Is it really that bad to smoke a pack a week, maybe not even that?

Question

I'm fully aware that smoking is bad for you. But so is skipping a day of brushing your teeth, or drinking soda, or eating that extra piece of pie. I'm a writer (well, aspiring) and I get writers block pretty easily. And I found a great way to get my mind flowing is to take a walk around the neighborhood smoking a cigarette. I only do it about once a day, one cigarette per walk. So, that would be like five cigarettes a week. Is that okay?

Answer 1

Well as you said smoking in general is bad for you so yes it is bad for you to smoke even a pack a week or even one smoke a month.

BUT smoking a pack a week is really good compared to most people I know who go through a pack or two a day.  

Answer 2

Yes. The risk is that you'll keep smoking more and more and end up getting addicted. But as a former smoker and sometime writer I know how you feel -- I've come to believe in its absence that nicotine is a creativity enhancer.

PS -- I've just been reading some of the other answers and, as usual, there's a lot of uninformed tripe alongside the nuggets of truth. (No such thing as writer's block -- that's a good one.) I reiterate that there is no significant harm in one cigarette a day. If you want confirmation, do a search for "smoking risk calculator" and plug in your numbers. Those who warn that you may increase the amount smoked beyond the five or so a day that represent a reasonable risk are correct. There's no way of predicting that.

Answer 3

Some people are able to smoke tobacco just 'on occasion'.  If you're asking whether inhalation of toxic smoke/particles can be healthy in small amounts, I'd think not.

Answer 4

I don't have a source, but i've read it in magazines, online articles every where, even life experience with friends and family.  Smoking does in no shape or form guarantee you cancer.  You could smoke a pack a day and live til your 80.  You could smoke half a pack a day and get cancer in your 20's like my friend from college.  

Smoking has been proven though without a doubt, to increase your chance of cancer.  (not guarantee it).  Of course the amount one is affected by say 1 pack a day is different per person, but it's safe to say the more a person smokes the higher his risks are.

Keep in mind smoking even just a little does cause some lung damage.  5 days a week= roughly 290? or so cigarettes a year.  You dont need to smoke 10 in a row to start dealing damage and once the damage is dealt its unreversable for the most part.  So basically ur just chipping tiny pieces of your lung away.

Smoking less often does deal less damage. 290 a year is a lot less damage than 290 in a month.  Even not smoking for say a 4hour time frame can start to change your body back to normal.

I dont remember wich effects come first, butyour blood pressure,  pulse rate and oxygen levels start to go back to normal.  In a 48 hour time span, the damage done to your lungs may not disappear, but all the little things that i listed will start to go back to normal.

I'm not trying to preach to you to stop smoking because i would be a hypocrite.  I'm a smoker of 5 years now, roughly 1/2 pack a day now( i've reduced a lot). I just read a lot of positive things to try and quit.  So far i haven't made it yet.

Even 1 cigarette hurts your body.  As for how much idk, + ultimately how risky a consequence is, is ultimately your decision.  

Answer 5

Its a proven fact that people who smoke die young. It was calculated and each cig takes 5 minutes off your life. So each week you live 25 minutes less. And, i am a writer, there is no such thing as writers block. Doctors dont get doctors block. Just keep writing and you get past your struggle.

Answer 6

Don't be surprise of your addiction by the time you smoke a pack a day

Answer 7

This is an interesting question. I smoked a pack a day for three years, so I have more than enough experience to tell you exactly what is going to happen.

First off, nicotine does happen to have the side effect of increasing cognitive function; hence your sudden epiphanies when using tobacco.

Now, let's talk about the bad side.

At sixteen, I smoked one to two cigarettes a day, for a week or two. I told myself I couldn't get addicted. Told myself only weak people got addicted.

By week three I was up to ten per day.

By one month I was smoking a pack or more per day.

You cannot choose to not be addicted. You cannot control it. No matter how much you believe in yourself, or your ability to overcome, you can and WILL become addicted, even off of just one cigarette per month. This is how nicotine works! There is a threshold, and once you cross it, sorry my friend, but you are an addict!

I quit several months ago, and I feel great. I can barely even believe that I used to smoke! But believe you me, smoking is h**l. It sucks up your money, it makes you sick constantly, and the cravings are long and painful. Quitting is incredibly hard, and takes immense preparation and effort.

Now, ask yourself, is writing that next chapter today instead of tomorrow worth a life time of addiction? I didn't think so.

And if you're thinking, "well, this guy's got a point, but I'll just have one or two more cigarettes and call it good", guess what? You're already addicted. Do yourself and your family and friends a huge favor, and throw that pack away *right* now!

I urge you to make the right decision. Please know that I tell you this with the best intentions. I don't want to see another person go the way I went, and have to fight the way I did to break out of those chains.

Answer 8

I suppose my answer may be biased because I have seen so many negative effects of smoking, but I think that you should quit completely and attempt jogging or a hot shower... something with hot steam... Both of those really open my mind up...  

Answer 9

Only you can decide if its bad enough but cancer has clearly been linked to smoking and unlike skipping a day of brushing your teeth nobody has ever died from not brushing. Also don't discredit the addictiveness of smoking.  The nicotine can have you smoking 1 a day, then two and so on....

Perhaps the walk around the block would be enough to get through your mental block?

Answer 10

Smoking just one cigarette a day won't hurt you at all. In fact, if you stay under a half-pack a day, you should have no problems.

Keep writing, and don't worry about the smoking.

Answer 11

Anybody that does not smoke will tell you it causes this and that, but ask them to provide you with laboratory proof that smoking causes lung cancer,  they can't because there is none. I am not a religious man, but the Bible says, do everything in moderation, that simply means do not over indulge. Like you said drinking soda or a piece or two of pie, or what about milkshakes, donuts, cookies is just as bad or worse.  If you can control your smoking and keep it that way, you'll be fine, even four or five a day. When you see that you are smoking two packs or three a day, better slow down, not because so much the lungs, but also smoking constricts the blood vessels. When a person dies who is a smoker, the first thing they say is, they shouldn't have smoked, or they smoked for years. I know an old shoemaker that rolled his cigarettes and lived to be 87, no lung cancer. But what about all their lives, where did they work, maybe a coal mine, chemical plants, around asbestos. I know a hair dresser that developed asthma from the hair spray, what about that. There are a lot of things out there that will harm you more, they just haven't thought of them or about them, they concentrate on cigarettes. There is nothing more relaxing for me than to smoke a cigarette after a meal, or if I have some worries, they calm me down. So go ahead a smoke sir, and enjoy them to their fullest, just keep them under control, don't let them control you. Good luck young fellow.

Answer 12

Yes, Period, Within the first 3 hours you stop smoking your risk of heart failure drops by 30%, hope thats enough proof to stop.  

Answer 13

no, and it also depend how old u are. soon u will get addicted and u will regret it. i wish u the best luck, and try to stop. dont do it anymore. or u could die. im not trying to scare u or anything, but listen to me. even if it is for a book or something dont do it. very bad. i lost an uncle that did the last thing. im still sad.

Answer 14

You did not seriously just compare smoking to having a PIECE OF PIE.

Stop smoking. Have you even TRIED doing it without a cigarette? There are other ways to cure writer's block.

Although lung cancer could be a good basis of a story...maybe that's what you're looking for?

Answer 15

yes,because one stick of cigarrete is equal to 14 days decrease in your life.

Answer 16

Smoking is way worse than any of that. You don't die from rotting teeth.

Any cigarette is too much

Answer 17

well i dont think so  

Answer 18

smoking is bad enough.

Answer 19

so we all know the general dangers to smoking, emphysema, cancer, bronchitis, birth defects.

But here are some other facts that may have you understand that even less than a pack a week is dangerous:

1) Have your hands ever been colder after a cig than before?  It is because smoking actually reduces your blood flow to your hands, hence cold hands.

2) Your lungs fish out dangerous toxins with cilia, tentacle-like hairs in our lungs.  Smoking kills than, causing them to whither until nothing is left.

3) There are chemicals found in cigarettes that are also used in pesticides.  You are inhaling pesticides.

Those three facts may be lesser known facts, but it all adds up.  A pack a week, less than a pack a week, or a pack or more a day - it is still a slow death.

Answer 20

A pack a week? That's approx 3 a day. Try a pack and a half a day for 24 years, then we'll talk. During that 24 years, I'm still healthy, no smoking related illnesses, no asthma, blah blah blah. So you'll be fine.