Seriously.....Just Quit!!

[kaiser soze]

It is now coming on my 4th month of quitting smoking and it feels like forever. Funny how 4 months feels longer than 15 years.....15 years of poison. What I find even funnier is that I am not as active, energetic, nor as healthy feeling as I felt during my first few years of smoking.

Looks like smoking has taken pieces of me and with quitting I pray I can get some of it back. My biggest fear is that damage has already been done. Even in quitting people die from smoking, it is an unbelievable gamble. People as young as 17 get cancer within months of using tobacco and others smoke until they die at the ripe ol' age of 93...there are no definites, no promises, nor strategies that can save a tobacco user other than never starting up.

The past few months my girlfriend and I have observed young kids smoking, I can tell a kid isn't a "seasoned" smoker by they way they awkwardly hold their cigarette, how weak they inhale, or by the fact they make sure people see them smoking, not old enough to buy them but alive enough to smoke them. A few weeks ago I was leaving my campus library and noticed a young crowd of smokers mingling, taking a break from orientation. All looking cool and confident and with cigarette in hand (a few probably looking over their shoulders to make sure mom or dad wouldn't see them), some were probably star students, talented musicians, healthy athletes, party animals...I thought how are they going to feel their junior year puffing away their future student loans?

Now I have no right to be angry with these smokers because I too was once one...well am one who just recently quit, but I wonder what is compelling and propelling them into smoking? Back when I was a kid, second hand smoke was rarely touched upon as a health hazard, hell there weren't even seat belt laws....shit some cars didn't even have seat belts! I was surrounded by smoking advertisements in paper and on television. My mom and dad were massive smokers and most every mom and dad of my friends...people were HOOKED! Cartoon characters once smoked (Fred and Barney) and after television ads were banned tobacco companies moved to cartoon mascots on paper like Joe Camel, and the rough and tumble Marlboro Man. Candy cigarettes and chewing gum cigars were popular staples at our corner store, tobacco culture was very hard to escape as a child.

Flash forward to today.....a time when people know tobacco kills, a time when the cost of popular tobacco products has grown 1,000 percent, a time where anti-tobacco movements are their strongest, a time when tobacco should be extinct. I don't get it when I see young people smoking, they should know damn well what is wrong with what they are doing.....is that the allure now being anti-healthy? It can't be the affordability, it can't be the cartoon mascots or the sexy vixens and their studly alpha-males on film, it can't be the candy cigarettes, or the second hand smoke filled Ground Rounds, it is basically just stupidity....which will lead to addiction.

There are days I hate the fact I quit smoking....some of my other enjoyable vices have subsided since....drinking, coffee, hanging out at bars, enjoying a smoke in my car, after a meal, on a crisp fall night. But there are many more days where I hated the fact that I started smoking, that I was exposed to such a fucked up idea, that I helped some greedy heartless piece of shit get wealthy, that cultures and our environment has suffered from it, that people I know have been sick and died from it, I HATE IT.

There are two types of people on this world...those who smoke and those who don't. I wonder what it is like being a non-smoker and seeing people light up, stink up the area, and toss their butt on the ground...it must be quite disgusting. To all the non-smokers I am sorry I contributed to this filthy, selfish, and loathsome addiction and I pray many more will open their eyes and free themselves of this affliction.

I know some of you on here smoke and some have tried quitting. Remember it is just a stick and you are a human, something infinitely stronger than a piece of paper wrapped around some shit. You are alive and that thing is death so please give yourself all the credit you deserve, build up a bit of confidence and seriously...just quit!

[camo]

I wonder what it is like being a non-smoker and seeing people light up, stink up the area, and toss their butt on the ground...it must be quite disgusting.

It gross, the smell is terrible and I actually find myself thinking less of people that smell of smoke.

[kaiser soze]

I agree...now when I smell a smoker (especially a heavy one), I am reviled by the fact that I probably smelled like that many times...I can't imagine what my nieces and nephews thought

I used to wince at the smell of my parents place...thank god they quit too (y)

[Pres Zount]

Well, like you, I have different days.

Sometimes I will see a smoker and think how disgusting they, and their habbit is. They stink, make you cough and then they go as far as to just throw their butt on the ground. The worst thing is when they sit next to you on a bench or a bus stop, and just expect you to deal with their second hand smoke. Even worse is if it's a group of people who have to put up with them.

Then there are days when I see the young kids and I realise that they are just suckers who are doing what they think is cool, or what their older brother got them addicted to.

My mother smokes, she only started recently, and my sister has smoked on and off since she was about 16.

I guess the things that keep me from smoking are the health risks, the cost, and the pointlesness of it. It stinks like hell, and I can't imagine it tastes good. It doesn't actually calm you down, it's just your brain thinking it does because the chemicals in the cigarette are becoming/are addictive.

Why do people smoke? After all this time is it really still cool?

[camo]

used to wince at the smell of my parents place...thank god they quit too (y)

I hear you on that one. Kudos to my mum for just stopping at the drop of a hat. I've yet to see anyone else quit as well as she did.

[Funky Pepp]

Flash forward to today.....a time when people know tobacco kills, a time when the cost of popular tobacco products has grown 1,000 percent, a time where anti-tobacco movements are their strongest, a time when tobacco should be extinct. I don't get it when I see young people smoking, they should know damn well what is wrong with what they are doing.....is that the allure now being anti-healthy? It can't be the affordability, it can't be the cartoon mascots or the sexy vixens and their studly alpha-males on film, it can't be the candy cigarettes, or the second hand smoke filled Ground Rounds, it is basically just stupidity....which will lead to addiction.

That's not the point. When does a Teen, Twen, or everyone who tries to be cool ever think of health? It's never all about living healthy. You also know that massive drinking kills a big part of your brain, but who cares. Every time you drive faster than you are allowed you know it might be dangerous and you could be killed (or kill someone else), but this doesn't keep you from driving fast, does it. I never smoked (not regularly) but I don't think this has anything to do with me being a health-fascist, I just didn't like it.

Oh but congratulations for quitting - keep not smoking (y)

BTW: I'm just listening to the greatest song of all times "No Coke" by Dr Alban which seems quite adequate. :D

[kaiser soze]

Well, like you, I have different days.

My mother smokes, she only started recently, and my sister has smoked on and off since she was about 16.

Why do people smoke? After all this time is it really still cool?

Why would your mom start now? Does she have an addictive personality?

Why do people still smoke? That I don't know other than extreme addiction, fear of withdrawal, peer pressure (even among grown adults), being anti-authority, and the new and "improved" flavors of many brands which is to hook teens nowadays.

I think schools and campuses should start straight up discussions about smoking. If people fear that kids start smoking because they are told not to, then have them talk with cancer patients, children of dead parents, show disgusting images of lungs and jawless mouths, show what the chemicals in cigarettes do when used properly like embalming people or killing rats.

Tobacco products should not be sold in places that cater to children. If you want smokes you go to a smoke shop.

I think ex-smokers should really speak up, we know what this shit does to you.

[kaiser soze]

That's not the point. When does a Teen, Twen, or everyone who tries to be cool ever think of health? It's never all about living healthy. You also know that massive drinking kills a big part of your brain, but who cares. Every time you drive faster than you are allowed you know it might be dangerous and you could be killed (or kill someone else), but this doesn't keep you from driving fast, does it. I never smoked (not regularly) but I don't think this has anything to do with me being a health-fascist, I just didn't like it.

Oh but congratulations for quitting - keep not smoking (y)

BTW: I'm just listening to the greatest song of all times "No Coke" by Dr Alban which seems quite adequate. :D

I agree that health is never the question...it is usually an after thought. But smoking is becoming less socially acceptable than drinking and driving fast.

Tobacco is much more acceptable to teens and twens than alcohol or automobiles, so I can saw it is probably the most abused substance and one of the more dangerous health hazards that will accumulate throughout their lives.

[Lex Diamonds]

I started as a buffer when I tried to quit weed. When I was 15.

Then I started smoking weed again and both habits developed, I'd say I smoke around 100 a week, along with like 20 or 30 spliffs. The thing that kinda scares me is every few months my health/lungs will get noticeably worse, then after a few days of shortness of breath or pains I start to ignore it and carry on as normal. I can barely exercise for half an hour now without being in physical pain in my lungs and throat (and needing a cigarette).

So yeah, I recognise how fucking bad for you that shit is. Add to my own experiences the many people I have known who have died from smoking-related illnesses (cancer is the one I'm most scared of, I feel it's kinda inevitable). And the fact I probably wouldn't be in shitloads of debt to my bank if there wasn't around £5 a day going on smoking. It's a pretty fucking stupid thing to do.

But hey, I can't see myself giving up anytime soon. If it was as simple as flicking a switch in my brain (I can't afford hypnosis) then hell yeah I'd kick that shit. But I've always had an addictive personality and I'm an expert at procrastination. Plus it makes you look so damn cool. (y)

[kaiser soze]

Honestly it is just about turning that switch off. I come from a family of alcoholics and addictive personalities. It is not what lies in your genes that makes you what you are, it is your will power.

I'm starting to believe that the only people who think it looks cool are other smokers.

[Lex Diamonds]

Honestly it is just about turning that switch off. I come from a family of alcoholics and addictive personalities. It is not what lies in your genes that makes you what you are, it is your will power.

I'm starting to believe that the only people who think it looks cool are other smokers.
My will power's pretty bad when it comes to stopping things that I enjoy, even if it's better in the long run.

And I agree on that, most non-smokers I know think it's disgusting and I feel kinda uncomfortable when I have to smoke in front of them.

[DeeJayZap]

the majority of people in my year in school smoke (15-16 yr olds). i dont because ive always hated it. plus it wouldn't help my diabetes any. my 16y.o. brother smokes and my parents just found out. they both smoke but they dont do it around us thank god. i actually dont understand how people can smoke, you are basically burning your lungs. think about it, you are BURNING YOUR ORGANS... WILLINGLY. wtf

[Waus]

I'm not really a cigarettes-by-the-pack smoker, but I light up a cigar or the occasional cigarette.

I generally do it when I'm stressed out about something. I know it's not technically a stress reliever, but it's a certain negative pleasure. I know it's awful for me, but I kind of want to do something awful when I'm really anxious. I don't care for the taste or smell of regular cigarettes though, so I avoid them.

I'm going to have to develop a healthier coping mechanism in the next couple months.

[AceFace]

i quit smoking about 10 years ago. about once a month, here recently, i've bummed one from a friend or something. i get an awesome little buzz from it, but that's about all i can handle. lately i've wanted to smoke a cigarello. like a swisher sweet. i might do that soon.
i quit cold turkey. thinking back on it, it was pretty easy for me.

[cookiepuss]

I quit smoking fairly easy too. I chain smoked all through college and a little after...I guess maybe 5 or 6 years total...then eventually I just started to feel like crap everytime I had a cig. so that made it easy to just go...know what? not doing this anymore.

every once in a while I do crave a puff....and I'm not all that put off by the smell, I kinda like it...but if you give me a ciggy I can't even smoke it all. two or three puff and I'm done.

congrats tot he quiters!(y)

[mr_rottentreats]

I agree...now when I smell a smoker (especially a heavy one), I am reviled by the fact that I probably smelled like that many times...I can't imagine what my nieces and nephews thought

I used to wince at the smell of my parents place...thank god they quit too (y)

i quite smoking about a year ago and i feel heathy as an ox and i smoked since i was 13

but now even when i smell a cig it makes me want to vomit

its weird when you think of it and i can smell them from a mile away

[kaiser soze]

its weird when you think of it and i can smell them from a mile away

True that....the other night my girlfriend and I smelled one wafting into our apartment so we had to shut the windows temporarily

[paul jones]

I've been on the patches the last 3 days and I took the last one off 3 hours ago(as you are only meant to have them on 24 hours-each one)

I really think it's for good now.I've smoked 17 years.

now all the money I save can buy me more stuff on E Bay!(y)

AWESOME!

[funk63]

Man smoking sucks. Not just because of the health issues but because of the damn cost.And I've realized that my sense of taste has weakened. :(
But I dont know what you guys are talking about when I was a little kid I thought smokers looked cool. I guess thats probably my main reason for doing it and now and cant quit 'cause Im hooked.

[Randetica]

every cigarette shortens your life for 5 minutes. FACT.

[cookiepuss]

every cigarette shortens your life for 5 minutes. FACT.

that's exactly why some people smoke. they are trying to speed things up.

[Bjork]

I refuse.
It's my only vice.
I would be too perfect if i did, I have to have some kind of shortcoming.

[Randetica]

that's exactly why some people smoke. they are trying to speed things up.

well then good luck on getting lung cancer my smoking friends

[mate_spawn_die]

i don't smoke. i used to smoke when i was 8 years old. but i never inhald... my friend and i were just trying to look cool i guess. i'm glad i never started for real.

[kaiser soze]

I've been on the patches the last 3 days and I took the last one off 3 hours ago(as you are only meant to have them on 24 hours-each one)

I really think it's for good now.I've smoked 17 years.

now all the money I save can buy me more stuff on E Bay!(y)

AWESOME!

Keep it up....remember, it is a stick filled with shit

seriously should we allow something so small and insignificant destroy our lives?

[ericlee]

when I first started, I used to hide and smoke. I never wanted to be seen and I actually thought I looked uncool.

It's the same thing I do now and when people see me smoke, they freak out. "I didn't know you smoke."

I'll quit eventually. I can't believe I started again after that 6 months I did quit. 16 years of smoking is too damn long.

[Bjork]

my parents still don't know I smoke.

[kaiser soze]

when I first started, I used to hide and smoke. I never wanted to be seen and I actually thought I looked uncool.

It's the same thing I do now and when people see me smoke, they freak out. "I didn't know you smoke."

I'll quit eventually. I can't believe I started again after that 6 months I did quit. 16 years of smoking is too damn long.

I kept smoking hidden from my non-smoking friends, when I told them I quit they responded with " I forgot you smoked!". I would also make sure I was smoke free before going to family functions.....man the instant I got in my car I'd light up

[Kid Presentable]

Big Post.

I had friends who grew up pretty poor, and the one thing they saw their parents spend money on fairly easily (as in, a walk to the local shop) was smoking. And I guess that helped these kids rationalise it as normal behaviour because they could go and buy smokes for their parents until like 1993, when the NZ government outlawed kids buying them (kind of). It was sorta endemic among Maori and Pacific Island youth and lower socio-economic groups, and as a result I had numerous friends who had started smoking in primary school, aged like 8 or 9. Jayden, a friend of mine, turned 16 and said "Drew I've been smoking half my life now". Nuts.

So my first cigarette was age 11. My parents had gone broke, and we had a bunch of random stuff from our pub days, which included a box full of cartons of smokes and other boxes of grog and such. The first few I wasn't really inhaling, but pretty quickly I was into it. It was great to meet up with other delinquents (so we thought) and smoke before school. Other kids kind of looked bewildered, disappointed and envious all at the same time. I guess we thought so, anyway. Because how could we not be cool?

So I smoked all through the remainder of my school days. It was a great way to pick up girls, because teenagers are indeed dumb enough to be impressed by smoking, and somebody with history, expertise and a zippo lighter was worth knowing. It was like being a rebellion dispenser around the age of 14-15. I was up to a pack a day by 18, labouring jobs and a lot of drinking made sure of that. Smoking and shovelling/drilling/driving forklifts ftw. For a time I was even part of a focus group that would get white boxes of cigarretes and we'd smoke them over a week and rank them. Funny. What wasn't funny was being broke and rolling up 'dumpers' from butts in the ashtray at our flat in 2000.

I'd always wanted to quit, and at age 11 I decided it was something the 21 year old me would have to worry about. Well, age 21 I was living in London, and working in a busy Pub in Brixton. I had smoked all round various Greek Islands, and other European destinations and felt pretty resigned to my fate. It just seemed so normal to smoke. Plus all the weed I was smoking didn't help. Why have one without the other etc etc? I made a few weak attempts at giving up, but I always buckled. I loved smoking. Fuck, I still love it. The act of inhaling smoke to me is still a pleasure, even if mostly in hindsight.

Long story only a little bit shorter; I gave them up in 2003. Well, that was the last time I was a 'smoker'. It sounds cliched, but I started refusing offers for cigarettes by saying "no thanks, I don't smoke". My gums ached. My head throbbed. I couldn't get to sleep at night and I couldn't wake up in the morning. Things would have tasted better had I not been coughing all the time. It fucking sucked. I had lost a best friend. Suddenly I had no deflection for boredom. I had nothing to do when I drank. That was hard. If you want to quit, at least be forgiving of yourself when you're on the turps. Smoking with a drink is a fucker of a habit to break. But I started brushing my teeth all the time. Drinking Grapefruit juice. Using Mouthwash. When I did fuck up and smoke, it tasted ridiculously bad. So I shaped the outcomes a little, to give me a slight edge over the demon. I was used to a fresh taste.

I smoked at a QOTSA show in 2004, had a ciggie at a piss-up a couple of years ago, even had one at a Meta-Knight invitational Smash Bros get-together a couple of months back. And it never once convinced me to get back into it. I loved it, but not that much. And that's where I guess I made my call. I'm 28 now. Do I really want to be bound by and paying for a decision I made at age 11? If you're looking for a push in the direction of quitting; do you really want to be facing the consequences of a decision you made as a child in your adult life? That's what helped me. If you don't want to quit, more power to you. I sort of envy you so have one for us. But if there were ever a way to tell the smoking me how much better I feel not to be bound to that shit, I'd have quit them sooner. Have a good one. (y)

[kaiser soze]

The deadly curiosity of a child....I remember sipping the leftovers of my mom's coffee and sneaking cigarettes from my friend's mom. It's odd how kids are interested in things that are gross and disgusting. Looking cool and rebellious and obviously the drug affect draw em in.

I wonder if the rise in price will eventually deter children and the poor....but on the other edge of the sword cigarettes will become a sign of prestige "Sure I got money because I can afford these stupid stink sticks."

[Bjork]

I remember stealing a marlboro red out of my brothers pack when I was 9 years old .... and sneaking with friends to smoke it .... I coughed for half hour from one puff.

awwwww ... to be a kid again.

[Knuckles]

I refuse.
It's my only vice.
I would be too perfect if i did, I have to have some kind of shortcoming.


But I don't want you to die. :(

[Bjork]

But I don't want you to die. :(

don't get me all weeping Mister!

[Kid Presentable]

lol whoops I'm 28 in December but the rest is right.

[russhie]

I never thought of it that way, kiddo.

I've never smoked a cigarette. I just never wanted to. I hung out with the kids that did, but I just never felt inclined to try it. A bit odd because I've got one of those shit personalities that clutches at anything that'll make me moderately more popular/cooler/whatever. Clothes, weight, drugs, sex, music...I've jumped on a few bandwagons just so people will like me more. But not ciggies. Weird.

[kaiser soze]

man, my girlfriend and I saw a grannie at least 75 years old with a wonking 100 cigarette yesterday, I wonder if she thinks she's cool?