Smokers Anonymous

I'm a habitual smoker, but I did quit when I started college and only started again when I broke up with my last girlfriend. Although, considering the animosity that's been directed toward smokers lately I try to avoid conflict and smoke in one of 2 places... My car or my room. My parents weren't smokers, although my uncles all were at some point, so I kind of grew up around it. I just smoke Djarum cloves once in a while and it usually takes me about a week to go through a single pack.

I figure that as long as I respect other people when they really don't wanna be around me when I'm puffing away at my joint, then I'm in OK shape, you know?

I don't smoke (something about purposely inhaling smoke seems weird to me), and neither do any of my friends or family. I guess I don't mind being around people who do light up, but I much prefer if I don't have to breathe it in. The thought of getting lung cancer from secondhand smoke isn't what bothers me, it's just... smoke is kind of an irritating thing to breathe in most of the time.

That said, I have an appreciation for cigarette smoke as kind of as an atmospheric thing. If I walk through a casino or certain downtown areas without smelling cigarette smoke, it just feels a little different.

In all honesty though the government here should thank smokers since we pay more taxes than anyone else. Granted yeah we should be nice to everyone else but, and this is something I just hate, I've been in a smoking area just for us smokers, and someone ask me to not smoke there cause they didn't like it. Wtf is that about. I figure if we're nice enough to smoke in our little designated areas the least people can do is leave us be when we do so. Not to say everyone is like that but there are always those few that just have to be an ass.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

Try it, but don't make it a habit, man. It gets really addictive, fast.

Though I find it a lot more mentally addictive than I do physically. I am sure I could go without the nicotene, but my fidgety, pro-productive nature makes me want to smoke constantly. Driving in the car, I light up maybe every 20 minutes or so. Here at the computer, I smoke every 15 minutes or so. Mostly because I can't sit still for the life of me.

Smoking really calms me too. On work days where I have an incredibly stressful workload, I reward myself for my productivity with a smoke. This is probably the most addictive characteristic I can think of. If I quit, I wouldn't have anything to reward myself with anymore. ;_;

My old man would kick my ass if he ever knew I lit one up =p He's been doing it since he was 14. He stopped in his early 50s, but he gained weight and his blood pressure actually went *up*. Started smoking again and he fell back down in weight and his blood pressure regulated enough to where he didn't need medication o.O;

I wouldn't buy cigs with my current budget. I'd just take someone up on an offer. Once again, I hate to sound cliche, but I don't have an addictive personality. I went on a four-month non-caffeine run on a whim and it never really bothered me. It is calming, though. One of my favorite spots to go on-campus happens to be the out door smoking-station at my departmental building. Get some of the funniest conversations out there ;D

I smoke cigars irregularly, but haven't since winter started. It would be fucking rude to do it in my parent's house and smoking something for an hour outside isn't my idea of a good time.

I don't smoke, since the buzz you get from it is tiny, at best, and lung cancer is not something I look forward to dealing with. I have no problem with other people smoking around me, though. Yeah, I know, a bit hypocritical with the second hand smoke and all, but I think people should be free to do whatever they want to their own bodies. Just don't blow it in my damn face.

I myself have been smoking for years upon years. It's never really been a hardcore addiction with me though. I've kept a steady average of about 4-6 cigarettes a day (sometime less) for the past 8 years. It's never really effected my physical proformence so I've never been too worried about it. Plus, sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than taking a long drag off a freshly rolled cigarette (I roll my own).

I quit smoking mid-December.

If these intense cravings don't let up soon, I'm going to be smoking again. Truly if I so badly lust for a cigarette every time I merely look outside, then I will eventually kneel before the power of instant oral gratification.

I heard the way to help yourself quit is to avert the instant oral gratification - go on the patch. The patch will fill the void that smoking occupied but transfer it to a place beside your mouth. That way, when you continue to quit, it won't be your mouth that wants the cigarette anymore.

Since oral gratification is always strong (as stated by Freud), getting rid of it helps.

Originally Posted by Legato

If these intense cravings don't let up soon, I'm going to be smoking again.

Nevermind the oral gratification... I can honestly tell you that this is a fucking nasty habit to get behind. If you're in limbo about it, then I suggest you try your best to stay AWAY from it.

The only time I feel like smoking cigarettes is either after I'm drunk, or after I toke a bit. I don't know why this is. On the flipside, I enjoy the Shisha used in hookas immensely. It's just such a relaxing experience, and actually gives you a small buzz. Recreationally, hookas can be used as a centerpiece of a conversation, the silky smooth smoke serving as a catalyst to conversation. Just plain, relaxing, fun.

Originally Posted by Encephalon

Nevermind the oral gratification... I can honestly tell you that this is a fucking nasty habit to get behind. If you're in limbo about it, then I suggest you try your best to stay AWAY from it.

I try to. But it's inevitable. It's not only that I want to not smoke again, I want to resume normal life. I don't want to have to avoid smokers, I want to be able to sit before them as usual. I don't want to kick them out of establishments or anything. I want to be free of the desire of cigarettes, that's all it is.

Perhaps I can never get past the desire totally, but at the very least I don't want to crave a cigarette every time I see one. Shit, seeing RISING STEAM makes me want a cigarette.

I'm reaching a point where cancer, stroke, heart disease, etc, seem like a small price to pay for what would feel like freedom. Surely, "freedom" is a sticky word in this context, I have to be bound by cigarettes in this case in order to feel free. Even still, they possess me even when I reject them. So what's the point of all this suffering?

Well look at it the way I do. You're going to die anyway, sure it'll probably be painful but it's getting rid of those last 10 years where someone else will probably be wiping your ass for you or you'll be in a coma. Or worse a mistreated elderly in a nursing home.

Not everyone gets old like that, dude.

Yeah you're right but the odds of it happening are rather high. Because not everyone will have someone that cares about them so there's always that chance. But it all comes down to eventually we're all gonna end up that way. Just because you're old doesn't mean that you'll be that way is true, but eventually it'll happen in some form or another. Let's face it the way things are going now, you're liable to be lucky if you get that much.

I've never smoked before, and I really doubt I'll ever start. The smell of it makes me feel kind of nauseous, and I get really irritated at how I'm forced to hold my breath when I walk in or out of many public buildings because of all the smokers congregating outside.

I've heard that in Canada a bill is (hopefully) going to pass preventing people from smoking within two-hundred feet of any entrance to a public building. And I will be happy.

I don't really have anything against smokers as people, what they want to do in privacy is their thing, but when their "right to smoke" infringes on my "right to breath smoke-free air" and they get defensive about their digusting habit that I start to get annoyed.

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Not everyone gets old like that, dude.

Indeed, alot of people actually look like they're 40 or 50 in thier 60s and 70s. Even continue to do the same activities witht he same energy levels. Keep yourself healthy, eat right, and work out. You'll find that you dont age as much as others.

Anyways, I dont smoke and I never plan to. I was curious about it at one point and may of even tried it. But then I saw what it was doing to my father. All the money he was burning daily in smoking. The way he acted when he didn't get one. The way his health and stamina declined over the years. The way his breathign changed.. sometimes I worry if he'll be able to actually finish taking a breath.

He's in the military too. He has to keep his health up. If he cant perform they're not going to be happy about it. Smoking has been the cause of alot of problems for him. Thankfully he's finally trying to quit. But the damage is already done to him.

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by BrentI've never smoked before, and I really doubt I'll ever start. The smell of it makes me feel kind of nauseous, and I get really irritated at how I'm forced to hold my breath when I walk in or out of many public buildings because of all the smokers congregating outside.

I've heard that in Canada a bill is (hopefully) going to pass preventing people from smoking within two-hundred feet of any entrance to a public building. And I will be happy.
I don't really have anything against smokers as people, what they want to do in privacy is their thing, but when their "right to smoke" infringes on my "right to breath smoke-free air" and they get defensive about their digusting habit that I start to get annoyed.

That comment is something that makes me wonder about people not seeing things properly. You complain about not being able to enter a building because of smokers being outside, yet you fail to see the fact that they're outside because they aren't smoking in the building. We stand outside in the cold so you can have your clean air inside, but people still complain about us standing out there. Try compromising.

Just out of curiosity... Does smoking pot count in here? I would think that since it's such a "tabboo" thread that it woule include "tabboo" subjects such as smoking bud.

I'm only saying this because I smoke the shit once in a while too. However, that "personal space" respect goes with this as well. I can't very well expect the population to adapt, now can I?

Yeah I smoke pot occasionally as well, which I do it as any other smoking, I try to keep it away from most people, I don't go out of my way to blow smoke in their face. I tend to keep to myself, and smoke in our designated areas. The least we should be able to ask is that people respect that of us if we respect them enough to smoke there.
I mean all in all it's rediculous, we smoke in buildings and they want us to stop. We say ok, so we either get our own smoking section or we go outside so as not to bother them. But for some that's not good enough. I mean damn what do they want. We pay more taxes than anyone I think we should decide where we can and cannot smoke if anything since we seem to be paying for most of the shit anyway.