I smoked a number of years and quit at 30. The one thing I always come back to is that there doesn't seem to be much benefit to it as a drug. That is, almost any other toxin we ingest gives us something and takes something away. Tobacco gives an initial buzz the very first few times (if you don't get sick). Beyond that, it always felt to me like I needed a smoke to relax because I was craving a smoke. Nicotine addiction, feedback loop. I don't remember it preventing colds, but I was coughing anyway. (I've read that it might help prevent Alzheimer's.)im not sure. Both sides I have observed. It is a stimulant. A unique one for sure. I don’t support or condemn it. I have observed that smokers don’t seem to get the flu and if they do they are over it pretty quick. Obviously there are no absolutes. It’s interesting to me. Both my parents smoked and then quit.
It was the supposed cancer statistic that floored me. No difference if you smoke or not, you have the same statistical chance of getting lung cancer. But if you have metabolic syndrome and any related ailments connected, you will most likely die from heart disease (which is number 1) or dieabetes or cancer.
The lung cancer thing is interesting and tells me more about how much fukked up shyt is in the air in general. Heck, I'm guessing I'll catch something from the disinfectant used to spray down gym equipment to prevent COVID 19.
Perhaps when the Indians smoked unadulterated tobacco from a calumet in communal moments there was something more to it. Nonetheless, 417 years ago King James wrote that smoking is “loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs.” But also profitable for the British.