Way OT-but I need to vent for a second

[Marc Piane]

I remember a friend telling me about a (eastern?) philosophical principal were you have to first change intention to effect action. I was never addicted to cigarettes but I think this principle applies to any change you hope to make in your life.

[mje]

Originally Posted by christ andronis

I think once you're a smoker, you're always a smoker whether you quit or not. ...

Nonsense. I think most of what we've seen posted here gainsays that. Most of my friends were smokers back in our college days, and I don't think one of them would touch a cigarette today.

Of course, some people have addictive personalities, and constantly need something, whether it be a cigarette, heroin, or whatever. That's why so many junkies keep returning to smack after they've detoxed.

[christ andronis]

Originally Posted by mje

Nonsense. I think most of what we've seen posted here gainsays that. Most of my friends were smokers back in our college days, and I don't think one of them would touch a cigarette today.

Of course, some people have addictive personalities, and constantly need something, whether it be a cigarette, heroin, or whatever. That's why so many junkies keep returning to smack after they've detoxed.

Smoking is a really bad habit that is just as addicting as alcohol or heroin. Try going to one of their detox programs and tell them that they're not alcoholics or junkies cause they've kicked. To me, the same holds for smoking.

[mje]

Originally Posted by christ andronis

Smoking is a really bad habit that is just as addicting as alcohol or heroin. Try going to one of their detox programs and tell them that they're not alcoholics or junkies cause they've kicked. To me, the same holds for smoking.

For you, perhaps.

But there's a big difference between cigarette "addiction" and alcohol or heroin addiction. Now alcohol addiction has a genetic componant that influences who becomes an alcoholic, and even heroin addition may have a genetic componant. But the main difference is that heroin and alcohol users do it to anesthetize themselves- that's why they keep returning to it after detoxing. Tobacco doesn't do that. The most tobacco users get is a mild buzz and some oral satisfaction. Junkie and alcoholics use their drug to tune out the world and turn off their internal torment.

[christ andronis]

Originally Posted by mje

For you, perhaps.

That's why I said To me.

Originally Posted by mje

But there's a big difference between cigarette "addiction" and alcohol or heroin addiction. Now alcohol addiction has a genetic componant that influences who becomes an alcoholic, and even heroin addition may have a genetic componant. But the main difference is that heroin and alcohol users do it to anesthetize themselves- that's why they keep returning to it after detoxing. Tobacco doesn't do that. The most tobacco users get is a mild buzz and some oral satisfaction. Junkie and alcoholics use their drug to tune out the world and turn off their internal torment.

Have you ever smoked for a significant period of time? Just curious.

[mje]

Originally Posted by christ andronis

That's why I said To me.

Have you ever smoked for a significant period of time? Just curious.

Smoked for 20 years. Quit 15 years ago. I think I mentioned that it my previous post.

[flint]

WELL....it's been a while since I started this thread and I just noticed that it was back up and active. I should say that I am still cig. free at this point, although I'm currently quasi-laid up from surgery to my ankle that is keeping me from being on my feet-ergo no bass for 4-6 weeks, and therefore a strong desire to take up my ample free time with something like cigs. It won't happen, but I do think about it more when I've got free time.

I can't say I'm a non-smoker because I have taken up smoking a pipe-and no, not the crack variety. Now my rationalization-I have 1 pipe maybe every other day and believe it or not, I don't have any of the withdrawals, and cravings I did with cigs. Smoking a pipe is something else entirely. I actually enjoy it for it's own sake, not for the sake of satisfying an addiction. Maybe it's the flavor, the smell, or the INCREDIBLE amount of variety of tobaccos to sample-it's not unlike wine in that respect (or basses and bows if you're KS).

Before I get the: "that's still smoking and all tobacco is evil" mantra I should mention that some research points to pipe smokers actually living longer than the general, non-smoking, population if they don't inhale (which I don't)(see surgeon's general original report on smoking in the population, and a recent swedish smoking twins study). While there is an elevated risk of oral cancer, it is NOTHING like that associated with smokeless tobacco, cigs, or even cigars.

[Peck_Time]

Congrats on stopping smoking cigarettes Chortle_nut.

I smoke a pipe as well, and the GAS and TAD (tobacco acquisition disorder) is just as bad as with bass!

[mje]

Uh-huh. You're both smoking. And rationalizing.

[Gufenov]

I tried "cutting back." I tried the pipe, and the small cigars, and even "smokeless" tobacco. Each time, I eventually went back to the cigarettes. I finally decided to become a non-tobacco user, and thats when I finally kicked the habit. Luck to you.

[All_¥our_Bass]

Pipe tobacco has DRASTICALLY less nicotene, however.
It's like comparing expresso to decaf, yes it's in there but in dismissable quantities.

[Damon Rondeau]

I wonder if a person can say "dismissable" with a large tumour in their oral cavity. Just wondering...

[flint]

how's the view from those high horses?


Life is short. There are some things that are done for simply for their pleasure. Music-for one.

[Damon Rondeau]

...I'm sorry if I'm one who seems on a "high horse". I certainly don't mean to be. Believe me, if you knew me you'd know I'm not one to stomp on the pleasure principle and free choice.

But this is a thread pretty much about encouraging a tobacco quitter and quitter wannabes and a bunch of us quitters are chiming in with experience and advice.

Smoke if you wanna. My partner's a smoker and we get along very well and respectfully on this issue, it can be done.

[Michael Case]

quitters never win!

[flint]

didnt mean to "snap". No harm, no foul. I'm just a little gun-shy from the current political climate surrounding what seems more and more like a "nanny state". I mean-no saturated fats in restaurants in NYC?

I can see a time in the not too distant future when all tobacco use is banned.

[Michael Case]

Regarding NYC, I'm a little bugged about what's happening here. The other day I'm walking sown Broadway with a cigarette and this woman walks bye waving her hand with a look of disgust over my cigarette. Mind you this is OUTDOORS. Do you know what it's like outdoors in NYC? Cigarettes are nothing compared to the buses and trucks pumping out that thick black smoke soup, or the block of cars and taxis and cars idling waiting for the light to change. And don't get me started on the trans-fat ban! What happened to giving people the facts about what is in the food they eat, then let them make the choice. Next any offensive colored clothing will be banned, then smelly soaps. When does it stop?

[mje]

Originally Posted by mike da mook

quitters never win!

And rehab is for quitters!

[mje]

Originally Posted by chortle_nut

how's the view from those high horses?

Clear and smoke free ;-)

[mje]

Originally Posted by All_¥our_Bass

Pipe tobacco has DRASTICALLY less nicotene, however.

Nope. From Encarta:

Fire curing takes three to ten weeks and produces a tobacco low in sugar and high in nicotine. Pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff are fire cured.

Pipe smokers tend to get a lot more oral tumors than cigarette smokers do, because of the way they smoke. They keep the pipe in their mouths. Cigar smokers, too.

For cigarette smokers, it's not the nicotine that's the big killer; it's the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.