Who wants to be a nonsmoker?

[zooter]

I can only comment on my own experiance in quiting but the key to success is controling the stress that withdrawal creates. That and a good dollip of willpower.

Skyryder

Not true if you have overcome the mental addiction first. The chemical problem is not what keeps folks addicted.

[zooter]

I like smoking.

Really. What do you like about it?

[Sutage]

There are plenty of other dangers to you other than smoking.

Buses.

Drink drivers.

Im not a smoker but sometimes have a puff or two when im drinking or smoking green and its actually quite nice, i doubt id start tho, when im around cigarette smoke when im sober it yuk, but at the end of the day somethings gonna kill you and if you arent spending 1000000 dollars a week on it then it aint that big a deal IMHO. just like my "rule" on smoking weed/drinking.. as long as it doesnt affect my day to day life, like work, school when i went etc all that crap then im fine

anywho your life is your life and if you enjoy a smoke of anything or a drink of anything to help you relax after a day at work go for it, dont listen to ppl who always say oh smokings bad drinkings bad drugs are bad, what the hell do they know, they'll be the ones who end up going to see shrinks for like 250 dollars an hour not you
my 2c

[onearmedbandit]

SO DONT QUIT

Not going to, however when your 6yr old daughter says to you 'please don't smoke daddy, I don't want you to die' it makes you think.

[onearmedbandit]

Really. What do you like about it?

I like the taste, I like the feeling it gives me. I like having one after food with a drink, I like having one when I'm out drinking. I like having one after a 'smoke' while reading a book. There may be further deeper reasons why I do (my Father smoked and I never felt close to him, so in some way smoking made me, when I was younger, feel closer to him) but all in all, I just like smoking. I'm considerate of others when I do smoke, distancing myself from non-smokers when in a social setting so as to not offend them, not smoking in front of my daughter, smoking outside of my house as my wife doesn't smoke.

Also the packaging is pretty.

[zooter]

I like the taste, I like the feeling it gives me. I like having one after food with a drink, I like having one when I'm out drinking. I like having one after a 'smoke' while reading a book. There may be further deeper reasons why I do (my Father smoked and I never felt close to him, so in some way smoking makes me feel closer to him) but all in all, I just like smoking. I'm considerate of others when I do smoke, distancing myself from non-smokers when in a social setting so as to not offend them, not smoking in front of my daughter, smoking outside of my house as my wife doesn't smoke.

Also the packaging is pretty.

Lets start with taste.
I challenge you to smoke your next twenty cigs all the way to the end, all the while consciously admiring the taste and report back if you still think it has anything to recommend it taste-wise.

[onearmedbandit]

But zooter, I don't smoke my cigarettes to the end anyway, always leave 5mm or so then discard it. I like the taste of all my cig to the point where I feel like no more. Recommending me to carry out your test therefore has no relevance. But please don't stop with where your going with this.

[zooter]

But zooter, I don't smoke my cigarettes to the end anyway, always leave 5mm or so then discard it. I like the taste of all my cig to the point where I feel like no more. Recommending me to carry out your test therefore has no relevance. But please don't stop with where your going with this.

Ok then, leaving aside the semantics over the last 5mm, how does the next puff after you "feel like no more" taste?
You keep answering, I keep asking, eventually you will happily smoke your last cig.

[Skyryder]

Not true if you have overcome the mental addiction first. The chemical problem is not what keeps folks addicted.

Sorry Zoot but it is the chemical (nicotine) that is addictive.

Nicotine (C10H14N2) is a naturally occurring liquid alkaloid. An alkaloid is an organic compound made out of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sometimes oxygen. These chemicals have potent effects on the human body. For example, many people regularly enjoy the stimulating effects of another alkaloid, caffeine, as they quaff a cup or two of coffee in the morning.

We may be talking at cross purposes here. Your say that to overcome smoking you have to overcome the mental addiction first. I will agree that the mindset of the indavidual is crucial in 'kicking' the habit. You have to want to stop, not want to 'try' and stop and there is a huge difference.

Mental addiction sounds more sinister than lack of will power but in reality there is no difference.

I think you may be confusing the effects that nicotine has on the body.


While signals are conducted through individual neurons as electric current, communication between neurons is mediated by chemical messengers, called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters traverse the physical space between two neurons and bind to special protein receptors on the postsynaptic cell. Once bound, these receptors set in motion physiological changes within the neuron that allow it to send the signal on down the line.

Each neurotransmitter has its own specific family of receptors. Nicotine works by docking to a subset of receptors that bind the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter that (depending on what region of the brain a neuron is in):

* Delivers signals from your brain to your muscles
* Controls basic functions like your energy level, the beating of your heart and how you breathe
* Acts as a "traffic cop" overseeing the flow of information in your brain
* Plays a role in learning and memory


Both nicotine and acetylcholine are chemicals and as such smoking is a chemical addiction and not a mental addiction.

Skyryder

[Skyryder]

Im not a smoker but sometimes have a puff or two when im drinking or smoking green and its actually quite nice,

Well you are a smoker.

Skyryder

[zooter]

editing liberally:

We may be talking at cross purposes here. Your say that to overcome smoking you have to overcome the mental addiction first. I will agree that the mindset of the indavidual is crucial in 'kicking' the habit. You have to want to stop, not want to 'try' and stop and there is a huge difference.

Mental addiction sounds more sinister than lack of will power but in reality there is no difference.

I think you may be confusing the effects that nicotine has on the body.

Both nicotine and acetylcholine are chemicals and as such smoking is a chemical addiction and not a mental addiction.

Skyryder

You know a lot about biochemistry! The cross purposes comment is 90% of our differences.
I hope I didn't say it is absolutely necessary to overcome the mental aspect of the addiction in order to defeat nicotine chemical addiction. That is untrue. I'll summarise.

The subconsious mind "learns" things about smoking that are untrue. Every smoker is different. I can prove these thing to be untrue, setting a nicotine addict free from the mental addiction.

Once free of the mental addiction the chemical addiction is a piece of cake to deal with. Willpower is not required.

I know that many people have sucessfully quit using willpower. I do not demean their acheivement or criticise them for ignorance of a better way. On the contrary, I congratulate one and all who has overcome nicotine.

I've recommend Allen Carr's book "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking" many times in this forum. To read this book requires a small effort but his instructions are clear. You do not quit until you have finished the book. You don't have to finish the book and you don't have to quit even if you do so there is nothing to be afraid of. Seriously the best $28 anyone ever spent.

For the benefit of the biker smokers who would rather be nonsmokers but can't get off their bike down at Whitcoulls I've posted this thread offering to help them in this lovely nonthreatening internet space.

The debate about mental vs chemical can hopefully be laid to rest.

[onearmedbandit]

What does it taste like? Not offensive anyway, but I feel no more need to smoke anymore of that particular cigarette. Sometimes I'll go through 2/3 of the cig, other times to almost the end. Depends on how much is enough for me in that particular moment. Sometimes if I have dry mouth.throat it becomes uncomfortable, but not offensive or sickly.

[zooter]

What does it taste like? Not offensive anyway, but I feel no more need to smoke anymore of that particular cigarette. Sometimes I'll go through 2/3 of the cig, other times to almost the end. Depends on how much is enough for me in that particular moment. Sometimes if I have dry mouth.throat it becomes uncomfortable, but not offensive or sickly.

So not a likeable taste then? Nevermind the need, please test this out. No need to torture yourself if the throat is saying enough, but I want your report of how appealing, or otherwise, the taste is once you're completely "satisfied".

[Odin]

So not a likeable taste then? Nevermind the need, please test this out. No need to torture yourself if the throat is saying enough, but I want your report of how appealing, or otherwise, the taste is once you're completely "satisfied".

What about when you have a sore throght ? do you still smoke then ? does it still taste good ?

[onearmedbandit]

Ok I'll give it a go and report back.