OT:Smokers

[kfriel]

I smoke, I like to smoke, I enjoy smoking and will continue to smoke. "My" only problem is that nagging voice saying I could get two $60 dollar knives or a nice $120 dollar knife every month if I didn't. But I enjoy it too much to quit.
Kevin

[timlara]

Thom: No offense taken! You make some excellent points as well. I just wanted to make it clear that I'm not a paranoid conspiracy theorist! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>

I certainly would't go so far as to say the cigarette companies lie to their customers - everyone knows the risks, and they promise to kill their customers right on the label! (Which is actually kind of a silly regulation. Why not make McDonald's do the same thing?) I also have no doubt that the quality of most tobacco products is highly consistent. Most addicts (collectors included - hint hint) would notice right away if the object of their obsession degrades in quality. While it is well within the rights of tobacco manufacturers to sell their products to people who want them, and their customers should be allowed to make their own decisions, it will just always be hard for me to understand how a company can be OK with selling products that seem to hurt people a lot more than help them. As an example to the contrary, we sell various vitamins and nutritional supplements where I work, and the minute we get any indication that any of our products might not be safe, we pull them off the shelf and refuse to sell them. Or, if what we see as a product with questionable safety or quality is a &quot;hot seller&quot; in our market, we still will not bring that item in even if we know we could make a lot of money by selling it. I suppose we're lucky that we have a diverse enough product base that we can run our business on those principles.

I completely agree with you that opponents of the tabacco industry that resort to deceitful tactics in order to finance their transparent smear campaigns really just end up undermining the arguments that they supposedly stand behind. I don't believe that people like that actually care about the health and well-being of their fellow humans - they usually have underlying agendas. Such is the problem with politics in general: It seems that far too often, the actual issues at hand are forgotten as they devolve into some sort of &quot;team sport&quot; scuffle match between sides where the only thing that matters is whether or not your &quot;team&quot; wins.

p.s. - GREAT. My 100th post is an off-topic ethics rant!! LOL.

Edited by - timlara on 4/1/2004 9:42:29 AM

[thombrogan]

Tim Lara,

Sorry to drag your milestone post into the mire of an ROT thread. J Smith really gave us a thinker, though.

Tobacco and deep-fried animal corpse have it lucky: you know that too much is bad. Tobacco's even luckier because any chronic use is bad.

Glad to hear you don't sell what you believe will ruin or curtail your customers' quality of life.

Edited by - thombrogan on 4/1/2004 2:01:30 PM

[LT]

My parents smoked all my life, and now I've got asthma to show for it. Also I tens to have a very strong reaction around cigarette smoke to the point that I can't breathe at times. What I have to deal with now points out the problem with secondhand smoke in my opinion. Dad's gone now, but my mother and sister continue to smoke frequently which is why I don't visit either of them very often. Tried smoking myself, years ago, and decided I didn't really see the point of it. I've seen too many cases of emphysema and lung cancer since then to ever take it up again.

[dialex]

I smoke less than 10 cigars a year, therefore I consider myself a non smoker.
However, I was raised in a house where they used to smoke. Nowadays, when I visit my parents (almost daily), I am hit by the smell of cigarettes. All my relatives I know of use to smoke too. Big time. Most of them lived pretty long (over 87 years each), but it's also true they lived at the country, in a healthy environment and they made a lot of physical work.
OTOH, here's a proven fact (according to the statistics): people who smoke have less chances of developing neural diseases (like schlerosis, Parkinson or Alzheimer). Interesting, hmmm? ...

<a href="http://users.pcnet.ro/dialex"><font color=blue>(my page)</font></a>

[zeus]

I have smoked many cigars and pipes since turning 18 in 1980 but I have cut back to one or two cigars per month and one bowl per week due to a scare a few months ago. Had what I thought was a squamous carcinoma in the back of my throat, but the docs said it was just a blocked salivary gland. Still-- quite a wake up call! Before that, in cigars: Arturo Fuente, Partagas, Bolivar, Casa Blanca.... plus great stuff from JR Cigar Co. and some of their &quot;Alternatives&quot;

Also have over 85 pipes that I've collected thru the years -no drug store stuff, mostly med to high grade and estate pipes. Castello, Peterson, Barling, Nording, Sidney P. Ram, D'Argenta, Caminetto,Ben Wade, Butz C., Kirsten, Charatan, Preben Holm, Savenelli; in Traditional, ChurchWardens, Freehands, Meershams, gourds, Hookas, etc...

Only smoke Enlish blends with some Perique and lots of Latakia! Used to blend my own using Burley as a base.

In social settings I will light up a clove or a flavored &quot;Backwoods&quot; cigar (as long as no one objects) but I have never smoked regular cigarettes.

Quite a diverse hobby.

[pcvh]

I smoke about 40 a day, not ready-mades but self-rolled tobacco (more common in my neck of the woods..). Truth be told, I really ought to quite, and I've tried a couple of times, but sadly I apparently am a very weak-willed person.

Interestingly enough, I've quite worse addictions than smoking, I never even got into drinking coffee in the first place, but for some reason I can't seem to let go of my ciggies..

Chris.

[vampyrewolf]

pcvh&gt; interesting point on the coffee. I know some of us in here, mainly Java, would be lost without coffee. I myself down 14-15 cups a day. Our pot upstairs goes through 5-6 pots a day. My pot downstairs only sees my morning pot(flavoured coffee) every day.

<img src="http://www.members.shaw.ca/pjharyett/spyderco/spyder5.gif"><br>Mei Fides, Mei Victus<br>We are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.<br>

[4077th]

I quit five months ago. Used SmokeAway for five days, then willpower and prayer. Went thru lots of cravings and uncomfortable withdrawl effects. Its been a rocky road but gets better all the time. The motivation to STAY off cigarettes comes from not wanting to redo struggles of the past five months.

By the way, replacing cigs with Skoal is no solution. Been there, done that. All it amounts to is switching nicotine delivery systems.

Just an update... Still off the nicotine all these years later. Lovin this freedom. Working on my ninth year tobacco frEEEEE! Bring on those Spydie sprints!

[razorsharp]

congratulations

[Tdog]

I quit many years ago. With the cost of a pack-a-day, one could buy an extra Spydie or 2 every month and have something to show for it. I also did away with satellite tv 2 years ago in July. With the exception of National Geographic, the History Channel, and some sports, there wasn't much I worth watching anyway. Extra disposable Spydiecash

[rosconey]

stole a pack of salems from my mom as a kid-
went behind some bush's and proceeded to smoke the whole pack-

got sicker than a dog and havent smoked cigs since

[Spyderbro]

Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world.
I know because I've done it thousands of times.

Mark Twain

[NYRich]

After 35 years of smoking, I quite a little over 12 years ago and haven't had a cigarette since. I tried just about every patch, gum and pill on the market back then and not one of them worked. It was strictly "cold turkey" and not at all easy.

What I miss more than the cigarettes is the occasional Cuban cigar, but I'm not going to tempt fate by smoking any sort of tobacco.

I don't know what the price of cigarettes is in other locations, but most brands here currently seem to be selling for at least $10 a pack. I've never done the actual math, but must have saved well over $20,000 at an average of even $5 per pack.

[2cha]

stole a pack of salems from my mom as a kid-
went behind some bush's and proceeded to smoke the whole pack-

got sicker than a dog and havent smoked cigs since

Yeah, except I swiped them from Grandma--True's was the brand I think. At any rate, I've been smoking on and off for 25 years. I ##*%^&* hate it and love it.

[r small]

I like a few cigs a day. Mostly I can keep it to around 3 or or 4 a day. But if something is stressing me out I'm likely to chain smoke a few. My advice: if you don't smoke don't start. If you smoke quit. Or at least cut back.

[quinoa]

I'm at about 5 a day. Got me the electronic green smoke last fall. I use it indoors at parties and concerts. Only nicotine NO TAR or other carcinogens. And flavored. Much better than the tabacco or menthol flavor. Mocha in the morning. Apple or strawberry in the evening. Now to cut out the American Spirits all together.

[The Deacon]

Smoked cigarettes for over 40 years. Quit, cold turkey, about 4 months after the last post before this thread was resurrected, so just about seven and a half years ago. Definitely wasn't easy, but I'm quite sure I'd have been dead years ago if I hadn't quit.

[cubsfan1969]

I guess I can chime in here a bit. I am an ex smoker, quit 3 years ago this June with the help of Chantix. When you are ready to quit, you'll know! Best decision I've made in my life I think. To the OP, hang in there, it's a fantastic feeling to know you conquered that habit.

Dave B.

[mikeo]

For about 30 years, I smoked cigarettes, cigars, a pipe, chewed tobacco, snuff, bit between cheek and gum, and sniffed it. I then quit in the summer of 1991, cold turkey. Haven't done any of that since. I'm now in my 21 year of non-smoking. Do I still get the urge, yes, but I don't give in. And I won't.