Smoking & Why?

[TylerCharger69]

 
   
In some of the 1700s-1800s penal colonies run by europeans, smoking was against the rules for the prisoners.  The officials sometimes punished men for repeat offense smoking by flogging them with multiple-rope whips that had iron points on the ends of the ropes.  Plenty of men were regularly ripped to shreds (and some even died from the whippings) rather than give up smoking tobacco.  



Tobacco is one of the most addictive things known to man.  It won't wreck your body immediately like some stronger drugs, but that's not a measure of how addictive something is.  Tobacco is as addictive as any of the big-name stuff that gets rockstars killed.  
   
 

I guess getting a good flogging with a cat-o-nine-tails  would cure a smoking addiction....lol

[Todd Wilson]

People are killed every day in car accidents..................so why are we all driving cars for fun?



Todd

[68charger383]

I smoked for 25 years and quit in 10/08. I quit after my father died from cancer at the age of 75, Probably due to smoking? He also quit when he was 44 years of age.

I used the chantix pills to quit smoking. It worked as far as stopping the physical withdrawal and enabled me to stop smoking, but the habit urge still remains. In fact, eventhough when I smell cigarettes it gets me sick and has no appeal, I would love to go outside and have one since the habit remains strong.

If I can quit, so can you. Go get a prescription for this stuff and give it an honest try. The only draw back was I gained about 35 pounds in 6 months, but I've lost 15 and working on the last 20 right now. They say your taste buds can finally taste the food and stuff sure taste good right now.

Thinking back, taking up smoking was the worst life choice I made so far.

[Tilar]

now about fast food, think of it this way, smokes can kill you, they don't keep you living. Cheese burgers on the other hand will keep you living longer as it "is" food

I don't know that i'd call that a valid arguement. My grandmothers second husband lived to 90 and smoked non-filter lucky strikes as long as I knew him. His doctor said that the main reason he was still in good health with smoking so long was that he ate onions and radishes like they were candy. 

There are kids in their 20's having heart attacks directly related to fast food. The generations coming up are just plain fat mostly from this fast food. I had a cousin die at 33 from a heart attack and he was definitely a fast food junky.

My grandmother died this last december, 3 days before her 103rd birthday. She went down on her 100th birthday and got her drivers license renewed. She said that the key to living long was what you eat, and believe it or not her main complaint in food was store bought bread. She just would not eat it. She baked her own bread up until about a year ago. She said the preservatives in store bought bread was not good for you.  

[Mike DC]

There are kids in their 20's having heart attacks directly related to fast food. The generations coming up are just plain fat mostly from this fast food. I had a cousin die at 33 from a heart attack and he was definitely a fast food junky.

 
Believe it or not, the fast-food culture's heart problems aren't unique to modern times.  


I've read that in the later middle ages, the life expectancy for middle/upper class men was down to like 40 years old because they constantly ate so much meat and died of heart attacks.  The volume of meat they ate was probably way beyond what we're doing now.  (Although we've still got them whupped on sugar & fried stuff by a wide margin.)    

          

[b5blue]

I tried using patches, the darn things are too hard to keep lit! 

[RECHRGD]

When I was growing up everybody smoked.  I started as a young teenager and my parents gave me a zippo lighter with my initials in it for my 18th birthday.  Everywhere you went, restaurants, theaters, even doctors offices had smoke hanging in the air and ashtrays were on every table.  In the early 1960's a pack was only $0.25 so money spent was not a consideration.  I developed about a 1 1/2 pack a day habit.  I treated cigarettes as an award.  If something good happened, I smoked.  If something bad happened, I smoked.  If I had a beer, I smoked.  If I was happy, I smoked.  If I was sad, I smoked.  You get the idea.  When I was in my mid twenties my chest would start feeling tight from time to time.  That bothered me because by that time people had figured out the life shortening effects of smoking.  One night we had friends over and were enjoying some adult beverages.  I remember looking down at the ashtray on the table.  I had a cigarette going in my hand and also one in the FULL ashtray at the same time.  I just got discusted with the filthy habit at that moment and put them down for good.  Cold turkey, no gradual tapering off.  Sure I had cravings for years and my hand would go to my shirt pocket automatically from time to time, but it was the best thing that I ever did.  My Mom continued smoking until the day she died of lung cancer at 79.  All of her older siblings (that didn't smoke) have lived well into their 90's.  I do find it troubling today with all the known risks and high monetary costs that anyone would decide start smoking.  But, plenty still do and they're usually the ones that can least afford it.  Bob

[jb666]

My wife's a smoker... I despise it... It's the ONLY thing about her that I really can say that I hate... It's a nasty habit that makes you, your clothes and your breath stink. And if you're unfortunate enough to have a smoker in the house, all of your nice white painted walls and ceilings will soon be Yellow... like their teeth and lungs. Oh, sorry, those are Black. 

[Mike DC]

  

If we were serious about fighting the problem then we would get the FDA to stop letting the tobacco producers hot-rod the addictiveness of the product.

I don't know any smokers over the age of 16 or 17 that wouldn't like to quit.  They all just did it to be cool in junior high and that choice costs them dearly for the rest of their lives.   Give these people half a chance against the Big Tobacco chemists trying to kill them and significant portion of the problem would take care of itself.  No need for govt to ban the products, close down a private industry that employs all those people, create a black market, etc.    We say we are serious about fighting this but we haven't even stopped the industry from playing totally dirty pool yet.  




 

[jb666]

 

If we were serious about fighting the problem then we would get the FDA to stop letting the tobacco producers hot-rod the addictiveness of the product.

I don't know any smokers over the age of 16 or 17 that wouldn't like to quit.  They all just did it to be cool in junior high and that choice costs them dearly for the rest of their lives.   Give these people half a chance against the Big Tobacco chemists trying to kill them and significant portion of the problem would take care of itself.  No need for govt to ban the products, close down a private industry that employs all those people, create a black market, etc.    We say we are serious about fighting this but we haven't even stopped the industry from playing totally dirty pool yet.  




 

They are a multi-billion dollar industry. "We" , collectively, don't stand a fighting chance... Sure, maybe if 2/3 of the country got together, but it would take some major financial backup to go against these giants...

And I agree, "hot rodding the addictiveness" is exactly what they are doing... My wife started smoking when she was 12. She had too much time on her hands and it was "cool" to smoke... 

[69DodgeCharger]

I started smoking in 80-81 Marlboro Reds for 10 years then Newports and Marlboro Light menthols the last couple years. I quit cold turkey. I was just sick of it. First 3-4 days were kinda of rough but it was the routine that was so hard to break, not the physical addictions. I had to have something to do with my hands. The one was missing the cigarette, the other was missing it's lighter.  I went to a Dunhams sporting good store one day about a week into it and bought one of those hand squeezer things with the coiled center and two grips. I carried that thing everywhere with me for two months probably. Every time I would get the "urge" I would start squeezing the grips til I forgot about it. The one day about 2 months in the squeezer just snapped in half and after that i figured I didn't need it anymore. It's been almost 17 years since I've had a smoke. It can be done and it's not as hard as people say it is.

[squeakfinder]

  Remember the add on TV? "I'd walk a mile for a Camel."

  With all the no smoking signs around nowday's I think they were on to something. 
 

[MoparManJim]

Well let me say one thing here first, Smoking isn't cool at all. You are littery putting other peoples health at risk when you do it. I can understand the smoking ban in places also. The non-smokers also has a right to be there in that place just as much as you do even if they don't smoke. 

Now about the fast food thing, you certainly over looked my point. Let me point this out so that you can see where I was aiming at. Smoking does your body no good, there is no protines in smoking for you body to use. Now even though fast food is also kinda no good because of grease, yet it does have protines in the food that your body can use though  . Where is the protines in the smokes at? no where and yet the money is gone into the air. With the fast food you get food to put in your body and not into the air. Yes fast food can kill you also if you don't use it right and use it as an everyday meal. 

About the onions, I heard that they are in fact good for your body. 

My aunt lived with her body for for a very long time, she was a non smoker and he was a smoker. He would smoke in the house. She went to the doctors for her feet all the time (she had issues with her feet all the time with pains) and the doctor one day ask her why was she having issues at breathing for and she told him that she had a boyfriend that wass a smoker and smoke in the house all the time. The doctor told her that wasn't gfood for her health. Her boy friend didn't belive her (he didn't belive anybody) and kapt right on doing it. Her son was also a smoker and didn't care either  . She took them both one day in with her at the doctor office. He told them back in the room about the smoking issue, even then they didn't care about her and her breathing issue she was coming down with because of the smoke. She would coufh at times because of it. Then one evening I was up at her place, and it was a nice summer evening, her boyfriend lit one up setting just like 4 feet away. The smoke started to travel to her and she started to coufh. The room was starting to get like a very sligh light fog in there, I walk over got one of the fans that was next to the front door and just turn the sob around  . I aimed it where the smoke was and aim the fan to channeled it back to the boyfriend area  . I turn the fan on and left it do it's job  . The boyfriend started to cough real good then and had to get up and go into the next room  . My aunt just set there starting to laugh. Her boyfriend kinda didn't like me anyways because of what my late dad had went and told (lied) to him one time about me. I was the only honest one in the bunch besides my aunt and they (her son and her boyfriend) didn't like that. She had health issues because of a bad foot she had and but sadly early last year (09) I lost her due to a heart attack at the age of 72. But smoking didn't take her though and I won't blame smoking for soming it didn't do kinda. 

But when I go to town and in the summers I am just shaking my head when I see people coming out of the stores/malls and liting one up to think they look cool when they don't. If you want to look cool they are other ways to do so and not only with smoking either. Just because afew folks does it, doesn't mean you have to do it to fit in with them, be smart and do your own thing as that is what will make you cool in away and stand out  . I have alot of friends that smokes but as for me, I gave it up long time ago cold turkey. You be suprize at some of the females that walks up to me in town ask for lit thinking I so and I tell them "sorry I don't smoke" and they look at me like I'm nuts   

Jeff, you and the others on here would have laughed you rear ends off last year if you all would have been with me in town and seen what happen like I did. I went to the market with my cousin (we both was going the same place anyways so I rode in with him. We are walking up the parking lot. This one young woman in your 20's at least is standing out with afew of her friends smoking. They are standing at least well maybe 10 feets from this big a$$ pole. The young girl lights one up and trys to look cool for afew minutes, she's standing there and as my cousin and I are starting to get closer to the market entrance. She's not watching where she is at and turns and walks right into the pole with the cigerette in her mouth! . Well being the gentelmen that I am I stop (trying not to luagh to hard) and help her up as when she hit the pole she went down, as I help her back up onto her feet (her boyfriend didn't even try to help) I said to her "Smoking isn't good for you, and neither is walking into poles" and her friends started to chuckle on that also. She thank me and I continued into the store. 

[Brock Samson]

I could go on for a bit, but, I think on earlier threads i wrote quite extensively about quitting smoking with my dad in the mid '90s and the how and why.
The only point i want to make here - is how smoking impares oxygen from reaching the extremities causing conditions like thrombosis which i suffered from for two years until I quit smoking.
  I am extreamly aware of Cigg. smoke now, when the guy next door lights up i can smell it upstairs at the other end of my house. 

[NorwayCharger]

I started smoking when i was 26, i am 45 now-
Money is my main reason for quit smoking.
1 pack of sigarettes cost about $12 here in Norway
I smoke aprox 30 sig´s a day.
That will be around  $6500 a year

[Musicman]

OK, here’s my story…
Started smoking steady when I was about 14 years old, and quit when I was 33, that was a long time ago…

Quitting was easy… remaining smoke free took some real dedication however.
I enjoyed smoking… I always found it to be a very relaxing drug. It allowed me to think more clearly, and it also kept my Irish temper under control. Never really thought about it as being Cool though… but then I’ve never been the trendy type.
When I was young and cigarettes were cheap, things were Ok… but when I started getting older, and the price of cigarettes started rising exponentially, I knew it was time for a change. I tried to quit a few times, but the atmosphere at my place of employment at the time, just wouldn’t allow it… I would have surely dropped some poor bastard where he stood inside of an hour.
Fortunately for me (or unfortunately depending on your point of view) a got a little assistance in that area one morning. I had just woken up that morning and made myself that all important first cup of coffee. Of course you can’t have a coffee without a cigarette, so I lit up and sat down at my table to do some paperwork for a project I was working on. As soon as I sat down I started getting one of those morning cramps in my left arm, you know the one you get when you sleep on your arm all night… so I got up and shook it off and got the blood flowing normally again. I reached over to the table and picked up my cigarette, took a couple of drags, and the next thing I knew I was on the floor writhing in pain, trying my best to remain conscious. Best I could tell… someone behind me had just reached into my chest and was trying their best to rip everything out.
Being the sound logical minded individual that I am, I realized that fear and tension were only going to make things worse, so I recomposed and calmed myself down immediately.
I got back up on my feet like any good Irishman would and shook it off, but I truly felt as though I had just taken a thorough beating from a bunch of guys with steel pipes and aluminum bats. Well I was still soar several hours later, and after a while I thought for sure that I had certainly popped my left lung. So after a good stubborn debate with myself I reluctantly decided to call a doctor. I didn’t have one at the time however, so it was first come first serve. Anyway… I went to the doctor’s office and told them what had happened earlier, so they did the usual checks and hooked me up to machine. Next thing I knew, all hell was braking loose. The Doctor got a terrified look on his face, the nurses started scrambling, and the next thing I know I’m being told that I’m going to a hospital RIGHT NOW!
Turns out I was wrong about the lung… it was a heart attach… That doctor was pissed at me for years...
Long story short… I spent a few weeks in the hospital which gave me the perfect opportunity to quit… so I did!
I still tell folks however… It’s not that I didn’t want to finish that last cigarette, I just couldn’t do it.

[mikesbbody]

Never smoked, never taken drugs, I do have the odd drink now and again but very rarely. Never been drunk I guess I'm kinda rare for this day and age? I just look at it this way, if its bad for you, don't do it. 

[BB1]

Why be a nanny, people do what they do and I really don't care. 

[jaak]

I don"t smoke, but I use smokeless tobacco, started using it when I was 13. Hard habit to break, about ten years ago, a suspicious spot was on my inner lip. I had to have a biopsy done on it....it came back all clear, but scared the shit out of me, so I stopped dippin' for about 10-11 months. Then one day a guy next to me opened up a can on Copenhagen.......then the scent hit me, had to get a pinch, and like a dumbass I started back 

IDK, I guess I feel like I can't function without nicotine?

Jason

[Mike DC]

  

Genetics are probably also relevant in terms of quitting smoking.  It sure is in terms of other addictive substances, and even some addictive habits.

The "addictive personality".  I've seen it, known it, been around it, dealt with it, etc.  But I definitely don't have it myself.  I got lucky.
     

[mikesbbody]

"The "addictive personality".  I've seen it, known it, been around it, dealt with it, etc.  But I definitely don't have it myself.  I got lucky"

I think that's why i decided to stay away from those things because I feel I do have the addictive personality so why cause myself problems? each to his/her own I'm not about preaching do what you like. I'm a organ donor it would kinda suck if my smoke free lungs
Went to a smoker but then again I wouldn't need them I'd be dead 

[bull]

This thread is kinda goofy. You can't make rational sense out of addictive behaviors. It's like trying to scientifically study why a woman stays with a man who routinely beats the crap out of her. You might be able to explain what's going on inside her head but it still won't make any sense to a rational mind.

[jb666]

This thread is kinda goofy. You can't make rational sense out of addictive behaviors. It's like trying to scientifically study why a woman stays with a man who routinely beats the crap out of her. You might be able to explain what's going on inside her head but it still won't make any sense to a rational mind.

Maybe not, but without that kind of woman there'd be no need for the Lifetime Movie Network.

[Khyron]

This thread is kinda goofy. You can't make rational sense out of addictive behaviors. It's like trying to scientifically study why a woman stays with a man who routinely beats the crap out of her. You might be able to explain what's going on inside her head but it still won't make any sense to a rational mind.

and he usually beats her with a Marlbaro hanging out his mouth!

[MoparManJim]

This thread is kinda goofy. You can't make rational sense out of addictive behaviors. It's like trying to scientifically study why a woman stays with a man who routinely beats the crap out of her. You might be able to explain what's going on inside her head but it still won't make any sense to a rational mind.

This thread maybe kinda goofy... but look at all the goofy members that are also on here!