Yes, there are many non sarcastic advantages. We’ll assume we are just talking about tobacco and nicotine.
- Improved digestion. Nicotine is a very effective stimulant.
- Improved concentration. Again, it is a stimulant. This explains why I smoke way more around midterms and finals.
- Improved brain repair and coping with stress. This is still being studied, but smokers cope better on stress tests than non-smokers.
- Keeps judgmental people far away. This is one of my biggest reasons I started, because my ex wife is just such a person. Read some of the sarcastic answers, and if you want to keep people like that away, smoking is for you.
- Prevents Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. This is also still being studied, but there is a dramatic difference for smokers.
- Tobacco smoke repels insects, because nicotine is a natural pesticide. Bug bites are much less likely, because it stays in your blood stream. Where I live, a humid area with mosquito problems, it’s a big advantage.
- Taste. I prefer the flavor of cigars and pipe tobacco. There is no flavor like it and when I do go back to smoking after a break flavor is the central motivator. It’s somewhere between the best cup of coffee, dark chocolate and a really good cut of steak.
Edit: I am impressed with how much people have enjoyed this answer and the attention it has received, so I’ll do a few more:
- There is scientific evidence that nicotine helps counteract the effect of Parkinson’s disease. I briefly covered this above but here’s the actual study: Nicotine and Parkinson’s disease; implications for therapy
- Smoking has also been shown to have positive effects on ulcerate colitis and irritable bowel syndrome. This is likely due to the nicotine. How Nicotine May Help Ulcerative Colitis
- There is a moral security of knowing that one has made a lifestyle choice and already know the potential risks. It is ultimately disarming to anti smokers to say “I know about that study, did you know about this study?” They never know what to say to that. There is an assumption that smokers are unaware of the risk. I am, and so are my friends who smoke.
- Smoking doesn’t mean advocating smoking. These are the benefits that I am aware of and don’t mean that everyone should have nicotine or tobacco in their life. People should be able to live their lives as they prefer, for me that includes a smoke, for some it means tobacco free.
