Big Smoking Debate, yay!

[Creole Ned]

EDIT: This is a thread split off from the resolutions thread in which a big, puffy black smoking debate started. It was all my fault. Or Patton's.

#3 should be #1 on your list, Patton.

Anyone who smokes is a dumbass. Anyone who "cuts back" instead of quitting is a dumbass.

Don't be a dumbass.

Quitting later will not be easier than quitting now. I'll let you in on a sure-fire technique: when the urge to smoke arises, don't light up. Ta-da, you've quit!

If you need to shove something in your mouth to get past that part of the addiction, anything non-toxic and without sharp edges will do. Use your imagination.

Just don't be a dumbass.

This concludes the "push Ned's buttons" portion of this thread.

[Patton]

Bite me. :P

First off, those items are in no particular order. I put WoW above school, FFS.

My problem with quitting at the moment is that I don't want to. I like sitting on the patio with my friends smoking a cigarette and yapping about my day. I like going outside to smoke on my breaks at work.

You can't say "just stop doing something you like." I'm not going to stop if I enjoy it.

Maybe I'll get tired of this juvenile mindset and I'll stop smoking. Maybe I won't. I just know that I'm cutting back because I want to, not because society continues to tell me I should.

Jerk.

[jackrabbit]

But we love you and don't want you to die, you fucking schmuck. (applies globally to people with dangerous vices, except Fitty)

[F7]

Lessee...I quit smoking on July 2nd 2006 and have remained faithful so I consider myself already ahead. In addition, I sold my Ducati (*cry*) and gave up motorcycles. Both of these were part of the new F7 who grew up and got engaged.

No need to make resolutions this year. I don't have anything left to quit. Except my job and Vanguard Beta. Both of which would be rather easy to do.

[FoeKilla]

Ok, for serious this time.

3. Cut back on smoking. I'm still going to smoke. There's no way around it. I'm just not ready to quit, even though I want to. But I am going to try to cut back to a pack a week, maybe less.



Bite me. :P

My problem with quitting at the moment is that I don't want to. I like sitting on the patio with my friends smoking a cigarette and yapping about my day. I like going outside to smoke on my breaks at work.

loves me some contradiction!

[Patton]

Guilty as charged.

It's hard to explain. I do want to quit, but I don't. I want to avoid getting lung cancer, and be able to run better.

But I also want to continue smoking in bars, smoking while I chill out with my friends, etc.

So the reason I'm not quitting completely is that I don't want to quit all the way.

And now I'm just going to stop posting, because I sound like an addict making excuses.

[FoeKilla]

you are an addict making excuses. It's ok.

I was a smoker for 12 years. I completely understand where you're at. I'm not judging you. I'm just having fun with the direct contradiction of the two statements.

You can't quit because you know you should. You have to really want it. You're not there yet. But you're moving in that direction. It's a positive step in the right direction. While I'd love to see you go cold-turkey, I applaud you taking any action that gets you closer to quiting. It's not a black and white thing, but at least you see that are moving into the gray area. Yay metaphor!

[Shadowrat]

my father-in-law would tell you to quit as soon as you can, but he won't. He's dead, from lung cancer.

[Reaver]

Both sets of my grandparents would tell you to quit as soon as you can. But they won't. They're dead.



























From natural causes.

[Circuit]

I will never ever get the appeal of smoking. I've always been repulsed by it, but I tried it once anyway out of sheer curiosity and it only reinforced my hatred of it. Often people continue do it, as Patton's post seems to show, because they associate it with other pleasurable activites that they just happen to be smoking while doing. Why do you need to smoke in bars or while hanging out with friends? Those things have nothing to do with smoking at all, but you're used to it being part of the experience. It's just a way of justifying why you can't stop, even though you know it's dumb not to. I have lots of friends who explain it exactly the same way as Patton has. They go outside at work and shiver in the freezing rain just to smoke, which is pretty funny to me. At the same time, though, it's kinda sad because smoking is completely controlling them.

Sorry, I don't mean to lecture. I just hate smoking with a passion that I don't often apply to many other things.

[Sir Lucius]

I hate how smoking makes me feel, but I think it's just looks darn cool. Nothing is more bad ass than a cigarette.

[Kermit]

Smoking does not start out as a completely controlling thing. That comes later. As with Alcohol and a ton of other drugs (legal or otherwise) it starts out as a way to relax. I am repulsed by smokers in general, but love to have a couple with the boyz, just like most of us here like to have a few beers with friends without the direct goal of becoming smashed. Socially, you can have a few drinks and nobody minds, but for most people, if you see another person "light up a few", they are seen as a smoker. Even if it's not often.

What I'm trying to say is that different drugs have different effects on the body, and are seen in different lights by our culture. Should I light up ever? Probably not. Will it be any worse for me than say.... ohhh.... 8 beers a day? Maybe, maybe not, but it's my vice.

[Falhawk]

another addition to my resolution list:

- Try to be more tolerant of other people's personal choices (aka not chiding someone for smoking)

[Avalon616]

Nothing is more bad ass than a cigarette.

Oh contraire!

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9889/pnghagenoldwomansmokingdn5.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a81/LaZk/funny/popeye.jpg

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8391/pregnantzg9.jpg

For all you smokers: please quit smoking. YOU DON'T LOOK COOL AND YOU SMELL BAD!

Of course, I still have 4 or 5 cloves a year, so I suppose I'm a hypocrite. *shrug*

another New Year's Resolution: to help my best friend quit smoking. She's been smoking since she was 16, and she's an actress who used to do musical theater, but now only does regular theater, because her lungs can't handle her singing like she used to. And that's a fucking shame.

P.S. That last picture just cracks me up. That woman is a fucking IDIOT.

[Creole Ned]

Thread split, moved and opened for further debate.

Also, I'm done here. :P

[Falhawk]

if we start making threads about things we disagree with there are probably going to be a lot of threads (snd some hurt feelings).

Topics to include: Politics, Religion, personal grooming etc

[Sir Lucius]

http://images1.filecloud.com/328616/James-Dean.jpg

[Patton]

if we start making threads about things we disagree with there are probably going to be a lot of threads (snd some hurt feelings).

Topics to include: Politics, Religion, personal grooming etc

My feelings aren't hurt. You guys are entitled to your opinion, and this is one of those topics that can get pretty heated.

[Fitty]

http://members.cox.net/fittytuck/arnold.jpg

[Avalon616]

I can't tell if Fitty's picture is supposed to be for or against the coolness of smoking.


I won't argue that there are definitely badass people who smoke. I just assert it's not the smoking that makes them badass. Smoking just makes them smelly and get throat cancer and the like.

Also, now I'm all done with the smoking/anti-smoking discussion. You're all adults, you can make your own choices, I just like all of you and want you to live a long time. :)

[Shadowrat]

I agree that smoking can look very cool. I think the "smoking's not cool" argument is crap. smoking IS cool.

It's just a bad idea because odds are it will make your life miserable later.

Going without a hat in winter was also very cool in high school. Miserable, but cool.

[F7]

Patton I was in the same boat you're in.

I liked smoking. I enjoyed a cigarette after dinner, while drinking, etc. It seemed to amplify the pleasure I derived from these activities. I couldn't quit for myself. A lot of people say that's exactly WHO you should quit for but it's not that easy or simple.

I read a book called The Easy Way To Quit Smoking (http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Way-Stop-Smoking-Nonsmokers/dp/1402718616) which helped my mental frame of mind as I prepared to quit. It didn't cure me of smoking (although it easily could have if I kept reading it every day) but it got me started and gave me a few concrete facts or 'mantras' to repeat to myself while I quit.

If you really want to quit (cold turkey which IMO is the ONLY way) you need to do some research on all the facets of smoking. How the nicotine is delivered into your system. How it affects your mind. How each inhalation gives you a very minor hit of nicotine (which is undeniably an addictive drug). The shot of nicotine that 1 inhale delivers is small and is unnoticeable to your conscious mind. However it affects your brain on a much grander scale. The small shot of nicotine dissipates almost as quickly as you blow the smoke out of your mouth. Your mind NEEDS MORE OF THIS DRUG so it drives you to take another inhale; to get another hit of nicotine. These repeated hits, or what people call 'smoking a cigarette', build up on each other and create an altered state for about 45 minutes. If you're a pack a day smoker that equates to smoking 20 cigarettes in 15 hours; just the amount of time most people are awake in the day.

You need to realize that there is a very fine and sinister science behind the cigarette. It is an intricately engineered device. It's not simply tobacco rolled into a piece of paper. All it's effects and purpose was engineered to hook you and keep you coming back.

If you're really serious about quitting Patton I think you should pickup this book.

If all else fails try to quit for something you love more than yourself. Before we were dating, I had told my current fiance that if I met a girl I really liked who did not smoke, I would quit. To make a long story short, she said she would go on a date with me and I quit smoking the week before. Haven't smoked since. Another nice thing to hear from coworkers and people I saw everyday was after a few weeks how much clearer my skin looked. How much more color I had. And overall how much healthier and happier I looked.

When my fiance asked me how I simply upped and stopped after smoking for 15 years, I told her I was smart enough to realize I couldn't quit for myself. So I found something else to quit for; her. My rationale was: How could I say I care for and love this person and in the same breath endager her health through second hand smoke? I'm a very sensitive and romantic person by heart so that was the reason I needed.

Take some time to think about yourself. What you hold sacred above all other things. What you love more than yourself. And then if you can't quit for yourself, work up some semi-logical thinking that draws a line between smoking and the endangerment of this thing. Do anything...just take the time to come up with something.

Good luck man, you CAN do it.

[Patton]

Well, you guys will be happy to know that my girlfriend and I sat down yesterday before we went running and we decided to quit.

Not cut back; quit. This wasn't a New Years Resolution thing. We just decided that it would be a good idea, and I think it'll help that we're doing it together.

So here I go with round two.

F7, I read your post. Thank you very much. If I'm having trouble, I'll pick up the book. I am going cold turkey, because I agree that it's the only way to go.

I didn't smoke yesterday, and I had the shakes this morning on the way to work (I usually have one in the car on the way in.) But I've got like 3/4 of a pack in the car, just to tempt me.

And to clarify - everything I've already said is still true. I still like smoking. I'm not going to backtrack now and say that I don't want to smoke right now. But I'm trying to get over it. I'm going to go head-first with this. I'm going to be around other people smoking and not light up myself. I'm going to go to a bar and not smoke. I'm going to have a beer on the patio (where everyone smokes) and not light up.

So we'll see how it goes.

[Kermit]

Good luck to you.

All I can say is that you will have to not only stay away from it for a while, but change your living patterns too. The only thing that keeps me from lighting up more often is that I DON'T have 3/4 of a pack waiting for me in the car. I don't spend a lot of time at the bars, and what works for me is water. Lots and lots of water when I'm around people who are smoking and want to avoid lighting up myself.

[Tai]

I thought you had read that book Patton? I read about 75% of it, I think. Probably a good read if you need extra ideas to help you quit.

Anyway, as someone who smoked for 20+ years, allow me to jump on the bandwagon and say that you are making the correct choice in quitting NOW. After 3 weeks you've pretty much gotten rid of the physical addiction, and it really does get easier. Just do not have a single drag because that really does set you back to step zero.

[Patton]

Nah, I had thought about picking it up, but never did.

[Creole Ned]

:thumbup:

yay!

[Circuit]

Yay indeed. :)

[Tai]

Yay, really, yay. :D

[Sir Lucius]

And here I thought you wanted to be cool Patton http://images1.filecloud.com/331162/emot-colbert.gif

[Patton]

i'm cool enough on my own

thanks to mandokir's sting

and blue moon

[Elmo]

I for one, am greatly saddened by your decision to quit smoking. Not because smoking is good for you, more because it's good for me. Without smokers paying a huge tax per box in some states, I fear that an increased tax burden my fall upon us heavy drinkers to make up the lost revenues......

[Budly]

Tai is screwed then.....

[Tai]

yet another reason to cut down on my consumption, eh? I suppose if I start brewing my own again then they can't really tax it...

[Paladin]

yet another reason to cut down on my consumption, eh? I suppose if I start brewing my own again then they can't really tax it...

Depends on who is better armed, you or the revenuers.

[Tai]

Depends on who is better armed, you or the revenuers.

in that case, I win round 1, they can probably win round 2 though :(