Do you see smokers anymore?

[mommyoffive]

I was talking to dh about this recently and we thinking, how we hardly ever see anyone smoking anymore.  When we were kids people smoke everywhere and it was no big deal for an adult to be smoking in a car with kids in the back.  I remember eating out and first the smokers could just sit anywhere, then they had a smoking section, and now can they even smoke inside?  

Do you see people smoking?

[Lawyer&Mom]

Only on my French TV shows!  (It really makes you realize how little smoking you see IRL!)

[prairiewindmomma]

Yes, I do. I see more vaping than smoking though….unless they are from SE Asia. I see a lot of Indian (from India) hardware engineers that smoke. They are efficient about it, don’t do it in front of kids, but have serious half pack to full pack a day habits.

[WildflowerMom]

Oh yeah.  All the time.   There are a lot of smokers around here.    

[Loowit]

All the time. A lot of people smoke in my area. It is a lot of why we stopped going to the county fair and other outdoor events. They can't smoke indoors but plenty still do outside. 

[Scarlett]

Yes when I am out and about in public.  No one in my world smokes except dss25 and it is really difficult to deal with.  I despise the smell.  

[fairfarmhand]

Yes, but I do live in one of the top places in the United States for tobacco production.  It's a fact of life here in my area. 

[MEmama]

No. I am always surprised when I smell cigarette smoke now (like from someone smoking in their car). It’s so rare.

I remember not only when people could smoke in restaurants and cigarette machines were right next to the juke box, but also how blue the air was inside airplanes from cigarette smoke. Later the back of the plane turned into the smoking section.

[Indigo Blue]

It’s a lot better than I remember in my childhood days. Smoke and smokers everywhere. Sometimes I will see someone smoking, although it has gotten so much better over the last few decades.

[regentrude]

In my town, no indoor smoking. A few people on campus step off to the street corner to smoke. It's rare.

In the small town North of us where I often go for events, people still smoke indoors in the pool hall which is the main watering hole.

[Spryte]

No. Once in a while, I get a whiff from a car if stopped in traffic. And very occasionally I will see someone vaping.

[Selkie]

11 minutes ago, Lawyer&Mom said:

Only on my French TV shows!  (It really makes you realize how little smoking you see IRL!)

Same thing I was going to say about my Nordic noir shows!

[1234]

I still see them all the time but maybe it’s because cigarette smoke bothers me so much. The worst is walking into or out of a store/restaurant and some jerk is smoking right outside the door even though they’re not supposed to. 

[alisoncooks]

 Not as often, and I’m especially surprised to see young smokers. Our neighbors are young, with a new baby, and I’m always surprised to see the dad on the back porch, smoking. 

This sounds bad, but I see it most among lower income and/or lower levels of education. All of DH’s extended family smoke like chimneys. (We ourselves are lower income, though not education, but we HATE the smell of cigarette smoke — holidays with that side suck.)

Edited November 13, 2021 by alisoncooks

[Jean in Newcastle]

I have had workers (contractors etc) who took smoking breaks outside. I am sure if I worked in an office etc that I would be more aware of the people who congregate outside for smoke breaks. But none of my friends smoke (or if they do, they are very stealthy about it and don’t smell of smoke, but I doubt it). 

[livetoread]

Yes, but in our area, there is a big class distinction between those who do and those who don't (at least in public). I found myself doing a double take at the number of obviously well off Europeans who smoke in public when I visited Paris a few years ago. It just seemed weird to see an attractive, well dressed 30 something woman smoking. Almost never see that here. 

[dsmith]

Yep, unfortunately my husband still smokes. I do see smokers but the numbers are dwindling. I was wondering how many people quit because of Covid. I know so many people who lost weight and/or changed their diets because of Covid, I would imagine some must have quit smoking for the same reason. I was hoping dh would be one of them.☹️

[freesia]

Very rarely--like once or twice a year.

[EKS]

Very rarely--vaping got popular for a while but it seems to have died down (or perhaps I don't get out enough!).

[fairfarmhand]

I see more people using smokeless tobacco though here. (Dip)

[wathe]

Yes.  Sad little gatherings of shivering people on the sidewalk just beyond the border of the hospital property at the back side of the hospital.  Or even sadder shivering solo smokers in the same place, under dressed for the weather, often in a hospital gown and pushing an IV pole.  I feel for them - it's clearly an addiction and must feel pretty awful to be driven to that. 

Smoking isn't something one does publicly here anymore.   It's something done outside, usually outside back entrances screened from public view.

Smoking definitely sorts by social group.  In my main social group of friend and family no-one smokes, and everyone assumes that no-one smokes anymore.  If I didn't work my job, I might assume the same, because in my daily life I really don't see people smoking.

In my hospital world, lots of people smoke - both staff and patients.  It sorts by social group and seems to correlate to level of education.  

 

 

[Pawz4me]

I can't recall the last time I saw anyone smoking in real life. I'd say it's been more than a few years. And I quite literally live in tobacco central (as in my city has two cigarette brands named after it). 

[kbutton]

7 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

I see more people using smokeless tobacco though here. (Dip)

I see more of that here than where I grew up.

I see less smoking now than when I was growing up, but it's still fairly common here. 

DH used to work in Northern KY, and he had tons of pediatric patients that smoked--so much so that he researched a bunch of smoking cessation strategies to share. 

I grew up with a lot of family that smoked and most still do. My grandfather eventually had some lung issues, but they came so late that they didn't cause him to quit, but they did probably end his life prematurely (and he was old!). He deeply regretted smoking at the end of his life, and we were surprised when he said so. He was a moderate smoker compared to many. 

[alisoncooks]

I just thought of some smokers I see regularly. Quite near my house is the county DSS/health services/food pantry. Smoking isn’t allowed on the property, so 2-3 women regularly gather right next to the main road (technically off the property) to have smoke breaks. 

[Arcadia]

Community college smoking area

Outside grocery stores and Target, Walmart, Nordstrom Rack

We also see people vaping while walking and we smell weed from people smoking inside their parked cars in the mall parking lots. 
 

My late granduncle was a heavy smoker but he would avoid smoking near children. A few of us have smoke as our asthma trigger so he was very aware. 

[purpleowl]

We are seeing it a lot more since we've been eating outdoors at restaurants due to covid. But like others said, it's nowhere near as prevalent as I remember it being when I was a kid.

[theelfqueen]

I have a lot of smoking family members. 

I see more smokers than I expect at the museum - out for a smoke break. One caught our landscaping on fire not too long back. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Oh, I just remembered the place where I see smoking the most - smoke coming out of car windows on the freeway!  And the occasional fire next to the freeway from a tossed cigarette.  (We have heavy traffic so lots of time to see what other drivers are doing.) 

[rebcoola]

No almost never.  You can't smoke indoors here and have to go at least 25 feet from an entrance to.   

 

[Loowit]

My DD is on a smoke free campus, but smells it all the time in her dorm.  People also smoke outside beneath her window both tobacco and marijuana.  At first she was sure she had skunks outside her dorm room, but her dad informed her it was more likely marijuana.  Now that the rainy season has hit the 'skunks' have moved indoors.

She had to insist on a roommate switch because even though she clearly requested a non-smoking roommate, she got put in with two smokers.  She has asthma and smoking really makes it act up.  She had to go through the accessibility office and get a note from her doctor.

[Frances]

Even though it’s not allowed, the most common place I see it is in the small park in our neighborhood where I frequently walk our dog. It is right next to the hospital where smoking is also not allowed (inside or outside). It is almost always hospital workers smoking, some furtively, others openly. At least it is better than when it wasn’t banned in parks here, as previously there were cigarette butts all over the park and one group even took to leaving pie plates on picnic tables for ash trays and nailing towels to trees to dry off benches on rainy days. The hospital banned it on their grounds before the city banned it in parks and so the small park was overrun with smokers for a few years.

Interestingly, I never see anyone smoking in any of the other parks, including much, much larger ones in walking distance.

The other place I used to see it is outside of where I worked. The area is full of public office buildings and smoking is generally banned in the area. But there are small areas on public sidewalks where it is allowed and the smokers congregate there right outside of buildings. When I used to walk on lunch and breaks there were routes I would avoid in order to not have to walk through a smokey haze.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Frances

[amiesmom]

Yes, often. And a lot of people vape. Vaping seems to be what the younger crowd is moving toward around here.

[Innisfree]

Hardly ever, except when I'm in the car. Waiting at stop lights, sometimes a great stream of smoke suddenly emerges from the window of the driver ahead of me. It's almost always vaping.

Probably ten years ago now, I was really shocked to see someone smoking (vaping) at our neighborhood pool. Smoking just wasn't something people did, typically, in that sort of public situation, and especially around kids-- we were all there for swim team practice. I wasn't the only one looking startled and unhappy. It was the first time I had ever seen vaping. In the intervening years, I don't think it's become any more common or acceptable in my circles, but vaping seems to have supplanted cigarettes among those who do smoke. I'd agree that there's a class and educational gap between smokers and nonsmokers here.

[Tap]

All the time. Especially on side walks in front of businesses and apartment buildings. Many apartment building do not allow smoking so the renter has to go off the property to smoke. That means the often congregate right outside the drive up entrance.  My work campus is 24hrs, and has the same rule, so it is rare to *not see someone at the entrance smoking. There are usually groups of 5 or more at the entrance smoking and vaping. 

[Indigo Blue]

I didn’t know smoking can cause things like macular degeneration and diverticulitis. I know life-long smokers who have suffered from these two conditions. One was warned by his ophthalmologist to stop smoking after his diagnosis. He must take shots in his eyeball every couple months to slow the progression. This person still smokes. The other person finally did quit. 

[MooCow]

I live in the South. I see lots of smokers, vapes, chewing tobacco. Some in cars, haven't really seen smokers with kids in the car.

[Acorn]

I see smokers outside the grocery store or library every time I go somewhere. I think it’s less than I used to see. I just looked the rates up,  and about 20% of adults in Ohio smoke, didn’t specify if that includes vaping. 
 

PS. Our voting precinct used to be in the party room of a bowling alley. Smoke makes me ill due to allergies/asthma. I will always remember the day I got to vote for an indoor smoking ban. I couldn’t see through the bowling alley to get to the polling room. I was so shocked it passed. 

[Lawyer&Mom]

I smell cannabis 10x more frequently than cigarettes.  I think smoking pot is far more socially acceptable in my area than cigarettes, but I don’t actually see people smoking either.  Just smell it. 

[Bambam]

I regularly see smokers here - employees sitting/standing outside stores and restaurants.  Not as many as years previously, but still several. 



 

[QueenCat]

4 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

Yes, but I do live in one of the top places in the United States for tobacco production.  It's a fact of life here in my area. 

Can't go far without passing a tobacco field there.

[Jean in Newcastle]

1 hour ago, Acorn said:

I see smokers outside the grocery store or library every time I go somewhere. I think it’s less than I used to see. I just looked the rates up,  and about 20% of adults in Ohio smoke, didn’t specify if that includes vaping. 
 

PS. Our voting precinct used to be in the party room of a bowling alley. Smoke makes me ill due to allergies/asthma. I will always remember the day I got to vote for an indoor smoking ban. I couldn’t see through the bowling alley to get to the polling room. I was so shocked it passed. 

I just looked up my state. 13.5% here. 

[mellifera33]

22 minutes ago, Lawyer&Mom said:

I smell cannabis 10x more frequently than cigarettes.  I think smoking pot is far more socially acceptable in my area than cigarettes, but I don’t actually see people smoking either.  Just smell it. 

Yup, here too. And just this morning, as I drove over a viaduct named for the old pickle company, I remembered the vinegar smell that was so prominent in the area when I was a kid. Now it smells skunky from all the cannabis processing going on in the old buildings. 

[HS Mom in NC]

I live right on the overlap of where the suburbs and rural areas meet outside a medium sized city.  There are still tobacco growers around here, I drive by small tobacco fields on my way to the grocery store, but it's rare that I see someone smoking here.

[Teaching3bears]

A group of kids at the edge of the road outside my son’s school because they aren’t allowed on school property.  It makes me sad.  Is there not a way to get young people to not start?  
Otherwise, outside malls sometimes or in their cars.  Growing up it felt like every single adult smoked.  I don’t know how I would find the time, even if I wanted to.  

 

[teachermom2834]

Yes. We have a lot of smoking and vaping here. We have had a lot of work done at our house over the last couple years and that usually comes with lots of smoking. I find cigarette butts all along the street that look to have been tossed out of cars.

I also have some people in my life that are closet smokers. Like I know them casually for years before I spend time at their home or some other circumstance in which they reveal their habit. These people are always embarrassed because no one in my circle openly smokes.

Cigar smoking seems to be acceptable in a way cigarette smoking is not. Like it is classy or something.

[Lecka]

Cigarettes cost $8 a pack where I live.  I do see people smoke, but I am seeing more dip.  Which is also not really common — but I do see it.  

[math teacher]

I rarely see people smoke anymore. It's still hard for me to believe we actually had a smoking area at the middle school I attended. These were sixth, seventh, and eight graders out there smoking!!! Unreal.

[Guest]

No, thank the gods. It is banned from practically all public places, including parks and recreational areas where kids play. It’s also just really unpopular, socially speaking, where I live so the people who do smoke mostly hide away. 

[Elizabeth86]

Unfortunately. My dh is a smoker. 😥It seems I still see a lot of smokers. when I buy cigarettes for him, the young kids at the grocery store are not familiar with cigarette brands, so that’s good on the young generation!!

Edited November 14, 2021 by Elizabeth86

[YaelAldrich]

I grew up less than 3 miles from a tobacco processing plant. When the air is right the smell of cured tobacco is strong. It is a scent memory for me.

In Boston I don't smell or see too many cigarette smokers. I do smell a LOT of marijuana.

My husband mentioned in his recent trip to the Netherlands that there were many, many smokers there at the universities at which he spoke. They ran out in between classes right outside the doors and left a carpet of butts and a thick cloud of smoke.

Edited November 14, 2021 by YaelAldrich