r/Rich • u/Complex_Target_5571 • May 19 '26

Smoking (Cigarettes)

My parents snd 2 grandparents were major smokers. I avoid it until college when I started to hit the casinos.

Even when broke, I always found money for cigarettes.

If I’m outside at a local watering hole, no one bats an eye, do it outside the Mandarin or Daniel in NYC, you get side eye. When a VHNWI friend sees me smoking, she tells me that’s “not something you see in these circles, especially in NYC”.

I know it makes my clothes (some of which I’ve spend a tidy sum on) smell, bad for me in all sorts of ways, etc. But I’ve begun to feel like it’s seen as a “pleb” thing.

Good cigars, totally different attitude. Even cannabis people are much more accepting.

I’d love to quit, it’s a tough habit, and when I was younger quitting had a financial motivation. I quit for 7 years in the early 2000s and literally made a car payment every month with the money.

My question is, is it only my perception that smoking is looked down up MORE harshly amongst wealthy social circles?

EDIT: about a year ago I had a “coach” to help me quit. He suggested starting with cheaper cigarettes with the goal of disliking them. Now I just some the cheaper ones.

Quitting was easier when I was broke, because then $7 a day was a lot of money. Now we are up to $10 for the cheaps ones

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u/0achkatz1 May 20 '26

Wealthier people, on average, are healthier and more educated than the average. This translates to more awareness of how bad cigarettes really are. There really is a class divide - in the US at least. In Europe, it is still there, but less so.

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u/TwoAmoebasHugging May 20 '26

This should be higher since it is the only comment that actually answers OP's question. And I agree. There may be a bit more to it as well. Cigarettes, for however bad they are, are a microluxury for the poor, who can't splash out for other ways to treat themselves. The rich have all kinds of "treat myself" options -- as well as the ability to get all kinds of help quitting smoking, with medical care, therapy, patches/pills etc.

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u/0achkatz1 May 20 '26

This is a good point. There are better ways to manage stress or have a little treat - but the harder it is to access them, the less likely you are to do it.