Smoking and diving

[boulderjohn]

You can develop an addiction to marijuana, or the THC it contains. You can also become habituated, requiring a higher dose to get the same effect.

I read an article summarizing studies of addiction a number of years ago that was quite interesting in this regard. Researchers scanned the brains of addicts while they were presented with pictures of the source of their addiction. Certain areas of the brain lit up (or whatever--the science was beyond me), showing the intensity of the addiction. Interestingly, the pattern of brain response was the same for all addictions. More interestingly, it was true for things we have jokingly called addictions as well--like shopping. Apparently anything we obsess over in a manner similar to what we call addiction stimulates the brain in the same way as addiction. We can indeed become essentially addicted to anything. Maybe even diving.

The author of the article was a recovering alcoholic who had been sober for 25 years. He was tested, and when shown pictures of his former favorite alcoholic beverage, his brain had no response--the same as a non-drinker. He was essentially cured, but he was not going to take any chances.

 

[dmaziuk]

Well, when you say for example "I had an allergy and I used to smoke a cigarette to cough and clear up my throat" for me this is already a wrong message.

He didn't, and the message you got was not the message I sent. Nobody's arguing lung capacity -- I've easily doubled the distance I can swim on a single breath since I quit -- although I think your skin reaction is more along the lines of "curious effects" like my allergy story.

As far as trends go, I see more kids smoking around here now than 5-10 years ago. It seems the pendulum is beginning to swing back.

 

[oldschoolto]

I think we need to start calling out all the fat a$$ people.. Start calling them disgusting fat pigs that eat way more then they should and are weak minded people that look like blobs of fat.. They smell bad half the time because they don't/can't wash themselves right.. They take up so much room in airplane seating that they should be made to buy 2 tickets or be refused to board.. It makes me sick just looking at them...

Jim....

How do you think this would go over....

 

[boulderjohn]

I think we need to start calling out all the fat a$$ people.. Start calling them disgusting fat pigs that eat way more then they should and are weak minded people that look like blobs of fat.. They smell bad half the time because they don't/can't wash themselves right.. They take up so much room in airplane seating that they should be made to buy 2 tickets or be refused to board.. It makes me sick just looking at them...

Jim....

How do you think this would go over....

So, are there a lot of fat people forcing other people to eat cake and ice cream, shoving it down their throats? If so, I think that should not be allowed--or do you think it is OK?

I don't object to people smoking themselves, and I don't think others in this thread have, either. What I object to is when smokers force other people to smoke, too, as my parents did by filling our hose with smoke throughout my childhood.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Hilarious Jim, and you're right

Except in this PC world you're not allowed to body shame people in case it hurts their feelings (double standards when it comes to smokers I know

Smokers at least are truthful with themselves, they know they have a habit and it's unhealthy

Fat people are generally in denial - and have a ton of excuses. Someone will start the BMI debate and use the example of athletes being outside a healthy BMI range (despite them having an extremly low fat content which scews the model in extreme cases)

The health crises is not smoking it's obestiy costing nations a fortune.

And yet the masses stuff highly processed foods down their throats which are as much if not more damaging then smoking

But being fat is the norm in some countries and you're not allowed to upset the majority

 

[Diving Dubai]

I don't object to people smoking themselves, and I don't think others in this thread have, either. What I object to is when smokers force other people to smoke, too, as my parents did by filling our hose with smoke throughout my childhood.

So because of your parents (in a different time with different standards) you tar everyone with the same brush?

Smokers tend to be more considerate, they stick to the designated smoking areas, often defined by law. Yes some dive boats could have better areas especially in the Asian markets, but thats the fault of the operator not the smoker. You keep to your area we'll keep to ours

 

[BRT]

So because of your parents (in a different time with different standards) you tar everyone with the same brush?

Smokers tend to be more considerate, they stick to the designated smoking areas, often defined by law. Yes some dive boats could have better areas especially in the Asian markets, but thats the fault of the operator not the smoker. You keep to your area we'll keep to ours

I'm fat but so far I my cake crumbs have never fallen into anybody elses mouth one a dive boat.

 

[Dogbowl]

So because of your parents (in a different time with different standards) you tar everyone with the same brush?

Smokers tend to be more considerate, they stick to the designated smoking areas, often defined by law. Yes some dive boats could have better areas especially in the Asian markets, but thats the fault of the operator not the smoker. You keep to your area we'll keep to ours

I'm going to argue that many smokers are not considerate. So many will flick their butts into parks where kids play, or flick their butts off their balcony causing a fire, or sleep while smoking causing fire, smoke outside the doors of buildings where everyone going in and out must pass through, etc...

YOU may be a considerate smoker but there are many who are not.

And I have yet to be forced to eat anything by a fat person.

 

[boulderjohn]

So because of your parents (in a different time with different standards) you tar everyone with the same brush?

Did I say that all smokers do that? Nope. Stop looking for straw men to attack.

 

[boulderjohn]

Entire groups are often characterized by the behaviors of a distinctive few. Many smokers are very indeed considerate of the needs of others, but the ones who aren't can really stick out.

I am thinking now of the diver in Grand Cayman who lit up a big fat cigar after each second dive and stood smoking it right under the "No Smoking" sign in the middle of the boat, while all the other passengers were exiled to the farthest railings by the smoke and their unwillingness to confront him. A single memory like that is quite indelible.

I used to work for a dive shop that volunteered to clean up a section of roadside. We would regularly walk the shoulders, picking up the trash we found and putting it in garbage bags. The overwhelming majority of the trash was cigarette butts and empty packs. We talked about the fact that if it were not for the cigarette trash, there would be nearly no need for our roadside cleanups.

So, the small group of smokers who do those things are creating the image for the entire smoking community.