So. I know that a lot of the users of Vizzed are young. I'm not-I'm an old man. And I smoke. When I was in high-school, all the cool kids did it. We had scary commercials and anti-smoking campaigns, but nothing like the graphic stuff I've seen lately. Mostly we had a lot of people we didn't respect anyway jabbering at us about how bad it was for you. I'd never seen the inside of a lung with smoke damage until I was in college. And those surgeon-general warnings were always a joke amongst us. 

So, all you young'ins. Are the commercials working? Do you smoke? If the answer is no (and hopefully it is, for almost everyone) how much did those commercials and anti-smoking campaigns factor into your decision?

Its not the campain things it the taste, you know when someone's done smoking and there's still a little left in it, well I tried some and it was awful I'm never gonna get used to it.

I've never find the anti-smoking ads to be very effective personally... but that might be just because I'm not a little kid and I already understand how damaging it can be for someone. It's hard to have an effect on someone who is already aware of your message. It be like if you REALLY loved chocolate and then watched a commercial trying to convince you why you should eat chocolate... you can't fairly assess how influential that commercial is due to the stance you already have.

I never bothered trying to smoke. The first time I ever smelled cigarette smoke, it smelled so terrible, that I wanted nothing to do with them. There wasn't really anything in the way of peer pressure where I grew up either.

I remember seeing some posters that were kinda gross, like what the inside of a lung looked like after smoking for 10 years, or one of a dead frog in a jar and saying that cigarettes contained the same stuff that preserves dead frogs. Formaldehyde, I think it is.

My mom smokes and always has, and I've always been disgusted by it. I've had a few cigarettes here and there throughout my teenage years but I've never smoked habitually or because I really wanted one. It's always just when I'm hanging out with friends every once in a blue moon and they offer me a drag of their cigarette or ask me if I want to finish it for them. If I'm in the right mood I'm like, sure. I pretty much only ever WANT to smoke when I'm drunk. Drunk KG likes to smoke because it doesn't hurt (smoking when you're not used to it feels awful, I don't know how people deal with it long enough to get addicted) and also drunk me is giggly, easily amused, overly curious, and overall obnoxious. Smoking tends to be kind of a social thing and I don't drink alone, so it just kind of goes hand in hand for me.

I have dreams sometimes of smoking and it sorta freaks me out. I'll dream that I'm just hanging out and all the sudden I'll really want a cigarette, so I'll have one and it's like the most satisfying thing that's ever happened to me. It's disgusting how awesome it is. It kinda weirds me out because what the hell, haha. That is a stupid thing to dream of, especially more than once. I've only had like 10 cigarettes total in my whole life, so that seems like a ridiculous thing to be subconsciously thinking about.

This is getting slightly off topic, but I'm half awake and rambling. Please don't report me to the local moderators.

I never really smoked cigarettes because I saw how it effected my mother and grandfather and they're some of the most important people in my life. I saw how it hurt them, especially my grandfather who had lung cancer before he died and I know they'd both be disappointed with me if I ever took up the habit. I really hope my mother kicks the habit but I know it'd be hard for her because she's been doing it for so many years. The ads really haven't factored into my opinion of cigarettes, my opinion on them come strictly from my family.

KG: Your off-topic is awesome, so I promise we won't report you.

Slightly off-topic myself, but I stumbled across this today and it kind of pissed me off, so here:

It seems to me that the ads aren't affecting anyone at all. So why is the government spending so much on them? 

From www.drugfree.org: (excerpts from this article)

"The cost of the campaign is $54 million this year." (this is for one campaign featuring commercials with horrific former smokers)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is spearheading the campaign, hopes it will save lives and money, according to CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden. “We estimate that this campaign will help about 50,000 smokers to quit smoking,” he told the newspaper. “And that will translate not only into thousands who will not die from smoking but it will pay for itself in a few years in reduced health costs.”

(Where do they get these numbers? I'm curious as to who is doing their studies!)

"Studies have shown that graphic anti-smoking ads can be effective in convincing smokers to quit, the article notes. However, critics call them alarming and demeaning." (Once again, which studies? Interesting how they never tell us the studies these numbers are coming from. And the commercials are gross and overly dramatic, as well.)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to require tobacco companies to add graphic warning labels to cigarette packages by September 2012. The labels, which include pictures of diseased lungs and rotting teeth, are meant to inform the public of the dangers of smoking. Earlier this month, a federal judge blocked the FDA’s label requirement. The Obama Administration has appealed the judge’s decision. (On the cig packs themselves.)

1) Eww. and

2) really? because you're not already forcing the cig companies to change their labels, print only what you want them to print, say only what you want them to say, not advertise at all, and pay to hand out literature saying exactly what you want the public to know about smoking...now you're going to force them to put pictures of rotting teeth on their labels?

Don't get me wrong, I don't like smoking (even though I do it) and I'd rather no one smoked...but people who smoke know the risks already. Grossing them out isn't going to make them stop smoking. It's a gigantic waste of my tax money, that's what it is.

And more teeth get rotted by the effects of sugary sodas then by smoking...so when are we going to start putting pictures of terribly obese people with rotten teeth and sallow, acne-scarred skin on the side of Coke bottles*?  

Side Rant: When they outlawed large sodas in New York, people cheered for McDonalds saying they had free refills for mediums...where were y'all when they raised the taxes on Cigs so that a pack of Marbs costs over 5 bucks now? Huh? (Rant done)

*this is not an attack against Coke, nor of drinking soda, but an illustration to show how stupid these ads are to begin with. Just so that's clear.

Edit: The highlighting was a bad idea on my layout, so I nixed the layout for this post cause I liked the highlighting. 
Edit 2: Still a bad idea. Trying to change the font color.

I will never smoke. It's not really because the commercials scare me, though I'm not saying they don't, it's more that I don't want to waste all that money. I see it as a big money waste that can ruin lives.

zI started smoking 4 months after I turned 18 so I would have an excuse to talk to my Dad, hang out with him more oftan, and so we would have something other than football in common. 

thudricdholee : I don’t smoke but I won’t lie when I say that I went through several phases when I was younger and I have smoked and drank in the past. I really don’t try to judge anyone but I came to the realization in my early 20’s that it’s just not worth it to smoke or drink. I can’t judge anyone but I will say that prior to my teen years I was very much against smoking (Have lost a few family members to smoking related illnesses including cancer) I don’t know what happened with me when I was in my teens that I just didn’t think. I don’t know if it had to do with what I was going through or if it’s just a normal thing to go through several years where you don’t use your head as much as you should.

Thankfully I am healthy and am grateful that I got my wake-up call when I did. Unfortunately, there are some in my family who do still smoke and drink. Every time one of those commercials you referenced pops on the television I’ll say something along the lines of “I hope you’re listening to this” and such.

I can honestly say that I have a completely different head on my shoulders now than I did as a teenager even though I still have my regrets and things I wish I could redo. I am also a lot more neurotic than I was back then and just the thought of smoking or drinking makes me cringe. To the younger members of the Vizzed community trust me when I tell you it ain’t worth it and the older you get the less cool things seem. There are better things in life that’s for sure.