I discount that for several reasons—first, I’m not guaranteed to survive to that point. Second, lung cancer survival rates continue to improve (it’s still a minority that survive, mind, but over my lifetime I expect that figure to improve still further). Third, lung cancer is a pretty predictable mode of death—in terms of cryogenics, my really long-term survival could be considerably improved over other, less predictable forms of death, such as heart attack or stroke.
Additionally, two cigarettes a day for 10 years produces only a marginal increase in health risk. In fact, you have to consume 5 pack-years (1 cigarettes a day for 20 years is a pack-year; the relationship is strictly linear with both respects, so 1 cigarette a day for 40 years is 2 pack-years, and 2 cigarettes a day for 10 years is 1 pack-year) before you start to see substantial health risks from smoking.
At present, I consume 1-3 cigarettes a day, and skip many days, and frequently skip weeks. (I am currently using them to try to train good behavior into myself.)
I will also add that smoking reduces my sinus response to allergens quite considerably, which has reduced the number of sinus and chest infections I get, as well as the severity when I get them. (This is apparently at odds with what most people experience, but it’s been consistent my whole life—when my parents stopped smoking is approximately when I started having severe allergy problems.)
Nicotine does seem to activate a lot of the neurologically-controlled anti-inflammatory reflexes (while also indiscriminately poking at all the other autonomic reflexes that use the same neurotransmitters connected up to different fibers, thus the vasoconstriction and the like). Hence smokers not getting inflammitory bowel disease. I do think there are probably better methods of getting it in you than inhaling burned leaves, though perhaps not cheaper.
I semi-regularly drink vaping nicotine (aka “e-liquid”) diluted in water. It is extremely cheap. I obtained 60ml of 25mg/ml strength nicotine for $10 online. It comes diluted in either vegetable glycerin or propylene glycol. A cigarette delivers around 1mg, so I usually dilute to 1-2mg in a full glass of water. To get this dose I first use a 1mg dropper to deliver 2mg of the solution to 50ml (approx. 1⁄2 cup) of water measured with a Pyrex glassware measuring cup. I then use the 1ml dropper to add doses of this 1mg/ml solution to a glass of water.
At 60x25=1500 cigarette-equivalent doses with no need to inhale smoke, I think “inexpensive” is an understatement. It also appears to be safe (water, nicotine, and tiny amounts of VG or PG).
The main argument against smoking is that it will make you much less happy in the future, primarily via cancer.
You also stink up the present. Smoke breath is a type of BO.
Also heart disease, stroke, and emphysema.
I discount that for several reasons—first, I’m not guaranteed to survive to that point. Second, lung cancer survival rates continue to improve (it’s still a minority that survive, mind, but over my lifetime I expect that figure to improve still further). Third, lung cancer is a pretty predictable mode of death—in terms of cryogenics, my really long-term survival could be considerably improved over other, less predictable forms of death, such as heart attack or stroke.
Additionally, two cigarettes a day for 10 years produces only a marginal increase in health risk. In fact, you have to consume 5 pack-years (1 cigarettes a day for 20 years is a pack-year; the relationship is strictly linear with both respects, so 1 cigarette a day for 40 years is 2 pack-years, and 2 cigarettes a day for 10 years is 1 pack-year) before you start to see substantial health risks from smoking.
At present, I consume 1-3 cigarettes a day, and skip many days, and frequently skip weeks. (I am currently using them to try to train good behavior into myself.)
I will also add that smoking reduces my sinus response to allergens quite considerably, which has reduced the number of sinus and chest infections I get, as well as the severity when I get them. (This is apparently at odds with what most people experience, but it’s been consistent my whole life—when my parents stopped smoking is approximately when I started having severe allergy problems.)
Nicotine does seem to activate a lot of the neurologically-controlled anti-inflammatory reflexes (while also indiscriminately poking at all the other autonomic reflexes that use the same neurotransmitters connected up to different fibers, thus the vasoconstriction and the like). Hence smokers not getting inflammitory bowel disease. I do think there are probably better methods of getting it in you than inhaling burned leaves, though perhaps not cheaper.
I semi-regularly drink vaping nicotine (aka “e-liquid”) diluted in water. It is extremely cheap. I obtained 60ml of 25mg/ml strength nicotine for $10 online. It comes diluted in either vegetable glycerin or propylene glycol. A cigarette delivers around 1mg, so I usually dilute to 1-2mg in a full glass of water. To get this dose I first use a 1mg dropper to deliver 2mg of the solution to 50ml (approx. 1⁄2 cup) of water measured with a Pyrex glassware measuring cup. I then use the 1ml dropper to add doses of this 1mg/ml solution to a glass of water.
At 60x25=1500 cigarette-equivalent doses with no need to inhale smoke, I think “inexpensive” is an understatement. It also appears to be safe (water, nicotine, and tiny amounts of VG or PG).