# Teenage Smokers?



## Pivra

I would like to know about people's views on them (us) in your countries. I smoke and people here don't mind me even though I am only 16 years old. I started smoking at 15 and I plan to quit soon. In Thailand, they won't like me much and I might be assumed to be some sorts of gansters when actually not all teenage smokers are bad, my average grade is 80% and I am not a ganster. lol 

How do most people in your country think?


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## volky

Pivra said:
			
		

> I would like to know about people's views on them (us) in your countries. I smoke and people here don't mind me even though I am only 16 years old. I started smoking at 15 and I plan to quite soon. In Thailand, they won't like me much and I might be assumed to be some sorts of gansters when actually not all teenage smokers are bad, my average grade is 80% and I am not a ganster. lol
> 
> How do most people in your country think?


 
You plan to quite or to quit?

Hi, rather than worrying about how others view adolescent smokers I will ask you, how do you see yourself? Does it make you feel right? The problem with starting to smoke as such an early age, has more to do with trying to look older or showing up that you are a "man". But frankly, my dear, it is all about you finding out what empty space you are trying to fill with all that smoke. Be yourself, and please be young!

Hope you quit sooner than later.


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## Pivra

volky said:
			
		

> You plan to quite or to quit?
> 
> Hi, rather than worrying about how others view adolescent smokers I will ask you, how do you see yourself? Does it make you feel right? The problem with starting to smoke as such an early age, has more to do with trying to look older or showing up that you are a "man". But frankly, my dear, it is all about you finding out what empty space you are trying to fill with all that smoke. Be yourself, and please be young!
> 
> Hope you quit sooner than later.


lol Mi inglés es muy débil. lol quite and quit...perdoname jeje
Realmente ya deje de fumar pero empezé nuevamente hace 1 mes porque engordé y no quiero ser gordo.


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## volky

Pivra said:
			
		

> lol Mi inglés muy débil. lol quite and quit...perdoname jeje
> Realmente ya deje de fumar pero empezé nuevamente hace 1 mes porque engordé y no quiero ser gordo.


 
Hay muchas otras maneras más saludables de perder peso, como alimentarte bien, (vegetales, frutas, etc), hacer desayuno, almuerzo, cena y de dos a tres meriendas entre comidas, todas en cantidades super moderadas. Además practica algún deporte, aunque sea caminar, trotar o algo que te resulte interesante.

Fumar te traerá efectos secundarios demasiado dañinos para tu salud. Afectas tu piel, tus dientes, tu aliento, tus pulmones, y sinceramente no creo que a ninguna chica le guste mucho el aliento de un fumador y el mal olor que se queda en la ropa y el pelo.  

Tienes toda una vida por delante, no la heches a perder.


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## danielfranco

Yo fumé por casi veinte años. Aun así estuve gordo por la mayor parte de esos años, así que no puedo echarle la culpa al cigarrillo por mi panza...
Al principio fumé desde que tenía trece años de edad porque así parecía ser un tipo más "duro de pelar" y me diferenciaba del resto de los otros nenes de mi edad... Después fumaba porque ayuda bastante con el nerviosismo. La nicotina y las otras toxinas presentes en el humo del tabaco (y demás mugre que le ponen a los cigarrillos) son fabulosas, pero la realidad es sencilla de entender: fumar tabaco te mata. Y afecta la salud de los que te rodean también.
Haz lo que te plazca y disfrútalo al máximo, pero después no le reclames a nadie y afronta la responsabilidad de tus actos.
A mi me pareció mucha carga de conciencia, así que mejor dejé de fumar. Cada quien hace lo que puede.
Buena suerte.


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## Pivra

danielfranco said:
			
		

> Yo fumé por casi veinte años. Aun así estuve gordo por la mayor parte de esos años, así que no puedo echarle la culpa al cigarrillo por mi panza...
> Al principio fumé desde que tenía trece años de edad porque así parecía ser un tipo más "duro de pelar" y me diferenciaba del resto de los otros nenes de mi edad... Después fumaba porque ayuda bastante con el nerviosismo. La nicotina y las otras toxinas presentes en el humo del tabaco (y demás mugre que le ponen a los cigarrillos) son fabulosas, pero la realidad es sencilla de entender: fumar tabaco te mata. Y afecta la salud de los que te rodean también.
> Haz lo que te plazca y disfrútalo al máximo, pero después no le reclames a nadie y afronta la responsabilidad de tus actos.
> A mi me pareció mucha carga de conciencia, así que mejor dejé de fumar. Cada quien hace lo que puede.
> Buena suerte.


 
Cuándo tus padres lo sabían ¿cómo dijeron? 
Cuándo mis padres sabían que fumo ellos me aconsejaron que tenga que dejar pero todavía no lo dejo. No vivo con ellos, por eso todavía no saben que todavía no he dejado de fumar.


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## panjabigator

Te recomiendo que veas la pelicula americana "Thank you for not smoking."  Esta pelicula es una burla de las companias fumadores y trata de explicar como ellos justifican fumar....es una pelicula muy interesante!  despuese de verla, dime como te parecio!


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## ukuca

Hi Pivra, I've been smoking for 5 years. When I first started, I remember that I was a very healthy person, I could run for hours, play basketball without exhaustion. shortly I was energetic. Now the opposite. I've tried several times to stop smoking and each time I failed. I become a very quick-tempered person and at that moments all I can think of is one single cigarette. I don't see you nasty or as a ganster, why should I. But you're very young and it's not too late. You'll see it's very tough to quit.


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## Libby_Kiwi

In New Zealand, there are a lot of groups lobbying against smoking; it has recently become illegal to smoke in public places such as bars and restaurants.  I think pretty much everyone realises it's stupid and dangerous.  Of course you still get people smoking, but it's not as widely accepted here as in many hispanic countries.  I personally hate being around smokers for the smell as much as anything else; I will cross the street to avoid them.  (Besides which it ruins their voices, makes their skin look years older... can you tell it's a woman speaking?  )


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## pacificblue

Hmmm, I was watching TV & there was a documentary on & I saw a child who had been smoking since he was ............ *4* ! He must have been about 8 or 9 now and it was absolutely disgusting, I'm not even sure where he got the cigarettes (probably his parents) but wherever he got them I still felt ill just watching him. They did a prediction of what he would look like in 30 years time & it was disgusting what the smoking had done to his body ... Oh well, a little off topic.

Anyway, my opinion on teenagers smoking ? Well, I don't think you're a "gangster" either but I know when I see teenagers smoking that a lot of them (around here) are kids who have left school, just sort of hang around and not do much, sort of .... no-hopers really. I certainly don't see many nicely dressed teenage smokers who I would ever want to socialise with.  I also think when you hang around with smokers that the non-smokers ending up smelling worse than the smoker ... it gets in your hair ... eww.

Like Libby said, there are new rules here where you can't smoke in restaurants etc which is great .... but on the other hand, all you see now is groups of people outside the restaurant doors having their smokes, not a pretty sight.

Teenagers or not, I think it's a pretty gross habit for anyone, but especially sad when they are younger and healthier people (not for long).


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## Etcetera

I tried to smoke at 18, but I didn't like it completely.
In general, my opinion on smoking is rather negative, no matter who's smoking - an adult or a teenager. To my taste, cheap tobacco which is used in cigarettes smells awfully, and I just can't bear it when someone's smoking in front of me. 
I like it when a man smokes a pipe, though. Remember Sherlock Holmes! Or Captain Davy Jones from the recent _Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest_.

Nevertheless, Pivra, I really think you should try to give up smoking! The sooner you quit it, the better.


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## maxiogee

Pivra said:
			
		

> I would like to know about people's views on them (us) in your countries. I smoke and people here don't mind me even though I am only 16 years old. I started smoking at 15 and I plan to quit soon. In Thailand, they won't like me much and I might be assumed to be some sorts of gansters when actually not all teenage smokers are bad, my average grade is 80% and I am not a ganster. lol
> 
> How do most people in your country think?



Most people in Ireland agree that the legal age at which one may buy tobacco is correctly set at 18.

What is the minimum age where you are?

Why do you only "plan" to quit? Why not stop right now? 
— Become addicted already?  You will.
— Found out is doesn't make you irresistably attractive to the opposite sex?  You will. 
— Found out that you have no money left?  You will. 
— Found yourself and your clothes digustingly smelly in the morning?  You will.
— Developed 'a bit of a cough'?  You will.

Try this - halfway through your next cigarette, moisten a cotton handkerchief, place one layer of it across the filter end of the cigaratte and take your next few puffs through that. Look at the cloth.

On average, 20 to 30 a day for about 25 or 26 years did me no favours, believe me.


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## Etcetera

maxiogee said:
			
		

> Most people in Ireland agree that the legal age at which one may buy tobacco is correctly set at 18.
> 
> What is the minimum age where you are?


What, is there a special law on smoking in Ireland? How interesting. 
Here in Russia, selling cigarettes (as well as drinks) to those who are less then 18 is forbidden by law, but in fact, many shop assistants don't pay the slightest attention to the age of their customers. 
I, being 20, look much younger, and still I remember only one shop assistant who, looking at a can of Gin&Tonic in my hand, asked me if I were 18 already.


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## maxiogee

maxiogee said:
			
		

> Most people in Ireland agree that the legal age at which one may buy tobacco is correctly set at 18.





			
				Etcetera said:
			
		

> Here in Russia, selling cigarettes … to those who are less then 18 is forbidden by law





			
				Etcetera said:
			
		

> What, is there a special law on smoking in Ireland? How interesting.



What difference do you see, Etcetera, between my statement and yours? 
I see none.


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## Etcetera

Aha, now I see. Tony. Yes, indeed, it is the same.


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## panjabigator

My cousin sometimes smokes...he was 16 when he started (he is 19 now).  It was for attention, in my opinion...his family was way to busy to pay attention to what he was doing.  If you are looking for some sort of support system, perhaps joining a club or getting involved in some sort of organization can help you.  For example, the US has the boys and girls club and I think one of its goals is to help keep children off the streets.   Good luck....go to the bathroom now and flush them!


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## GONTA

Yo no te digo si debes dejar de fumar o qué, por que no importa más que la opinión personal en esos asuntos: mi papá fumó toda su vida y lo ha dejado exitosamente (después de un susto con su corazón); bueno, pero la PREGUNTA ORIGINAL era cómo se veía...
acá en El Salvador es normal que se empiece a fumar joven (no se ve bien, pero es normal) incluso yo lo probé estando en octavo grado. Creo que se tiene más prejuicios en las zonas rurales cuando ven a una MUJER fumando porque suelen asociarla con una mala vida (no digo que todos, no vayan a creer que así son todos los campesinos, digo bastantes...bueno, vengan y conozcan por uds.  mismos)


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## roxcyn

Aquí en los Estados Unidos se ve muy mal.  Creo que no es lo normal, pero hay algunos jóvenes que sí empiezan a fumar antes de 18 años.  Conozco a algunas personas que empezaron a fumar y tenían que esconder todo--fuera de los amigos y de los parientes porque no querían que nadie lo supiera.  Creo que no vale la pena.


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## mytwolangs

For the health issue - they say the younger one starts, the more difficult it is to quit later, especiall cause your lungs and really your whole body is still developing. 

I don't think teen smokers are looked at like criminals or gangsters. There is little to no correlation between teen smokers and gangsters.


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## Kelly B

I think it is very sad. I wouldn't imagine that you are a gangster, just that you have the illusion of immortality and control that is so typical of the young.

I have no supporting data for this, but I suspect that nearly everyone who smokes now started at approximately your age. This is the time when you cannot _really _imagine that you will ever die, never mind that you might actually suffer the slow, miserable, breathless death I've witnessed in a family member. This is the time when you think you can control all the events in your life, that you can quit whenever you choose, that you will buy your next carton of cigarettes because you enjoy them, not because you feel compelled to use them.

I hope you'll quit just so you can prove that we old folks have it all wrong. Whatever works....


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## Vanda

Well, I can't put it better than Kelly did. When all argumentation fail what is left for me is a deep sadness. Seeing people my age that starting smoking in our youth, all of them, without exception, lament not believing that time what they were told about smoking (and we hadn't all statistics and knowledge we have about it nowadays) and they all try at hard costs stopping it and most of them fail!

Edit: I forgot mentioning how we (in general) view smokers, mainly teenagers. Nowadays many people avoid smoking or try to stop smoking. It isn't considered charming as it was in the 60s and 70s. We have lived for some years now with laws banning smoking from public buildings, restaurants, etc. Of course we have smokers teenages and aside for their peers what I see is that most people just feel sad for them like me.


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## emma42

I feel sad when I see young people smoking because I fear they will not have understood something about addiction.  I started smoking when I was 18 and was supposed to be intelligent.  When I started I did not feel addicted and, indeed, I was not addicted.  What I did not understand was that oftentimes addiction creeps up on one and that I would only realise the danger of addiction once addicted!  No one had explained this to me.

I must say that it does annoy me when smoking and smokers are referred to as "stupid".  Anyone who has ever been addicted to anything will know that this is a false descriptor.


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## Poetic Device

In Brooklyn no one really cares if a young person smokes or not.  When I started I was ten years old, and up until last June I still smoked.  When I talk about my starting age with people that I met in New Jersey they give me this look of horror.  I also live in the country now rather than the city, so that might have something to do with it.


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## Chazzwozzer

Pivra said:


> I would like to know about people's views on them (us) in your countries. I smoke and people here don't mind me even though I am only 16 years old. I started smoking at 15 and I plan to quit soon. In Thailand, they won't like me much and I might be assumed to be some sorts of gangsters when actually not all teenage smokers are bad, my average grade is 80% and I am not a gangster. lol
> 
> How do most people in your country think?


One of three friends I know at least is a smoker and neither they nor the people seem to care. I even had a teacher last year who once asked for and borrowed a cigarette from a friend of mine. It's not allowed to smoke in the school, but they still smoke in the toilets. Everyone knows, but who cares? I feel bad seeing people around me starting smoking day by day, actually.


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## maxiogee

Chazzwozzer said:


> One of three friends I know at least is a smoker and neither they nor the people seem to care. I even had a teacher last year who once asked for and borrowed a cigarette from a friend of mine. It's not allowed to smoke in the school, but they still smoke in the toilets. Everyone knows, but who cares? I feel bad seeing people around me starting smoking day by day, actually.




In my schooldays it was the pupils who smoked in the toilets!

Why should *you* feel bad seeing people smoking? They're the ones doing it. Everyone's got something they shouldn't be doing, but they do it.


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## Chazzwozzer

maxiogee said:


> In my schooldays it was the pupils who smoked in the toilets!


Ah, my English... By "they," I mean "the students". 



maxiogee said:


> Why should *you* feel bad seeing people smoking? They're the ones doing it. Everyone's got something they shouldn't be doing, but they do it.


I do only feel bad about my friends. They do this just for _*"See, I'm smoking, I'm cool!" *_

As they say, it is the reason why they started smoking, to show off.


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## Poetic Device

Wow, that's sad...  I started because I saw that when my parents smoked they calmed down.  No better, but at least the "cool factor" was not there.


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## CrazyArcher

Umm I started smoking when I was 17... Dropped when I was 18-19... My reasons were the psychosomatic effect of smoking: it made my thoughts clear, and, for instance, after having a 2 km run at school as an exam and being totally exhausted, a sigarette brought me my breath back. Then I went to university and smoking helped me to cope with pressure of the studies. However, a year ago I decided to quit. 
So I've quit. I didn't plan it ahead, I just made my mind and said to myself "Dude, you're becoming addicted. You know that's crap, so you gotta quit", and I haven't smoked anything since that day. I can't say it was easy,  I have to admit that I have had "nicotine flashbacks" once a month or so until recently, making me want to smoke to the point of nausea, but well, now I can't stand the smell of people smoking near me. The bottom-line is that anyone should quit as soon as possible. I was smoking for quite a short period of time, and wasn't smoking heavily, so I did it without a GREAT effort. So, with each sigarette one smokes, the harder is to quit.
As for teenage smoking - if someone wants to look adult or whatever, it's totally lame. I smoked in order to cope with a stress, but it's not a good enough reason either.


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## Dawei

CrazyArcher said:


> Umm I started smoking when I was 17... Dropped when I was 18-19... My reasons were the psychosomatic effect of smoking: it made my thoughts clear, and, for instance, after having a 2 km run at school as an exam and being totally exhausted, a cigarette brought me my breath back. Then I went to university and smoking helped me to cope with pressure of the studies. However, a year ago I decided to quit.
> So I've quit. I didn't plan< it ahead, I just made my mind and said to myself "Dude, you're becoming addicted. You know that's crap, so you gotta quit"



Ditto 100%. 

It wasn´t very hard for me to stop though, even though I was probably averaging a pack or two a week...I think the act of quiting, just like smoking itself, is affected by a person´s individual psychology more than anything else.


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## Brioche

Legally, you cannot buy cigarettes until you are 18 in Australia.

It's obviously easy to get them, as I see lots of teenagers puffing away. As a wild generalisation, smoking is more common among people at the lower end of the socio-economic scale.

I read somewhere that the younger you start, the more addictive tobacco is. My father gave up smoking in his late forties, and 30 years later he said that there were still times when he felt that he'd like a cigarette.


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## Etcetera

Brioche said:


> Legally, you cannot buy cigarettes until you are 18 in Australia.
> 
> It's obviously easy to get them, as I see lots of teenagers puffing away.


It's often hard to tell a person's age. Many teenagers look older. And not every shop assistant would bother to ask the buyer to show their passport. 
Some two years ago I was buying gin in a supermarket. I was 19 then, mind you. The shop assistant looked at me and asked: "Are you 18 already?" I answered positively, and got my gin. Now, suppose I wasn't 18... I'd get this gin all the same. 
Of course, not everywhere things are like that. But still...


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## 94kittycat

Personally, I think it's gross that people smoke at all, but when teenagers smoke I think it's even worse. It gradually kills them, and it makes it even harder to stop. Here in Canada it's illegal for people under 18 to smoke, but lots of under 18-year olds do it anyway.


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## TRG

I started smoking when I was 18 or 19 and continued until I was 32. I never stopped believing that I would quit, and I did. I haven't had a cigarette in 27 years. To me, the key to quitting was deriving satisfaction from knowing that I was in charge of my own body. I was in control. It took me two years to complete forget about smoking. Anyone can do it. It is just will power. Really!


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## mirx

I found it interesting to resucitate this thread, as a smoker I have suffered discrimination and have gotten very wierd looks in some places because of my smoking.

So how is smoking seen in my society?

Smoking is considered an evil thing in México, regardless of the smoker's age. When I said evil I meant it, kids who smoke hide in the bathrooms, wait until after shcool or get together in the evenings. Usually these kids are not well looked after by their parents or do indeed have a very low status on the social scale; or both. If an adult walking by knows these kids' parents, he will scold them and threaten to tell (and indeed do it) the kid's parents.

It's very rare to see kids smoking in front of adults who may know them, and completely out of the question if it's their own parents or relatives. My own father was shocked when I told him that we smoked in front of our teachers in university, he said in his day this would have never happened. Although many students will still avoid it if they don't get well along with a teacher.

In México smoking is associated with evil things. Adults may enjoy cigarretes without a double look on them, but kids or teenagers will definitely attract unwanted looks and the ocasional granny lecturing them on why smoking is bad.

In rural towns adults feel some kind of ownership over children (not their own) and some of them kids may be badly scolded and shouted at if caught smoking in public. The legal smoking age in México is 18 years old, this applies for buying alcohol, pornography, or lotto tickets (and others). But I do remember buying cigarretes at a much more tender age, you could easily get away with it by saying they were for your father/mother, this as a kid; when you are a teenager they don't believe that you are actually doing a favour to your old man and may in effect ask you for some kind of identificaion, or simply not sell them.

I found in Europe a much more open attitude towards smoking but I think it's becoming little by little more conservative or perhaps aware of on this respect.

The experience I had in the States was simmilar to those of México, two times I have feared for my life in that country, the time I said I would love to visit Cuba, and another time when I said I felt like having a cigarrete.


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## ernest_

mirx said:


> I found in Europe, a much more open attitude towards smoking but I think it's becoming little by little more conservative or perhaps aware of on this respect.



True. European politicians seem to think that doing what they did in the United States is a good idea, and in recent years, they passed many anti-smoking laws, banning smoking in state-owned buildings (airports, hospitals, schools, universities, libraries, police stations, state agencies, etc.) and making non-smoking areas mandatory in bars, restaurants, etc. (except for very little ones where it is not feasible, but they have to advertise whether they allow smoking or not at the entrance door). As a result, in many places now smoking is not allowed any more. Even in some night clubs they don't allow smoking now, which is something that just a few years ago would have seemed unbelievable. Some politicians have said publicly that they want even more strict laws in regard to smoking. Recently I have noticed another trend, which is that in job interviews they ask you if you are a smoker or not. It is becoming pure madness, I can tell you that.


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## timpeac

ernest_ said:


> True. European politicians seem to think that doing what they did in the United States is a good idea, and in recent years, they passed many anti-smoking laws, banning smoking in state-owned buildings (airports, hospitals, schools, universities, libraries, police stations, state agencies, etc.) and making non-smoking areas mandatory in bars, restaurants, etc. (except for very little ones where it is not feasible, but they have to advertise whether they allow smoking or not at the entrance door). As a result, in many places now smoking is not allowed any more. Even in some night clubs they don't allow smoking now, which is something that just a few years ago would have seemed unbelievable. Some politicians have said publicly that they want even more strict laws in regard to smoking. Recently I have noticed another trend, which is that in job interviews they ask you if you are a smoker or not. It is becoming pure madness, I can tell you that.


You can't generalise like this in terms of "European". My understanding is that in the UK it is banned in all places where people work, so that includes all restaurants, night-clubs, pubs and the like. It also includes "private" clubs - eg ones where you (legally speaking) can't just walk in off the street and demand admittance. Since, in legal terms, this covers most night-clubs anyway (whence the term club) it would have made the law meaningless - after all why should the barstaff in a night-club get cancer from passive smoking when those in a pub are legally protected? That was the argument anyway. I'm told it's more like that in France too. I also thought that it was very similar in Spain, but roundly ignored. I know that Spain brought the legislation in before the UK but I've been there many times since and have not since one occasion of smoking being prohibited inside (but of course perhaps I've just been to the wrong places). I think it's great - smoking has decreased greatly since here. I say that based on my own observation (I went to a house party yesterday with loads of people and hardly anyone was smoking, and I can't imagine that a few years ago) and from the comments of a doctor friend of mine who is not a GP but works in public health (those who direct the general priorities). Apparently it really is making people give up.

Personally I had my first cigarette in 7 years on the day they brought in the legislation, but that's just me.


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## ernest_

timpeac said:


> You can't generalise like this in terms of "European".



I agree. My point was that there's a general anti-tobacco trend all over Europe, but the details I mentioned are specific only to Spain.

There's another thing that I forgot, automatic cigarette machines are locked and have to be activated (usually with a remote controller that is in possession of the bar/store staff) in order to function. This is to prevent underage persons from getting cigarettes from those machines.



> I also thought that it was very similar in Spain, but roundly ignored. I know that Spain brought the legislation in before the UK but I've been there many times since and have not since one occasion of smoking being prohibited inside (but of course perhaps I've just been to the wrong places).


I think it was first in the UK and Ireland. These laws I am talking about are very recent, it's been no more than 3 or 4 years since they came out with them. Before that, if there was a law, it was widely ignored, but not any more. There are exceptions, of course, and I can speak for the whole territory...


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## PABLO DE SOTO

The current law is not so widely ignored in Spain.
It is very difficult that you can see someone smoking at the airport, at hospitals, supermarkets, shopping malls, closed public areas etc. The exception are bars and restaurants, in most of them are smoiking is allowed, so.. smokers smoke there.


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## Bilma

mirx said:


> I found it interesting to resucitate this thread, as a smoker I have suffered discrimination and have gotten very wierd looks in some places because of my smoking.
> 
> So how is smoking seen in my society?
> 
> Smoking is considered an evil thing in México, regardless of the smoker's age. When I said evil I meant it, kids who smoke hide in the bathrooms, wait until after shcool or get together in the evenings. Usually these kids are not well looked after by their parents or do indeed have a very low status on the social scale; or both. If an adult walking by knows these kids' parents, he will scold them and threaten to tell (and indeed do it) the kid's parents.
> 
> It's very rare to see kids smoking in front of adults who may know them, and completely out of the question if it's their own parents or relatives. My own father was shocked when I told him that we smoked in front of our teachers in university, he said in his day this would have never happened. Although many students will still avoid it if they don't get well along with a teacher.
> 
> In México smoking is associated with evil things. Adults may enjoy cigarretes without a double look on them, but kids or teenagers will definitely attract unwanted looks and the ocasional granny lecturing them on why smoking is bad.
> 
> In rural towns adults feel some kind of ownership over children (not their own) and some of them kids may be badly scolded and shouted at if caught smoking in public. The legal smoking age in México is 18 years old, this applies for buying alcohol, pornography, or lotto tickets (and others). But I do remember buying cigarretes at a much more tender age, you could easily get away with it by saying they were for your father/mother, this as a kid; when you are a teenager they don't believe that you are actually doing a favour to your old man and may in effect ask you for some kind of identificaion, or simply not sell them.
> 
> I found in Europe a much more open attitude towards smoking but I think it's becoming little by little more conservative or perhaps aware of on this respect.
> 
> The experience I had in the States was simmilar to those of México, two times I have feared for my life in that country, the time I said I would love to visit Cuba, and another time when I said I felt like having a cigarrete.


 

I do not think smoking is considered evil in Mexico. It is just something wrong for kids or teenagers to do like everywhere else.


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## Polizón

It is clear that the cigarette is harmful to health. A teen
smoker harms your health before he have finished developing physically.


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## Forero

My country is the one that introduced tobacco to the world, used slaves to grow it, subsidized it, collected taxes on it, allowed marketeers to lie about the dangers of it, made secretive agreements to prevent lawsuits against those marketeers, and now claims to be protecting our health by continuing to get revenue from it while pretending to care about young people, making it a challenge for kids to obtain openly but available at bowling alleys and even in some public schools.

The claim is still being made that the "product" can be made safe some day through "scientific research" while psychological profiling is being used to identify prospective customers.

The myth that tobacco is properly used by mature adults is propagated to assure a continuous supply of addicts, beginning with those of an age to be fooled into thinking it furthers adulthood when in fact it does the opposite.


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## mirx

Forero said:


> My country is the one that introduced tobacco to the world, used slaves to grow it, subsidized it, collected taxes on it, allowed marketeers to lie about the dangers of it, made secretive agreements to prevent lawsuits against those marketeers, and now claims to be protecting our health by continuing to get revenue from it while pretending to care about young people, making it a challenge for kids to obtain openly but available at bowling alleys and even in some public schools.
> 
> The claim is still being made that the "product" can be made safe some day through "scientific research" while psychological profiling is being used to identify prospective customers.
> 
> The myth that tobacco is properly used by mature adults is propagated to assure a continuous supply of addicts, beginning with those of an age to be fooled into thinking it furthers adulthood when in fact it does the opposite.


 
So how are teenage smokers seen in the States?


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## Forero

mirx said:


> So how are teenage smokers seen in the States?


Not usually by their parents, even if their parents smoke, and NOT as gangsters, but as "other people's" rebellious kids.

As future customers by tobacco companies and retail establishments such as bars, "big box" stores, 7-11s, and even grocery stores.

American (Southern) culture treats tobacco as more acceptable, even patriotic, than (for example) marihuana, and less dangerous than (for example) alcohol. We are taught stereotypes about each habituating drug, and tobacco and alcohol are the "social", "American" ones.

I think the culture is changing in some places, but where I live there is a lot of resistance to the change, lots of grumbling about laws to protect nonsmokers from smoke and little grumbling about government acquiescence to tobacco "interests".


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## Mate

*Moderator note:*


Regrettably, we have to close this old, recently resurrected thread because it doesn't fulfil the current forum's guidelines any more.

The forum has changed, the rules for Cultural Discussions have changed, and it is time for this thread to retire.

Thank you all for taking part in this interesting discussion, and for your understanding.


*Thread closed.*


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