I've got to be pedantic and challenge you here
Who advised you not to smoke? You're five years younger than me and, whilst there was an understanding of the shit that smoking is when we were younger did anyone actually say - "Battered. Don't start, because you'll fucking regret it."? And if they did, were you listening to them or your mates?

Are you telling me that, when you started, you'd have said "Oh yes, how correct." Or just done what you were going to do anyway?
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 15 Nov 2012, 20:17, 1 reply)

My grandfather (who smoked for over 40 years) told me not to, when I was about 13 and he'd heard I had already tried the occasional JPS.
At the time I didn't listen. I now wish I had.
( Fucking hell Jeff I am not a robot, Thu 15 Nov 2012, 20:54, closed)

Problem is, and this sounds like a lame excuse, which it isn't,
that in the 70s and 80s, smoking was more acceptable, and there were none of the restrictions on marketing that there are now.

I started when I was a teenager, and at the time, everybody smoked, fags were advertised on TV and every other medium. People would say 'Tsk, nasty habit', and that's about it.

I still smoke, and I'm pretty much all in favour of the moves to get cigarettes out of view. I wish I hadn;t started.

About cost - I've found the solution is to smoke rollups. They cost about 1/10th of the price of normal fags, and they're fiddly and annoying to roll, so I tend to smoke less of them. I travel just about enough to always be able to grab them in duty free. I spend about £5 / week on smoking.

If I wanted to smoke like I used to, 20 silk cut a day, I'd be really pushed to afford it.
(username failed moderation, Fri 16 Nov 2012, 8:49, closed)