My view on cigarette

Over the past weekend, due to some personal matters, I’d to be on the street to do quite a bit of walking back and forth in my neighborhood. What got my attention was the more than I expected number of smokers that I encountered on the street. Besides old dudes, there were quite a number of young men and women smoking on the street, particularly when they were waiting for public transportation. I wouldn’t jump into the conclusion that the government effort in persuasion in quitting has failed. But, is smoking really that enjoyable to quit?

Personally, my dad is a life-long smoker. That’s something that nobody in my family is able to make him stop. We thus kinda turn our face on this fact. Fortunately, my dad is also considerate enough for not smoking when he is with us. However, smell of post-smoked bathroom and his smoky breath always reminded us how much we dislike smoking.

I’d only smoked twice in my life. The first time was during my teenage year out of curiosity. I stole a cigarette from my dad, I forgot that’s Winston or Marlboro, I inhaled that once and got choked so badly that I had to drink a can of Coke to dilute the taste in my mouth. At that time, I couldn’t understand why my dad would like such thing. The second time that I smoked was during my mid-twenties. I was with a girl that I liked who smoke every now and then. I was with her when she was pouring her heart with emotions in a late evening chat. I forgot what the topic was, but we were outdoor in a park on the roadside or something. It was kinda chill and she offered a cigarette to me. Perhaps it was the mood and all that, I inhaled again. It was a light cigarette. Different from the one that I took from my dad, this one had no taste at all. I didn’t feel anything. No choking, no nothing! However, that didn’t make me becoming a smoker, cuz at the end of the day; I still couldn’t find smoking appealing even one bit.

Since then, I’ve never picked up a cigarette in my life. I just don’t find it worth doing it. It costs money, hurts our health, and I do find second hand smoke extremely annoying, particularly after being a dad. I had to make extra effort to stay away from the smoke when I’m with my kid.

I wouldn’t challenge some smokers’ claim of finding Nicotine relaxing and addictive. I think the reaction to Nicotine is perhaps different from one to another, maybe it has something to do with our gene. Anyway, I respect people’s right to smoke, but please don’t affect the non-smokers. That’s basically in line with my thought on other hardcore drugs as well. It shouldn’t be a legal issue, but rather a medical and social issue. Namely, you should have the right to smoke, period. However, if your smoking behavior affects other people, you deserve to be disliked and repulsed. Though Nicotine is addictive, it affects our health; cigarette is not and should never be an illegal product. Addicts should be assisted to quit, they deserves the attention of the medical community, not the law-enforcement one.