heretic, if you're talking about cigarettes, i really recommend you cut down (it's the worst bang for your buck). i don't mean to lecture you, and you probably won't listen to me because you've heard the shit before i started smoking at about 13. when i was 17, my lungs started to hurt. when i was 18, i started to cough up blood and have chronic bronchitis and trachea infections. i cut down a lot, but even staying in clubs until the early hours when it got really smokey would suddenly make my chest tighten up and i wouldn't be able to draw in a breath. then i'd spend the next week in bed with throat infections, coughing up reems of phlegm and blood, and subsequent fevers and puking up more blood. breathing was difficult unless the air was in a very comfortable range of temperature and humidity i now haven't smoked cigarettes in almost 13 months, and i only cough up blood when i've been in a smokey bar or club all night. i'm probably a bit hypersensitive to smoke because of my previous health problems. if you get to my stage, i would recommend at least yearly chest x-rays for cancer your lungs hurting are just the beginning. it only gets much worse btw, i'm 20 now