How bad for you is smoking?

[RusskiSoldat]

I intend to start smoking and wanted to know whether smoking a cigarette or two a day poses a significant risk of cancer.
Also, I'm doign a biology paper on hallucinogenic drugs and was wondering:
Does doing shrooms have long term side effects?
If it does, what are they?
Does LSD make you insane?

[orange slice]

well only smoking 2 cigarettes a day wont do much to you, but if you smoke 2 packs a day you might be hurting yourself, and cause some long term damadge and i read somewhere that every cigarette you smoke increases you chance of getting lung cancer by .001%

[Wild Bill Kelso]

I'm doign a biology paper on hallucinogenic drugs and was wondering:
Does doing shrooms have long term side effects?
If it does, what are they?
Does LSD make you insane?

I will let this go as at the moment it is not condoning drug use. However, It will be closed the minute that anyone starts talking about drug use other than the context of this thread (Negative health effects of mushrooms and LSD)

WBK

[RusskiSoldat]

i read somewhere that every cigarette you smoke increases you chance of getting lung cancer by .001%

That would mean if you smoke a thousand cigarettes, you have a 100% chance of getting cancer.
If you smoke a pack a day, it will take you about one and a half years to get cancer.
Seems a bit unrealistic.

[MaximiIian]

I will let this go as at the moment it is not condoning drug use.

And that would be wrong how? Not everyone has the morals as you do.

On topic: two a day won't do much. The problem with cigarettes is that it has nicotine.

PS) Don't vandalize my posts. I write those.

[Niles Crane]

I doubt he's a Puritan, but I'm sure WBK is very moralistic. Besides, advertising drug use would go against the point of the thread.

@ Russki

Don't take up smoking, unless you have extraordinary willpower it's unlikely you will be able to pace yourself at two cigarettes a day. Regardless the effect is the same. I'm sure most users here have lost a relative to cancer because they smoked.

[Flogger]

That would mean if you smoke a thousand cigarettes, you have a 100% chance of getting cancer.
If you smoke a pack a day, it will take you about one and a half years to get cancer.
Seems a bit unrealistic.

No, it means that you have a 100% greater chance of getting lung cancer. Doesn't mean you definately will.

[removeduser_426582376423734]

Russki, can I ask why you want to take up smoking? It isn't really a "I want to," thing unless its for no reason, or it is to "be cool". Either way, if you have a choice, DON'T START. Its quite simple.

[God]

Russki, can I ask why you want to take up smoking? It isn't really a "I want to," thing unless its for no reason, or it is to "be cool". Either way, if you have a choice, DON'T START. Its quite simple.

I agree. Why do you want to smoke at all? You'll end up wasting loads of money and giving yourself lung cancer. And it stinks too. My dad smokes and every time I go over his house the first thing I can smell is cigerettes. Not very nice.

I challenge you to give me 3 good reasons why smoking is a good idea. Bet you can't.

[Denny Crane!]

I intend to start smoking and wanted to know whether smoking a cigarette or two a day poses a significant risk of cancer.
Also, I'm doign a biology paper on hallucinogenic drugs and was wondering:
Does doing shrooms have long term side effects?
If it does, what are they?
Does LSD make you insane?

Well I'll offer a few opinions though how scientifically valid they are I don't know.

Cigarettes: Not many people keep it down to one or two a day despite the best intentions. Out of about 30 or 40 smokers I have met maybe one or two can. Smoking any form of tobacco does raise the prospects of cancer, it is not a certainty though but do you want to play the odds with your life? I will not criticise because I do though I possibly don't think I am being very smart about it.

Halucinogenic drugs: Psilocybin mushrooms are a naturally occuring halucinogenic which have been used along with other drugs in society for a large portion of history. Travel around the world and you will find other halucinogenics being used like mescaline from peyote by native american tribes in religous ceremonies (a particularly famous one). There is a fairly large difference between mushrooms and lsd or PCP (angel dust). The effects in the man made drugs can be much more stark and long lasting though I must say they are exactly the same effects so one should not be thought of as safer than the other because dosage is key.

LSD is a relatively new drug having been discovered in the 30's/40's and was used in psychotherapy for a number of years with positive results in some cases, alcoholism was thought to be one of the primary targets for this breakthrough drug Lysergic Acid Diethylamide. It was its domestic usage combined with possible contamination scares in the '60's which caused a furore and it was banned and ruled out of further clinical trials.

LSD is not really physically dangerous. There has been one recorded death I know of but that was someone who injected intravenously a hit measuring in the thousands of Mg's. A normal tab will be 25-50mg a dangerous dose is 15000Mg. If, however, it is taken by someone who is not mentally stable then there are very real dangers. Especially in the case of the man made acids it can cause disassociation from yourself and reality. It can bring up repressed memories which are extremely disturbing and can cause severe psychosis. All effects are temporary though the drug can remain in your system for varying amounts of time after you have taken it and a certain amount of psychological damage can occur. People can exhibit signs of Post traumatic stress linked to experiences they have had while sufferring the effects of the drug.

It is not true though that acid stays in your system permenantly as very few things especially chemicals do. There can be a temporary build up in the brain but not a permanent one.

Hope that helps.

PEter

[Kino]

Deleted by user.

[Denny Crane!]

The rumour about it being collected in the spinal column comes from another rumour that you can get tested using a technique called a spinal tap. This is a pretty dangerous procedure and would only ever detect drugs used recently that are still in the bloodstream, obviously over time this is filtered out.

There are some reports that perceptual distortion can last for months or years afterwards but this is not proven at all. The things you talk about could be an exagerated rumour, certainly the idea that removing parts of the brain would help as that carries inherent risks of its own. There is also no proof of chromosome damage and no correlation to long term skizophrenia though the destabilising and resulting PTS is a bad enough consequence in itself. Repressed memories are not something that should be released under those sorts of influences unless you have a very strong character and are prepared for what it can do. Not to mention the risk of disassociation from reality and the consequential risks from blunt/sharp/high/low objects and flying monkeys.

Peter

[Armfelt]

How the hell can you intend to start smoking? It's something that just happens.

[Decimus Equitius]

Yeah smoking is not good at all. Not even worth 2 a day. I smoke half a pack a day and wish that I could stop. I even tried quitting around 7 times last year with my longest streak going to 21 days without a cig. It's hard to quit, don't bother starting.

As for shrooms and LSD, I have not seen any one have permanent effects from shrooms, but I believe that a "Bad trip" on acid could change someones thought processes or their personality. But I don't know how long that lasts.

[Denny Crane!]

Lets be honest though the changes are not always for the worst but there are far more inherent risks with taking these sorts of drugs. How exactly do you asertain that you are of stable mind? It is not like other drugs where you can stop taking it at any time, once it is in your system it is in for 8-24 hours depending on dosage size. I imagine it can seem like quite a bit longer if things start going wrong.

Peter

[Sétanta]

Uh smoking is bad. I think science has proved that.

[Kara Kolyo]

Russki as a smoker myself i wouldn't recomend starting to smoke especialy "mahorka" or "belomor kanal" it is almost imposible to stick to 2 cigarettes a day and quitttng is really hard. never tried the other stuff though so can't help there

[RusskiSoldat]

Russki, can I ask why you want to take up smoking? It isn't really a "I want to," thing unless its for no reason, or it is to "be cool". Either way, if you have a choice, DON'T START. Its quite simple.

If I was smoking to be cool, I would've started years ago.
Then again I did damn near choke on a cigarette someone brought to school in third grade once, but that doesn't exactly count.
I find it pleasant and relaxing.
My dad took up smoking because of stress, and he's a man of far bigger willpower than I'll ever be.

I agree. Why do you want to smoke at all? You'll end up wasting loads of money and giving yourself lung cancer. And it stinks too. My dad smokes and every time I go over his house the first thing I can smell is cigerettes. Not very nice.

If you want it to smell nice, get yourself a fancy cherrywood pipe and fancy cherry flavored tobacco.

I challenge you to give me 3 good reasons why smoking is a good idea. Bet you can't.

No, I really can't.
There are no justifications besides the fact that it's a stress reliever, and some will even dispute that.

How the hell can you intend to start smoking? It's something that just happens.

Here's how it just happenned:
"Boy howdy this cigarette sure is good, I think I want some more!"
Simple enough?

Russki as a smoker myself i wouldn't recomend starting to smoke especialy "mahorka" or "belomor kanal" it is almost imposible to stick to 2 cigarettes a day and quitttng is really hard. never tried the other stuff though so can't help there

The Russian classics.
A Russian in America, I preffer good old red Marlboros.

Uh smoking is bad. I think science has proved that.

Lots of things are bad.
I'm trying to find out exactly how much.
Really, by attempting to sound scary you're not really helping.
I see through propaganda better than most people.
So far only the stories about people not being able to quit seem consideration worthy, a friend of mine has "quit" several times in the past two years.
Now someone please tell me more about said cancer risk.

As for LSD, I know (well) two people who take it on a regular basis.
One is a guy named George.
Pretty average, only distinguishing thing is his mohawk, which is one of your default white hairstyles here, although slightly rare.
The other is a girl named Alexandra.
She's incredibly freaky.
Draws S&M porn in class freaky.
She's also a complete *****.
And is highly disturbing.
I don't know whether to chalk that up to excessive acid use or personality.

[Sétanta]

87% of people who get Lung Cancer do so because of Smoking
More Men die of lung cancer than prostate cancer
More women die of lung cancer than breast cancer
More people die of Lung cancer than those two combined
An estimated 163,510 Americans will die in 2005 from lung cancer, accounting for 28% of all cancer deaths
An estimated 79,560 women in the U.S. will die this year from lung cancer.
An estimated 93,010 men in the U.S. will die this year from lung cancer
Men are 22 times more likely to get lung cancer if they smoke
Women are 12 times more likely to get lung cancer if they smoke

Information Courtesy of the American Cancer Society

I am not trying to scare you. The facts tell it all.

[Kara Kolyo]

even without the cancer stuff smoking damages your health to a point- you can't run as long as before, other phisical activities are bigger problem your heart hurts sometimes and hangover with oversmoking is not a good thing, your breath and teeth will need much more attention too