Cigarettes

[Paladin2000]

Originally posted by Pikachu_PM: What in the the world is up with you guys? My focus is not to put the blame of MY being addicted to cigarettes on the tobacco companies...what 'I' did, at 24 years old, is ultimatley 90% 'my' fault. That makes the tobacco industry no less evil for addicting millions of other Americans at the age of 14-16, or for taking advantage of people who really DIDN'T know better. You mistake my opinions for trying to place blame for my issues...I am not. Just stating that selling cigarettes is just as wrong as selling drugs.

Selling cigarettes maybe we wrong; if you look at the moral issues. But in the name of law, it is not.

Now, if you really take into considerations that drinking exccessively leads to alcoholism, then maybe selling alcohol should be illegal as well, shouldn't it?

How about gambling? Many people loose their fortunes because of gambling. Shouldn't that be illegal as well?

The fact is, all the stated vices above are morally wrong. But in the name of law, they are infact "regulated" and thus legal.

What the rest of us are trying to say is, if you know it is wrong and you did it, then maybe you should focus on how to get rid of it.

It does not matter if cigarettes should be illegal, because you have a more important task at hand--to quit smoking. Focus on that and put all your effort on that.

If your original intention is to start a thread about outlawing the sales of tobacco, you should have made a little more clearer. Perhaps some of us might support you. Perhaps. I wouldn't though. I would, if I manage to quit smoking. That is, if I want to quit smoking. Arg... forget it.

[edited]
Oh... peace dude. Sometimes we do get carried away with our words. None of us are here to bash you... I think.

[ 01-31-2004, 01:29 AM: Message edited by: Paladin2000 ]

[Pikachu_PM]

Aight, I don't know if we're just miscommunitcating or if we're just gonna have to agree to disagree here.

There is a lot of evidence that tobacco companies were targeting minors, even only a few years ago, in their advertisments. Some of the arguments were silly...the camel being a 'cartoon' and therefore targeting minors for instance...others, such as the placement of tobacco adds was not.

But thats a whole other issue.

I made a post earlier about the differences of tobacco and alcohol and why one is wosre than the other. The same post could be used for gambling.

But thats a whole other issue.

I am focusing on how to get rid of my addiction...and believe me it's not a lack of 'will power'

I've turned down sex in the 'heat of the moment' MANY times, not once giving in to a 'random hook up'. I've had sex while in a relationship, but never succumbed to the temptations of 'meaningless sex'.

I've turned down women who could have made the cut on "apprentice' because I was dating someone at the time.

I know when i've had too much to drink, and have to will power to cut myself off though I'm drunk and want more...I've never *knock on wood* gotten sick from alcohol.

At only 5'6" I've stood up to bullies almost twice my size and for better or worse held my ground and kept to my principles.

Its your whole 'lack of will power' things thats getting to me. I'm not some weak kid who doesn't have the guts to quit....and thats why I have trouble taking 100% of the blame. Any person/product/or service that could get to me like this is a problem...I don't have a lack of will power, and as such, if 'I'M' having trouble quitting, God help the rest of you poor souls.

Anyways, I'm actually on day 5 with no cigarettes...and it's not will power thats keeping me from smoking, its doctors medication costing almost $100 a pop.

[Night Stalker]

Good luck with your treatment

[Harkoliar]

i have a suggestion pikachu. I dont actually smoke (bec of my family history of asthma) anyway, back to the point, its because of nicotine that gives the addiction (usually) for the smokers.

My friend bought a cigarette-like pack. i called it a cigerette-like pack is because that it IS cigarette's with no nicotine. its made of herbal stuff which you can actually smoke (even smells like it). it is a good substitute and it taste bad as well that no average smoker would want to smoke it. but it is meant similar to cold-turkey remedy i guess. im sure you can find it in some healthstores. you cant hurt to try it

[Ginx]

One of my friends aged around 16-17 years old has been smoking for about 2-3 years he started due to:

Social acceptance
Peer pressure Ect

He became addicted.

His parents found out about him smoking and forced the young smoker to smoke a cigar He smoked it and it completely turned him off smoking all together he told me “It worked just like that special nail polish that stops you from biting your nails, Just the thought of biting your nails reminded me of that taste YUK”

I suggest Pikachu_PM that if the expensive medication does not work. Then go buy a cigar and smoke it.

[Pikachu_PM]

Bad idea....i LOVE cigars

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by Pikachu_PM: Bad idea....i LOVE cigars

Inhale EVERY toke.
If you don't vomit your guts out I will personally visit you and present you with the 'hardest mother f**ker of the year' award.

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by Skunk: For those who think that failed-to-give-up smokers are just weak-willed, I have a small experiment for you. I'd like you to try giving up flavoured beverages for a year; not forever, but just for a year. That means no coffee in the morning or after dinner, no beer/wine when your out with friends in the evenings, no cola or fruit-juice on a hot-summer's day - but just plain old mineral water. How long will you last? How long will your marriage last? Will you ever be late for work or have arguments? And when your friends invite you out to a bar and you order water, they won't say anything about it or give you a hard time, huh? Afterall, it's just a question of willpower, right?

That's an incredibly good comparison Skunk.
I quit cold turkey for about a year. But now I'm back onto drunken cigarette smoking. And I have to say I love it, at least until I try working out, when I feel like coughing up a lung.
It's a question of flavour, of enticed stimulation, of alleviating a buzzing, throbbing, screaming demand in your bloodstream for satisfaction. Sure, it boils down to willpower, but you better make sure you have a s**tload of it! Having said that, don't blame anyone but yourself for your predicament. You know the risks, deal with them. Everybody dies sometime...

[Stratos]

Can someone please explain the 'cold turkey' thingie for me?

[InjaYew]

Skunk~

Good post. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Stratos~

Put the cigarettes down and never pick them up again. Obviously this is easier said than done for some people.

Pikachu~

I think the best thing to do would be to concentrate on quitting than try to figure out why you did what you did. It's sorta a moot point now. At the risk of somebody hollerin' at me for trading substances, I'm going to share what I did. I started smoking when I was really young and didn't know any better. I spent a good portion of my adult life trying to quit and not succeeding, I am talking about years here, not a few months. I tried lots of different things (including cold turkey) and nothing worked. Finally I talked to my doc about it and I got a prescription to Prozac. It made my brain chemicals work differently (make more serotonine I think) so that I no longer craved nicotine and I was able to give 'em up. I stayed on the Prozac about a year then I weaned off that and wah lah, no more cigarette addiction. I haven't smoked in seven years now and I'm really proud of that fact.

There are unfortunate side-effects of being a reformed smoker and one is that I've become a cigarette Nazi. "Vhat iz zat sing you are putting in your mous? You are not sinking to light zat now are you? Ve haf vays off schtopping da schmoken!"

Good luck. [img]smile.gif[/img]