Casual smoking?

does anyone else get the sneaking suspicion that having a cigarette every once in a while when you're drinking with friends or when you're really stressed out probably isn't going to hurt you? sure, smoking kills people, but have you noticed that all the studies claiming vastly increased cancer risks deal with people that smoked a pack a day for 20 years? 20 cheeseburgers or 20 candy bars or running 20 miles a day every day for 20 years would probably kill you too

i'm speaking hypothetically here. and i'm not saying it would be a good idea, just that everyone acts like one cigarette will make you drop dead and that i think the fear has outgrown the statistical significance of the risks of smoking

No, just one here and there won't harm you. Like you said, eating hamburgers all the time and eating candy is just as bad, but no one looks at it that way, because non smokers love their hamburgers and candy, so they don't want people to know the dangers of it. I guess high cholesterol and diabetes is nothing to be worried about. So keep on eating them, and feeding it to your children too.

Well, thats called chain smoking and it usualy leads to being a regular smoker. I smoke when i drink and im with friends but not EVER when i crave it in times of stress. That creates attachment and is what happens times will get stressful in life and you WILL become addicted and deny if for the longest time. When i feel like i need one i specificaly stay away, same with alcohol for me. If you know you could give a **** less that you have one or not and its there go for it but if you feel like you have to fight for it forget about it your becoming attacked. And everything in life can kill you so who gives a funk a dunk you wanna smoke smoke, for me i dont want to regularly but i eat fast food from time to time run everydday eat candy all the things we shouldnt. You live once live life to the fullest! But just FYI smokers breathe is nasty!

It could kill you with one cigarette. One could turn into two, then three, and so on. So don't smoke.

Technically speaking no a cigarette once every blue moon probably won't give you lung cancer. The problem with cigarettes is that nicotene is addictive and before you know it you'll be smoking more often. So why take the risk of casual smoking? Even if you don't get addicted inhaling the tar and smoke and all those chemicals is going to have a negative effect on your health, maybe just not as significant as if you were smoking a pack a day.

no