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Comment by kenjackson | Hacker News Reader

And they are usually addictive. Almost every person I know who smokes says they derive little pleasure they once did, but are addicted to nicotine and can’t stop. And as a non-smoker, it doesn’t look fun, but I trust it was at one point in their life - I guess.

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Right, I was a smoker for many years, the but the actual conversion rate of "drug users" to "drug addicts" is surprisingly low. The overwhelming majority of people who smoke their first cigarette will not die a smoking related death. And cigarettes are probably the most extreme example.

How many people who try cocaine end up being the poster case for DARE? It's virtually no one. The risk analysis for having fun with drugs is totally lopsided. Society is fighting to keep 100% from using drugs in order to protect the 5% who will have their lives ruined.

I think our samples must be different. Admittedly I have small samples of cocaine users, but the behaviors for them are consistent with the mainstream literature. Maybe just a bad sample, but it’s good enough for me to avoid it.

I wish you could just buy single cigarettes rather than always getting a pack. I feel that's a big part of the problem right there.

It would be like only being able to buy wine in boxes of 20, or beers in crates of 30. Once you have it, you're much more likely to use it. I just want a beer or a bottle of wine this Friday evening, and maybe after that I want a cigarette. And that's it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loosie

yeah I'm not sure how banning sale of loosies is protecting the kids. At 30, I get carded almost always when I buy a pack and almost never when I buy alcohol. If someone is selling to kids, they wouldn't care about this law anyway.

Absolutely. You could taper off really easily with loosies while with 20 packs, you end up smoking the whole thing and get addicted again.

Smoking Is Awesome, by Kurzgesagt - In A Nutshell, touched on how smokers eventually need cigarettes just to feel normal.

https://youtu.be/_rBPwu2uS-w?si=hR0J-eqBBUOjVtvd

> touched on how smokers eventually need cigarettes just to feel normal.

This is the same for every addictive substance, no?

I was amphetamine addict, I used daily for a year, very excessively in later stage. When I stopped I felt normal, it was not fun but I did not need amphetamine to get through the day. There is no physical urge to use more, you do it because you like it. It is very different with opiates I heard, but you said every. The word addiction pushed me towards drugs because I thought if I can stop any time it is not addiction and it is fine.

I am sorry for your experience, but having lots of experience myself in amphtemines I do not consider it an addictive substance.

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