Question for Smokers: How did you find your brand?

I'm just curious to know how people who smoke find the brand that they smoke. Did you just try a variety until you found the one you liked, or did you just stick with what you started with and never tried other kinds? It's rather expensive to go buy all the different kinds out there and to try them all. Or did you bum one from others to try em out?

My mom always smoked Players Light so when I started that's what I went for when they asked me what kind I wanted. No real thought went into what brand to pick.

I don't smoke but my parents and my sister smoke some super light brand so they feel better about themselves for smoking. No idea if that's common though!

As someone who has never smoked, I'm also vaguely curious if people have a selection process.

Oh...that kind of smoking.

I smoked Newports, I've never tried other brands. Nowadays I try to avoid smoking.

Two days after I was born my uncle shoved a cigarette in my mouth, lit it up and stared me down until I smoked it to the filter. It was a Camel Blue 99's. I've never looked back,

My first instinct was post some morally superior sarcastic remark about not smoking, but whatever, people can do what they want.

When I smoked it was mostly whatever brand everyone else around me was smoking since they're so bloody expensive. My friends also being cheap, we smoked a lot of the slightly cheaper Canadian brands: Peter Jacksons, uhh, some other terrible one that was even cheaper. If we had some money, we'd splurge on some DuMaurier Lights. Then I moved to Korea and they're $2 a pack here; however, it turns out Korean cigarettes are near-universally vile. So after smoking a bunch of different shit (Mostly Marlboro since they're the only brand in Korea to have a not-light cig) including slim menthols, I switched to E-cigs, and then finally gave that up about half a year back. I'm glad to be free of the habit.

@ll_exile_ll: Indeed. Fingers crossed this won't derail into that junk. Lots of folks like to talk down from their high horses when some topics come around.

Export A gold since grade 11 never looked back. Any other brand I try tastes strange and dirty like it would to a non smoker.

Longbeach are sold in 40's i figured having 40 was better than 20 so thats me.

Oddly enough I've been hearing people refer to strains as brands (weird, I know) which is why the thread title messed with me for a sec.

I quit a while ago, but to answer the question you just try different ones until you find one that you like.

Thanks for that.

Pall Mall Red 100's. I started with Marlboro's, then went to Camel's. I quit for a few years, then started working construction, and started again. Pall Mall's are cheap, but taste better than most cheap smokes. I'm hoping to quit again soon. I need some pretty major dental work soon, hoping that will motivate me enough to quit. It's shitty and fucking expensive.

I don't have a specific brand. I smoke the cigarette that's cheapest that feels like i'm smoking so I don't have to smoke again for at least an hour or more. It's hard to explain unless you smoke.

One thing I want to ask smokers is this: why do you smoke? I don't mean that in a condescending way, but....OK, I understand why somebody would smoke weed, or why somebody would drink a lot of beer. What do you get out of smoking? Is it just a flavor thing, or some sort of sensation in your lungs, or an altered state of consciousness?

I quit, but I used to smoke Marlboro 27's. That or Reds if I couldn't find 27's. Tried them randomly once and kept smoking them.

I'm betting that soon most strains will become brands, at least in a couple of states. All I know is, if I walked into a store and had the choice of buying a pack of smokes, or a pack of Sour Diesel, I'd never buy a pack of cigarettes again.

When I smoked, I bought Marlboro Lights because I was a poser. Sometimes Camel Lights.

Really anything that wasn't menthol.

@video_game_king: When I was 16 my life was shit. I wont go into more detail than that. I decided to smoke. In a way it was my way of rebelling. The first time you smoke (and for a little bit) you do get a light buzz, more than anything I think its just from inhaling and maybe because your lungs aren't destroyed yet so they're sensitive to it.

After years of just smoking and not thinking about it it becomes just something you do. When you get to be in your mid 20s you tell yourself you'll quit by 30. But 30 rolls around and smoking feels like a part of you. When you don't smoke you feel like you're not breathing anymore. You work a lot too, and since not smoking makes you sick, you choose to keep doing it until you have time to be sick by not smoking. You never have time, and every time you take vacation you try to quit but give up for one reason or another.

Eventually you'll quit, but you don't have motivation to anymore and life is stressful sometimes so you forget (intentionally or not) and life goes on- the cycle repeats.

Did I answer your question?

@cornbredx:

So it's pretty much habit?

@video_game_king: A lot of it is habit, yes. There is a psychological component as well.

I'm not actually sick, and I can breath when I'm not smoking. My brain thinks I need to smoke, though, so it goes insane and starts telling me I cant breath and I am sick.

At least, that's how I understand it. The addiction or whatever you prefer to call it.

@video_game_king: Like all things its a mix of different issues for different people. However the state of consciousness the feeling of satisfaction when you put nicotine into your body is the base reason for continuing smoking.

@video_game_king: . It's more of a compulsion than anything. If I get bored, I smoke a cigarette. I live in Texas, and driving to my closest friends house is a 2 hour drive along a boring ass interstate. I smoke like a freight train when I drive, because I'm just sitting in my car for a couple hours driving in a straight line. When I'm occupied with something, I smoke far less, than when I'm just sitting around.

Honestly, It taste like ass, the only "buzz' you ever get is if you smoke too much or too fast, and that "buzz" is really just nausea. There is absolutely no "altered state of consciousness". You really don't get anything out of it, other than the fact that your addiction to nicotine is sated for awhile. A lot of people start for different reasons, be it to look cool, or fit in, or just to rebel, reduce stress(which is purely psychological) or whatever. The problem is once you start, you get hooked. And before you know it, it becomes a compulsion. You know your getting nothing in return. In fact, you know that you're actually doing harm to yourself, but you really don't care.

Its fucked up.

What is the dumbest weed strain name you've ever heard? Recently I caught an Oddish so I could use Sweet Scent with him. When I saw that his characteristic was "Capable of taking hits" I knew what I had to do with his name, but unfortunately I am woefully uninformed on this subject.

That seems tricky because if you're going to make a strain a brand then it would be ideal for you to have something unique instead of claiming blue dream, sour diesel, etc as your own brand when hundreds of growers across the country are claiming they are growing the same shit.

I tend to be around a certain amount of specific strains mainly due to preference so I'm not exactly an encyclopedia on what the crazy names are out there but the ones that I have heard that take the cake are Big Buddha Cheese and Alaskan Thunder Fuck (ironically being subjected to the Thunder Fuck doesn't create a couch lock effect considering that it's a sativa)

Also, an Oddish that is capable of taking hits is the best Oddish.

@colourful_hippie: Damn, they wouldn't fit. I think I could probably make due with "Sour Diesel" though.

I noticed a lot of people I knew started smoking once alcohol was involved. Not a lot of people I knew wanted to admit to "well, everyone else is doing it," but there is a social aspect of smoking cigarettes, drinking, and/or doing drugs. I started smoking as a teenager because a lot of people I knew smoked and I wanted to fit in. It was something to do outside school or at parties.

Luckily, I only smoked for roughly five years, and I was able to quit halfway through college after it took me a few tries. I quit because I woke up every morning feeling like shit; it was either too hot or too cold (went to a university in the mountains) to smoke outside; all my clothes and things reeked of cigarettes; and eventually, all the people I befriended in college did not smoke, so I gradually did not want to either.

I noticed chewing gum helped, so for me, it might've been an oral fixation, or whatever.

@hunter5024: I would personally go with Bubba Kush

@colourful_hippie: I agree. I'm sure there will be a multitude of people claiming that they alone are the prime breeders of Amnesia Haze, G-13, and what have you.

But the only real difference between Marlboro and Camel is flavor. They both have the same effects.

I'm guessing Cannabis, which you also have to factor in its psycho-active effects, will be slightly more varied. Some will want the pure Sativa's, others hard Indica's, or hybrids of both. Add that to taste preferences, duration of psycho-active properties, and other factors, and HOPEFULLY the Cannabis industry will be more of a connoisseur industry than tobacco. I know when I walk into a liquor store to buy tequila, I'm gonna buy Patron.

A lot of those strains are already kind of brands, anyway. I already have specific strains that I will choose above others. I mainly prefer Sativa's, although a nice hybrid, lets say 60/40 Sativa to Indica, is nice as well.

For me personally I started with Marlboro Reds than after 3 months of that bought a different pack every week and then came back to reds cause they seemed to be the best for me.

Used to smoke for years, worst fucking habit on the planet. Quit before you fuck your health up bad. Preaching aside, I always heard a lot of people found their brand by the 1st smoke they tried. Mine was a Camel Light but because of the high number of cigs I smoked daily, I quickly moved to Camel Ultra Lights because they didn't hurt my chest.

As someone who's smoked for a decade, I never developed a strain preference or really much cared what you called the stuff. As long as the price is right and I can get it when I want it, give me whatever you've got. But I also don't leave in an area where dealers carry specific strains all the time. Their stock is just as open to the fluctuations of the market as my tastes.

As for nicotine, I started two years ago when I was 23 due to a lot of psychological factors and personal disappointments, and so far it's just sort of stuck. I'd already like to quit, but at the same time I get a very real joy from those first few puffs of a cigarette. I can't imagine watching Boardwalk Empire or Mad Men without a pack nearby. But I was one of the last of my friends to start smoking and I've always been a little disappointed by it. If I had my druthers I would pretty much smoke the teal-box (basic) American Spirits exclusively, but seeing as that's a $6-$7 box whereas Marlboro 72s are both a WAY briefer smoke (better for my apartment and smoking at work or in the cold) and only $4.50, I tend to stick to those unless I've had a good week of tips.

@nodima: Damn, 72's are only $4.50!!! Here in Texas Marlboro's are nearly $6 a pack BEFORE tax. I smoke Pall Mall's because they're cheap, but even a carton cost $43. That's an average of $4.30 a pack, but buying in bulk. A single pack of Pall Mall's is like $5.50. Fuuuuuuuu....I've got to quit this bullshit!!!!

I always stuck to Marlboro. I'd buy different brands here and there, but always just gravitated towards them. No real reason behind it.

This is your experience, and therefore completely valid, but please be clear that it only applies to you. Implying that in every case there is absolutely no "altered state of consciousness", is just wrong, as that's really my main motivation for smoking.

I started smoking when I was about 23, completely intentionally. I saw it as a lovely way of relaxing, quickly. Taking a break from whatever and having a smoke is vastly more effective for me than just taking a break and doing nothing. The nicotine is absolutely a factor, contradictorally increasing alertness and relaxation simultaneously. Quite similar to caffeine, nicotine causes your brain to release adrenaline and your heart rate to increase, which causes the "buzz", but as your nicotine blood level increases, it also has a sedative effect, which makes one physically relaxed. It helps you focus, and calms you down. Nicotine alone in moderation, without all of the tar and poison in cigarettes, is actually seen by many scientists as a relatively harmless and even advantageous drug. It is of course intensely addictive, but that can be controlled if you're willing to be honest with yourself and stop occasionally.

The ritual of smoking is also immensely enjoyable. As I said above, the physical effects are like caffeine (although also relaxing which caffeine alone is not), but the act of lighting something on fire, and breathing in and out smoke gives me a sort of primal satisfaction that, say, making a pot of tea doesn't.

The big problem, of course, is that the carcinogens in tobacco smoke cause cancer and a host of other diseases. Not great. So now, I smoke an electronic cigarette, and it's wonderful. You can explicitly control the level of nicotine you're ingesting, there's no danger of second-hand smoke (because it isn't actually smoke!), there's zero lingering smell, and it can be pretty much any flavor that food flavoring can be. Huzzah!

I'd like to also point out that humans in general started smoking for the exact physical effects I mentioned. Native Americans smoked tobacco for a long time before white people ever did, and I really don't think it was "to look cool, or fit in, or just to rebel"

Samael, I'd encourage you to try an e-cig out. If you really think smoking tobacco is as "fucked up" as you make it seem, then... stop? The power is yours!

Edit: Cigarettes are also really helpful in certain situations.

I smoke Marlboro Reds, or Drum Organic if I'm in the mood for rolly.

Also RE: Why do I smoke? Because I want to, because I enjoy it. I like the taste and feel of a cigarette and have no plans on being a smoker forever. Getting my irresponsible impulses out of the way while I'm still young, or at least that's what I tell myself. I can pretty much take or leave tobacco with zero cravings when I stop. I was an every day cannabis smoker for about 5 years and was definitely psychologically addicted and dependent. Quit for a couple of months and now I can just smoke on the weekends and be fine with that, no real cravings to speak of. Life is short and I enjoy these things so I do them.

Started on Marlboro Reds when I was 13 because that's what I was able to steal from my stepdad. Switched to Marlboro 27s around age 19 or 20. Decided this year (age 27) that I like money, tasting stuff, and being able to take a deep breath, so I cut back a lot. I used to smoke 3/4 to 1 pack a day. Now I'll occasionally have a Marlboro Smooth or take a few hits from an e-cig once a week. It's starting to become less and less appealing over the past month. I can only get through half a cigarette these days without getting tired of it. So I think it's time to just call it quits. This time last year I was standing out in the cold at work smoking cigarettes with the flu, and that seems absolutely insane to me now.

I'm going to introduce you to the wonderful world of rolling your own. Find a local smoke shop and pick out some delicious smelling loose pipe tobacco and roll that up. Stay away from the pouches you can buy. And on the plus side it's hella cheaper if you're an avid smoker. Also, you'll make tons of friends cus random people stop me all the time asking to bum one after they smell it as I walk down the street. Also be prepared to tell people it isn't a joint. That being said never have been hassled by the fuzz for it and I look like someone who does the potdrugs.

After rolling, I am so turned off by smoking any packaged cigarette. They taste so awful.

I don't know if it has to do with the type of tobacco I smoke or if I am just an edge case but I've never had a craving for a cig. No science to back it up but I attribute it to not smoking big tobacco companies products.

@video_game_king: Originally, it was for taste and a nice 30 second nicotine high. Now it is just for taste and to help me think. Smoking helps me a lot to figure out problems I may be having with some program. I spend 75% of the waking day looking at code and just getting up and having a smoke for 4 minutes here and there helps a lot to collect thoughts and have answers or epiphanies flow into my brain. I haven't found a better substitute yet that lets me just think. A cigarette is a perfect unit of time.

Cigarettes are also not as expensive as people think or say. I smoke Marlboro Red Special Blends and they're only $4.60 a pack (pack is a count of 20 if you didn't know). A lot of people spend more on coffee and bullshit snacks everyday. Cigarettes are a great appetite suppressant and goes great with a nice glass of whiskey.

Hope that helps answer your question of why someone would smoke.

I found my brand by bumming smokes off of other people in 10th grade. I eventually hit on DuMaurier and it was just a nice smoke. Haven't tried anything else since.

I think Brad mentioned once that he only smokes when he's in Japan. I live in Taiwan and It's the same principal. When I'm here I smoke something called L&M from Switzerland. When I'm back in the UK, I don't smoke at all. Purely a cost reason. It's $2.19 for a 23 pack here and $11.25 in the UK! I've tried 3-4 brands, but this one stuck with me.

@joshwent: Firstly, when I said there was "no altered state of consciousness", I should have said "a slightly altered sate of consciousness". That was my bad. I've had experiences with substances that have GREATLY altered my state of consciousness, and was comparing it to those.

Secondly, my quote was actually "to look cool, or fit in, or to just rebel, reduce stress(which is purely psychological), or whatever." "Or whatever" would include those physical effects you mentioned. I was just listing the most common in today's society.

I started when I was 13, and will be 32 in June. I've smoked for a longer period in my life than I haven't. After nearly 19 years of smoking, the reduced stress doesn't really come from any physiological affect, it is (in my case, specifically) a purely psychological effect because I don't want nicotine for a few minutes. Which is why I will occasionally light one up just a minute or 2 after I finished one. As you mentioned, the ritual of smoking is just as much a part as the actual tobacco. A lot of heroin addicts are also addicted to the ritual of shooting up. And, yes, lighting something on fire to smoke it is immensely satisfying. Even though the benefits of vaporizing Cannabis far outweigh smoking it, I still will roll a fatty every now and then. Because I like the actual process of rolling, even though vaporizing taste better and is more efficient.

It is fucked up to me, because I can't really give a definitive answer as to why I do it, other than the fact that I'm addicted. It doesn't do anything positive for me, I've been smoking so long that most of the physical effects barely effect me at all, or at least not very much, I reek of smoke, all the time, it yellows my teeth, and its really getting expensive. If an addict told me that they weren't getting high from their drug of choice, but kept doing it and paying for it (which is basically my situation with cigarettes)t, I would definitely call that "fucked up".

I've tried e-cigs and didn't like them. If I'm going to vaporize anything, it surely won't be tobacco. I'd much rather just break my addiction to nicotine all together.

Just stop, huh? I've done that. No patch, no gum, just pure will power. I quit just before I turned 18(ironic, seeing as how I would have been able to legally purchase smokes) and didn't touch a cigarette again until I was 20. I quit again when I was 23, but that only lasted about a year.

Why don't you stop? Put the E-cig down for 2 days and tell me you don't want any nicotine at that point. Better yet, quit for 2 days then go hang out with a bunch of people who smoke. Better even than that, smoke for more than half your life, then quit for 2 days, THEN go hang out with smokers. Being an addict, is being an addict. It doesn't really matter what the substance is. Once your addicted, you will ALWAYS be addicted. You could quit now, but for the rest of your life, all it will take to get hooked again, is one shitty day. One fight with your significant other. One small, insignificant thing. And BAM!!....your right back in the game. Ask anyone who has had a drug or alcohol problem, and they will tell you getting clean is the easy part. STAYING clean is the truly hard work. That's speaking from experience.

You may not realize it yet, but your an addict, too. Welcome to the club.....

Question for smokers: Why?

Giant Bomb? More like Giant Weed. Am I right guys?

Thankfully i found these when i first started smoking and fell in love with the taste, long smoking time, EVERYTHING about these dang scrumptious treats. Seriously peoples, give them a try. Completely unlike any BS reconstituted sheet/stem big tobacco cancer stick. Ethical company that puts ONLY tobacco in their fags and not hundreds, sometimes thousands of chemicals, like big tobacco.

*do not work for American Spirit also not a hipster.

@sammo21: Somebody already asked. Many replies on here are in response to that exact question. Not to get on your case or anything, 'cause honestly, I came to here to find out the same thing.

Really interesting though, to somebody whose body doesn't allow him to even consider smoking (born with asthma and heart problems)

I was a Camel Light guy. I kept trying stuff I found one that worked for me everyday. Marlboro were too acidic, Camel Wides gave me bronchitis, and I couldn't get a good pull off of American Spirits. I quit 3 years ago, I still can't believe I did that shit for 12 years.

I absolutely realize it! Like I said above, nicotine is crazy addictive. In some studies, even more so than Heroin.

I love smoking (well, "vaping" I should say now, but I think that term is cringe-worthy), and accept that to engage in it I will be addicted, and just try to manage appropriately. If I start having cravings more than I'm comfortable with, I'll stop for a few days. And you're totally right, it really sucks, but my urges do go down to where I like them to be.

I really appreciate your last post, and I hope you didn't think I wasn't being snide or superior sounding saying "just stop!". That was just my reaction from hearing what a horrible time you have with cigarettes. And since you reiterated how terrible it is for you, I think the advice still stands, but I completely agree that addiction is forever and it's rough. That's actually another benefit of e-cigs, you can control the exact level of nicotine, even down to 0%. So it's wonderful for weening yourself out of the addiction (or at least controlling it). Especially since, as you rightly said, the ritual is part of that addiction, so you can "vape" ( :/ hate that term too, but it's appropriate) some nicotine a few times a day, and use no nicotine juice other times.

Anyway, enough of me derailing the thread. Thanks for your post!