Smoking, who here does that?

[GasSavers_DaX]

Good job on quitting. The only time I smoke now is if this one friend of mine comes over (which is about once every 6 months), we go get a box of Macanudo Maduro cigars and enjoy them together.

I used to smoke a lot, but I was able to quit around the time I met my wife.

[GasSavers_TomO]

Originally Posted by psyshack

I may give the Chantix a try. Cant seem to get it whipped with will power, patchs, gum or other meds, natural or medical....

I made it 11 months once. Then freaked out....

OOO-well

This was my exact scenario and Chantix helped immensely! But it also depends on if you have made the decision to quit as well.

[StorminMatt]

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

Cigarettes don't have to have nicotine in 'em...

Cigarettes don't have to have nicotine. Although nicotine actualy occurs naturally in tobacco (although Big Tobacco DOES increase the amount), it can be removed. BUT, this would actually do far less than you might think in terms of dealing with the problems associated with smoking. For starters, although nicotine makes cigarettes addictive, it is actually the tar that does the REAL damage. For instance, tar contains the carcinogens in tobacco smoke. And unlike nicotine, tar CANNOT be removed from tobacco - it is a result of combustion rather than something actually contained within the tobacco. The bottom line: nothing can really be done to make cigarettes safer.

By nicotine makes cigarettes addictive, right? Well, perhaps to some degree. But nicotine is not the last word in cigarette addiction, either. If it was, then nicotine gum and nicotine patches would be all you need to stop smoking (even if you remain addicted to the nicotine substitutes). However, this is not what happens. Clearly, something else plays a huge role in the addictive nature of smoking. And that something is, well, smoking. MANY people I have known who smoke tell me that they could care less about nicotine. What they REALLY like is smoking: holding the cigarette, inhaling, watching the smoke as they exhale, the smell, the taste, etc. And a nicotine-free cigarette is not going to take these things away. So while a nicotine free cigarette may be a somewhat useful tool when it comes to smoking cessation, it is no cure-all. And it is DEFINITELY not a safe cigarette.

[4bfox]

Hang in there on quitting the cigarettes. I was addicted for about 5-6 years, finally quit about the 4th time around in the hospital for pneumonia, when I was trying to smoke without igniting myself (I was on oxygen). I realized that it was a really dumb habit, haven't had another one since.....about 22 years ago. Only time I REALLY want one is when I'm in a bar, or duck hunting. Very weird...

Since then, we've gone through watching my mom die slowly from emphysemia....if that experience doesn't make you hate the tobacco companies, nothing will. She smoked for 45 years+.

Let alone the economic factor....when I quit a pack of Salems was $0.65, aren't they over $3. now? Jeez...that's a gallon of gas, right?!

[GasSavers_TomO]

Good to hear that you quit and have stuck with it, 4bfox.

I'm on day 24 and doing just fine myself now.

[psyshack]

I started Chantix yesterday.

Im not going to set a quit date. Im just going to let the drug run its course. After just one pill on friday. I woke up this morning and went 30 mins before my 1st smoke.

Here we go again.

[GasSavers_TomO]

Good to hear Psy. I didn't set a quit date either, I just let things progress naturally when I started Chantix.

[BumblingB]

Good Job TomO - just tell me you weren't one of those people that tossed their butts out the window. HUGE pet peeve of mine, especially if it hits my car - more so if I'm driving one of the old cars....AND Even worse if it hits me when I'm on a motorcycle.

I won't go to the in-laws anymore due to my father-in-law's super chain smoking. He made the mistake of lighting up in my car once....once was enough. Now we ride in separate cars when we head back there to visit.

Once again GOOD GOING and stay quitted (is that a word? ) My weakness is sugar and caffeine, everyone has their weakness I suppose. You won't catch me throwing empty soda cans out the window though.

[Silveredwings]

Originally Posted by Wazabi Owner

... Even worse if it hits me when I'm on a motorcycle.

I know someone who had a lit butt get into his helmet. He almost had to dump it.

[Silveredwings]

Originally Posted by StorminMatt

Cigarettes don't have to have nicotine. Although nicotine actualy occurs naturally in tobacco

Tobacco also has a natural tendency to assimilate heavy metals. So what do the big tobacco companies do? They lace their fields with fertilizer containing Polonium 210: one of the heaviest alpha emitters, and one of the most radioactive substances known to man. I'd compare it with radon but with over 36 times the half life. Po 210 has a half life of 138 days so if you quit, you can begin to recover. Tobacco smokers subject themselves to high doses of ionizing isotopes as well as over 4,000 chemicals that work together as carcinogens. [source: National Academy of Sciences Advisory Committee of the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR III 1980 - BEIR VII 2006 part 2)]

Do you remember the Russian spy who was murdered with Po 210? Same stuff ...only smokers are voluntarily putting it onto the most sensitive tissues in their body. Don't believe? If you smoke, go have a body scan done for Po 210. Hey, atleast some faceless corporation is making money F'ing with your life. ...but I digress.

Further light reading:
Cigarettes' Deleterious Ingredients: Tobacco Radioactivity