One of the thoughts that keep going through my head about this is that these days you are pretty much guaranteed to die of one of three things: cancer, cardio related problem or a freak accident. I reckon those three things are the way most people go these days.
Thing is, it doesn’t matter what you do, you will die. You could choose for it to be relatively painless – ie. Don’t smoke; go in your sleep, rather than smoking and having a massive heart attack or a stroke or emphysema or something else equally painful and hideous.
But saying “It will kill you” has (obviously) never worked with me as an incentive to quit. The times I have quit have been – lack of enjoyment, can’t afford it, hate the smell, had a bad cold and just stopped, or even just got bored of it. I know I’ll die. That’s a given.
But life itself will kill me eventually. Smoking will increase my probability of going by cancer or cardio problems, and riding a motorcycle has just increased my probability of going by a freak accident.
That’s not an excuse for me to behave however the hell I want – I’m not trying to use it as an excuse for anything. Hell, just because I know I’m going to die one day doesn’t mean my life is a no-holds-barred orgy of gratuitously reckless and offensive behaviour*; quite the opposite, it’s very important to me to be a decent human being for that very reason. But it’s not a great motivator for me to quit for good – it will be something else that makes me stop one day, maybe.
*OK, maybe in my early 20s it was a bit like that.
I am a struggling smoker. Been through a lot of shit recently and started up again, and I hate myself. It is a horrifically self destructive habit and it harms those that breathe the smoke in.
It stinks, and it is dirty.
I hate myself when I smoke, and quitting is extremely hard for me. Some people can just stop. I could give up alcohol completely and utterly, I have gone through opiate withdrawal. Stopping smoking is hard.
Personally I would like to see the age of smoking go up by a year, every year. This would solve the problem.
I’m an ex-smoker but not a preacher, people make their own choices in life and I’m cool with that. My storyis that I smoked from 1985 but I gave up in 2000 after seeing a patient die from the effects from smoking. After that I went from smoking 20 Marlboros a day to zilch. It was shock therapy but it worked for me.
Its been 7 years since I gave up after regular bouts of bronchitis. Found the Alan Carr book quite useful (if a little patronising) and explains some of the mindgames involved in addiction. Still get cravings every now and again but they pass quickly.
inhale…exhale … nothing like it really…its like breathing but better…
Thought about giving up many times…tried for a little while but it didnt work out. My mum had lung cancer about 10 years ago, beat it and has been in remission for years…still didnt deter me though, and it saddens me a little that it doesnt :ermm:
however…
The way i see it…you spend the last 15-20 years of your life chatting fraff and shitting yourself anyway…so fook it…what 5 years through smoking, 5 years for eating processed shite, 5 years for drinking…and another 5 miscellanious crap? lol
Interesting to read… I don’t smoke cigarettes but I do smoke weed. I smoke half a joint in the evening once the kids have gone to sleep and once I’ve had my dinner. Sometimes I’ll have a whole joint over the course of an evening depending on how strong the grade is, lol! I use just under half a cigarette with my joints so I’m roughly using 5fags a week.
I do tend to smoke maybe 1 or 2 fags whilst I’m out on the piss but that’s because smoking weed is illegal but also socially unacceptable. Sometimes I will take a pre-rolled joint and smoke it round the corner, sad I know but if it were legal I bet you that we’d see less of these “barcardi breezer, geezas” giving it the large after a few shandy’s and causing trouble…
i smoke, prob 10 a day sometimes more, on and off weed smoker aswell, would love to stop all forms of smoking, but its one of my releases, i dont drink much at all, only if i go out raving. which i havent for agood year or so!
That’s actually a really clever idea to phase it out gradually!
I was watching a programme on TV a while back about illegal cheaper “imitation brand” cigarettes & vodka and how much more dangerous they are for your health than the real thing. They find their way into local shops and they look just like the original product …you would never know the difference.
I don’t think any age increase on buying them would work, they would just go & buy on the black market like everything else, I started at the age of 10 and was not discouraged at all, have smoked 30-40 for 33 years now and agree with the comments that you are going to die of something so why make your self miserable giving up. I like smoking and unless something serious happens would not give up for anything even the cost does not deter me, £6.43 per packet ! I do not think about the damage and like other members have seen what it can do but hey could get run over by a bus later so enjoy and worry about it another day !
Gave up about 10 years or so back… did it by using the inhaler thing-me-jig that looks like a cigarette holder, you know the thing you put the nicotine capsules inside. I did get a bit addicted to that mind you but weaned myself off the nicotine capsules by using rollup filters dip in brandy in it! aye … give it try;)
I did try the patches before but couldn’t keep them alight! :D:P:D
3 things, I don’t like chicks that smoke cos they taste bad. they’ll never ban fags cos it rakes in too much tax. If were really that worried about living as long as possible then we wouldn’t ride bikes!
I used to smoke weed, got into the habit quite a bit once, then it started making me paranoid. I could handle a bit of hash but that smelly blue-cheese cannabis makes me feel sick just getting a whiff of it.
get back in from work we pop a film on, and start lighting up. Averagely, we’ll have five or six shared between three of us in one evening.
I wouldn’t say im “addicted” or have “a drug problem”, it just enhances conversation, relaxation, and makes semi-funny shit ******* hilarious…
I’ve never been paranoid or had side effects from toking (despite being very lazy and very hungry when doing it!!) but, i would hope, if i did start experiencing adverse effects such as paranoia, schizophrenia, etc, i would put the blunt down for good.
Until then, all I’m gettin is positive vibes from it, so i’ll keep on at it
I smoke Senior Service and Samson roll-ups, if we could get Van Nelle Zware Shag here, I’d just smoke that.
A lot of the “fags are bad” stuff comes from completely corrupt research. I’m not saying they’re fantastic healthy, but the truth has been so polluted by agendas and nonsense that we’ll probably never know exactly what the risks are. Which is kind of irritating.
A lot of smoking-related diseases are nothing of the sort, it’s just a convenient label to feed the hysteria. The local district nurses tell me it’s rare these days that they have a lung cancer patient who has ever smoked. And the dangers of “environmental tobacco smoke” are simply lies. So live your life and enjoy it, ciggies or not.
I have the odd puff of a roll up now and again - which probably equates to about 4 cigarettes a year overall - so I don’t consider myself a smoker.
When I smoked more - years ago - it really affected my circulation more than anything and my skin started to look a bit blueish - so I more or less gave up.
In the past as a youngster I experimented with various illegal substances and used to wake up in the morning and smoke the joint I’d rolled the night before. However these days I’m pretty moderate - I like a glass or two of wine every so often, but don’t overdo it and don’t smoke much either. Sounds boring, but feel a lot happier and healthier because of it.
Having said that a mate of mine ran the Marathon who was a heavy smoker - he said his time would have been a lot quicker if he hadn’t stopped for fag breaks along route. He also said that just before the start of the race he was so nervous he had a fag to calm his nerves - and quite a few runners were giving him really dirty looks. So obviously smoking didn’t affect his fitness that much!
