Social benefits of smoking and how vaporizers may take them away
First things first
I started smoking when I was 16, I stopped several times in my life already – sometimes months, sometimes years. Right now, I am hooked on those smoldering sticks for almost three years again and most of the time, I must admit, Iam even enjoying it… Unless I can’t find my lighter whilst walking home after a night out. Of course, not all my friends are smokers and as such – if you’re a tabaco-addict too you will surely know this question – I’ve been asked a bunch of times:
“Can you explain me, just what are you gaining from smoking?”.
Well what a great question that is! Obviously, the questioners weren’t motivated through sheer curiosity, mostly they were riding a high horse in the blessed valley of the healthy folks. However, I’ve been pondering about it: Are there actual reasons for, or benefits one can gain through smoking?
First things first: Smoking is not good for you or the people around you – Its highly addictive, bad for your stamina, can cause cancer and if u have traces of narcissism like me it’s going to bother you the most – it taints your beautiful white teeth. Just look at it from a practical perspective: It’s by far the most useless drugs ever! Alcohol gives drunkenness, laughter and can drown problems momentarily, Marijuana does pretty much the same although it’s far superior when it comes to relaxation and inspiration, even a cactus from a nearby gardening store can give one hell of a trip – I think u catch my drift here.
However, there are social benefits that solely smokers have, they’ve been there for centuries and while smoking may not give you much as a drug experience, it is rewarding in our society – especially through social interaction.
When smoking was still cool
Let’s take a trip down the memory lane for a minute. If u watched some old classics like Casablanca, 90s cult movies like Pulp Fiction or Die Hard you’ll notice one thing, their main characters smoke and to be honest they are presented in a cool light while doing so. For example John Mc Clane aka Bruce Willis intense scene in Die Hard when he meets the villain for the first time, not knowing he’s the evil antagonist, or Miss Mia Wallace having a night out with Vincent Vega before one of the greatest dance scenes in Hollywood history; they are smoking.
There are a lot of examples about Hollywood and cigarettes, it’s not limited to American Productions though.
Smoking was associated with classiness, rule breaking and a glimpse of mystery all over the world. It was a great tool to easily give a character a shaping trait, deeper personality and has been used a bunch of times. But since the millennia smoking slowly disappeared from the big screen and here is one of the final reasons for it:
The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.
In short, it has already been noticed that cigarettes can cause severe damage in the 1950s and it has been successfully ignored, however, due to the efforts of countless victims – I using the word victims because at the time being there was literally almost no information about the consequences regarding excessively smoking – and their fight against the heavy influence of Tabaco Industries, who even sponsored their own programs, finally legal actions where implemented against smoking in big productions. Of course, it didn’t vanish completely overnight, but you will hardly see the protagonist in a huge production, television show or video game enjoying a cigarette.
Did that undo the charm that smoking implies or stop the advertising? To some extend sure – but not completely. The medial history of cigarettes did leave a massive impact on our modern culture and still does. After all, some movie classics are still kicking today and hopefully will in the future. Without further ado, here are benefits of smoking remaining in our modern culture.
The Advantages of smoking
More breaks
Imagine yourself at work standing up telling coworkers u must step outside for an important call, a colleague raises from this desk:
“I’ve wanted to take an important call too, let’s go together!”
Doesn’t sound to strange does it – but now imagine the same procedure every workday, four times during your shift? Wouldn’t take too long until it would leave a negative impression right? Not if you’re a smoker though. Smoking breaks are casual and mostly acknowledged, especially in the gastronomy since there is a huge chance that your Boss is also a smoker. But why is it socially accepted? That brings us straight to my next point.
Most relatable drug
To admit one have a alcohol addiction is extremely difficult for oneself as well as close relatives or friends, it gets even harder when it’s about illegal drugs – even if it’s a soft drug like Marijuana. When it comes to smoking though, almost everyone can relate, even non-smokers giving support when it comes to quitting as well as motivation, even show sympathy to some degree upon failling to quit. Furthermore, the empathy when one acts inappropriate while being on a detox is almost always socially accepted.
Smokers on a withdrawal usually get a lot more understanding from their surroundings involving their actions, than addicts to other drugs. Whenever your angry or jumpy – it’s a better excuse that you haven’t smoked a cigarette today than the absence of your daily glass of sparkling wine during lunch.
Easy conversation starter
“Excuse me, do you might have a cigarette for me?”
How many reason for talking to a stranger out of nowhere are there? Well… a lot if you try hard enough, but asking for a cigarette is a very simple and successful conversation-starter nevertheless. Especially since smoking has been more and more socially unappreciated. It gives the feeling of being a minority, an immediate connection based on the same addiction, being the black sheep’s in modern society, individuals that are misunderstood by the majority – It can give a sense of companionship where there hasn’t been one before.
An effect that gets intensified especially since it has been forbidden to smoke in several clubs and bars across Europe; people must gather outside to smoke, having a break from the intense and conversation killing loud music, separated from their peers and open for new connections – it’s an perfect opportunity to get to know new people! On the other hand, if u want to step outside for a second to just take a break and breath in some fresh air, everyone will think you are clearly drunk.
Controllable stress relief
Ok that’s a tricky one because smoking does not really relief anyone of stress or is relaxing whatsoever, but it does ease the withdrawal of the addiction immediately.
Therefore, smokers can control when to relief tension and find comfort whenever they need it. If you are a non-smoker and friends of aren’t, surely you’ve heard from them at some stressful point;
“Ok, I really need a cigarette right now!”
and what happened afterwards? They come down. Of course, addicts to other drugs are able to do the same thing, but compared to for example alcohol or marijuana, smoking does not have a huge impact on the consciousness, it’s still very easy to normally function after having a cigarette.
Vaping changes the game
Vaping on the other hand might destroy the underline of smoking permanently if it should replace it – for several reasons.
Firstly, Vaporizers have no reference to any Pop-Culture, it’s not associated with traits whatsoever and is not present in most media entertainment. Insofar it doesn’t have any cool or classy vibes to it like cigarettes have or had.
“Aaah there is nothing like vaping after sex…”
Furthermore, Vaporizers are “consumed” completely different than cigarettes. Instead of having one session aka 5 minutes of smoking, vaping is more of a in between thing to do. Standing 30 seconds waiting for a bus – let’s have a puff, walking through the woods on a Sunday afternoon – let’s have a puff every 100 meters, sitting at a bar with friends – puff, even while sitting in the office – puff. The last example is possible because most of the chemicals substances in those sticks are flavored – so one can even smell like a cherry gum while submitting to his addiction. Imagine you would solely drink peppermint liquor while partying, just so you smell fresh while getting wasted.
But the most dangerous thing about vaping is the fact that it doesn’t feel as much as a addiction as cigarettes do – but it completely is! To summarize, all of the advantages depicted before cannot be transferred when using a vaporizer. It’s not common to step outside for a vaping break, it’s not relatable to non-smokers and you will never ask a stranger if you could use his mechanical pseudo cigarette for a minute – unless you are really desperate that is.
Well there you have it; Those are my personal four advantages to be a Tabaco-addict. I’m looking forward to hear your opinions and thoughts on the subject, feel free to discuss and correct me if you think I made any mistakes or fill in blanc spots i might have forgotten. Thanks for reading and have a lovely day.
Greetings:
Daniel
