Smokers?

[portermoresby]

I've smoked for nearly four years now. I've had moments of heavy smoking (up to a pack a day) and moments of very low smoking, like a couple cigarettes in a week. I had quit smoking on June, 11 but then I started again a couple months ago. Do you smoke? Have you ever tried quitting? Would you talk about your smoking experience? (how much does disease risk scare you, for example)

 

[____no5]

Very heavy smoker. More than one packet, very heavy non-filter cigarettes. In fact, I can not stand the filter. Last attempt to cut it was about 15 years ago. I did a fatal mistake: I tried to cut more than one thing. I failed, in a single night.

Another proof that 100k thread contains the answer of everything one needs to know, here

 

[portermoresby]

Very heavy smoker. More than one packet, very heavy non-filter cigarettes. In fact, I can not stand the filter. Last attempt to cut it was about 15 years ago. I did a fatal mistake: I tried to cut more than one thing. I failed, in a single night.

Another proof that 100k thread contains the answer of everything one needs to know, here

That thread is kinda TL;DR 

 

[Unknown One]

Nope, have never smoked in my life and don't plan to ever in the future. Can't stand any sort of cigarette smoke and it's a big waste of money as well.

Just say you smoke half a pack a day and it costs $10 per packet (the average price down in Australia seems to be heading north very quickly and seems to be around the $12-14 mark). 365 days in a year means 182 packets for a cost of $1820 per year. Doesn't seem too much on a day to day basis, but total it up and it's a pretty big kick in the wallet.

 

[____no5]

That thread is kinda TL;DR 

Neither did I. The only thing I had to do is to use the 'search' option: I typed 'quite smoking' and the first post I got, it was the linked one 

 

[bearfan]

Quit after 20 years of slightly over a pack a day about 2 years ago.  It is funny now when I walk by someone smoking my reaction is anything between "God that smells horrible, how the hell did I ever do that" to "Man I would kill to be able to have just one (but I know I cannot have just one)"

 

[Deleted member 7164]

Yup, last ~10 years. Never seriously tried to quit because i like it  

Since mid 2009 i started with rolling tobacco, i'm buying 100 gram packs for 5.5 euro. One pack lasts approx 10 days. So it's 10 grams per day, standard filter cigarette has ~ 1 gram of "stuff" in it. So in pure weight it's smoking half a standard pack a day. Slim rolled cigarette weights around 0.5 grams. This tobacco is lighter, has a lot more taste, and doesn't have any of "additional chemistry" tobacco companies stuff in when producing filter cigarettes (and that stuff is bad, more bad than nicotine/tar itself).

Up to that point, i've smoked around 8 20-cig packs a week of black Walter Wolf, it has a bit less nicotine/tar than Marlboro, but it's still very strong.

I strongly recommend rolling tobacco for anyone that wishes to cut down the costs, smoke less, and smoke less dangerous substances.

Apart from that, there are two additional factors. How many times did you work on something, and almost subconsciously you reach for your pack, put a cigarette in your mouth and light it up? Well with rolling stuff it doesn't work that way because you need to roll   And after a month you'll be rolling nice slim cigs, it won't take you much effort or concentration to do it. And another issue is that filter cigarettes contain substances that elevate addiction. After dumping those for rolling tobacco, i have a lot less "need" to smoke. For instance, went on a business trip, we were late on schedule and had to drive 5 straight hours, without stopping, on the motorway. It was a no-smokers car, and i didn't feel any need to smoke. Because i couldn't. Thus with this stuff it's more of a psychological addiction than physiological one.

Besides, before '90s people smoked everywhere. It's funny to see historical government cabinet meetings where everyone smokes.
Smoking is bad, nobody denies that. But our modern way of life is more bad. If you smoke, you don't do physical activities and you eat junk food, you're on a good way to screw yourself permanently. That's not my case, so i'm not concerned badly about my smoking issue. You need to give it other way if you're going to take some.

Anyways, i'm going to quit when the time comes. And i don't mean that by health issues. My good friend stopped smoking after 13 years when his son was born. He didn't smoke a single cigarette since.

 

[____no5]

A pro-smoking post! This is my friend Zare! He's a good friend of mine.  

It's funny to see historical government cabinet meetings where everyone smokes.

In Greece something awesome happened. The government decided to stop smoking in bars /restaurants in the fucking middle of the crisis. How stupid can these people be? We talk about the #1 smoking country globally, where the percentage of smokers rises with time.

Anyway, that time, they decided to be really strict, not like a thousand times before. They did mean it this time.  

One -two moths, everything's went well, except the bars and restaurants didn't have too many people. So one day, the union of those people decided one thing: From tomorrow, everybody, brings back the ashtrays in his shop. And they did it.

Now everyone's smoking everywhere, just like before. Fucking revolution.  

 

[portermoresby]

Yup, last ~10 years. Never seriously tried to quit because i like it  

Since mid 2009 i started with rolling tobacco, i'm buying 100 gram packs for 5.5 euro. One pack lasts approx 10 days. So it's 10 grams per day, standard filter cigarette has ~ 1 gram of "stuff" in it. So in pure weight it's smoking half a standard pack a day. Slim rolled cigarette weights around 0.5 grams. This tobacco is lighter, has a lot more taste, and doesn't have any of "additional chemistry" tobacco companies stuff in when producing filter cigarettes (and that stuff is bad, more bad than nicotine/tar itself).

Up to that point, i've smoked around 8 20-cig packs a week of black Walter Wolf, it has a bit less nicotine/tar than Marlboro, but it's still very strong.

I strongly recommend rolling tobacco for anyone that wishes to cut down the costs, smoke less, and smoke less dangerous substances.

Apart from that, there are two additional factors. How many times did you work on something, and almost subconsciously you reach for your pack, put a cigarette in your mouth and light it up? Well with rolling stuff it doesn't work that way because you need to roll   And after a month you'll be rolling nice slim cigs, it won't take you much effort or concentration to do it. And another issue is that filter cigarettes contain substances that elevate addiction. After dumping those for rolling tobacco, i have a lot less "need" to smoke. For instance, went on a business trip, we were late on schedule and had to drive 5 straight hours, without stopping, on the motorway. It was a no-smokers car, and i didn't feel any need to smoke. Because i couldn't. Thus with this stuff it's more of a psychological addiction than physiological one.

Besides, before '90s people smoked everywhere. It's funny to see historical government cabinet meetings where everyone smokes.
Smoking is bad, nobody denies that. But our modern way of life is more bad. If you smoke, you don't do physical activities and you eat junk food, you're on a good way to screw yourself permanently. That's not my case, so i'm not concerned badly about my smoking issue. You need to give it other way if you're going to take some.

Anyways, i'm going to quit when the time comes. And i don't mean that by health issues. My good friend stopped smoking after 13 years when his son was born. He didn't smoke a single cigarette since.

I loved the whole post. It has happened a thousand times to me: I reach for a cigarette, then I smoke it and I go "hey, I was supposed to quit". I've never tried rolling: I remember smoking a few rolled up cigs and then getting a weird vertigo-like sensation. And it was tobacco, I can assure you  I always buy 10 cig Light Marlboro packs, I can't stand "Red" cigarettes, whatever the brand (Marlboros burn 25% faster than other brands, apparently) Anyway I'm planning to stop smoking on new year's day. It's a true Inquisition level psychological torture for the first ten-to-fifteen days, but then it slowly leaves you. And that's exactly what I think: modern life is fucked up. Working 13 hours a day can kill you. Eating McDonald's can kill you. Drinking lots of beer and smoking can kill you. As you point out, smoking kills, and that's a freaking fact. But society likes to put the blame on smoking and forget about the rest.

A pro-smoking post! This is my friend Zare! He's a good friend of mine. 



In Greece something awesome happened. The government decided to stop smoking in bars /restaurants in the fucking middle of the crisis. How stupid can these people be? We talk about the #1 smoking country globally, where the percentage of smokers rises with time.

Anyway, that time, they decided to be really strict, not like a thousand times before. They did mean it this time. 

One -two moths, everything's went well, except the bars and restaurants didn't have too many people. So one day, the union of those people decided one thing: From tomorrow, everybody, brings back the ashtrays in his shop. And they did it.

Now everyone's smoking everywhere, just like before. Fucking revolution. 

Fuck yeah! Power to the people 

Anyway I had not paid attention to the 100k thread. I didn't know you could find anything in there. I'm going to read what you wrote 

 

[SixesAlltheway]

I  gave up smoking for three months at the begging of this year. After having smoked for about 8 years or so. Then I started again during the summer, for god kows what reason. And then I've quit again, currently I have been free for about 2½ months. It is definitly one of the best things I've done. You and your apartment don't stink, you don't have filthy ash trays all over the place, you have way more stamina and condition, you feel more healthy, you don't throw your money out the window on something that kills you.

Thinking back to when I used to smoke its really embarrasing to recollect how much of a grip the addiction had in me. When you have to go to the gas station in the middle of the night because the pack is empty or the first thing you have to do is get a ciggarette in the morning. Brain washing.

So, in my opinion. Don't wait till new years day to quit, just do it now. And take it a day at a time. You coulden't be doing a more useless thing than smoking.

 

[Taker]

I started smoking in 1978, and became a pack a day guy a couple of years later, a habit which I still maintain. Yeah I know it's gonna kill me. I also know that each time smoke is inhaled, a little lung orgasm goes off. I work within the death industry, and see the effects of smoking just about every day... fucking nasty what those little lung darts can do to a person. Yet I smoke more today than I ever have. Death wish? Fuck no. But the day I quit smoking will be the day they pry the pack from my cold, dead hands... it's a simple pleasure, and I'll take whatever pleasure I can from this vale of tears.  Don't even get me started on how we smokers have become societal pariahs...(government propaganda, but that's another post).

 

[Deleted member 7164]

So, in my opinion. Don't wait till new years day to quit, just do it now. And take it a day at a time. You coulden't be doing a more useless thing than smoking.

And you couldn't be doing a more useless thing than saying that. I get your good intention, but i'm perfectly fine as is.
Are you from west / USA? If you are, chances are good you're going to get killed by the industrial food you're eating.

@no5 and portermoresby, thank you guys.

They induced the non-smoking law here also, which is totally absurd. I'm not going to buy "you're poisoning others" crap, while people are still driving gasoline internal combustion cars freely, without limit.
Besides, coffee bars and similar were always targeted mostly by smokers here. It goes one with another - coffee and cigarette, because nicotine greatly amplifies the effect of caffeine. Enter the average coffee bar, and you'll see that 70% of population smokes.

My colleague once said, like they don't have the right to poison me with tobacco smoke inside a coffee bar. Well then, fuck it, don't go to a coffee bar, or go to a non-smokers one. Easy as that.
It's a place where people smoke. I won't go into a disco where large majority of the attenders wants to dance to disco music, and whine about them not playing metal. I just won't go to that place, and that's it.

Regarding not smoking on workplaces and stuff, i'm good with it. There you need to take others into account. And it can stink, it can leave stains, ash, everything...

Anyways, after a shocking non-smoking ban which came right out of the sky, like, in 6 months you can't smoke anywhere stuff, they saw it was stupid. Coffee bars started closing down, people losing jobs. Then they removed the ban for a while, so places can be adapted.

Right now, it's like this : for closed space, if it serves food, there's no smoking. If it doesn't, then it needs to get good air ventilation system, if it's below 50 square meters area. If it's above 50sqm, it needs to have separated non-smoking and smoking compartments. Which now induced something really ugly - owners started raising plastic constructions (tent-like) over sidewalk parts of coffee bars. You don't need construction license because it's just a tent, but it really looks ugly and kills the initial idea of urban planning and external look of the object.

And there's an nice anecdote, last summer when they activated the law, owners banned non-smokers from sitting on the sidewalk / open seats. Because you're taking the place of a smoker 

 

[SixesAlltheway]

And you couldn't be doing a more useless thing than saying that. I get your good intention, but i'm perfectly fine as is.
Are you from west / USA? If you are, chances are good you're going to get killed by the industrial food you're eating.

As a non smoker who used to smoke I don't want to be the preaching kind cause I used to hate those people back when I smoked. So yes I did contemplate wether or not to write that line that you are quoting. But I did so anyways, mostly to the thread starter, because he seems like he wants to quit smoking. The quote doesn't apply to you who are obviously fine with smoking, Hey, it's your life, if you want to pollute your lungs on your own too, go ahead  But to the thread starter: Don't keep pushing the day you stop smoking further away everyday. Just make a stand and quit. It will be the best thing you can do for yourself 

And no I don't live in the West/USA, I'm from Scandinavia.

 

[Perun]

I don't smoke, and I am very happy about that. Apart from the fact that I always shiver when thinking about how much money people waste with this stuff, I also think it's ridiculous to make yourself dependent of this crap. I'm also always very disgusted at the sight of chain smokers who light up one after another, and I also don't think kissing a girl whose mouth tastes like a cold ashtray is very pleasant.

Having said that, I think the steps to 'protect my right as a non-smoker' are utterly ridiculous. I grew up in a household with two very heavy smoking parents, and for a long time, almost everyone I knew and hung out with was a smoker, so I got my share of toxic air. Nowadays, I'm glad most of my favourite bars are smoking bars, because when I go out with my mates I want to relax and not run from the table to the door every five minutes and stand shivering in the cold because somebody needs a fag. The only negative thing about that is that the next morning, my clothes smell like a smokehouse, something I only noticed when I started living in a non-smoking household.

So, for my personal opinion, I think smoking is a disgusting habit and nobody should do it, but in reality, I couldn't care less if you did or did not. I even nicked an ashtray once so people at my place can smoke. But I didn't get engaged in the smoking vs non-smoking bars debate that was led with unusual passion here a few years back because I didn't care either way.

 

[Deleted member 7164]

^ nice post. Like i said before, everyday car exhaust gases and GMO junk industry places in food is far more of a hazard than "passive" smoking.
I also don't care if someone smokes or doesn't. When i come i someone's home, or enter somebody's car, if i want to light up, i ask first. If it's a no go, then it's a no go. Everyone has right to place rules at his own place.

 

[portermoresby]

I think I'm very close to Perun's take on this subject. I'm all for personal freedom so I don't pay attention to others unless what I'm doing can cause them harm or annoyance. I've been a non smoker for two days now, so yeah, I'm taking Sixes' advice and I'm quitting right now. Wish me luck 

I also agree with Zare: if society truly wants to reduce the risk of people getting cancer and dying, there's a lot of work that should be done and that entails much more than enacting Nazi no-smoking policies.

 

[SixesAlltheway]

Congrats on the decision to cut the slavery portermoresby  The best thing you can do for yourself, be happy you're a non smoker now 

 

[Deleted member 7164]

Yeah, if you want to quit i wish you great success

I also agree with Zare: if society truly wants to reduce the risk of people getting cancer and dying, there's a lot of work that should be done and that entails much more than enacting Nazi no-smoking policies.

I'm afraid that work can't be done due to capitalist system.
GMO industrial food is a lot less expensive than "natural" one. Just take in account that someone needs to farm and grow quantities that aren't massive and you get pretty high production price in terms of human labor hours and everything else, for "natural" food.

I can understand the non-smoking bans in countries like mine, where state runs the medical system and provides medical services / insurance. Yes, smoking can cause respiratory system complications in elder stages of life and it's not nice for you to posion yourself if someone else is going to pay the costs of treatment. However, again, this country doesn't do a shit about it's small farms dying out and large food companies importing GMO bullshit taking over the dominance, so i don't buy the story "we wish you best and pay for your health, you shouldn't poison yourselves".

And take into account that a lot of people don't get the total cost of the insurance back, simple because a lot of us (thankfully!) haven't had any complicated illness.
200euro/month is the average sum of what your employer has to pay to state medical insurance. Or your parent's employer, if you are underage / student.
Thus, if you, let's say, run into complications with 40 years of age, you've already payed almost 100.000 euros of medical services to the state. Yes i know that unemployed also draw money from that fund, and that we the working class pay others too (which is totally fine by me, we should take care of each other!). However no-one can claim that i'll be on somebody else's account if i get smoking complications, cause right now i'm paying in good health for the times when i'll possibly be ill. 

 

[Vortex]

WARNING: THIS THREAD MAY CLOG YOUR ARTIRIES 

I've been a smoker for 24 years now, I only realized it was that long when I began typing this sentence. I've never really been a heavy smoker and average 10-12 cigarettes a day. I have given up 1 or 2 times for a couple of weeks, but never for good, I hope to one day as a packet of 30 is nearly $20 where I live.

 

[Travis The Dragon]

If anyone is interested, I VERY HIGHLY recommend electronic cigarettes as an alternative. They're liquid nicotine which is heated up and turned into vapor. Just that. No tar or anything else.