Thread: smoking.

Originally Posted by Birnando

Hang in there
You are doing good!
I thought the first 2 weeks was the most difficult when I quit 7 or 8 years ago.

Quitting this bad habit is all about motivation IMO.
If your desire to quit is strong enough then you will make it.
I found that motivation within, set me some hairy goals I knew was unobtainable to me while smoking 20 a day.
Today, cigarettes just seems nasty to me, I reached my hairy goals, and gained a better health as a bonus
And you are right, your sense of smell and taste will get so much better.
Good luck!

it definitely helped that I had the full set of Nortons delivered on my quitting day. Helps keep my mind off of it.

I quit 2 and half years back. Straight from the norm of 30 cigarettes per day. After 35 years of smoking. And I'm happy.

I've been smoking pipes for 40+ years. At 62, I have no heart or lung issues (inherited diabetes from my Dad -- not related to smoking ASAIK). I work out regularly, and most of my younger colleagues say they wish they had my energy and focus. I weigh what I weighed in high school, and I'm in much better shape.

For me, smoking is a joyful experience. I enjoy everything connected to it. And it is a meditative experience. When I smoke, I am usually writing or reading.

Would not recommend it to anyone. I know I'm the exception. I'm happy my 13 year-old son has been educated in a school system that equates smoking with regular exposure to asbestos. But it has added much pleasure to my life. Most everything else has come and gone. Smoking good tobacco is about the only constant.

I'm a physician, BTW.

Originally Posted by pcb01

I've been smoking pipes for 40+ years. At 62, I have no heart or lung issues (inherited diabetes from my Dad -- not related to smoking ASAIK). I work out regularly, and most of my younger colleagues say they wish they had my energy and focus. I weigh what I weighed in high school, and I'm in much better shape.

For me, smoking is a joyful experience. I enjoy everything connected to it. And it is a meditative experience. When I smoke, I am usually writing or reading.

Would not recommend it to anyone. I know I'm the exception. I'm happy my 13 year-old son has been educated in a school system that equates smoking with regular exposure to asbestos. But it has added much pleasure to my life. Most everything else has come and gone. Smoking good tobacco is about the only constant.

I'm a physician, BTW.

Amen Doc, at 48, I've smoked a pipe since I was 15 and would agree that it does provide a great boost in quality of life. My father was the King of all cigarette smokers and developed emphasima when he wasn't much older than me. My Mom was also a heavy cigarette smoker and had some severe difficulties with COPD before she passed away a couple years ago. Thing is, that pipes and cigars are entirely different animals and IMHO, not nearly as dangerous as the coffin nails. The anti-tobacco lobby however has become so strong that they refuse to make any distinction at all between the various forms. And the second hand smoke hysteria is completely ridiculous. If second hand smoke were as dangerous as they say, me and most of my friends growing up would have been worm food years ago. I think like so much of the anti-tobacco palaber, it is simply based on some really bad science that started based on a desired outcome to support a political agenda (see also global warming)

Originally Posted by 1OldGI

The anti-tobacco lobby however has become so strong that they refuse to make any distinction at all between the various forms. And the second hand smoke hysteria is completely ridiculous. If second hand smoke were as dangerous as they say, me and most of my friends growing up would have been worm food years ago. I think like so much of the anti-tobacco palaber, it is simply based on some really bad science that started based on a desired outcome to support a political agenda (see also global warming)

The thing with second hand smoke, we can argue about how bad it is, precisely, but you can't argue it is neutral or good.

And apart from the more or less negative influences, tobacco smoke just plain stinks to most people who don't smoke.
I remember when smoking was still allowed in the college cafeteria. You'd start eating a warm meal, and then some inconsiderate prick lights up his coffin nail right next to you, ruining the taste of dinner, making everyone suffer the stink of cigarette smoke.

It's true, if you don't smoke then smell of it is vile.

If someone sparks up in the street ahead of me I have to cross the street!


Good luck quitting, it's definately worth it!

Lest I be misunderstood, I'm not condoning forcing others to smell my smoke. What you describe is a simple matter of etiquette. I understand that if for example, I'm at work, I share the floor of a pretty big building with lots and lots of people (many of which are non-smokers, asthmatics, folks with allergies, etc.) In such a situation, just basic good etiquette dictates that I take my pipes outside.

My issue is with social policy related to smoking and the intervention of the Nanny State. For example, if I own a restaraunt and I decide that I want a separate dinning room for my customers who would like an after dinner smoke, as owner of that business, that is entirely my decision and the government should have nothing to say in the matter. If my non-smoking customers decide that a smoke free dining room isn't adequate and I lose their business then that's what you call the market letting me know if my decision was a good one or not. Confidentially though, I believe in this situation my new business (based on the ability to have an after dinner smoke) may just even things out.

The anti-tobacco movement in this country is just a damn ridiculous hyperbole. A comercial on TV says that if you live in an apartment or condo and your neighbors smoke in their homes, then the smoke comes through the ventilation system and harms your children (pa leeze). No smoking in public parks or beaches (you're outside for crying out loud!). It's gotten so ridiculous that there seems to be much more social censure on a tobacco user than there is a heroin or crack addict. I'm tired of commercials that infer that like some derelict drug addict, me, and everyone else who smokes and dips is just a hapless victim. It seems we no longer even have the freedom to admit that we smoke because we enjoy it. Believe it or not we all don't want to quit. In fact most of us are just plain tired of being harassed about it. If I really wanted to quit I would have done so by now.

People that have switched from smoking cigarettes to cigars or pipes on the basis of being less harmful are IMHO in denial its a symptom of the addiction and a method of justifying to yourself that its OK to carry on.

I mean if you were inclined to hit your foot with a hammer then clearly a smaller hammer would do less damage but surely its better to not hit yourself at all. If you are concerned as to the health implications then tackle the addiction, its not easy but equally its not as tough as all that! Thousands quit every month and stick to it, yes I'm one and have been for the best part of 3 years.

The 1st winter after I quit I was amazed how warm my hands were compared with the previous, that was a shock I never knew my circulation was so bad. These days I feel a whole load healthier and I'm not constantly trying to fit in my smokes.

OK, I'll play along and just go ahead and kick it up a notch. While I do believe that pipes and cigars are less of a health hazard than cigarettes, I'm not inclined to believe they are totally without risk, (see also: red meat, eggs, seafood, my beloved swine, whiskey, beer, soda, caffinated drinks, strawberries, oysters, chicken, etc. etc. etc.) However, IMHO, these are acceptable risks. Not entirely unlike the risk we all take with our morning shaves. Everything in moderation my brothers! I like to smoke a pipe and my proclivites with regard to beer and spirits have been meticulously documented on this very site. My routine is a few bowls of tobacco (tobacco ONLY) and a beer or mixed drink when the spirit moves me (generally not even daily.) I believe there's a world of difference between this and smoking a pound of tobacco every couple days or drinking until I pass out. I've never cared for cigarettes and never took the habit. I did however start dipping snuff and smoking a pipe at a fairly early age and still enjoy both to this day. As far as I can tell, neither has ever caused me any medical problems.

All of that said, just for the sake of argument, let's just say that smoking a pipe will take 10 years off my life. The 10 years I lose will NOT be 10 years in my prime. In fact, the years I'll lose will be years when I don't have much of a future and can't remember much of the past. My hearing will likely be significantly diminished as well. However the Almighty was quite kind to make those hard of hearing years correspond with the age that we don't care much what other people have to say. Of far more negative impact will be losing enough eyesight to not be able to safely drive. Worse yet is the idea of someone having to change my diapers. Nope, I don't think I'll mind missing those last ten years from say 75-85. Furthermore, if doing something I enjoy now, will relieve me of these crippling indignities later, I say ROCK ON! Opinions vary but for me, I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead. Me, I'm diggin this old cat's health regimine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1leLg...eature=related