Smoking phlegm was first popularised in Manchester, in the United Kingdom, in the wild 1980s.
People were already hooked on chewing phlegm, a habit known to be disastrous for one’s health, so it was only a natural progression (given what happened with tobacco) that people took to smoking phlegm.
An act that carries absolutely no delirium, buzz or high, smoking phlegm is deemed acceptable for just one thing: driving. In fact, phlegm smoking numbers rose after people were told in a televised anti-drink driving advertisement that it was “OK for you to smoke phlegm and drive”.
It is believed that smoking phlegm was responsible for several hundred Mancunian fatalities throughout the 1980s, but it was receiving the blame for a shift in the local accent and dialects that finally pushed the majority to quit.
Nowadays only a few phlegm smokers exist amongst the city’s homeless community. They are said to feed their habit by scraping up the dried coughings and throat chunks of passing cigarette smokers. They are known as smoker’s phlegm smokers.