My anecdotal evidence on smoking dying out

Rabidlamb

I'm just back from a weekend stag where only 2 out of the 14 of us smoked.
All now in our mid 30's, financial reasons probably involved.
Most of the guys used to be 20 a day men but nearly all off them now.
Wife was on the related hen 2 weeks previous & they had only one smoker.

Was this just an arbitration or are many more people managing to give them up successfully ?.

mauzo

In my group of friends, 6 out of 7 smoke.

Don't see any of them quitting any time soon

kfallon

syndeyfife wrote: »

In my group of friends, 6 out of 7 smoke.

Don't see any of them quitting any time soon

You the odd one out?

Nothing worse when there's about 3 or 4 of you in the pub and everyone fooks off for a smoke at the same time except you, the non smoker, sat there looking like the proverbial spare prick! :mad:

fatmammycat

OP none of my peers smoke any longer and we would have all been smokers in our 20s. I have up when I turned 30 (I'm 39 now), and the last smoker (41) gave up earlier this year.

mauzo

kfallon wrote: »

syndeyfife wrote: »

In my group of friends, 6 out of 7 smoke.

Don't see any of them quitting any time soon

You the odd one out?

Nothing worse when there's about 3 or 4 of you in the pub and everyone fooks off for a smoke at the same time except you, the non smoker, sat there looking like the proverbial spare prick! :mad:

No Im a smoker, and I'm definitely not quitting any time soon lol

I think really only one person I know smokes.

I think it's more a 'teenager trying desperately to be cool' kinda thing these days, no? (or of course those who are hooked and can't seem to give up at all).

I don't understand why anyone starts. Horrible habit, and very expensive.

Roger Sterling

I think it happens quite often that people smoke a lot in their 20's when they were more prone to being out on the tear more often etc. Once you hit the 30's I think a lot of people quit as they become more acutely aware of the health benefits (difficulty when playing sports etc). Its a but like drinking in general really, you can get away with it when you're young but it really starts to hit you hard as you get older. Definitely true of my circle of friends anyway.

I think only people who are
(a) horribly addicted
(b) extremely stupid
(c) complete knackers

end up smoking their entire lives without quitting.

At some stage the penny drops for everyone else that its not a good idea and will seriously f*ck you up. Most people make that call wround the end of their 20's.

summerskin

I was on a stag do a few weeks ago, 16 of us there, i was the only smoker. Always been like that too, none of my friends ever smoked.

Not had one for 4 weeks now myself, hope to give up for good.

dulpit

My group of buddies has no proper smokers, with 1 or 2 who will partake in the occasional social smoking...

My GF smokes, but only when drinking. Not many others I know smoke, although 2 people at work smoke like troopers, which might be down to them getting more time off work to stand outside and feed their nicotine habit...

Rabidlamb

syndeyfife wrote: »

In my group of friends, 6 out of 7 smoke.

Don't see any of them quitting any time soon

What age group ?

Real Life

in my group of friends aged between 20 to 30 id say 90% or more smoke

Jaxxy

Very few smokers left in my circle of friends now. A few are on/off though, or have a social smoke or two.

summerskin wrote: »

I was on a stag do a few weeks ago, 16 of us there, i was the only smoker. Always been like that too, none of my friends ever smoked.

Not had one for 4 weeks now myself, hope to give up for good.

Well done! Hardest part over, good luck!

brummytom

I'd say 60-70% of my school year smoke regularly, then another 15-20% smoke socially. It's not dying out.

Bad Panda

kfallon wrote: »

You the odd one out?

Nothing worse when there's about 3 or 4 of you in the pub and everyone fooks off for a smoke at the same time except you, the non smoker, sat there looking like the proverbial spare prick! :mad:

I'd wager cancer is worse.

Jesus Shaves

Rabidlamb wrote: »

I'm just back from a weekend stag where only 2 out of the 14 of us smoked.

Is this your way of saying they suck cóck?

mauzo

Rabidlamb wrote: »

What age group ?

20-24

Glinda

You're getting old! Smoking is a teens/twenties thing mainly, except for those who are unfortunate enough to be really and truly hooked.

It's a bit of a class thing too: parents smoking is not acceptable to the middle classes as a rule (although with the possible exception of the odd sneaky puff, lurking outside your front door at night, or down the pub when no-one is looking and you have a hankering to reclaim your misspent youth ).

hondasam

Roger Sterling wrote: »

I think only people who are
(a) horribly addicted
(b) extremely stupid
(c) complete knackers

end up smoking their entire lives without quitting.
.

Well that's told all us smokers what we are. I could go along with A but not B or C.

spoofilyj

Since this time last year nearly all the lads I'm friends with that used to smoke including myself have given them up.

Although it depends on the group your with, I was at a stag in January and I was the only smoker.

I have one group of friends where no one ever smoked and another as mentioned used to all smoke but have now given up.

I think its more common for people in their early 20s to smoke and as people get older they start to think about health issue etc.

eoins23456

I would say about 80-90 percent in my workplace smokes. In my social group most people would smoke when out in a club during college but not during everyday life.

al28283

Rabidlamb wrote: »

I'm just back from a weekend stag where only 2 out of the 14 of us smoked.
All now in our mid 30's, financial reasons probably involved.
Most of the guys used to be 20 a day men but nearly all off them now.
Wife was on the related hen 2 weeks previous & they had only one smoker.

Was this just an arbitration or are many more people managing to give them up successfully ?.

you're getting old, that's what happens. People quit smoking

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

the actual quit rate of smokers is pretty low though iirc. many of them manage to quit for a while but most will return to the habit eventually.

AnonoBoy

My anecdotal evidence.

Saw a guy shooting up heroin in an alleyway today.
Didn't see anyone shooting up yesterday.
That's a 100% rise in heroin usage in Dublin since yesterday!!!! :eek:

Love2love

Almost 6 months off the things

I agree, smokers are a dying breed (pun intended )

I was the only smokers left in our circle of friends. We started when we were about 15 and I turned 30 last month. Hardest thing I have ever done but its becoming increasingly harder to enjoy smoking. As the only place you could really enjoy a cigarette was at home but then when kids come along you can't so it becomes a chore to go outside in the rain blah blah blah......

I love being a non-smoker and I am starting to pity those who do smoke because it took me 5 years and numerous aids to eventually kick the habit.

saiint

Love2love wrote: »

Almost 6 months off the things

I agree, smokers are a dying breed (pun intended )

I was the only smokers left in our circle of friends. We started when we were about 15 and I turned 30 last month. Hardest thing I have ever done but its becoming increasingly harder to enjoy smoking. As the only place you could really enjoy a cigarette was at home but then when kids come along you can't so it becomes a chore to go outside in the rain blah blah blah......

I love being a non-smoker and I am starting to pity those who do smoke because it took me 5 years and numerous aids to eventually kick the habit.

Dont pity people who enjoy smoking as we dont care haha

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

I'm 21 and upwards of 70% of my social circle smoke. I did too until quite recently.

Grayson

I went to a wedding recently. I was the only smoker. same at the stag.

saiint

was at a 21st their recently
say about 50/50 althought the majority were us young people who smoked, few older who were heavily addicted, im talking about 80 a day easy, hed have one every 5 minutes

he might as well just went out for a walk because he wasnt really their at the 21st ha

Shenshen

Nobody in my groups of friends smokes, apart from one person who will smoke when drinking.

Agewise, we're in our late 20s to late 30s.
I have definitely seen a lot of people quitting in the last couple of years, and those who do still smoke seem to smoke less.
But, again, that's just anecdotal.

Roger Sterling

hondasam wrote: »

Well that's told all us smokers what we are. I could go along with A but not B or C.

Meant to say either a, b or c.:)

Itsdacraic

Love2love wrote: »

Almost 6 months off the

I love being a non-smoker and I am starting to pity those who do smoke because it took me 5 years and numerous aids to eventually kick the habit.

You had to get aids to give them up?
I'd have just stuck with the smoking

Pretty sure rates of smoking increased in Ireland in the last 15 years despite all the tax increases, but hey, it's for our own good eh?

In my "close circle" there aren't any real smokers but among mates and acquaintances it's a fair majority.

ScumLord

I think teenagers are still taking up smoking as much as we did when we where young but most people seem to quit once the first sprog or health scare comes along.

mongoman

Roger Sterling wrote: »

I think only people who are
(a) horribly addicted
(b) extremely stupid
(c) complete knackers

end up smoking their entire lives without quitting.

Extremely stupid? Knackers? Can you not see the irony in making such stupid statements? :rolleyes:

Temptamperu

All my friends smoke, most of us are in our thirties.

Strawberry Fields

I kicked the habit recently for good took me over a year of on/off trying. All my peer group smoked when we were school leaving age, I was the last one to give up, 30 now, though couple still smoke socially on the lock.

seamus

I think it's an age thing rather than any discernable drop-off in rates.

Most people don't really think of their health between 18 and 25. You take it for granted, you're invincible, and you're just out for the craic.

By the time you hit 30, you see your parents properly aging, so you start worrying about your health. You also start worrying about money.
It's also the time when people start having kids and smoking is quite incompatible with having kids. For women anyway, only complete knackers keep smoking while pregnant. But even for men they find that their wives/partners insist that they go outside to smoke and that they're not allowed smoke when they're minding the child. Eventually it becomes too much of a hassle to smoke and they give it up (except when on the beer).

It'll die off eventually except in the lower classes. Children tend to mimic their parents, so if neither parent smokes, the child is less likely to smoke. If people tend to quit when they have kids, then eventually kids stop wanting to smoke.

gustavo

mongoman wrote: »

Extremely stupid? Knackers? Can you not see the irony in making such stupid statements? :rolleyes:

It's like rain on your wedding day

bhovaspack

seamus wrote: »

I think it's an age thing rather than any discernable drop-off in rates.

Most people don't really think of their health between 18 and 25. You take it for granted, you're invincible, and you're just out for the craic.

By the time you hit 30, you see your parents properly aging, so you start worrying about your health. You also start worrying about money.
It's also the time when people start having kids and smoking is quite incompatible with having kids. For women anyway, only complete knackers keep smoking while pregnant. But even for men they find that their wives/partners insist that they go outside to smoke and that they're not allowed smoke when they're minding the child. Eventually it becomes too much of a hassle to smoke and they give it up (except when on the beer).

Also, I've noticed the idea put about a lot (and apparently its backed up by statistical research) that those who give up at 30 or a bit after are very likely to recover the life expectancy of a non-smoker (the lung cancer rate among people who give up at 30 is apparently very close to the rate among people who never smoked).

I presume this influences people too.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Rabidlamb wrote: »

I'm just back from a weekend stag where only 2 out of the 14 of us smoked.
All now in our mid 30's, financial reasons probably involved.

I was on stag weekend too two weeks ago, same as yourself, 14 of us, all in our 30's/40's. 3 out of 14 of us smoked. I know for a fact that at least 5 of them used to smoke.

I think smoking is predominantly a teens/20's thing and when people settle down and start families they give up for health and financial reasons and so less people in their 30's/40s now smoke.

summerskin

Jaxxy wrote: »

Very few smokers left in my circle of friends now. A few are on/off though, or have a social smoke or two.

summerskin wrote: »

I was on a stag do a few weeks ago, 16 of us there, i was the only smoker. Always been like that too, none of my friends ever smoked.

Not had one for 4 weeks now myself, hope to give up for good.

Well done! Hardest part over, good luck!

Been smoking for 30+ years(started by nicking them off my mum when i was 7 and just carries on)Quit for 5 years once and stupidly started again, but this time I'm stopping for good. 40 soon, so the older I get the harder it'll be.

Fluorescence

Anyone who picks up smoking nowadays, knowing all the disgusting information we have about it, is a bit of an idiot. It's a foul habit. Don't see why anyone would start in the first place.

I'd like to think it's dying out, but it's unlikely.

AnonoBoy wrote: »

My anecdotal evidence.

Saw a guy shooting up heroin in an alleyway today.
Didn't see anyone shooting up yesterday.
That's a 100% rise in heroin usage in Dublin since yesterday!!!! :eek:

100% of 0 is 0 :pac:

1ZRed

When I was at school hardly any of my year smoked. There were a few social smokers but if I were to stick a percentage on it , I'd say well below 10% smoked.

It's becoming much rarer in my group of friends and for people in my age group (18 and thereabouts) so I think slowly it is dying off.

Funny thing is, recreational drugs is the new smoking of my generation which is much worse I think.

Teyla Emmagan

It's your age OP. The kids are still smokin'.

Chuck Stone

I used to smoke like a chimney (mostly at winter and caught fire regularly?)

Sucked the smoke right down to my toes (that's where my lungs end). Fought to quit the things for years and finally cracked it a few years back.

It's a pretty serious addiction and anyone who says otherwise either hasn't a clue or had the odd fag and then decided to quit 'no problem' and can't wait to tell you of their triumphant will-powah.

validusername1

I'd say most people just hit a point in their life where they stop seeing the point of smoking so they decide to quit. Certain young ones are always gonna be smoking, it'll hardly die out completely. Most of my friends don't smoke and the 2 that do are both trying to get off them, they've been smoking since they were young teenagers & they're in their 20s now so I think they've just had enough of it at this stage