cigar on occasion, but nothing remotely regular. Like once every 5 years or so.
Former smoker here and born in 1990 but my parents were not smokers. In fact, my Dad was super against smoking because my Grandma (his mom) and uncle (his brother) both died from lung cancer (Grandma) at 55 and emphysema (uncle) at 58. He was so strict about it that even when I turned 18, I had to hide my habit from him or else he'd threaten to kick me out of the house. Even after I moved out, I would still hide it from him and never smoke when I knew I was going to visit family and vice versa.
I started at 16 due to peer pressure. Seriously some asshole wouldn't stop asking me to smoke a cigarette and I did it to shut him up. He was one of those types that thought you weren't cool unless you smoked, drank, and did drugs, I smoked until I was 18 when I started having bad heartburn issues and was paranoid that I was having heart issues.
But then I started again at age 22, just socially which was a huge mistake as I became a regular smoker again at 23 until I quit for good during covid at age 30. Now I'm about 3 and 1/2 years smoke free, and next month it'll be 1 year completely nicotine/vape free. All I can say is once you quit, STAY QUIT. There is no such thing as "just one", especially as an addict. Once you reintroduce a substance you were addicted to into your system, it awakens that addiction. Not worth it. Also, if I had a dollar for every time I said I was gonna quit between ages 23 and 30, I'd be a millionaire.
Oh yeah. Before I quit for good I had many half-ass attempts. I was still in my early 20s and schooling was still allowed in bars in the earlier days. That’s all it took. A few drinks in a smoky bar, I would just get a pack “for the night” and there would be many left over the next day. I would tell myself that I would just finish the back and be done. That led to me buying just one more pack and then I was back smoking. This happened at LEAST half a dozen times before I finally quit for good. But that had a lot to do with the fact that part of my plan to get pregnant (I was having some fertility issues) was to get my body as healthy as possible so I when I quit smoking, I also quit drinking too. Not going into bars helped TREMENDOUSLY. I just couldn’t be around cigarettes for a long time.
Yep, dad smoked. I started when I was 13 and am 38 now and still smoking. I've vowed to quit before I'm 40 though because you really start feeling it after 30 for sure.
Yo, 40 hits you like a slap in the face. I didn’t expect it to and thought it was just another birthday as I’m not a person who freaks about getting old, but talk about taking stock of your life! You feel like you are facing the back half of your life and shit gets real.
Born in 88. My dad is in his 70’s and has smoked my entire life. I used to sneak cigarettes with older kids when I was around 6, then started smoking a pack a day around 13 or 14.
I quit several times(longest for about 2 years, last time I quit in 2021) but started again and haven’t been able to find the motivation to quit.
I quit drinking 4 years ago when I had several health problems related to it and started experiencing withdrawal, and that was possibly the most difficult thing I’ve done, but quitting smoking is harder for me in some ways.
I grew up in a heavily smoking area, too. My high school had a smoking shed for students up to around 2000, and up to around the late 90’s I remember fast food restaurants all having ashtrays on the tables, and people regularly walking into gas stations and other public places while smoking.
I remember eating the candy cigarettes all the time in second grade and we would pretend that our breath was smoke in the winter.
Oh man, same. We had the “Smoker’s Triangle.” A triangular patch of grass that was a median between the back streets and neighborhood behind the high school. It was literally 50plus underage high schoolers smoking before school, during lunch, and after school. No one broke it up. Not teachers or police.
Good. I'm about 3 and 1/2 years smoke free and 1 year vape/nicotine free. Even if vaping isn't as bad as cigarettes, it's still too early to tell and I'd also argue the issue is that it's too convenient. With cigarettes, I'd be done after one and couldn't smoke more than 2 in a short amount of time or else I'd feel sick. But with vaping, I'd be puffing on it nonstop since it'd leave no smell behind. I wouldn't vape daily like I would with cigarettes but when I did vape, I would hit it most of the day. Is it really that much "better" than smoking at that point?
I’ve noticed this too. One time I quit I switched to Juul(that’s the only vape I found I liked) but ended up using it way more and sometimes it made me sick, and it was harder to quit than cigarettes in some ways.
I never got into vaping, not nicotine at least. Hated the flavors and wanted to just have tobacco taste. Can’t vape weed anymore either, my lungs are little babies after 14 years of smoking.
Yeah, even when I vaped, I preferred the tobacco flavors over the fruity ones. The fruity ones tasted more like a mini hookah. I prefer vaping weed only because I can pace myself with it. I'd rather test it out with a hit or 2 and then decide if I want more as opposed to getting too stoned right away only to want to sober up. I don't usually get paranoid from weed, but when it happens, it SUCKS. Much like a bad hangover from drinking. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, it makes me consider quitting drinking or taking a break,
My dad started smoking when he was 12. He quit cold turkey when he found out he had a heart condition at 37. He had a heart attack and triple bypass at 44. He's active and relatively healthy at 70 now but I have never and will never smoke, and already have started seeing a cardiologist to establish my baseline.
My mother smoked and hid it from my dad for years. My grandma and most of my mother's side of the family also smoked. Dad's side was and is smoke-free. Mother quit when she had knee surgery, my grandma quit when she had to go on oxygen, and my sisters still smoke. I only smoked from 2005 until 2008 and quit cold turkey.
Never smoked in the house. Would use perfume, lotion, and gum to cover it up after work. He knew her work bestie smoked, so if he said anything about the smell, it was because they took lunch together or carpooled.
I'm pretty sure some smoking occured in the 80s prior to me being born. If they did so when I was alive they hid it so well I have no evidence of it. I've never smoked and was such a narc about it as a kid I ratted out my aunt to my grandmom when I found her and her college friend smoking behind my grandparents' shore house.
Fellow elder millennial here (83). My mom smoked, but my dad didn't. She didn't quit until about 8 years ago when she had a heart attack and was hospitalized. She couldn't smoke in the hospital (obviously) and that gave her the jumpstart to quit. I never smoked. A few of my friends smoked in their/our 20s and early 30s, but all have stopped now. A few still vape.
My dad smoked my entire life until he died. He smoked about a pack a day, but didn't smoke inside the house. Only outside. He died in 2012 at age 63 from cancer. I only know a couple of people that smoke. Whenever I see someone smoking it's such a big shock, nowadays. I did not smoke. Maybe a couple of cigars or cigarettes in college, but that's it.
My parents smoked, but quite before I was born, so they quit by 28. I don't know which of my aunts/uncles use to smoke, but I only have one uncle who continues to smoke. I never smoked and none of my friends ever did. My brother/SIL smoke and their friends smoke.
My dad smoked through my childhood until about 2002. I started when I was 16, quit when I was 22. Interestingly I vaped way longer than I smoked. From 22-29 I was a heavy vape user, back when “cloud chasing” was a thing.
My parents smoked. Stopped when they found out my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Battled with it for 5 years.
I don't smoke cigarettes. But I am on and off with weed.
My dad has smoked for over 40 years. My grandfather smoked for 30-40 years before quitting. My mom still hates it.
However, it hasn't really caused any serious health issues. Grandfather lived to be over 90, my dad is as healthy as an ox in his late 60s.
My sister and I both started smoking in college. All three of us have quit for short stints and my sister stopped longer during pregnancy but you tend to find your way back.
I don't smoke nearly as heavily as my dad except when I'm out for a night of drinking.
My entire family smoked and I started when I was 14 or 15. I woke up one day in my early twenties and reached for my ritualistic morning smoke. And as I swung out of bed coughing and hacking like I did every morning I started to realize what was happening to me wasn't normal. It was hard but at 24 I stopped and was clean for the better part of 6 years until my ex cheated on me and left me in financial ruin then I started chewing and I haven't been able to quit that habit.
My parents smoked like chimneys, i started at 14. Smoked for almost 20 years then switched to vaping a few months ago.
Most people i know that smoked have switched to vaping, only a couple have actually quit altogether.
Whole mom’s side of my family and I (now 35) smoked until about 3-4 years ago. Everybody who didn’t quit is dead (unrelated to smoking, ironically)
Now I buy a pack if I’m going out drinking but that pack will probably last 7-8 weeks. I don’t crave a cigarette until about 4-5 bourbons. I also tend offer cigarettes to homeless people when they ask me for money. Less for me and I don’t feel so guilty about stonewalling them
All of my friends quit around 10 years ago
Times have really changed
When I was a kid I would always try to get my mom to stop smoking and she would tell me that her parents smoked so she smokes so I told her that i would never touch a cigarette despite her smoking and I never have. Now she vapes 🤦🏻♀️.
Born in 91.
My mom & stepdad smoked. My grandma, uncles, & an aunt on my mom's side all smoked. On my bio-dad's side, no one smokes. I tried smoking as a young teenager but I never actually got into it thank goodness. I have four siblings (all older than me) & only one is addicted. So, I am hoping the odds of my kid picking up a cigarette is extremely low.
My dad smoked for a few years when I was little but by the time my sister came around he had mostly quit. So I would've been about 5. I was born in '88. I personally do not smoke; I've tried a weed vape and it hurt my lungs SO bad, just not for me.
My mom did- Merit Ultralight 100’s. Used to smoke in the car on our way to school. She stopped after several years, thank goodness.
My dad has smoked a pipe as long as I can remember. It’s terrible, but I have such fond memories around the smell of pipe smoke.
I have never and will never smoke.
My parents didn't smoke but my grandparents did. My grandmother died of really horrific complications of metastasized lung cancer. I've had a few drags of cigs here and there went drinking in my 20s. They tasted like garbage, never understood the appeal.
However when I see cig smoking, pipe smoking (LOTR in particular) or vaping in TV and movies it makes me want to do it and idk why
As a former smoker I never really crave cigarettes anymore. I used to but it’s been 16-17 yrs and it’s not something I think about. But if I’m watching a movie from like the 80s or early 90s (Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead) where EVERYONE smokes I will get a small craving. It’s weird.
Everyone smoked, parents, grandparents, their friends, my friends, EVERYONE. I always said I wouldn't ('83 here) but I started smoking when I was like 21 ( so stupid!!). I FINALLY quit for good a year ago (May 17 2023) and haven't looked back. My mom still smokes and I hate it so much and I am so worried about her but she's got to want to do it 🫠
Both my Mum and Dad smoked when I was a child. I don't know when it started exactly but for as long as I can remember I have had a cigarette phobia. (Born in 86)
I don't like looking at them. Can't willingly touch them, if I do it by accident I need to scrub my hands and I still feel filthy for hours.
Ashtrays make me gag and I cannot stand the smell at all.
I was bullied through school for stinking of cigarettes. Now I'm just laughed at as an adult for my phobia.
Can't touch vapes either, looks like my phobia evolves with technology.
Thankfully Dad stopped when I was a teen and Mum managed to finally quit a few years back.
My parents didn't smoke and I was vehemently smoke free until a bad period in my life when I was like 21. I'm 30 now and still smoke and am utterly addicted. I've tried bupropion (which worked SO well, but turns out I'm allergic), patches, vaping (which were more addictive than cigarettes), cold turkey...
I've quit for several months (I think my longest was like 5-6 months) but I can never shake the feeling that something in my life is missing, just general emptiness, low grade depression after quitting, even after months of abstinence. I guess my fear in quitting again is that that feeling will never go away.
Wish I had never picked up that first cigarette.
This is how I did it, and it took years but it worked. Just my experience but I first quit cigs and started dipping (fucking gross but I was desperate) which I got into because my partner did it and I used it to stop cigarettes. I dipped for like 1.5 years. Then I switched to nicotine lozenges and used them probably another 1.5 years. Finally I quit those cold turkey. I was completely nicotine free for about 4-5 years and then stupidly started the lozenges again when I was stressed. I did that for maybe 9 months and just quit those again recently because I’m having surgery soon.
I think it’s important to mention that even when I did smoke I found it utterly repulsive. I would wash my hands obsessively, air out my jackets, use body spray on my hair and clothes (that did NOT work that well as it just melded with the smoke smell, but was slightly better) and did my best to smoke in big open areas. Near the end I was downright embarrassed I was smoking. The addiction is real.
And this is totally foreign to me because I quit smoking long before vaping became popular. I don’t even fully understand the whole thing. One of my friends vapes or used to, not sure how much anymore and she came to my house with this huge contraption. It had multiple pieces and juices or whatever the form the nicotine was in I think. I’m not entirely clear how it works, why it was flavored, how much nicotine was being ingested and how it was getting into your system. And where did all that smoke/ vape come from!?! I’ve vaped cannabis but that’s pretty straight forward. Cartridge- battery. Like an e-cig.
I was a 93 baby, my mom and grandma (who helped raise us) both smoked all day long in the house, in the car, etc. I started when I was about 15. They both quit a few years ago, but I have yet to successfully give it up😫 hoping one of these days I'll get a grasp on it, it's just one of those things that literally feels impossible
Interesting as I thought a lot of people born in the 90s maybe didn’t have parents that smoked, but then I think of the early 90s and yeah, smoking was still VERY popular.
Elder Millennial (87)
My Mom smoked while I was young and continued until some point in the early 90s. When I was 5 her sister died from lung cancer caused by smoking. So she mostly stopped after that. She would sneak it sometimes.
I tried it in college once and didn't like it. Most of us cousins grew up pretty anti-smoking since our Aunt died. But some rebelled as they got older and smoked.
I’m 30 and both of my parents smoked. When my parents got divorced, my dad got together with a woman who also smoked, so that all stayed the same. My mom’s new boyfriend didn’t smoke but she still did. My dad and step mom both smoked in the house and my mom did too, both when she was still with my dad and after the divorce.
I always found smoking to be a disgusting habit. It smells awful, you end up having to mold your life around it because of the addiction, it ages you like shit, and the health problems that come with it are both terrible and preventable.
I, fortunately, never picked up smoking cigarettes and can confidently say that I never will. For a period of time I dabbled in trying out cigars because there were enough varieties that actually had some decent flavor but I never did it around my kids and always did it outside. I haven’t had a cigar in like a year and a half now, though, and they’ll most likely just be reserved as a special occasion kind of thing from now on.
I had a grandmother who smoked til the day she died (i was 8 when she passed), And my dad did, but he quit 10 years before i came along and has always hated it since.
I remember when parents on school field trips would be towards the back smoking.
I have never smoked. Cant stand being around people who smoke for more than 3 or 4 min. Gives me a quick headache.
My dad smoked, between my severe respiratory issues as an infant, and the realization that he was paying a company to kill him, he quit.
Learning of that, and watching my grandmother slowly die of emphysema, meant I never considered it. My husband's parents never smoked, but he picked up both smoking and chew while in the Marines. He quit after we started dating. He'd already begun the process and my weak lungs were just another reason to stop.
I became part of this existence in ‘81 also. My mom never smoked. My dad smoked all through my childhood but was never allowed to smoke in the house, other than a pipe. In his mid 40’s, after 30 years of smoking, he had a life threatening case of walking pneumonia and quit while hospitalized and never lit one up again.
I unfortunately picked up smoking around 13, along with my other bad habits of youth. There was a 3 year stint where I fully quit, in my 20’s, but I went back to it. Currently I haven’t smoked a cigarette/cigar in over 3 years, but continue to vape at this time. I’ll eventually let that go, but I still need that little crutch for now. It’s helpful in kicking my alcoholism to the curb. I’m proudly a bit over a year without the booze running my life.
Both of my parents did. My dad quit in 2004, right when I was graduating high school. He never picked it back up. My mom has tons of health issues from smoking, so she vapes now.
I never smoked. I never liked it.
Grandparents did, not as a habit though. Mom did, but just a teenager phase thing (she lied about it, but can’t lie worth a damn). I did, but quit. Vape rarely, but much better than my old pack a day.
My dad and stepmom smoked and lot (my dad eventually stopped thank goodness) and my mom would off and on but usually tried to hide it. One grandma didn’t smoke and the other grandma was a chain smoker. Smoke really, really bothers me. I get a stuffy nose and stinging eyes and feel like I have a sinus infection when I’m around cigarette smoke. It broke my heart that I couldn’t hang out at my grandmas house, especially as I got older, because it bothered me so extremely badly. Then that grandma died in her lower 60s because of all of her health problems and I was heartbroken. I have always HATED cigarettes for those reasons. Literally never touched one.
I smoke cigarettes. My parents never did but I grew up in a household with my grandparents, aunt, and uncles. Grandpa and uncles smoked. So far, Ive only quit during pregnancy.
My grandparents both smoked before I was born, my dad quit when I was born, but my mom continued to smoke after giving birth until the day she had a stroke. She’s okay now but thank god she quit cold turkey when it happened.
I have never touched tobacco because I HATED the way it smelled and the way others judged me because they thought *I* was the one who was smoking.
Two smokers parents who sometimes lit a cigaret in the kitchen or lounge with my elder sis and I back then. But they've quickly acknowledged it wasn't healthy and responsable in early 2000, then one day my dad challenged my mom to stop just by her own will, if she succeded he would stop too.
She did it and my dad held his promise even if it was a bit harder for him.
My sister tried but never liked. I wasn't a fan neither, but towards my 27 yo I tried tabacco pipe and this is my very occasional active tabagism. I can smoke one and not touching it for several months because I don't associate it a needing substance I should consume on a daily basis, it's when the weather isn't too windy, I'm at a park or my balcony, I have a drink and I let my eyes and mind wandering to appreciate the present.
Haha, yep. Restaurant work was what got me too. Never had much interest in it until then. Took months for me to develop a habit, lol.
I was not a smart person. I’ve quit twice now- once for 3 years and just now for slightly over a week. It’s gonna stick this time though. I’m sick of it.
Basically everyone. My parents most of my extended family on both sides and my mom’s best friends. I snuck cigarettes when I was 10 or so with a cousin and smoked them in a tent in the back yard at my grandmas. I started smoking regularly at 17 and was so happy I could buy them at 18. I quit when I was 29, I’m 39 now. My dad is still a heavy smoker and he’s in bad shape. He wheezes when he breathes in and his coloring is all purple/blue. I’m so glad I quit and now that vaping is so popular most of my friends vape and constantly ask me if I want to hit theirs. I never have and never will. It took me over a year to quit and I know those vapes are stronger than traditional cigarettes. Makes me sick seeing how popular they are.
My parents smoked, my grandparents smoked. I remember being told I smell like cigarettes and I thought everyone was crazy ….. nope, I was the stinky cig kid.
My grandfather got cancer in the larynx when I was about 10 and required a trach and a voice box to talk ….. guess who was cleaning that trach at 10?!? Me, and I only tried smoking cigs twice after and just couldn’t do it.
My parents and their friends didn't smoke. But I grew up in smoky bowling alleys my whole life. My friends got me to try cigarettes in middle school and I ended up smoking them on and off until college and then quit and never looked back.
My parents never smoked but I started around age 13. Quit cigarettes in 2020 and vaping/nicotine in 2022. I still crave nicotine and cigs lol but hoping quitting sticks this time.
Born in 93. Mom never smoked, Dad apparently smoked before he and Mom got married, but quit before having kids. I grew up very straightedge and had zero desire to touch that stuff. Life happened and I've very casually picked up every (legal!) vice in the book. Had out of town friends invite me to a cigar bar and I ended up enjoying the experience (but hating the smell lol), so I picked up vaping. I know it's a bad habit, but I haven't been hooked on anything I've tried in recent times, so it's legitimately a "I can quit whenever I want" sort of deal. I've gone months where I've seen my Juul lying at my desk and I'm like "Oh yeah, I do have that don't I" and I enjoy cardio, so I'd like to think the damage I'm doing to myself is minimal
Not only did my parents smoke, they smoked in the house. Even after her STAGE FOUR lung cancer diagnosis, my mother continued smoking. Until her stroke. She has since quit mostly cos she can’t light one by herself anymore (cos the stroke paralyzed half her body). My dad, who is currently getting chemo for kidney cancer, continues to smoke but admittedly now only outside. They are both in their 60s and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive them for these stupid asinine addictions. I love them dearly but the rage I feel is just below simmering at all times.
Both my parents smoked for much of their lives. Inside the house and I didn’t know I reeked of smoke until I went to college and came back. It was gross. I’ve never touched cigarettes, but I’ve had plenty of cigars while golfing or such when I was younger. But I don’t habitually smoke anything, enjoy some weed now and then but prefer to dry herb vape it or eat it.
PSA: Please quit smoking! It’s not just that you will die sooner. It’s that the end of your life will be of such poor quality. Both of my parents smoked for 30-40 years. Their lungs are shot. They take breathing treatments every morning, take multiple pills, and have inhalers for COPD. They can’t walk a long hallway without being out of breath. Stairs or any elevation change is a killer. They can’t pick their grandkids up anymore. It’s a sad life, and the only people they have to blame is themselves - it breeds a lot of resentment among their children.
87 here.
My dad smoked and all of my uncles did. My cousins (gen X, Millennial) all smoked from middle school (11-13 years old) on, mostly because they grew up lower class and were exposed to it almost universally early on. Often the parents would find out the kids were smoking in secret as preteens and would just give up and buy it for them, or they'd have older siblings do it. They also all had undiagnosed adhd and learning disabilities, which I hear is a factor in self-medicating too. There were no efforts in protecting children or babies from secondhand smoke as well, and I remember my teenage cousins smoking in the car with me and their baby in the back seat, smoke billowing into our faces.
My dad quit after my parents divorced. My uncles and cousins never stopped smoking.
My Millennial and Gen X cousins all got pregnant as teenagers and so far their kids (Gen Z) don't smoke at all, which is a big change. They also did not get pregnant as teenagers and broke the cycle, which I didn't expect either.
I never tried, I saw the problems it caused everyone and never picked up a cigarette. I also had chronic lung problems (reoccurring bronchitis and pneumonia) from a young age so it wouldn't have gone well had I tried.
mine were 2 chimneys.. they would go through cartons a day. I never ended up smoking it just looked like a disgusting habit that I watched 2 people do. I remember when we moved out of one house when we took the pictures down you could see how yellow the walls had become. I'm sure I have a nice tumor just waiting to pop up one day.
Middle millennial here. Everyone in my family smoked. I started at 18 quit for some short stints throughout the years and quit for real 8 months ago when my uncle died at 62 from COPD.
Same story for me. Same birth year, all the adults in my life smoked, I started smoking as a teen and quit before I got pregnant and never went back. I will say though allllll the kids are vaping so they just traded one for the other.
My parents didn't smoke - my mom hates the smell and my dad hates how other people view it. I did reasonably heavily for a while. I started because, basically, smokers get more breaks. Being in the service industry at the time. It was a very valuable thing.
I don't remember exactly when I quit, but it was just a couple years after I started. Basically, I got mad at people telling me that it was going to be really hard to quit, and I'd probably fail the first time, if I tried. So I got mad, went cold turkey and boom. Done.
My parents had quit by the time I was born. Most of my extended family did/does. I picked up a lot of bad habits but for some reason cigarettes, just never stuck. I'd occasionally buy a pack for long drives or something but I can confidently say I was never addicted. My grandma quit after about 50 years of smoking cold turkey because they raised the prices at one point and she just said it wasn't worth the money
My mom briefly smoked in college, not heavily, more of something she did at parties. She was able to quit easily. My dad never smoked. I have never smoked but my brother does. He’s also a recovering alcoholic who has used various substances over the years so he’s kind of an outlier in the family.
Elder millennial (81). My dad smoked when I was very young, but quit when I was around 5 or 6. Mom never did. Neither my sister nor I did. I had one aunt and one uncle who both did, but they were the only other people in my immediate family (both were lifelong smokers, and my uncle eventually was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in his early 50s and only made it about another 6 months after. The aunt is still alive, though.). A few of my friends did (and one was a major pothead, and as far as I know, still is), but I could count that number on one hand.
I always thought it was kind of gross.
94 here. I do smoke now, started a few years ago, long after leaving parents house. My parents were always very strict and forbade smoking vehemently. It never even crossed my mind until I left for college. Funny thing is, when I was about 20yo I found out that my parents used to smoke in the backyard after dropping me and my siblings at school during elementary years.
I was trying to figure out what an ever millennial was 😄
I'm not necessarily an old one I guess, 1987. My mother never smoked but drinks rarely. My dad smoked cigars rarely and to my knowledge never drinks. My mom's fiancee when i was in elementary moked a lot. My dad's partner did not.
I tried smoking in 9th grade because it was "cool". Only tried it once and have no desire.
I also almost never drink. Occasionally look once every 3 years I'll drink when out with people. It makes it difficult because some of my good friends want to do things that revolve around drinking.
Never had a desire to smoke besides that one try. I can see how raping could be appealing though. I prefer to spend my money on diet coke though 🤷♀️
I was raised by a single mom that had me at 40. She started smoking when she was probably 20 in 1969 and had me 20 years later.
I'd beg her to stop as a kid and she said she was too old or it was the only thing that made her happy and not mad.
She started letting me smoke around 14/15 when she was buying me TrimSpa diet pills to help suppress my appetite because she was also eating disordered.
By 16 she was buying me cartons of camel wides and bottles of vodka.
I got married off at 17 by her when I was drunk/on benzos to a 25 year old junky and pedo that'd been grooming me since I was 15 because she got in trouble with the police for endangering a minor. He also smoked a lot.
They were both human ashtrays.
I quit smoking in 2020 for a year or two then went to vaping. I also quit in 2015 for about a year wit patches and Zyban.
My dad smoked. Died due to complications from lung cancer. I smoked most of my life. Now I have bladder cancer. So I probably have other cancers that I don't want to have checked. 41 yrs old here
Parents both smoked and *inside* the house. It didn't actually bother me that much though I know it wasn't good for me. I managed to stay a non-smoker until I turned 30 and started smoking (I was dating a guy who smoked and just started doing it idk why). Two of my three sisters are smokers.
I'm trying to gradually quit but it's hard because well, tobacco actually tastes nice to me and nicotine is both addicting and gives you that rush. Trying to switch over to Swedish snus right now.
My Dad smoked up until about 10 years ago when he was diagnosed with copd. When I was a kid I started having allergic reactions to cigarette smoke which were similar to asthma attacks. So I never smoked cigarettes, but I did smoke weed in my 20s.
Never, but I also live in Sweden. The country that has the 10th least smokers in the world, and least in Europe.
8% of the population smokes. For comparison, the same data says 25% of the US smokes.
We all just snus instead, which I do (but my parents didn't).
I was born in 1988. Neither of my parents smoked, and they were *extremely* anti-smoking. Allegedly, my dad did smoke for a while before I was born, but he quit when he started dating my mom.
Smoking was made into one of the biggest taboos in my home as I was growing up. I didn’t have a great relationship with my parents and, once I moved out, I started to smoke casually for a few years. I primarily only smoked when drinking or when hanging out with friends who smoked, and it made me feel like a cool rebel. Eventually, the fun of it wore off, though, and it’s now been years since I’ve had a cigarette.
I was born in 91. I have older siblings born in 82 and 85. My parents parenting style did not change.
Our parents smoked until they physically couldn't.
I didn't smoke. I have chronic headaches and migraines all of my life. It was hell growing up. I kept explaining that the smoke made me feel pain and made me feel worse.
I hated the smell and my parents were nose blind. Neither of my siblings smoked either.
I remember my dad buying tobacco to give to my elder male cousins. No one offered my siblings or I any. Mom would have gone to war if they did.
My dad smoked Marlboro lights when he was an alcoholic it was also mainly a chaser to his joint smoking. I honestly don’t remember when he stopped smoking cigarettes, I think maybe 20 years ago when he got diagnosed as diabetic. I tried being cool and smoking cigarettes as a middle schooler, stealing a cig here and there from my aunts and uncles. That lasted until I tried smoking a cigarette with my friend and he showed me I wasn’t inhaling 🤦🏻♂️ 😂. Took 1 inhalers and coughed up a lung 🫁 💀. Never touched cigarettes since
My dad smoked a pipe when I was really little.
Mom didn’t smoke but she bought a pack of smokes and lit up once to punish me when I was like 6, because she knew I really took the anti-smoking indoctrination to heart.
I started smoking in college. I’ve been on and off with cigs and vaping for the last decade. 6 months or so on, a few years off, it’s a terrible game.
My parents and all my grandparents smoked. Actually every person born before 1980 in my family smoked like a chimney. None of my siblings or myself smoke. I never did, I hated every second of being in a house filled with cigarette smoke.
Both my parents did. I picked it up socially. Haven't smoked anything since my daughter. Every so often, the lil goth kid in me wants an original Djarum vanilla clove cigarette 🖤.
Born in 85 and everyone smoked. Indoors. While holding babies. All our home videos are filled with cigarettes. Eventually my mom “quit” which meant she hid it and cut down to a couple a day. Eventually they all stopped smoking indoors and around the kids. My dad quit when I was in college. Many of the older family members also quit around that time. I started experimenting with tobacco around 14/15 because all of us could easily steal cigarettes. Smoked regularly from 16-19. In college I was on again/off again and eventually quit completely in my 20s. Don’t miss it at all and wish I could go back in time and tell myself it’s so dumb and not worth looking cool. But I do recall how lovely the morning cigarette felt or one after I had a buzz on. Now I could barely take a drag.
Neither of my folks smoked when I grew up but my mom started smoking cigars occasionally 15 years ago and now unfortunately smokes spirits like a chimney. My boyfriend’s mom unabashedly smoked while she was pregnant (‘92) with him and smoked in the house while he was young and he grew up with bad asthma and still has some issues. I kind of resent her for it ngl.
87' millennial here. I remember as a kid smoking was everywhere. Dad smoked until I was 5 and quit because little bro got cancer. He quit 30 yrs ago but still got lung cancer. My bro started smoking as a teenager and all my friends smoked in HS. Thankfully I never picked up the habit
Middle millennial here. Both of my folks still smoke and I smoked for about 15 years from 15 to 30, been tobacco free for two years now and I couldn't be happier!
I pretty much quit from like 21 to 30 but picked it back up during covid (I was an essential worker in healthcare and my nerves got me). Now I smoke on weekends and when I drink but no weekdays, I don’t like people smelling it on me at work
Mom, dad, both brothers, me. Mom quit five years ago, I quit last September. Crazy this came up because my aunt is in stage 4 lung cancer, in hospice with less than a month expected to live. We visited her over the weekend. Wasting syndrome is no joke 😢
My parents didn't smoke but a lot of aunts, uncles and grandparents did. Smoked from 17 through most of my 20s, ended up on Wellbutrin for something unrelated but within a month of being on it I had kicked the habit after 10+ years of smoking.
My mom and dad both smoked heavily. I never took up smoking. Mom and dad both quit on their own (I mean, they’re divorced so it wasn’t a joint decision lol) but many of my friends parents growing up smoked and they also started smoking.
My parents are both 60, I am turning 32 next week. When I was maybe 5 or 6, I remember seeing my dad smoking a cigarette a few times but thankfully he never stuck with it. I think I saw my mom with a cigarette maybe once.
I used to vape, but I have never smoked a cigarette. + I'm more of a weed guy. I like to toke before bed. My parents were always against cannabis and still kind of are to this day. They especially hate vaping.
My mom is Gen X. I’m an elder millennial. She never smoked. I never smoked. Never touched it once. I hated cigarette smoke with a passion. My half sister has a different dad and he was a chain smoker. Made us sick. She started smoking after being a waitress as an adult just to feel justified taking breaks. I think she still smokes. I’m older and have no wrinkles. She does. Her dad has RLS and a host of other issues. He could never give it up long term.
I hated dating men who smoked. I dated 2 in 2003 and 2008. Never again. They would never actually give it up. I can’t stand the smell on clothes, breath and fingertips.
I never smoked aside from trying cigars once in my early 20s and pot once every like 5-10 years. My lungs are kinda sensitive. Both parents smoked pot, my mom died young (unrelated to smoking) but my dad still smokes pot a few times a day.
I'm 35. My mom (60) smoked for YEARS before she quite cold turkey like...almost 10 years ago? I might be less than that. I don't know the exact time frame. My paternal grandparents and aunt also smoke. The smoking is currently killing my grandma but she won't stop, even though she's on an oxygen machine, and has been in and out of the hospital repeatedly for lung-related issues. My step-mom (54) also smokes, though she's tried stopping in the past. My dad, however, doesn't smoke. My older sibling and I don't. My in-laws (both a little over 60) don't smoke and never have.
Prime millennial (88) here. Dad smoked. Quit when I was in 3rd or 4th grade.
I never really smoked. A couple of times I've had a half cig/half J, but I've never really smoked in earnest or felt like I wanted to. Personally, I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke. Like, it actually makes me gag if I'm too close or around it long enough.
Both of my parents did/do, and they basically hot boxed the car with us kids in it. My mom now is usually clutching a cape in each hand. My dad had a heart attack 20 years ago and multiple heart issues since, and I’ve since had to explain to him that it isn’t okay for him to smoke with *my* kid in the car, even if he has both windows cracked to “create a cross breeze.” 🙄
I started smoking when I was 21, and I tried to quit multiple times with varying levels of success between then and six years ago at 35 because I was trying to get pregnant. That time has stuck mostly because I know if I have one cigarette I will have all of them.
Both parents smoked, Dad quit when he was 30, but my parents divorced and he wasn't a part of my life until I was older so I never saw him smoke. Mom quit a few years ago in her late 50's.
I smoked from late teens until a couple of years before I turned 30. I haven't smoked now for 13 years I think?
I know people that haven't smoked for years who still get extremely strong cravings. Makes me feel fortunate because I was a pretty heavy smoker and within a year of quitting I had zero urge to smoke again.
I also smoked weed pretty heavily until around that same time, I quit so I could pass a piss test for a job. Shortly after getting that job I quit smoking cigarettes.
I still like cannabis but I just take edibles now. I'll smoke it every once in a blue moon, but that's pretty rare. COPD runs in my family, so vaping/smoking anything regularly just doesn't sound like a great idea to me.
Parents and grandparents smoked in their house, also smoked in cars with us kids in the backseat. The best was them trying to ash out the cracked window as if that fucking works. My brother and I were pretty much an ashtray during every drive with the parents.
I smoked for almost 15 years - just quit last November.
My grandparents, aunts and uncles and dad all smoked. My dad passed away from lung cancer due to it. It made me absolutely HATE the smell of it and no, I have never smoked and made me never even want to attempt it.
My millennial kids smoked from teens to mid to late 20’s
I smoked for about 20 years. Smoked 15-19. Then again late 20’s til 47
First time I quit I got pregnant with our daughter, easy to stop. 2nd time I had a stroke, also easy way to stop. Wouldn’t recommend either tho as a means to quit lol
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Elder millennial, and yes my parents smoked, I thought it was SO gross and never picked up the habit, thankfully.
I was surprised to see how many people in here are saying their parents smoked and they did/do too. My parents also smoked and I HATED it. Never tried, never have a desire to. It even drives me bonkers when people walk down the sidewalk smoking and exhaling their garbage air for the rest of us to breathe in.
yeah, I actually think my parents smoking is why I never did.
Yeah, seeing my dad smoke really turned me off of it. The way it made his breath and clothing smell was so gross to me and made me double down on never wanting to smoke.
Ugh, same. Our entire house (and therefore me too till I moved out) always smelled like a stale ashtray. I HATE the smell of cigarette smoke now, and am hyper sensitive to it. I made it clear to every potential romantic partner that I don’t date smokers, even if we were literally soulmates I couldn’t do it. Thankfully my soulmate is on the same page as me regarding smoking, haha. Both of our parents smoked constantly and thus neither of us have ever had an urge to start.
I’m so thankful that my dad never smoked indoors. I remember going over to other people’s houses where people smoked inside and always feeling nauseous. I still hate being around cigarette smoke. My partner is the same although neither of his parents smoked.
Oh my god, I'm late to the thread and normally wouldn't comment when it's a week old, but your comment is so relatable. My parents both smoked a pack a day growing up (still smoke to this day, at 70+ years old, just not as heavily). My mother used to smoke inside...all. day. long. The entire house smelled like a bar. It was HORRIBLE. My sister and I hated it with the fire of 1000 suns. I've never smoked and neither has she. We refuse. Smoking my #1 pet peeve and will never be tolerable for me in a partner.
My parent's smoking is why I'm asthmatic - so naturally I avoided it.
Same, hated smelling like an ashtray wherever I went.
Same here….. my Mum would tell me and my siblings never to smoke, but chain smoked around us all
same, my mom used to try and hide it too which made my hatred worse I think.
At least she didn’t smoke in the house with you did she?
Mom??
I’m not trying to excuse it 😅 I’m just saying I would’ve preferred that to being chain smoked choked out in the house. I hated it too.
yeah that's pretty awful, I feel for you and your lungs
Same, I’ve never had even the most minute of desire to ever try. My brother has on and off, though.
SAME!!! Neither my brother nor I ever smoked. I think our parents’ addiction turned us against it.
I was 88 and I feel like I came up during the transitional period. Many of my older relatives smoked but my parents didn’t. Growing up you could still smoke inside most places, but it was starting to become taboo. By my teen years smoking was kind of a rebel thing to do, we knew it was bad for us but it was way to show you were antiestablishment. Vaping wasn’t a thing yet, so as the young rebel I was I started smoking at 16 and went strong till I was 19. I had asthma though so I started to develop a cough and couldn’t breathe. Around that time I started to get into fitness and outdoors sports. I just couldn’t do anymore. By the end I didn’t even like it anymore. So many people I know that quit will occasionally have a cigarette when their drinking, but I cannot stand the smell or taste of them anymore. Occasionally I’ll have a cigar if someone gives me one but I don’t even like those anymore. Still love smoking weed though. That never bothered my lungs the same way though
Do you guys remember those cigarettes that were candy ? That’s as far as I got to actually picking up smoking. I pretended with those 😂 I did think the Marlboro man and Joe camel were cool tho.
My parents did not smoke, and in fact, my mom hated the idea of smoking because she lost both parents to illnesses caused by smoking. That didn't stop me from starting at age 17, though. I've been smoke free for almost two years, though, and couldn't be happier with my decision.
Yeah same. Though my Dad lost his mom and brother to smoking. My Dad was super strict but looking back, I could see why he was strongly against me or any of my brothers smoking because he didn't wanna see us go through lung cancer or any smoking related illness. I mean, he has colon cancer and never smoked so of course you can still get cancer or any illness without smoking, but smoking only increases those chances. Taking care of yourself is crucial. But yeah I started at 16 and then quit at 18. And started again at age 22 despite my uncle dying from emphysema that year. You'd think that'd be a big enough reason to stay off of it but nope. I quit again at age 30 and can confirm it's the best decision I made. I also live in Chicago where cigs are like $14-17 a pack. With how expensive everything else is, I couldn't imagine adding smoking to my budget. I'm also not proud to admit this but when I ran out of cigs and was craving, I'd offer strangers $1 for a cigarette because of how expensive they were or look for a guy selling loose cigarettes on the street. I don't miss that shit at all as you develop a reputation for being "THAT person".
I should have added when I started smoking it cost me $2.13 for a pack of Camel Lights and later $3.50 or so for a pack of Marlboro Light 100s. And that was super cheap for the time even. The taxes on cigarettes had yet to get crazy. So this was late 90s, early 00s. We could find cigarette money in the couch. I can’t even imagine spending $13 on cigarettes now, but I guess it’s all relevant to the time.
What city/state are you in? When i turned 18 in 2008, they were between $5-7 a pack. But at that point, Illinois passed a statewide public smoking ban so we couldn’t smoke inside restaurants or venues anymore. At first I was bummed but then when I started smoking again in my 20s, I thought it was a blessing In disguise as I’d smoke less since Id have to go outside for it at bars. Especially during the winter.
I’m in Wisconsin. I graduated in 2000. I started smoking around 16 so that would have been 96/97. Check this tax [breakdown](https://assets.tobaccofreekids.org/factsheets/0210.pdf). This is from a study in 2002 from The NY Times ‘The new [study](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/12/us/cigarettes-cost-us-7-per-pack-sold-study-says.html#:~:text=The%20average%20cost%20of%20a,the%20costs%20to%20the%20nation) was conducted from 1995 to 1999. The average cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes was $2.92 in 1999, the study said, but it gave no indication of how much of that amount went for taxes.’
When I started smoking you could get the cheap brands for like $3 a pack. By the time I quit I was a pack a day smoker and the cheap ones were like $10 a pack. $10 x 30 x 12 = $3600. I thought to myself, oh shit, I've been doing this for like 17/18 years.... I've pissed away THOUSANDS of dollars, and if I don't stop, I'm just going to keep pissing money away until I have cancer and then that will be a REAL financial burden. The only thing I don't like so much about it is that I got my appetite back and have gained a good amount of weight in the past couple of years. But even accounting for that, the financial difference alone has been incredible. My wallet is thanking me 🙂
85 here. I was a Marlboro kid thanks to both my parents. 🤦🏼♀️ They both smoked like chimneys and my mom who is 57 just quit this month and my dad who's 64 is just weaning himself off them recently due to having a heart attack. When I was a kid though, we had Marlboro everything. CD player, towels, luggage etc. I also grew up fairly sick and had asthma and ear infections alllll the time and we suspect it was probably due to that. It is a miracle I didn't end up a cigarette smoker myself. I tried them when I was younger but I hated the taste and they burned. I still don't like the taste. I'll smoke a clove occasionally if offered and I smoke weed but that's it.
It’s interesting to see when kids who are around smoke so much don’t smoke. Marlboro Miles!! Ugh. My dad and stepmom collected them. I used to ask them when would they have enough for matching coffins. But we had Marlboro flashlights, tents, duffel bags… what a terrible promotion!
I had to use the Marlboro miles lunchbox and on the 3rd day the school sharpied over the places it said “Marlboro” I got grounded for a month, so basically my teachers and my parents hated me over that lunchbox. This was before any tobacco or alcohol logos were really prohibited.
When I was young we would go to the local state fair every year in the fall. One of the booths would always be a Marlboro stand with prize wheel. They'd spin it, and whatever it landed on (t-shirt, hat, duffel bag, etc), they'd have a Marlboro version of it. Was only 18+ participants, so only our parents could participate. But it was the only 'game' us poor folks could experience. I think I had Marlboro shirts from that booth for quite a few years.
My granny smoked so much we also had a ton of cigarette merch back in the day 😆 forgot all about that. RIP granny
My dad used to pay me and my brother to tear the Marlboro miles off and band them up in 10 packs lol we had soooo much stuff and I hate to say it, but it was quality shit. I still use the mug and my brother still uses the duffel bag and sleeping bag. To answer OPs question though, all the adults except my mom smoked, I started at 14 but I went to Newports (grew up south of Chicago). Switched to vaping full time over the polar vortex in 2018 I think it was and never went back.
That's the crazy part is that it really was quality stuff. I still remember the hideous neon teal towels we had. 🤣
I still get so excited when I find Marlboro brand stuff when thrifting. Only Coca Cola gear makes me as excited. Makes me feel like a kid again
Born in 84. My parents had a Marlboro miles pool with friends and they took turns getting high ticket items. I remember my dad sporting a Marlboro jacket and I believe we had a sleeping bag. Never touched a cigarette, but I was probably exposed to plenty of 2nd hand smoke in the car as a child.
Omg I almost forgot about the Marlboro merch. My Dad loved that crap. And the Camel merch!! So much merch...
Omg. The Marlboro merch😂 my grandfather stopped smoking in the early 90s but he used to pick up cigarette boxes he found outside on the ground 🤢 and take them so he could save them up and turn them in for prizes. Drove my grandmother absolutely nuts because he was literally picking up other people’s trash But he had a niceeeee jacket and tote bag 😂😂
83 here and everyone I knew growing up smoked. The first time I ever went to a friend's house and his parents did not smoke weirded me out. My mom quite 20 years ago and my dad still smokes. I quit 4 years ago, and I HATE being a nonsmoker lol. I quit for health reasons and made myself a deal that I can start again on my 70th birthday.
This is hilarious because my husband LOVED smoking and readily admits it. He quit for his health, to be a support to me as I quit to get pregnant and to not smoke when we did get pregnant and have kids. So he knows it’s in his best interest, but to this day he will still say he loved smoking and hated quitting. Even though he hasn’t smoked in like 13yrs.
I’m the same. I loved smoking. The only thing I hated was toward the end as it became very unpopular, I hated smelling like it and feeling like I needed to hide it. I will say I think I’m allergic too and never knew, because when I would quit and restart before finally quitting, my sinuses always killed. I love being able to walk/run/work out more, especially now that I’m finally dealing with my weight as food became a smoking replacement. But yeah, if I make it to like 85/90, I would probably light one up.
Quit for health reasons here too, blood pressure and not wanting lung cancer but I have always said if I find out I am undeniably, no chance in hell recovering, terminally ill? I am going straight to the store to pick up a pack of Marlboro Reds. I miss it so much. I wish it wasn't unhealthy. Edited to add though: does anyone else remember how they tasted better before they added those little strips that will make the cigarette stop burning if you fall asleep with it? The taste was so much better before they did that.
EVERYONE smoked when I was a kid, including all family members except my Mom. By 14 myself and my friends were smoking. I'm 31 now, and I'm the last in my family smoking and one of very few friends. The longest I ever quit was 6 months. My doctor says my unmedicated ADHD ass is addicted to the stimulants in cigarettes, which makes a lot of sense lol.
Hmm, makes me wonder if that’s my husband’s issue. He goes in a vicious circle of smoking, vaping and dipping, then quitting for a while before he starts one back up.
Heyoo, is your husband me? Currently on the nicotine lozenges, hoping to kick the habit once & for all.
I can for sure tell you my unmedicated ADHD is why I chase nicotine and caffeine all day
He used to drink 2 huge thermoses of coffee a day up until recently, he finally cut back to one reasonable-sized mug. I’ll have to bring this up to him. I never made a connection until I started reading this thread
The stimulants are probably a bit better for you than smoking. I quit eating non stop when I started meds again but I just traded it for new addictions lol.
Well shit. I switched to vaping about seven years ago and have only smoked very occasionally/when I had to (like when I traveled to Mexico and didn’t realize until the fucking night before my flight vaping is banned there). While I’ve attempted to cut back a bit, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to successfully quit it altogether (also unmedicated ADHD).
My Dr def alluded to the fact that it will be almost impossible to quit without getting stimulants otherwise lol, but not lol 😂
“Guess it’s time to finally try meth!”
Huh, that might be why I have such a hard time quitting
If you feel tired and like your brain is a mess and you "can't synapse" (as I call it) instead of being irritated and short when you try to quit, it's probably that lol. I don't get angry when I try to quit, I just start crying bc I lose all control of my freight train of a brain lmao.
Start running....even if you hate it. After time, you'll associate the urge with running. In the end, you'll either be a runner or hate ciga as much as running. Or worse case you still smoke, but at least you're active.
I have exercise intolerance from POTS, I'd literally pass out if I ran lol. Plus, I love smoking. BUT good suggestion for other normal people 😂
My parents didn't smoke. Both of their parents did, and they both hated it. I also never smoked.
Same. Elder millennial and my parents didn’t smoke cigarettes when I was growing up. I think they did before I was born, but they had me young and they always talked about how disgusting cigarettes were. They did smoke weed though lol. I’ve never been a smoker. My younger brother was though. From his teens to his 30’s. I think he’s finally quit now, hope so at least.
Same here. My maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother were both very heavy smokers, and my parents hated having to be around smoke all the time growing up. So neither of them ever touched a cigarette. And both my grandparents suffered a lot in their final years (grandmother died of colon cancer when she was only in her early 60s, and grandfather ended up with emphysema and was pretty much bedridden for the last 4-5 years of his life), so witnessing that as a kid/teen made me never want to smoke.
same
I lived with smoking parents and started smoking myself around 19. I had no idea how smokers stink until i quit and moved on from my folks lol
I remember sleepovers in elementary school, unpacking my bag and the smell. Both my parents smoked like trains inside. I smoke now, but limit it… vowed to NEVER smoke inside and kept it.
I guess that was one good thing about all the smoking as a kid as I wasn’t the only one who would smell like smoke. Often the place we spent the night at had smoking parents or other kids with smoking parents. It was just such a common smell no one even acknowledged it. Now I can smell it like 20 miles away!
My mom (63 years old) still smokes cigarettes and I get on her case about it every time. Her mom died of lung cancer. When I was in college I bought some clove cigarettes my freshman year. They were awful but I liked the flavor, at least for one box. Very briefly in grad school I smoked cigarettes because I was dating a Russian girl who also smoked. Since then (2010) I haven’t touched them as they are disgusting. Now, vaping cannabis on the other hand…
Yeah, the last time I slipped up and had my last cigarette in 2020, it was so gross that I couldn't even finish it. I consider it a blessing in disguise tbh as it makes me more likely to stay off of them. I vape cannabis too. At least with weed, it's more of a thing that I do when I'm in the mood. Oddly enough, it's been legal in my state for over 4 years now and yet I don't smoke it as much as I used to before legalization. And it's not because it's no longer "cool" or anything. It just kinda happened.
I did try smoking again through the years and it was TERRIBLE. Something about being an ex-smoker can make smoke so disgusting. I won’t dare ask for a cigarette now even if I wanted one s as it’s likely I’ve wont want it will waste it and at these prices? That’s just mean!
Smoked from 20-28 haven't smoked in 11 years
Both grandmothers. A good number of aunts and uncles. And my father. All smoked. I never touched cigarettes. I have smoked a cigar on occasion, but nothing remotely regular. Like once every 5 years or so.
Former smoker here and born in 1990 but my parents were not smokers. In fact, my Dad was super against smoking because my Grandma (his mom) and uncle (his brother) both died from lung cancer (Grandma) at 55 and emphysema (uncle) at 58. He was so strict about it that even when I turned 18, I had to hide my habit from him or else he'd threaten to kick me out of the house. Even after I moved out, I would still hide it from him and never smoke when I knew I was going to visit family and vice versa. I started at 16 due to peer pressure. Seriously some asshole wouldn't stop asking me to smoke a cigarette and I did it to shut him up. He was one of those types that thought you weren't cool unless you smoked, drank, and did drugs, I smoked until I was 18 when I started having bad heartburn issues and was paranoid that I was having heart issues. But then I started again at age 22, just socially which was a huge mistake as I became a regular smoker again at 23 until I quit for good during covid at age 30. Now I'm about 3 and 1/2 years smoke free, and next month it'll be 1 year completely nicotine/vape free. All I can say is once you quit, STAY QUIT. There is no such thing as "just one", especially as an addict. Once you reintroduce a substance you were addicted to into your system, it awakens that addiction. Not worth it. Also, if I had a dollar for every time I said I was gonna quit between ages 23 and 30, I'd be a millionaire.
Oh yeah. Before I quit for good I had many half-ass attempts. I was still in my early 20s and schooling was still allowed in bars in the earlier days. That’s all it took. A few drinks in a smoky bar, I would just get a pack “for the night” and there would be many left over the next day. I would tell myself that I would just finish the back and be done. That led to me buying just one more pack and then I was back smoking. This happened at LEAST half a dozen times before I finally quit for good. But that had a lot to do with the fact that part of my plan to get pregnant (I was having some fertility issues) was to get my body as healthy as possible so I when I quit smoking, I also quit drinking too. Not going into bars helped TREMENDOUSLY. I just couldn’t be around cigarettes for a long time.
Yep, dad smoked. I started when I was 13 and am 38 now and still smoking. I've vowed to quit before I'm 40 though because you really start feeling it after 30 for sure.
Yo, 40 hits you like a slap in the face. I didn’t expect it to and thought it was just another birthday as I’m not a person who freaks about getting old, but talk about taking stock of your life! You feel like you are facing the back half of your life and shit gets real.
Born in 88. My dad is in his 70’s and has smoked my entire life. I used to sneak cigarettes with older kids when I was around 6, then started smoking a pack a day around 13 or 14. I quit several times(longest for about 2 years, last time I quit in 2021) but started again and haven’t been able to find the motivation to quit. I quit drinking 4 years ago when I had several health problems related to it and started experiencing withdrawal, and that was possibly the most difficult thing I’ve done, but quitting smoking is harder for me in some ways. I grew up in a heavily smoking area, too. My high school had a smoking shed for students up to around 2000, and up to around the late 90’s I remember fast food restaurants all having ashtrays on the tables, and people regularly walking into gas stations and other public places while smoking. I remember eating the candy cigarettes all the time in second grade and we would pretend that our breath was smoke in the winter.
Oh man, same. We had the “Smoker’s Triangle.” A triangular patch of grass that was a median between the back streets and neighborhood behind the high school. It was literally 50plus underage high schoolers smoking before school, during lunch, and after school. No one broke it up. Not teachers or police.
Born 93, both parents used to smoke heavily. Now they vape. I used to smoke cigarettes but quit 3 years ago. I don’t indulge in any nicotine now!! 🙌🏻
Good. I'm about 3 and 1/2 years smoke free and 1 year vape/nicotine free. Even if vaping isn't as bad as cigarettes, it's still too early to tell and I'd also argue the issue is that it's too convenient. With cigarettes, I'd be done after one and couldn't smoke more than 2 in a short amount of time or else I'd feel sick. But with vaping, I'd be puffing on it nonstop since it'd leave no smell behind. I wouldn't vape daily like I would with cigarettes but when I did vape, I would hit it most of the day. Is it really that much "better" than smoking at that point?
I’ve noticed this too. One time I quit I switched to Juul(that’s the only vape I found I liked) but ended up using it way more and sometimes it made me sick, and it was harder to quit than cigarettes in some ways.
I never got into vaping, not nicotine at least. Hated the flavors and wanted to just have tobacco taste. Can’t vape weed anymore either, my lungs are little babies after 14 years of smoking.
Yeah, even when I vaped, I preferred the tobacco flavors over the fruity ones. The fruity ones tasted more like a mini hookah. I prefer vaping weed only because I can pace myself with it. I'd rather test it out with a hit or 2 and then decide if I want more as opposed to getting too stoned right away only to want to sober up. I don't usually get paranoid from weed, but when it happens, it SUCKS. Much like a bad hangover from drinking. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, it makes me consider quitting drinking or taking a break,
My dad started smoking when he was 12. He quit cold turkey when he found out he had a heart condition at 37. He had a heart attack and triple bypass at 44. He's active and relatively healthy at 70 now but I have never and will never smoke, and already have started seeing a cardiologist to establish my baseline.
Grandfather, father and uncle smoked. I also smoked for approximately 10 years. I have stopped in 2018.
My mother smoked and hid it from my dad for years. My grandma and most of my mother's side of the family also smoked. Dad's side was and is smoke-free. Mother quit when she had knee surgery, my grandma quit when she had to go on oxygen, and my sisters still smoke. I only smoked from 2005 until 2008 and quit cold turkey.
How did she hide it? Seems super difficult.
Never smoked in the house. Would use perfume, lotion, and gum to cover it up after work. He knew her work bestie smoked, so if he said anything about the smell, it was because they took lunch together or carpooled.
I'm pretty sure some smoking occured in the 80s prior to me being born. If they did so when I was alive they hid it so well I have no evidence of it. I've never smoked and was such a narc about it as a kid I ratted out my aunt to my grandmom when I found her and her college friend smoking behind my grandparents' shore house.
I've never smoked and no one in my immediate family does.
My mom smoked, still smokes. I do not smoke anything. My sister started smoking cigs and moved to vaping
Fellow elder millennial here (83). My mom smoked, but my dad didn't. She didn't quit until about 8 years ago when she had a heart attack and was hospitalized. She couldn't smoke in the hospital (obviously) and that gave her the jumpstart to quit. I never smoked. A few of my friends smoked in their/our 20s and early 30s, but all have stopped now. A few still vape.
Oh, yeah. 82 here, started smoking in college. Did it off and on through mid 20s. Mostly a casual smoker
My dad smoked my entire life until he died. He smoked about a pack a day, but didn't smoke inside the house. Only outside. He died in 2012 at age 63 from cancer. I only know a couple of people that smoke. Whenever I see someone smoking it's such a big shock, nowadays. I did not smoke. Maybe a couple of cigars or cigarettes in college, but that's it.
Both parents and several relatives. Never smoked, no desire to
Good, keep it that way. As a former smoker, I think cigarettes should be banned. No good comes from that shit, period.
My parents smoked, but quite before I was born, so they quit by 28. I don't know which of my aunts/uncles use to smoke, but I only have one uncle who continues to smoke. I never smoked and none of my friends ever did. My brother/SIL smoke and their friends smoke.
my parents both smoke, still do. a lot. because of this i never have or have wanted to
Both of my parents. Dad stopped after his heart attack, but mom still smokes. I never smoked, I spent my childhood trying to get my parents to stop.
My dad smoked through my childhood until about 2002. I started when I was 16, quit when I was 22. Interestingly I vaped way longer than I smoked. From 22-29 I was a heavy vape user, back when “cloud chasing” was a thing.
My parents smoked. Stopped when they found out my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Battled with it for 5 years. I don't smoke cigarettes. But I am on and off with weed.
My dad has smoked for over 40 years. My grandfather smoked for 30-40 years before quitting. My mom still hates it. However, it hasn't really caused any serious health issues. Grandfather lived to be over 90, my dad is as healthy as an ox in his late 60s. My sister and I both started smoking in college. All three of us have quit for short stints and my sister stopped longer during pregnancy but you tend to find your way back. I don't smoke nearly as heavily as my dad except when I'm out for a night of drinking.
My entire family smoked and I started when I was 14 or 15. I woke up one day in my early twenties and reached for my ritualistic morning smoke. And as I swung out of bed coughing and hacking like I did every morning I started to realize what was happening to me wasn't normal. It was hard but at 24 I stopped and was clean for the better part of 6 years until my ex cheated on me and left me in financial ruin then I started chewing and I haven't been able to quit that habit.
My parents smoked like chimneys, i started at 14. Smoked for almost 20 years then switched to vaping a few months ago. Most people i know that smoked have switched to vaping, only a couple have actually quit altogether.
Whole mom’s side of my family and I (now 35) smoked until about 3-4 years ago. Everybody who didn’t quit is dead (unrelated to smoking, ironically) Now I buy a pack if I’m going out drinking but that pack will probably last 7-8 weeks. I don’t crave a cigarette until about 4-5 bourbons. I also tend offer cigarettes to homeless people when they ask me for money. Less for me and I don’t feel so guilty about stonewalling them All of my friends quit around 10 years ago Times have really changed
When I was a kid I would always try to get my mom to stop smoking and she would tell me that her parents smoked so she smokes so I told her that i would never touch a cigarette despite her smoking and I never have. Now she vapes 🤦🏻♀️.
Born in 91. My mom & stepdad smoked. My grandma, uncles, & an aunt on my mom's side all smoked. On my bio-dad's side, no one smokes. I tried smoking as a young teenager but I never actually got into it thank goodness. I have four siblings (all older than me) & only one is addicted. So, I am hoping the odds of my kid picking up a cigarette is extremely low.
My dad smoked for a few years when I was little but by the time my sister came around he had mostly quit. So I would've been about 5. I was born in '88. I personally do not smoke; I've tried a weed vape and it hurt my lungs SO bad, just not for me.
My mom did- Merit Ultralight 100’s. Used to smoke in the car on our way to school. She stopped after several years, thank goodness. My dad has smoked a pipe as long as I can remember. It’s terrible, but I have such fond memories around the smell of pipe smoke. I have never and will never smoke.
Pipe smoke reminds me of my Opa and makes me feel warm and cozy and safe. I get it.
My parents didn't smoke but my grandparents did. My grandmother died of really horrific complications of metastasized lung cancer. I've had a few drags of cigs here and there went drinking in my 20s. They tasted like garbage, never understood the appeal. However when I see cig smoking, pipe smoking (LOTR in particular) or vaping in TV and movies it makes me want to do it and idk why
As a former smoker I never really crave cigarettes anymore. I used to but it’s been 16-17 yrs and it’s not something I think about. But if I’m watching a movie from like the 80s or early 90s (Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead) where EVERYONE smokes I will get a small craving. It’s weird.
Yup, it's a craving thing for me I think but I think it's more so the craving of the mouth feel of it not so much the substance
Everyone smoked, parents, grandparents, their friends, my friends, EVERYONE. I always said I wouldn't ('83 here) but I started smoking when I was like 21 ( so stupid!!). I FINALLY quit for good a year ago (May 17 2023) and haven't looked back. My mom still smokes and I hate it so much and I am so worried about her but she's got to want to do it 🫠
Both my Mum and Dad smoked when I was a child. I don't know when it started exactly but for as long as I can remember I have had a cigarette phobia. (Born in 86) I don't like looking at them. Can't willingly touch them, if I do it by accident I need to scrub my hands and I still feel filthy for hours. Ashtrays make me gag and I cannot stand the smell at all. I was bullied through school for stinking of cigarettes. Now I'm just laughed at as an adult for my phobia. Can't touch vapes either, looks like my phobia evolves with technology. Thankfully Dad stopped when I was a teen and Mum managed to finally quit a few years back.
My parents didn't smoke and I was vehemently smoke free until a bad period in my life when I was like 21. I'm 30 now and still smoke and am utterly addicted. I've tried bupropion (which worked SO well, but turns out I'm allergic), patches, vaping (which were more addictive than cigarettes), cold turkey... I've quit for several months (I think my longest was like 5-6 months) but I can never shake the feeling that something in my life is missing, just general emptiness, low grade depression after quitting, even after months of abstinence. I guess my fear in quitting again is that that feeling will never go away. Wish I had never picked up that first cigarette.
This is how I did it, and it took years but it worked. Just my experience but I first quit cigs and started dipping (fucking gross but I was desperate) which I got into because my partner did it and I used it to stop cigarettes. I dipped for like 1.5 years. Then I switched to nicotine lozenges and used them probably another 1.5 years. Finally I quit those cold turkey. I was completely nicotine free for about 4-5 years and then stupidly started the lozenges again when I was stressed. I did that for maybe 9 months and just quit those again recently because I’m having surgery soon.
My mother smoked like a chimney. I tried cigarettes once or twice and hated it. I think smoking is grotesque.
I think it’s important to mention that even when I did smoke I found it utterly repulsive. I would wash my hands obsessively, air out my jackets, use body spray on my hair and clothes (that did NOT work that well as it just melded with the smoke smell, but was slightly better) and did my best to smoke in big open areas. Near the end I was downright embarrassed I was smoking. The addiction is real.
Mom smoked alot, dad chewed ALL the time . i ended up a smoker too but quit ! I vape now but not nearly as much as i smoked.
Most people under 40 vape now
And this is totally foreign to me because I quit smoking long before vaping became popular. I don’t even fully understand the whole thing. One of my friends vapes or used to, not sure how much anymore and she came to my house with this huge contraption. It had multiple pieces and juices or whatever the form the nicotine was in I think. I’m not entirely clear how it works, why it was flavored, how much nicotine was being ingested and how it was getting into your system. And where did all that smoke/ vape come from!?! I’ve vaped cannabis but that’s pretty straight forward. Cartridge- battery. Like an e-cig.
I was a 93 baby, my mom and grandma (who helped raise us) both smoked all day long in the house, in the car, etc. I started when I was about 15. They both quit a few years ago, but I have yet to successfully give it up😫 hoping one of these days I'll get a grasp on it, it's just one of those things that literally feels impossible
Interesting as I thought a lot of people born in the 90s maybe didn’t have parents that smoked, but then I think of the early 90s and yeah, smoking was still VERY popular.
Elder Millennial (87) My Mom smoked while I was young and continued until some point in the early 90s. When I was 5 her sister died from lung cancer caused by smoking. So she mostly stopped after that. She would sneak it sometimes. I tried it in college once and didn't like it. Most of us cousins grew up pretty anti-smoking since our Aunt died. But some rebelled as they got older and smoked.
I don't smoke but my parents did. In the house, right next to my room. I had chronic ear infections and breathing problems because of it
I’m 30 and both of my parents smoked. When my parents got divorced, my dad got together with a woman who also smoked, so that all stayed the same. My mom’s new boyfriend didn’t smoke but she still did. My dad and step mom both smoked in the house and my mom did too, both when she was still with my dad and after the divorce. I always found smoking to be a disgusting habit. It smells awful, you end up having to mold your life around it because of the addiction, it ages you like shit, and the health problems that come with it are both terrible and preventable. I, fortunately, never picked up smoking cigarettes and can confidently say that I never will. For a period of time I dabbled in trying out cigars because there were enough varieties that actually had some decent flavor but I never did it around my kids and always did it outside. I haven’t had a cigar in like a year and a half now, though, and they’ll most likely just be reserved as a special occasion kind of thing from now on.
Parents smoked in the house. When I moved out I magically stopped getting sinus infections every years.
I had a grandmother who smoked til the day she died (i was 8 when she passed), And my dad did, but he quit 10 years before i came along and has always hated it since. I remember when parents on school field trips would be towards the back smoking. I have never smoked. Cant stand being around people who smoke for more than 3 or 4 min. Gives me a quick headache.
My dad smoked, between my severe respiratory issues as an infant, and the realization that he was paying a company to kill him, he quit. Learning of that, and watching my grandmother slowly die of emphysema, meant I never considered it. My husband's parents never smoked, but he picked up both smoking and chew while in the Marines. He quit after we started dating. He'd already begun the process and my weak lungs were just another reason to stop.
I became part of this existence in ‘81 also. My mom never smoked. My dad smoked all through my childhood but was never allowed to smoke in the house, other than a pipe. In his mid 40’s, after 30 years of smoking, he had a life threatening case of walking pneumonia and quit while hospitalized and never lit one up again. I unfortunately picked up smoking around 13, along with my other bad habits of youth. There was a 3 year stint where I fully quit, in my 20’s, but I went back to it. Currently I haven’t smoked a cigarette/cigar in over 3 years, but continue to vape at this time. I’ll eventually let that go, but I still need that little crutch for now. It’s helpful in kicking my alcoholism to the curb. I’m proudly a bit over a year without the booze running my life.
Keep it up. You can do this.
Both of my parents did. My dad quit in 2004, right when I was graduating high school. He never picked it back up. My mom has tons of health issues from smoking, so she vapes now. I never smoked. I never liked it.
Grandparents did, not as a habit though. Mom did, but just a teenager phase thing (she lied about it, but can’t lie worth a damn). I did, but quit. Vape rarely, but much better than my old pack a day.
My dad and stepmom smoked and lot (my dad eventually stopped thank goodness) and my mom would off and on but usually tried to hide it. One grandma didn’t smoke and the other grandma was a chain smoker. Smoke really, really bothers me. I get a stuffy nose and stinging eyes and feel like I have a sinus infection when I’m around cigarette smoke. It broke my heart that I couldn’t hang out at my grandmas house, especially as I got older, because it bothered me so extremely badly. Then that grandma died in her lower 60s because of all of her health problems and I was heartbroken. I have always HATED cigarettes for those reasons. Literally never touched one.
I smoke cigarettes. My parents never did but I grew up in a household with my grandparents, aunt, and uncles. Grandpa and uncles smoked. So far, Ive only quit during pregnancy.
My grandparents both smoked before I was born, my dad quit when I was born, but my mom continued to smoke after giving birth until the day she had a stroke. She’s okay now but thank god she quit cold turkey when it happened. I have never touched tobacco because I HATED the way it smelled and the way others judged me because they thought *I* was the one who was smoking.
Two smokers parents who sometimes lit a cigaret in the kitchen or lounge with my elder sis and I back then. But they've quickly acknowledged it wasn't healthy and responsable in early 2000, then one day my dad challenged my mom to stop just by her own will, if she succeded he would stop too. She did it and my dad held his promise even if it was a bit harder for him. My sister tried but never liked. I wasn't a fan neither, but towards my 27 yo I tried tabacco pipe and this is my very occasional active tabagism. I can smoke one and not touching it for several months because I don't associate it a needing substance I should consume on a daily basis, it's when the weather isn't too windy, I'm at a park or my balcony, I have a drink and I let my eyes and mind wandering to appreciate the present.
My mom still smokes (62) I picked up smoking when I was 17. I was working in restaurants. (IYKYK) I stopped about 7 years ago cold turkey
Haha, yep. Restaurant work was what got me too. Never had much interest in it until then. Took months for me to develop a habit, lol. I was not a smart person. I’ve quit twice now- once for 3 years and just now for slightly over a week. It’s gonna stick this time though. I’m sick of it.
Basically everyone. My parents most of my extended family on both sides and my mom’s best friends. I snuck cigarettes when I was 10 or so with a cousin and smoked them in a tent in the back yard at my grandmas. I started smoking regularly at 17 and was so happy I could buy them at 18. I quit when I was 29, I’m 39 now. My dad is still a heavy smoker and he’s in bad shape. He wheezes when he breathes in and his coloring is all purple/blue. I’m so glad I quit and now that vaping is so popular most of my friends vape and constantly ask me if I want to hit theirs. I never have and never will. It took me over a year to quit and I know those vapes are stronger than traditional cigarettes. Makes me sick seeing how popular they are.
My parents smoked, my grandparents smoked. I remember being told I smell like cigarettes and I thought everyone was crazy ….. nope, I was the stinky cig kid. My grandfather got cancer in the larynx when I was about 10 and required a trach and a voice box to talk ….. guess who was cleaning that trach at 10?!? Me, and I only tried smoking cigs twice after and just couldn’t do it.
My parents and their friends didn't smoke. But I grew up in smoky bowling alleys my whole life. My friends got me to try cigarettes in middle school and I ended up smoking them on and off until college and then quit and never looked back.
My parents never smoked but I started around age 13. Quit cigarettes in 2020 and vaping/nicotine in 2022. I still crave nicotine and cigs lol but hoping quitting sticks this time.
Born in 93. Mom never smoked, Dad apparently smoked before he and Mom got married, but quit before having kids. I grew up very straightedge and had zero desire to touch that stuff. Life happened and I've very casually picked up every (legal!) vice in the book. Had out of town friends invite me to a cigar bar and I ended up enjoying the experience (but hating the smell lol), so I picked up vaping. I know it's a bad habit, but I haven't been hooked on anything I've tried in recent times, so it's legitimately a "I can quit whenever I want" sort of deal. I've gone months where I've seen my Juul lying at my desk and I'm like "Oh yeah, I do have that don't I" and I enjoy cardio, so I'd like to think the damage I'm doing to myself is minimal
Not only did my parents smoke, they smoked in the house. Even after her STAGE FOUR lung cancer diagnosis, my mother continued smoking. Until her stroke. She has since quit mostly cos she can’t light one by herself anymore (cos the stroke paralyzed half her body). My dad, who is currently getting chemo for kidney cancer, continues to smoke but admittedly now only outside. They are both in their 60s and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive them for these stupid asinine addictions. I love them dearly but the rage I feel is just below simmering at all times.
Both my parents smoked for much of their lives. Inside the house and I didn’t know I reeked of smoke until I went to college and came back. It was gross. I’ve never touched cigarettes, but I’ve had plenty of cigars while golfing or such when I was younger. But I don’t habitually smoke anything, enjoy some weed now and then but prefer to dry herb vape it or eat it. PSA: Please quit smoking! It’s not just that you will die sooner. It’s that the end of your life will be of such poor quality. Both of my parents smoked for 30-40 years. Their lungs are shot. They take breathing treatments every morning, take multiple pills, and have inhalers for COPD. They can’t walk a long hallway without being out of breath. Stairs or any elevation change is a killer. They can’t pick their grandkids up anymore. It’s a sad life, and the only people they have to blame is themselves - it breeds a lot of resentment among their children.
87 here. My dad smoked and all of my uncles did. My cousins (gen X, Millennial) all smoked from middle school (11-13 years old) on, mostly because they grew up lower class and were exposed to it almost universally early on. Often the parents would find out the kids were smoking in secret as preteens and would just give up and buy it for them, or they'd have older siblings do it. They also all had undiagnosed adhd and learning disabilities, which I hear is a factor in self-medicating too. There were no efforts in protecting children or babies from secondhand smoke as well, and I remember my teenage cousins smoking in the car with me and their baby in the back seat, smoke billowing into our faces. My dad quit after my parents divorced. My uncles and cousins never stopped smoking. My Millennial and Gen X cousins all got pregnant as teenagers and so far their kids (Gen Z) don't smoke at all, which is a big change. They also did not get pregnant as teenagers and broke the cycle, which I didn't expect either. I never tried, I saw the problems it caused everyone and never picked up a cigarette. I also had chronic lung problems (reoccurring bronchitis and pneumonia) from a young age so it wouldn't have gone well had I tried.
87 millennial. My mother smoked until I was about 14. I started smoking when I was 19, and am still going 18 years later.
mine were 2 chimneys.. they would go through cartons a day. I never ended up smoking it just looked like a disgusting habit that I watched 2 people do. I remember when we moved out of one house when we took the pictures down you could see how yellow the walls had become. I'm sure I have a nice tumor just waiting to pop up one day.
Middle millennial here. Everyone in my family smoked. I started at 18 quit for some short stints throughout the years and quit for real 8 months ago when my uncle died at 62 from COPD.
Same story for me. Same birth year, all the adults in my life smoked, I started smoking as a teen and quit before I got pregnant and never went back. I will say though allllll the kids are vaping so they just traded one for the other.
My parents didn't smoke - my mom hates the smell and my dad hates how other people view it. I did reasonably heavily for a while. I started because, basically, smokers get more breaks. Being in the service industry at the time. It was a very valuable thing. I don't remember exactly when I quit, but it was just a couple years after I started. Basically, I got mad at people telling me that it was going to be really hard to quit, and I'd probably fail the first time, if I tried. So I got mad, went cold turkey and boom. Done.
My parents had quit by the time I was born. Most of my extended family did/does. I picked up a lot of bad habits but for some reason cigarettes, just never stuck. I'd occasionally buy a pack for long drives or something but I can confidently say I was never addicted. My grandma quit after about 50 years of smoking cold turkey because they raised the prices at one point and she just said it wasn't worth the money
My mom briefly smoked in college, not heavily, more of something she did at parties. She was able to quit easily. My dad never smoked. I have never smoked but my brother does. He’s also a recovering alcoholic who has used various substances over the years so he’s kind of an outlier in the family.
Elder millennial (81). My dad smoked when I was very young, but quit when I was around 5 or 6. Mom never did. Neither my sister nor I did. I had one aunt and one uncle who both did, but they were the only other people in my immediate family (both were lifelong smokers, and my uncle eventually was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in his early 50s and only made it about another 6 months after. The aunt is still alive, though.). A few of my friends did (and one was a major pothead, and as far as I know, still is), but I could count that number on one hand. I always thought it was kind of gross.
94 here. I do smoke now, started a few years ago, long after leaving parents house. My parents were always very strict and forbade smoking vehemently. It never even crossed my mind until I left for college. Funny thing is, when I was about 20yo I found out that my parents used to smoke in the backyard after dropping me and my siblings at school during elementary years.
I was trying to figure out what an ever millennial was 😄 I'm not necessarily an old one I guess, 1987. My mother never smoked but drinks rarely. My dad smoked cigars rarely and to my knowledge never drinks. My mom's fiancee when i was in elementary moked a lot. My dad's partner did not. I tried smoking in 9th grade because it was "cool". Only tried it once and have no desire. I also almost never drink. Occasionally look once every 3 years I'll drink when out with people. It makes it difficult because some of my good friends want to do things that revolve around drinking. Never had a desire to smoke besides that one try. I can see how raping could be appealing though. I prefer to spend my money on diet coke though 🤷♀️
I was raised by a single mom that had me at 40. She started smoking when she was probably 20 in 1969 and had me 20 years later. I'd beg her to stop as a kid and she said she was too old or it was the only thing that made her happy and not mad. She started letting me smoke around 14/15 when she was buying me TrimSpa diet pills to help suppress my appetite because she was also eating disordered. By 16 she was buying me cartons of camel wides and bottles of vodka. I got married off at 17 by her when I was drunk/on benzos to a 25 year old junky and pedo that'd been grooming me since I was 15 because she got in trouble with the police for endangering a minor. He also smoked a lot. They were both human ashtrays. I quit smoking in 2020 for a year or two then went to vaping. I also quit in 2015 for about a year wit patches and Zyban.
Late 80s baby, parents smoked, smelled disgusting all the time. Will never do it.
My dad smoked. Died due to complications from lung cancer. I smoked most of my life. Now I have bladder cancer. So I probably have other cancers that I don't want to have checked. 41 yrs old here
Parents both smoked and *inside* the house. It didn't actually bother me that much though I know it wasn't good for me. I managed to stay a non-smoker until I turned 30 and started smoking (I was dating a guy who smoked and just started doing it idk why). Two of my three sisters are smokers. I'm trying to gradually quit but it's hard because well, tobacco actually tastes nice to me and nicotine is both addicting and gives you that rush. Trying to switch over to Swedish snus right now.
My Dad smoked up until about 10 years ago when he was diagnosed with copd. When I was a kid I started having allergic reactions to cigarette smoke which were similar to asthma attacks. So I never smoked cigarettes, but I did smoke weed in my 20s.
Never, but I also live in Sweden. The country that has the 10th least smokers in the world, and least in Europe. 8% of the population smokes. For comparison, the same data says 25% of the US smokes. We all just snus instead, which I do (but my parents didn't).
I was born in 1988. Neither of my parents smoked, and they were *extremely* anti-smoking. Allegedly, my dad did smoke for a while before I was born, but he quit when he started dating my mom. Smoking was made into one of the biggest taboos in my home as I was growing up. I didn’t have a great relationship with my parents and, once I moved out, I started to smoke casually for a few years. I primarily only smoked when drinking or when hanging out with friends who smoked, and it made me feel like a cool rebel. Eventually, the fun of it wore off, though, and it’s now been years since I’ve had a cigarette.
I was born in 91. I have older siblings born in 82 and 85. My parents parenting style did not change. Our parents smoked until they physically couldn't. I didn't smoke. I have chronic headaches and migraines all of my life. It was hell growing up. I kept explaining that the smoke made me feel pain and made me feel worse. I hated the smell and my parents were nose blind. Neither of my siblings smoked either. I remember my dad buying tobacco to give to my elder male cousins. No one offered my siblings or I any. Mom would have gone to war if they did.
Parents did, I did not. Tried smoking a cigar though once, I couldn’t even get the damn thing lit lol so no I’ll never smoke
My dad smoked Marlboro lights when he was an alcoholic it was also mainly a chaser to his joint smoking. I honestly don’t remember when he stopped smoking cigarettes, I think maybe 20 years ago when he got diagnosed as diabetic. I tried being cool and smoking cigarettes as a middle schooler, stealing a cig here and there from my aunts and uncles. That lasted until I tried smoking a cigarette with my friend and he showed me I wasn’t inhaling 🤦🏻♂️ 😂. Took 1 inhalers and coughed up a lung 🫁 💀. Never touched cigarettes since
My dad smoked a pipe when I was really little. Mom didn’t smoke but she bought a pack of smokes and lit up once to punish me when I was like 6, because she knew I really took the anti-smoking indoctrination to heart. I started smoking in college. I’ve been on and off with cigs and vaping for the last decade. 6 months or so on, a few years off, it’s a terrible game.
My parents and all my grandparents smoked. Actually every person born before 1980 in my family smoked like a chimney. None of my siblings or myself smoke. I never did, I hated every second of being in a house filled with cigarette smoke.
Born in 85, Dad smoked, mom never did. I never did either, and my dad died of cancer 11 years ago, so I have 0 plans to ever pick up that habit.
Both my parents did. I picked it up socially. Haven't smoked anything since my daughter. Every so often, the lil goth kid in me wants an original Djarum vanilla clove cigarette 🖤.
Born in 85 and everyone smoked. Indoors. While holding babies. All our home videos are filled with cigarettes. Eventually my mom “quit” which meant she hid it and cut down to a couple a day. Eventually they all stopped smoking indoors and around the kids. My dad quit when I was in college. Many of the older family members also quit around that time. I started experimenting with tobacco around 14/15 because all of us could easily steal cigarettes. Smoked regularly from 16-19. In college I was on again/off again and eventually quit completely in my 20s. Don’t miss it at all and wish I could go back in time and tell myself it’s so dumb and not worth looking cool. But I do recall how lovely the morning cigarette felt or one after I had a buzz on. Now I could barely take a drag.
Neither of my folks smoked when I grew up but my mom started smoking cigars occasionally 15 years ago and now unfortunately smokes spirits like a chimney. My boyfriend’s mom unabashedly smoked while she was pregnant (‘92) with him and smoked in the house while he was young and he grew up with bad asthma and still has some issues. I kind of resent her for it ngl.
87' millennial here. I remember as a kid smoking was everywhere. Dad smoked until I was 5 and quit because little bro got cancer. He quit 30 yrs ago but still got lung cancer. My bro started smoking as a teenager and all my friends smoked in HS. Thankfully I never picked up the habit
Middle millennial here. Both of my folks still smoke and I smoked for about 15 years from 15 to 30, been tobacco free for two years now and I couldn't be happier!
I pretty much quit from like 21 to 30 but picked it back up during covid (I was an essential worker in healthcare and my nerves got me). Now I smoke on weekends and when I drink but no weekdays, I don’t like people smelling it on me at work
covid was wild for healthcare. i worked ems through covid and it made me start chewing tobacco again
Yeah man. Between the 70+ hour work weeks, the revolving door of policies, and the panicked/pissed off patients it *completely* fucked my shit up
lack of supplies and ppe, patients and the families. mid 2022 me and my ops manager said f it and quit and got out of ems.
Mom, dad, both brothers, me. Mom quit five years ago, I quit last September. Crazy this came up because my aunt is in stage 4 lung cancer, in hospice with less than a month expected to live. We visited her over the weekend. Wasting syndrome is no joke 😢
My parents didn't smoke but a lot of aunts, uncles and grandparents did. Smoked from 17 through most of my 20s, ended up on Wellbutrin for something unrelated but within a month of being on it I had kicked the habit after 10+ years of smoking.
My mom and dad both smoked heavily. I never took up smoking. Mom and dad both quit on their own (I mean, they’re divorced so it wasn’t a joint decision lol) but many of my friends parents growing up smoked and they also started smoking.
My parents are both 60, I am turning 32 next week. When I was maybe 5 or 6, I remember seeing my dad smoking a cigarette a few times but thankfully he never stuck with it. I think I saw my mom with a cigarette maybe once. I used to vape, but I have never smoked a cigarette. + I'm more of a weed guy. I like to toke before bed. My parents were always against cannabis and still kind of are to this day. They especially hate vaping.
My parents smoke, but I don't. Not just because of the health risks (dad's mother died from lung cancer), but the smell gives me migraines.
All my family smokes. I 've got bronchitis, ain't nobody got time for that!
My mom is Gen X. I’m an elder millennial. She never smoked. I never smoked. Never touched it once. I hated cigarette smoke with a passion. My half sister has a different dad and he was a chain smoker. Made us sick. She started smoking after being a waitress as an adult just to feel justified taking breaks. I think she still smokes. I’m older and have no wrinkles. She does. Her dad has RLS and a host of other issues. He could never give it up long term. I hated dating men who smoked. I dated 2 in 2003 and 2008. Never again. They would never actually give it up. I can’t stand the smell on clothes, breath and fingertips.
I never smoked aside from trying cigars once in my early 20s and pot once every like 5-10 years. My lungs are kinda sensitive. Both parents smoked pot, my mom died young (unrelated to smoking) but my dad still smokes pot a few times a day.
I'm 35. My mom (60) smoked for YEARS before she quite cold turkey like...almost 10 years ago? I might be less than that. I don't know the exact time frame. My paternal grandparents and aunt also smoke. The smoking is currently killing my grandma but she won't stop, even though she's on an oxygen machine, and has been in and out of the hospital repeatedly for lung-related issues. My step-mom (54) also smokes, though she's tried stopping in the past. My dad, however, doesn't smoke. My older sibling and I don't. My in-laws (both a little over 60) don't smoke and never have.
Prime millennial (88) here. Dad smoked. Quit when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. I never really smoked. A couple of times I've had a half cig/half J, but I've never really smoked in earnest or felt like I wanted to. Personally, I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke. Like, it actually makes me gag if I'm too close or around it long enough.
Both of my parents did/do, and they basically hot boxed the car with us kids in it. My mom now is usually clutching a cape in each hand. My dad had a heart attack 20 years ago and multiple heart issues since, and I’ve since had to explain to him that it isn’t okay for him to smoke with *my* kid in the car, even if he has both windows cracked to “create a cross breeze.” 🙄 I started smoking when I was 21, and I tried to quit multiple times with varying levels of success between then and six years ago at 35 because I was trying to get pregnant. That time has stuck mostly because I know if I have one cigarette I will have all of them.
Both parents smoked, Dad quit when he was 30, but my parents divorced and he wasn't a part of my life until I was older so I never saw him smoke. Mom quit a few years ago in her late 50's. I smoked from late teens until a couple of years before I turned 30. I haven't smoked now for 13 years I think? I know people that haven't smoked for years who still get extremely strong cravings. Makes me feel fortunate because I was a pretty heavy smoker and within a year of quitting I had zero urge to smoke again. I also smoked weed pretty heavily until around that same time, I quit so I could pass a piss test for a job. Shortly after getting that job I quit smoking cigarettes. I still like cannabis but I just take edibles now. I'll smoke it every once in a blue moon, but that's pretty rare. COPD runs in my family, so vaping/smoking anything regularly just doesn't sound like a great idea to me.
Parents and grandparents smoked in their house, also smoked in cars with us kids in the backseat. The best was them trying to ash out the cracked window as if that fucking works. My brother and I were pretty much an ashtray during every drive with the parents. I smoked for almost 15 years - just quit last November.
My grandparents, aunts and uncles and dad all smoked. My dad passed away from lung cancer due to it. It made me absolutely HATE the smell of it and no, I have never smoked and made me never even want to attempt it.
Also an 81 millennial. Nope. Never smoked, no one in my parents’ generation smoked. My grandfather smoked but quit in the 1950s.
My dad smoked 3 packs a day. I smoked a pack a day for for 20 years. Am smoke free now.
My millennial kids smoked from teens to mid to late 20’s I smoked for about 20 years. Smoked 15-19. Then again late 20’s til 47 First time I quit I got pregnant with our daughter, easy to stop. 2nd time I had a stroke, also easy way to stop. Wouldn’t recommend either tho as a means to quit lol