A look into the lives of Hunter smokers

‘I’m naturally attracted to the naughty’

Outside of Hunter a smoker can always be found — rain, snow or wind, you’ll always find them there.

Why do they do it? Surely they know the health risks involved, and know there are various resources they can use to quit. So why do they put their health at risk every day for the satisfaction of smoking?

To further understand why people smoke, we went around Hunter and asked what the allure of smoking was:

Phil, 19, started smoking at 14

“I was with my cousins in Poland and everyone was doing it, I didn’t want to be the only one not smoking.

“It’s a stress reliever, you know when something pisses you off, but also its for pleasure… It’s like all the other taboos, we know it’s bad but we do them anyways.”

Grace, 18, started smoking at 14 and Danny, 18, started smoking at 13

Grace: “Both of my parents smoke and all my friends smoked… smoking takes all of my money but when I’m stressed it relieves my nerves.”

Danny: “I started because of social smoking. It relieves a lot of stress.”

Bianca, 20, started smoking at 19

“I work in hospitality and that’s very stressful… It’s just something to do with my hands, I usually have a cigarette a day.”

Eugene, 33, Started smoking at 15

“It just seemed like something to do — everyone smoked… I smoke a pack a day, two if I’m drinking. At this point it’s second nature, I feel tense if I don’t.”

Skip, 34, started smoking at 15

“I’m naturally attracted to the naughty — it just satisfies my addiction… I’ve thought about quitting but I’ll never commit to it.”

Jimmy, 28, started smoking at 15

“I basically started when I started skateboarding. My friends and I would share a pack but one pack turned into two… It’s a stress reliever but I don’t enjoy it like I used to.

“I tried to quit numerous times, I tried patches but they gave me night terrors. I’d like to quit.”

Kevin, 23, started smoking at 17

“My friend got me to try it. I didn’t like it at first but a week later I wanted one and that’s how it started.”

“It helps as a stress reliever. I smoke about a pack a week… I’m supposed to be quitting but I have papers due next week.”

Peter, 20, started smoking at 18

“It was a social thing. I wasn’t really peer pressured into it, but there was a connection. We connect over our destructive tendencies.

“I usually bum cigarettes, it doesn’t really do much for me, it’s more of a hobby — something to occupy my time.”

There is no one reason why someone smokes. Some people do it to socialize, some people do it for stress relief and some are uncertain as to why they smoke at all.

With respect to stress relief for example, it seems as though many students are not taught how to properly manage their stress at a young age. They then turn to destructive habits like smoking and drinking to ease the stress of the mounds of work they are faced with on a weekly basis.

The motivations, however, are not one and the picture is not holistic. It’s best to accept that, as with anything else, different motivations exist behind even something as dangerous as smoking cigarettes.

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