• gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
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    8 hours ago

    I think people might smoke more in total because people are stressed out more?

    I don’t have a study on this, but from my personal environment, i can attest that people seem to be more stressed-out, and more worried, about work and wages than 20 years ago. But i could be wrong here. Maybe it’s just that i’m getting older and paying more attention to these things now.

    Anyways, “more stress” would explain why people smoke more. To many, it seems to have a stress-relieving functionality, at the cost of long-term health disadvantages.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      I suspect it’s hopelessness. The people I saw start smoking young didn’t expect to hit 80 in any way that was desirable. Cancer, lung disease, heart attacks… those are future problems, and those who don’t believe themselves to have a future don’t care at best and are happy to go at worst.

      The thing a lot of them didn’t get was that the years it takes are the ones coming soon, not the ones far off into the future.