I'm Glad I Quit Smoking

Canuck · Post by **Canuck** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 2:06 pm

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3990

Crack Nicotine?

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/bei ... 524893.700

roid · Post by **roid** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:48 pm

hmm... these cigarettes with a higher ratio of "freebase" nicotine in them - i wonder if they cause the smoker to smoke less. since all he wants is the nicotine. the more nicotine he gets, perhaps the less puffs he'll take.
not really sure. coz iirc i read somewhere that (relative to other drugs) nicotine users don't really self-regulate as much as users of other drugs - they just keep smoking and smoking irrelevant to how much nicotine they are getting (respective to self-regulation in other drugs).

tobocco companys are evil in 3rd world countrys. they know they can get away with whatever. i've seen documentarys showing the vendors walking around the beaches handing out free packets of cigarettes to anyone who is willing to try. including young kids.
pretty fucked up considering nicotine is the most addictive substance known to man.*

* i seem to have misplaced the graph i am referring to. when i find it i'll link it.

dissent · Post by **dissent** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 11:03 am

I may be imagining things, but it seems to me a lot of the younger (under 25) crowd in the US is lighting up these days. What gives? Are they just trying to piss off their folks who quit smoking years ago? Do they really believe that cancer and respiratory disease are not going to happen to them?

I'm mystified ....

bash · Post by **bash** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 12:10 pm

Kids believe they are invincible and over the years I've noticed that pretty much anything you tell teenagers not to do (whether for their own good or not) is the first thing many will gravitate towards. I'm anticipating a large conversion to Islam among today's/tomorrow's rebellious youth as the next big *taboo* for them to thumb their noses at convention and spook The ManÂ©. Get into the hajib biz now!

Canuck · Post by **Canuck** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 2:47 pm

Smokers light up due to habit more than Nicotine cravings. 1/4 of a normal cigarette, (not the freebase ones) has enough nicotine to last the average body a whole day. Anything after that is wasted.

I can now relate to my friends who have failed many times quitting smoking, because they are now exposed to the designer nicotine drugs and delivery systems the tobacco companies are peddling.

Your run of the mill street pusher has cleaner product and better ethics.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 7:34 am

The more that don't reach retirement SS benefit age, the happier the govt is.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:24 am

roid wrote:hmm... these cigarettes with a higher ratio of "freebase" nicotine in them - i wonder if they cause the smoker to smoke less. since all he wants is the nicotine.

Wrong. If this were the case nicotene patches would have an almost 100% success rate.

roid wrote:the more nicotine he gets, perhaps the less puffs he'll take.
not really sure. coz iirc i read somewhere that (relative to other drugs) nicotine users don't really self-regulate as much as users of other drugs - they just keep smoking and smoking irrelevant to how much nicotine they are getting (respective to self-regulation in other drugs).

Well I can tell you from personal experience that this is correct, smoking is barely self-regulated. In addition to the addictiveness of the chemicals contained within, there are two other dangerously addictive components: the cultural image one gives off, and the habits that get ingrained. For example, it's impossible for me to walk around without a cigarette in my hand. One of my friends gave up quitting because he couldn't drive around without a cigarette. The habit is just as painfully addicting as the chemicals.

I've got another week and a half of vacation on which I cannot smoke. Hopefully I can come out of it a quitter.

Pandora · Post by **Pandora** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:17 am

...the habits that get ingrained. For example, it's impossible for me to walk around without a cigarette in my hand. One of my friends gave up quitting because he couldn't drive around without a cigarette. The habit is just as painfully addicting as the chemicals.

I completely agree. Even if I haven't smoked for a few days (and the nicotine addiction should be gone) I still have to control myself. There are so many situations that just call for a cigarette.

I've got another week and a half of vacation on which I cannot smoke. Hopefully I can come out of it a quitter.

Good luck to you! Make sure that none of your friends leaves a pack at your place after you have quit, this is how I started again (after a year without a smoke).

suicide eddie · Post by **suicide eddie** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:57 pm

i got a friend once to add up her smoking costs for the year. when she did so she swore `j**** i can on holiday for two weeks on that` she never stopped smoking but did reduce her habit by quite a bit.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:46 pm

Well for me, it's $5 a day x 365 days a year = $1825/year on cigarettes. I don't consistently smoke a pack a day (usually 10-15) so it's probably closer to $1500. With my summer job, I only make that much a year...

Iceman · Post by **Iceman** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 10:39 pm

Quitting is easy, I have done it hundreds of times

Really though, I finally quit after roughly 30 years ... I feel as if I have been cured of the plague ...

Dedman · Post by **Dedman** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:23 am

No one likes a quiter

Flabby Chick · Post by **Flabby Chick** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 9:03 am

I quit for 8 years once then started again, now i'm off 'em for nigh on four years. Still have the odd spliff every week or so but it dosn't make me want to return. Smoking is bollox.

Canuck · Post by **Canuck** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:36 am

Smokes here are over $10.00 a pack. Holy crap, two people smoking a pack a day could buy a decent car over 3 years.

WarAdvocat · Post by **WarAdvocat** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 8:38 am

Canuck wrote:1/4 of a normal cigarette, (not the freebase ones) has enough nicotine to last the average body a whole day. Anything after that is wasted.

HUH??!!

I suppose it's possible that 1/4 of a cigarette may deliver enough nicotine to last an average person's addiction throughout the day (cite your sources?)...if it were delivered in the appropriate intervals. But that 'fact' is completely irrelevant to the reality of nicotine addiction.

There are two components to smoking...physiological and psychological.

In the physiological component, nicotine mimics/replaces neuro-chemicals in your brain, so that over time your body stops producing them. That is the basis of just about any physical addiction. For example, heroin addiction is very similar, except the heroin replaces your brain's 'natural opiates' (endorphins etc).

So when the nicotine level in your blood stream drops below a certain point, you feel the need for a cigarette. Generally, you will become agitated and irritable, and possibly even sleepy if you don't have another cigarette at that time, and these symptoms will increase and get worse over time until you have a cigarette, or until several days have passed and your body begins to produce enough of what it needs. After 7 days, your body should regain equilibrium be producing enough to counter physical symptoms.

That's the physical component of Nicotine addiction. These 'Freebase' cigarettes may make it easier to become addicted, but are they going to make it harder to quit? I don't know.

IMHO The psychological component is a tougher nut to crack. You learn fast and early that when you're feeling agitated, a cigarette calms you down. It's a LIE (as nicotine has a generally stimulant effect), but the physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal teach you that you feel much better once you've had your fix. You begin to equate the calming effect of a nicotine fix with calming down, and begin to use cigarettes to alleviate stress. As a result, many adults who quit smoking lapse back into smoking when under stress. Couple that with all the little physical rituals around smoking which become ingrained in you as part of your constant battle to stave off withdrawal, and the psychological component looms large indeed.

** ex-smoker as of September 2004.

Iceman · Post by **Iceman** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 8:39 pm

I don't know if it was psychological or mental ... all I know is that I wanted to freebase the chit all the time. Anything less was not enough ... Whoever said the "1/4 of a normal cigarette" crap must not have been a smoker.

roid · Post by **roid** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 8:40 pm

WarAdvocat wrote:There are two components to smoking...physiological and psychological.

IMHO The psychological component is a tougher nut to crack. You learn fast and early that when you're feeling agitated, a cigarette calms you down. It's a LIE (as nicotine has a generally stimulant effect), but the physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal teach you that you feel much better once you've had your fix. You begin to equate the calming effect of a nicotine fix with calming down, and begin to use cigarettes to alleviate stress. As a result, many adults who quit smoking lapse back into smoking when under stress. Couple that with all the little physical rituals around smoking which become ingrained in you as part of your constant battle to stave off withdrawal, and the psychological component looms large indeed.

** ex-smoker as of September 2004.

not really true, i'm pretty sure that "it doesn't calm you" stuff was started solely by anti-smoking activists. nicotine does calm you down psychologically. it helps you focus, it makes you feel more in control. 90% of schizophrenics smoke for that reason. you can be calm when your heartbeat is raised, many people who meditate know this. the MIND is the seat of calm, not the body.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/smoking/Story ... 58,00.html

roid · Post by **roid** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 8:37 pm

roid wrote:pretty ****ed up considering nicotine is the most addictive substance known to man.*

* i seem to have misplaced the graph i am referring to. when i find it i'll link it.

tracked it down:
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/addictiv.htm

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 8:48 pm

Canuck wrote:Smokes here are over $10.00 a pack. Holy crap, two people smoking a pack a day could buy a decent car over 3 years.

Holy crap! That is disgusting (even adjusting for CDN to US conversion).

In other news, I think I've conquered my nicotene addiction. Two weeks and going strong.

Hardest two weeks ever...

dissent · Post by **dissent** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 9:29 pm

Hang in there, DC.

Your lungs will thank you, and you might live to be as old as me.