Smoking

[Tosspot]

For the past six years I've vacillated back and forth between being a smoker and a non-smoker. I'd smoke for a year then quit for a year, start again for a year, quit for 8 months, start again for a few months, quit again for a few more months...blah blah blah over the course of six years.

Both my paternal grandfather and his brother (my great uncle) died smokers. So i'm trying to take some inspiration from them and each day that I don't buy any cigarettes, I transfer the cost of a pack of smokes from my checking account to my savings account, then after each month I'll put it in my IRA. I imagine if ole' gramps and his brother did that they may still be alive, and a whole lot richer too.

And it was about time I quit for good anyway. eventually, smoking will probably be illegal in all public places anyway, so I got to enjoy it while it lasted.

[kard]

Make it harder for yourself.  Instead of each day that you don't buy the cigs, send it there first.  Send that paycheck's-worth of cigs to the IRA the day you get paid.

It's rough, but hey, just tryin' to help. 

[kucer]

I quit about 9 years ago.  It was a time when I was back living at home, so I basically went cold turkey and took it out (emotional swings and fits of rage, etc) on my parents.  To this day I thank them for putting up with me back then, but they knew it was for a good cause.  I cut way back to like a smoke after work and maybe before bed.  I got on a excercise routine and kept busy with guitar and reading.  I made sure to still frequent bars & such, so as to get used to being around people smoking and not having to light up too.  Especially, after having a few suds.  Sounds like you've done it before for prolonged times, so you should be able to do it.  The money into the IRA instead idea is a great one.  Time value of money, dude.  Get that accumulation going now!

I too have the sad stories of relatives who smoked that are now gone. I met my dad's brother twice in my life(long story). Once when I was a kid and once a few years ago. We all flew down to Houston to say goodbye to him before he passed away. It was freaking heartbreaking. The guy was brilliant, worked for NASA, had a family and now is dead from smoking since he was kid.  Sad that he never quit.  Never even got to meet my paternal grandfather (mr. 2 packs of Lucky Strikes a day) cuz he died early too from smoking. 

Good luck, Toss! You can and SHOULD do it!

[warwickland]

I used to smoke while drinking, but my god, somehow i was lucky and didnt become addicted. i transferred money that would have been spent on smokes not to an IRA fund, but to an IPA fund...

[voltopt]

haha!  IPA fund!

i had smoked for 11 years, from age 16 until age 27, when i quit last october.  i haven't smoked since then, i guess about 8 months, and its pretty easy.  i still drink, my girlfriend still smokes, my life is the same but better - i just feel better.  that was the main reason i quit - it suddenly dawned on me that my quality of life could be better, so i stopped.  it was crazy, after 11 years of smoking AND vacillating on smoking, to suddenly really just stop.  its the fact i've made it this far that tells me i won't do it again - i mean, i fear absolutes as much as the next guy, but i'd hate to go back to square one now!

[chingon]

i smoked since i was 13.  i've been quitting for 8 years.  longest stretch of not smoking: 1 year and a few months.  now, instead of roller-coaster smoking, i just lie.  even when caught smoking, i look people in the eye and firmly swear that i do not smoke and never have.  i feel much better.  i've noticed almost all of the benefits actual quitters have, including better skin and better breath...just from lying about smoking.  my insurance is cheaper, and even my doctor has given me kudos on my remarkable success! 

[Thaine]

I quit last January 1st after smoking a couple packs a day for about 25 years.  I feel better.  I guess.  I've gained 30 pounds, have mini bouts of depression and have started snoring (WTF?).

But I'll live longer I'm betting.  And I'm rolling in the dough

[shinatoo]

I'm going to reveal how retarted I am (what! you already knew that). I started smoking last year, at 35. BUt I only smoke about a pack a month.

Several reasons for this insanity. One, I quit somking weed. Two, I'm trying to lose weight, and at one particular day part I get crazy hungry. So if water and celery won't kill it I have a smoke.

So I'm an idiot. But I haven't increased my consumption in a year and I have gone long streaches without missing them.

[schugg]

I quit january 1st 2005, cold turkey! I smoked for ten years and decided I had enough. Its been 17 months now. 

[mean]

Congrats, quitters. I quit January 24th, 2005 after trying and failing a few times. In that time I've saved over $2,000 that would have otherwise gone to cigarettes. Well, not SAVED, exactly, it all got spent. But not on cigarettes!

[KCKev]

I'll light up two smokes all this week for you guys! I smoke to protect my lungs from the car/bus exhaust.

[bahua]

Luckily, I was never popular when smoking was, so I never picked it up. Of my forty-some cousins, I am one of maybe five that doesn't smoke.

[nota]

For the past six years I've vacillated back and forth between being a smoker and a non-smoker. I'd smoke for a year then quit for a year, start again for a year, quit for 8 months, start again for a few months, quit again for a few more months...blah blah blah over the course of six years.

Both my paternal grandfather and his brother (my great uncle) died smokers. So i'm trying to take some inspiration from them and each day that I don't buy any cigarettes, I transfer the cost of a pack of smokes from my checking account to my savings account, then after each month I'll put it in my IRA. I imagine if ole' gramps and his brother did that they may still be alive, and a whole lot richer too.

And it was about time I quit for good anyway. eventually, smoking will probably be illegal in all public places anyway, so I got to enjoy it while it lasted.

I have no idea how to quit because I've never smoked. I watched my father, a robust guy of 160 pounds die of lung cancer weighing 87 pounds at 70.

A really good friend of ours was diagnosed with lung cancer last November 11. Took all the treatments, etc. Died in early February anyway. Viet Nam didn't get him, Desert Storm didn't, but the cigs did. The full military honors at the cemetary for a strong man of 53 really didn't make up for his shortened life.

I wish you all the luck and I know it will be the hardest thing you did.

My husband quit (again) last year. He uses the patches and swears by them. the longest he has ever quit for was 5 years. Shortest time is about 1 year. A cigar gets him every time.

[nota]

I quit last January 1st after smoking a couple packs a day for about 25 years.  I feel better.  I guess.  I've gained 30 pounds, have mini bouts of depression and have started snoring (WTF?).

But I'll live longer I'm betting.  And I'm rolling in the dough

The snoring is from the weight gain.

Some exercise will help with both the weight and the depressions. Shake up those endorphins a bit.

[skim82]

I smoked from 16 to 20.  Surprisingly I quit because I'd smoke at least 2 packs a night while drinking and partying as a High schooler. 

It was hard... but the breathing problems, and constant sore throats were enought to make me not smoke again.

[schugg]

the main reason I quit is that while in Hawaii (october 2004) I had an anxiety attack while hiking in Maui and it really sucked. so I changed my diet and quit smoking, making sure that never happens again.

[scooterj]

I smoked cigarettes a few times a day for about 18 months in college but didn't get addicted, I just decided one day I didn't want to smoke anymore and that was that.

I still smoke a pipe every once in a while to relax, or the occasional cigar while playing cards or hanging out with the guys.  I figure there's too many other things trying to kill me for me to harp on the fear of the slight chance of cancer from that.

[Thaine]

Am I correct in the observation that those that started smoking in their mid to latish teens got addicted and those that were adults could intermittently smoke cigarettes?  Informal study on my part.

[Tosspot]

Am I correct in the observation that those that started smoking in their mid to latish teens got addicted and those that were adults could intermittently smoke cigarettes?  Informal study on my part.

I started smoking regularly when i was 19. Had dabbled with it on and off infrequently prior to that, on a few occasions though.

I think I recall some studies that show that nearly everyone who gets addicted to smoking got that way by starting in their adolescence or very early adulthood.

[KCMax]

Surgeon general warns of secondhand smoke

WASHINGTON - Separate smoking sections don't cut it: Only smoke-free buildings and public places truly protect nonsmokers from the hazards of breathing in other people's tobacco smoke, says a long-awaited surgeon general's report.

Some 126 million nonsmokers are exposed to secondhand smoke, what U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona repeatedly calls "involuntary smoking" that puts people at increased risk of death from lung cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.

Moreover, there is no risk-free level of exposure to someone else's drifting smoke, declares the report issued Tuesday — a conclusion sure to fuel already growing efforts at public smoking bans nationwide. Fourteen states have passed what are considered comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws, those that include restaurants and bars.

But the surgeon general is especially concerned about young children who can't escape their parents' addiction in search of cleaner air: Just over one in five children is exposed to secondhand smoke at home, where workplace bans don't reach. Those children are at increased risk of SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome; lung infections such as pneumonia; ear infections; and more severe asthma.

Among other findings:

_Separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air and ventilation systems don't eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.

_There is good evidence that comprehensive smoking bans, like those in New York City and Boston, don't economically hurt the hospitality industry.

_Workplace smoking restrictions not only reduce secondhand smoke but discourage active smoking by employees.

_Secondhand smoke can act on the arteries so quickly that even a brief pass through someone else's smoke can endanger people at high risk of heart disease. Don't ever smoke around a sick relative, Carmona advised

_Living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker's risk of lung cancer and heart disease by up to 30 percent.

_There isn't proof that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer, although the evidence is suggestive. California earlier this year cited that link in becoming the first state to declare secondhand smoke a toxic air pollutant.

_On the plus side, blood measurements of a nicotine byproduct show that exposure to secondhand smoke has decreased. Levels dropped by 75 percent in adults and 68 percent in children between the early 1990s and 2002. However, not only has children's exposure declined less rapidly, but levels of that byproduct among children are more than twice as high as in nonsmoking adults.