what kind of cigarette do you recommend?

[Meng Lelan]

It is indeed bizarre.

rezaf, I don't know about the other people in the forum but you worry me.

Making friends is very very difficult in college and more so after college. And even more difficult if you are in a city that is not the right place for you.

There is also lot of pressure in college to "fit in" and to look "popular" by being around lots of "friends" and there is also the pressure of getting your Chinese up to a high level because you are now in China and also Chinese can be difficult to learn even in China itself.

If you want to address this pressure by taking up smoking, that is your choice but, like I said, some of us here are getting worried about you.

[rob07]

Like Scoobyqueen, I lost a parent to lung cancer at an early age and the thought of people taking up smoking makes me want to vomit. Sorry if that sounds a bit confronting but seeing what smoking can do to a loved one is a highly disturbing experience.

I don't understand why people get addicted to it.

Cigarettes are not addictive because they are attractive or give you a good feeling. They are addictive because the nicotine in them is physically addictive and once your body gets used to having it, it needs to keep having it, and more and more of it.

[Jialihai Jiejie]

I always buy Marlboro Lights but I have heard that they are fake in China. What brand of cigarette do you recommend to smoke in China?

Even their fags are fake?! Everything is fake in China? I have heard of fake baozi, fake egg, fake soya sauce, etc.

Jialihai Jiejie

[L-F-J]

2 months ago in London I discovered that it's the best way of socializing and since then I smoke half a pack every week and I don't think that it's gonna cause any problems for my health.

man! is everything backward in london?? what kind of education do you get over there? you dont think its gonna cause any problems for your health? how old are you?

its the best way to socialize while you're dying of lung disease. plenty of time to talk to the nurses.

The whole point is that I want to give them to other people to start a conversation

if you want to kill somebody, dont mess around with it, just buy a gun and get the job done quickly! (..... dont really do that)

I don't understand why people get addicted to it.

its called physical dependency.

[Jialihai Jiejie]

To smoke or not to smoke, that is the question.

Personally, I don't smoke nor would I encourage people to smoke.

But isn't smoking something very personal? Or it has become a public affair?

How can we learn to live and let live?

So many unsolved questions - no wonder there are so many wars in the world...

Jialihai Jiejie

[L-F-J]

How can we learn to live and let live?

smoking kills people, so the way to let others live is to encourage them not to smoke. otherwise, you let them die,

and not only that but the second-hand smoke kills others who have to breathe it in public even when they dont smoke. i hate that about china. i have to hold my breath wherever i am. its either cigarette smoke or pollution.

[Jialihai Jiejie]

Smoking kills. That's true.

Crossing a road; swallowing a fishball; playing too much computer games; etc can also kill.

So basically, everything that we do has its potential to kill us?!

Sometimes we can prevent things to happen but if it's meant to happen - it probably will happen.

Jialihai Jiejie

[L-F-J]

performing daily tasks like that kills by chance, there is a probability factor to whether or not it will happen, and actually its not the action that kills you when walking across the street. its the car the runs you over.

whereas smoking kills by causing fatal diseases, or at least damages ones health- even if its one cigarette smoked. there is no simple potential, if you continue to smoke, it will kill you, and ruin your health all the way to that moment.

you can say walking across the street and being hit by a car was "meant to happen", but dying of lung cancer is not bad luck, its one likely effect of smoking. its prolonged suicide, not fate.

[HashiriKata]

Ok, I don't think it would make any difference but I'll say it anyway: I drive and I don't smoke, but in all honesty I think the car is one of the most damaging inventions we've ever had. And yet we don't attack the car because we know we simply can't win. Smokers on the other hand are obviously the easier target; and as a bonus, they also give us a chance to feel good about ourselves.

PS: If anyone doesn't agree with what I said above then I'm sorry but don't try to pull me into another debate about how bad smoking is, as I've heard it all before and I know what you're going to say.

Edited October 9, 2008 at 11:00 PM by HashiriKata

[gougou]

Sometimes we can prevent things to happen but if it's meant to happen - it probably will happen.

Interesting attitude. Do you brush your teeth?

[L-F-J]

cars have their purpose in life and driving one wont directly effect ones health. on the other hand, smoking is simply for recreation and its damaging to ones health. whats more is the original poster here wants to start smoking and offer cigarettes to others as a conversation opener, but s/he isnt aware of the negative effects on the body no matter how little one smokes. its not about feeling good about ourselves by attacking smokers, but to help such people by encouraging them to quit or not to start, before it gets too difficult.

p.s. i dont drive or smoke, but i do brush my teeth.

[Jialihai Jiejie]

True again.

Non-smokers: How can we guarantee the air we breathe in is 100% smoke-free or pollution-free? Even so, there's no guarantee we won't get lung-related illness, diseases, cancers in the future.

We all share this world and there's only one. How can we ban all people from smoking and driving so we can have cleaner air?

Interestingly and similarly, we should encourage people to fart less or better still do not fart at all since our fart contains CO2 and methane, which can cause global warming. Of course, we cannot tell people this: 'okay, if you really want to fart you should at least cupcake your own fart and bring it to your mouth and quickly inhale it/ swallow the fart.'

Some people call this self-indulgence. Ah... isn't smoking also some sort of self-indulgence too?

Jialihai Jiejie

[md1101]

i think you might be on a bit of a slippery slope there mr. add amazingness older sister. it is possible to ban smoking but NOT then go on and ban farting... it really is.

never the less i say we lay off rezaf. he knows what he's doing. in fact, everybody knows. don't click on that if you get all squirmy when you see diseased brains and lungs etc.

[Jialihai Jiejie]

i think you might be on a bit of a slippery slope there mr. add amazingness older sister.

By the way, that's what we call 'creative writing'.

~~~

We don't like people smoking - we ban smoking.

The government do not like people to defame, criticise them - they ban freedom of speech.

The government do not like people to create sedition - they ban protests, activities that can harm social harmony.

Ban, ban, ban.

Bang, bang, bang.

RIP Democracy.

Jialihai Jiejie

[Scoobyqueen]

contains CO2

Well you shouldnt be eating meat then. Agriculture is responseible for around 15 percent of CO2 output caused in large part by the animal methane output.

Cigarette smoke plays an insignificant role.

Cars and transport are responsible for some 19 percent if I recall correctly from the recent Stern study originating in the UK.

But this is of course way off topic.

[chenpv]

Naww... The #22 post and after should not have been here at all... I mean, if I did not misread the whole thread, isn't our dear Rezaf starting this to get a response like:

rezaf, I don't know about the other people in the forum but you worry me.

and a reiteration like:

like I said, some of us here are getting worried about you.

...so that he knows exactly whom to message privately for a 'thank you' and possibly something else?

*Thumb down* at rob07 for his blowing the wind in another direction.

[Scoobyqueen]

cars have their purpose in life and driving one wont directly effect ones health.

Driving indeed does affect health. the stress involved in driving and the andrealine required is significant. But worse drivers may affect others due to carelessness. I am an avid cyclist and I have near misses with drivers every day and have been knocked down twice.

[L-F-J]

md1101-

never the less i say we lay off rezaf. he knows what he's doing.

i really dont think he does. he said he doesnt think smoking half a pack of cigarettes each week will have any affect on his health! he also doesnt understand why people get addicted. i really dont think he does know!

Jialihai Jiejie-

We don't like people smoking - we ban smoking.

The government do not like people to defame, criticise them - they ban freedom of speech.

The government do not like people to create sedition - they ban protests, activities that can harm social harmony.

that equation is absurd. cigarette smoke causes fatal diseases. freedom of speech does not. even if someone dies of a heart-attack due to disrupted social harmony, its more a matter of their control over their emotional state, than it is the disrupted social harmony actually causing a disease in their body. it can be avoided. whereas breathing smoke will kill you whether you are emotionally stable or not.

Scoobyqueen-

Driving indeed does affect health. the stress involved in driving and the andrealine required is significant. But worse drivers may affect others due to carelessness. I am an avid cyclist and I have near misses with drivers every day and have been knocked down twice.

this is also irrational. it is not the car nor the driving that has a direct effect on ones health. its more a question of ones handle on internal conditions. i've never heard of someone dying as a result of years as a driver.

getting hit by a car can be a result of bad driving, not paying attention, incautious pedestrians and cyclists, timing, etc.. it is not a byproduct of people driving cars.

these equations people are trying to make are getting a little too far fetched now. cigarette smoke has a direct negative effect on the health of people who breathe it. it doesnt depend on emotional stability, cautiousness, or timing. the chemicals breathed in cause diseases that kill.

p.s. just for hypocritical innocence: i personally dont smoke, dont eat meat, and take light rail or ride a bike to and from work.

[rezaf]

looks like this thread has been doing very well in my absence.

I am going to quit smoking soon but right now it's an interesting phase of my life. I'd like to have some more fun hanging out with people who smoke(I am not talking about marijuana!)

Considering how much fun my (super) moderate smoking(which is not dangerous to health（yet:wink:) has brought to my life, I think I have just added a few years to my lifespan! However you are right smoking is bad and I don't think that I want to inhale so much smoke in the long term so 放心吧！

[L-F-J]

if you think smoking, no matter how moderately, will not affect your health, you have got a lot yet to learn. wondering if you've been through highschool yet. i've never met any educated adult who would think like that. better to put off language study until you've learned some more general health knowledge. i'm not trying to put you down, i'm just amazed that people dont know that smoking will harm them, even if its just one cigarette. you're breathing toxic chemicals into your lungs!

smoking will never add years to your lifespan, conversely studies have estimated for each cigarette smoked, about 11 minutes is cut off your life. thats based off averages of the number of cigarettes smoked and the lifespan for smokers vs nonsmokers, smokers dying 6.5 years earlier than nonsmokers.

so, if you are not physically dependant on nicotine yet, i'd highly recommend you stop smoking now and not touch another of those cancer sticks!

peace!