The first day without a cigarette

  • Thread starter radou
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In summary: They may not have the added chemicals like cigarettes, but they still have tobacco which is harmful to your health. It's best to avoid all forms of tobacco if possible. In summary, the conversation revolves around quitting smoking and the challenges and progress associated with it. The individuals discuss their personal experiences and provide tips and support for quitting. They also mention the potential harm of smoking cigars and pipes, and the importance of finding alternative activities to keep the mind occupied. Overall, the conversation highlights the difficulties and rewards of quitting smoking and encourages others to do the same.
  • #36
light_bulb said:
i know i shouldn't but i was thinking of picking up one of those shelock homes type pipes, not to smoke all the time but every once in a while. it does relax and pipe tobacco smells good plus your not really inhaling. :rolleyes:

Depends on how old you are.

I knew a guy who used to smoke a pipe in high school, and he pretty much looked like a moron. :-p
 
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  • #37
Folks, there are NO safe amounts of smoking. Once every month or two is still a LOT of smoke over a lifetime.
 
  • #38
I'm trying to quit too!

I'm not going cold turkey though, I turn down my urges 3/4 of the time now (used to do it 1/2 the time)

I just started working out too, and that has helped immensely. I don't even want a cigarette right now (just got back from gym).

I smoke pot, too, which I'm psychologically addicted to. It's really hard to quit both at the same time.
 
  • #39
Moonbear said:
Folks, there are NO safe amounts of smoking. Once every month or two is still a LOT of smoke over a lifetime.

I agree that there are no safe amounts of smoking, but for a different reason - you can always become addicted again easy enough.
 
  • #40
Pythagorean said:
I just started working out too, and that has helped immensely. I don't even want a cigarette right now (just got back from gym).

I started running, it seems to help.

Pythagorean said:
I smoke pot, too, which I'm psychologically addicted to. It's really hard to quit both at the same time.

I wouldn't go public with that fact if I were you. :biggrin:

Btw, how do you know you're just psychologically addicted to pot?
 
  • #41
Moonbear said:
Folks, there are NO safe amounts of smoking. Once every month or two is still a LOT of smoke over a lifetime.

I agree! Smoking isn't one of those things that you can take in moderation, like eating ice cream. It's bad period.
 
  • #42
JasonRox said:
I agree! Smoking isn't one of those things that you can take in moderation, like eating ice cream. It's bad period.

How about Breyer's strawberry frozen yogurt? :!) :biggrin:
 
  • #43
JasonRox said:
I agree! Smoking isn't one of those things that you can take in moderation, like eating ice cream. It's bad period.

And who said ice cream can be taken in moderation, huh? :-p
 
  • #44
dontdisturbmycircles said:
How about Breyer's strawberry frozen yogurt? :!) :biggrin:

Of course! Frozen yogurt is better than ice cream!
 
  • #45
radou said:
And who said ice cream can be taken in moderation, huh? :-p

If you can't take ice cream in moderation, than your health must be in severe danger. :frown:
 
  • #46
JasonRox said:
Of course! Frozen yogurt is better than ice cream!

I don't know to what extent that is true, but I think I'd rather not find out. :redface: :smile:

( I know its true, but frozen yogurt isn't 'healthy' :P)
 
  • #47
Plenty of people smoke pipes or cigars and are not addicted at all. I smoke cigars when I feel like it, but that craving usually only hits me a few times per year. If you are just trying to get a buzz, the cigarettes are much cheaper and quick...you would have to be pretty rich to be addicted to high-end cigars as well.

New studies also show that nicotine helps to combat alzheimer's. Alcohol has been shown to be heart-friendly...neither of these will hurt you in moderation. People just need to learn some self-restraint.
 
  • #48
usahockey said:
New studies also show that nicotine helps to combat alzheimer's. Alcohol has been shown to be heart-friendly...neither of these will hurt you in moderation. People just need to learn some self-restraint.

Again, that's untrue. Just because there is one small benefit of something, it doesn't negate all the harmful effects. It drives me nuts when that's what people end up taking home from such studies, the assumption that something is good for you because there was a benefit on one small area of function.
 
  • #49
Moonbear said:
Again, that's untrue. Just because there is one small benefit of something, it doesn't negate all the harmful effects. It drives me nuts when that's what people end up taking home from such studies, the assumption that something is good for you because there was a benefit on one small area of function.

I concur again!

Yeah, I rather make my heart and body healthier by being healthy. Not by drinking alcohol and say, well my liver is shot, but my heart is in a tad better shape. :rolleyes:
 
  • #50
radou said:
Depends on how old you are.

I knew a guy who used to smoke a pipe in high school, and he pretty much looked like a moron. :-p

lol, I'm not going to be walking around with it hanging out of my mouth in public.
 
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  • #51
Moonbear said:
Again, that's untrue. Just because there is one small benefit of something, it doesn't negate all the harmful effects. It drives me nuts when that's what people end up taking home from such studies, the assumption that something is good for you because there was a benefit on one small area of function.

It is TRUE that correlational studies have shown this for cigarette smoking. I never said smoking was good for you, and of course it isn't. But smoking occasionally isn't going to be measurably bad for you either. I've never smoked a cigarette in my life and don't plan to, because I think it's disgusting, and I also care about my athletic performance/health quite a bit. It is possible though that nicotine, or a similar chemical, could be used in the future to treat or prevent alzheimer's, safely and effectively. Morphine, cocaine, and other "bad" drugs still have legitimate uses in medicine. So you can't rule it out.
 
  • #52
usahockey said:
It is TRUE that correlational studies have shown this for cigarette smoking. I never said smoking was good for you, and of course it isn't. But smoking occasionally isn't going to be measurably bad for you either. I've never smoked a cigarette in my life and don't plan to, because I think it's disgusting, and I also care about my athletic performance/health quite a bit. It is possible though that nicotine, or a similar chemical, could be used in the future to treat or prevent alzheimer's, safely and effectively. Morphine, cocaine, and other "bad" drugs still have legitimate uses in medicine. So you can't rule it out.

Sure, you can do that, but I highly doubt a doctor will smile when you tell him you're smoking because it can help prevent Alzheimer's even if it runs in your family!
 
  • #53
light_bulb said:
lol, I'm not going to be walking around with it hanging out of my mouth in public.

But it beats laying around in a mortuary twenty years earlier than you should.:wink:

I got off of cigarettes at age 24 by smoking a pipe.
 
  • #54
radou said:
I wouldn't go public with that fact if I were you. :biggrin:

I don't like that sort of policy. I think it's harmful society and to our own wellbeing to sweep stuff like that under the rug.

Btw, how do you know you're just psychologically addicted to pot?

I've tried quitting both nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol either one at a time or both. It's matter of ambition and school course-load. During school, I can't get anything done if I don't smoke because it interferes with your thoughts. Your receptors are firing off sending you urgent signals as if you're hungry or something. Both are very distracting, especially with physics.

It's also a matter of ambition. For instance, this week, I've been started a strength/cardio workout, and I never feel like smoking after working out, so it's definitely a big help.

I still get decent grades (third year 3.0 physics student) but I'd like to be at least a 3.5 by the time I graduate and more importantly, I really want to prove to myself that I have willpower.

I'm going to try to reduce my intake for now (only smoke when it's distracting me from my homework) and try to totally quit this summer (I'll just be taking a class or two so it should be considerably easier)

edit: I didn't notice the 'just', so I thought you were asking how I know I'm psychologically addicted. I'm sure I'm physically addicted to it since I have thc receptors in my body, but it's definitely not as raging of an addiction as cigarettes. With pot, I don't really have a problem with it, it's not as threatening to me, I like it. Unlike cigarettes, which I don't like. I think the physical addiction to pot is insignificant in comparison to the psycological addiction, and i know it is compared to the physical aspect of cigarette addiction
 
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  • #55
JasonRox said:
Sure, you can do that, but I highly doubt a doctor will smile when you tell him you're smoking because it can help prevent Alzheimer's even if it runs in your family!

It doesn't mean smoking cigarettes...which, by the way, contain many added chemicals that make cigarettes quite a bit more harmful than just straight tobacco, or especially just nicotine on its own. Nicotine patches could be used to help offset alzheimer's in people who are genetically predisposed to the disease. With this information, people are starting to see ways to prevent and possibly treat the problem, which will spark more research in medicine...perhaps a drug could be synthesized which is similar to nicotine, and which acts effectively to halt alzheimer's, without causing other harmful side effects. There is a problem when people see the results and automatically say "smoking is bad", because that's what TV ads have programmed you with. This has nothing to do with smoking, but just the way nicotine works in the brain, and its relation to alzheimers. Medical marijuana is another similar issue, although not many real studies or advances can be done with it, as it is a class 1 substance.
 
  • #56
usahockey said:
It doesn't mean smoking cigarettes...which, by the way, contain many added chemicals that make cigarettes quite a bit more harmful than just straight tobacco, or especially just nicotine on its own. Nicotine patches could be used to help offset alzheimer's in people who are genetically predisposed to the disease. With this information, people are starting to see ways to prevent and possibly treat the problem, which will spark more research in medicine...perhaps a drug could be synthesized which is similar to nicotine, and which acts effectively to halt alzheimer's, without causing other harmful side effects. There is a problem when people see the results and automatically say "smoking is bad", because that's what TV ads have programmed you with. This has nothing to do with smoking, but just the way nicotine works in the brain, and its relation to alzheimers. Medical marijuana is another similar issue, although not many real studies or advances can be done with it, as it is a class 1 substance.

I think you misunderstood what I said. I didn't disagree at all.
 
  • #57
The cigarette companies sneaking under the radar have done a number on the public in recent years. And they did it while supposedly trying to produce cigarettes lower in tar and nicotine.

Cigarette manufacturers are increasing the level of nicotine in cigarettes, according to an analysis of cigarettes sold in Massachusetts from 1997 to 2005. The independent review found increases in smoke nicotine yield per cigarette averaged 1.6 percent each year, or about 11 percent over the seven-year period. Nicotine is the primary addictive agent in cigarettes.

In addition to confirming the magnitude of the increase, first reported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health MDPH, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) extended the analysis to:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/01/18/tobacco-companies-increase-nicotine-levels/

Companies like Phillip Morris (now Altria) have also divested into other areas. Until recently Kraft Foods was owned by Altria.
 
  • #58
In my experience, just trying to quit on will power is tough and often not enough over the long haul. I quit about a year ago, because at the time I was going through a string of panic attacks (now long gone, thankfully) and somehow the attacks came to be associated with smoking. Well, that did a number on my smoking habit right quick.

The lesson to take home from that, I think, is to use the behavioral conditioning that can come with aversive emotions to your advantage if you want to quit smoking. Not to say you want to try to induce a panic attack of course. But for instance, disgust is often quite effective in conditioning behavioral avoidance. Now, I don't know exactly how one might implement that advice-- use your imagination-- but I imagine it could a very effective supplement to a willful decision to quit.
 
  • #59
My town now has a no-smoking law in all of the bars and restaurants...it's pretty nice to be able to go out to eat/drink/watch a musical performance without breathing in large clouds of cigarette smoke. The smokers were all up in arms though, angry that their "right" to smoke had been taken away...more like the rest of us all finally received the right to breathe clean air.
 
  • #60
Neitzsche wrote, "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger." Hopefully, quitting smoking won't kill you!

I do believe that pain and difficulty can make us stronger, but I think our attitude to it is paramount. If we can meet it willingly, instead of pulling back, then it makes us stronger.

May you succeed in your struggles and find peace in your victories.
 
  • #61
Pythagorean said:
During school, I can't get anything done if I don't smoke because it interferes with your thoughts. Your receptors are firing off sending you urgent signals as if you're hungry or something. Both are very distracting, especially with physics.


Are you trying to say that unless you get high every so often, you lose your train of thought easily? Or just plain cannot concentrate on schoolwork when doing homework(for example) ??:confused:

Just wondering since I have quite almost all contact to marijunana since I started University (only done it 2 twice since september). This was quite a feat for me from when I was in high school I felt much less compelled to limit the amount that I was smoking (ie a few times a month).

I am not sure if it is from the atmosphere of the University vs Highschool, but I find it harder to concentrate when studying/homework/during lectures. Not that I am putting blame on my habits that I had in high school especially since the university is still quite new to me, but I was just wondering if you (being a 3rd year student) have had any similar problems?
(Not trying to derail the thread or anything ^_^ )

Thanks,
~Ren
 
  • #62
Pythagorean said:
I don't like that sort of policy. I think it's harmful society and to our own wellbeing to sweep stuff like that under the rug.

Depends on what type of "sweeping under the rug" we're talking about. My point was only that when you go public with that, there is always a number of people who'll judge you because of that. Then again, if you don't care what other people think, good for you. Amof, it's a blessing. :smile:

Pythagorean said:
I'm going to try to reduce my intake for now (only smoke when it's distracting me from my homework) and try to totally quit this summer (I'll just be taking a class or two so it should be considerably easier)

I wish you good luck!

hypnagogue said:
In my experience, just trying to quit on will power is tough and often not enough over the long haul. I quit about a year ago, because at the time I was going through a string of panic attacks (now long gone, thankfully) and somehow the attacks came to be associated with smoking. Well, that did a number on my smoking habit right quick.

Extremely interesting, since this seems to be similar to my case. I can't say I'm trying to quit because of panic attacks (ironically, I want to quit since I started smoking), but they certainly relate to smoking somehow. Not that they are severe, but one still feels their presence.
 
  • #63
renigade666 said:
Are you trying to say that unless you get high every so often, you lose your train of thought easily? Or just plain cannot concentrate on schoolwork when doing homework(for example) ??:confused:

Just wondering since I have quite almost all contact to marijunana since I started University (only done it 2 twice since september). This was quite a feat for me from when I was in high school I felt much less compelled to limit the amount that I was smoking (ie a few times a month).

I am not sure if it is from the atmosphere of the University vs Highschool, but I find it harder to concentrate when studying/homework/during lectures. Not that I am putting blame on my habits that I had in high school especially since the university is still quite new to me, but I was just wondering if you (being a 3rd year student) have had any similar problems?
(Not trying to derail the thread or anything ^_^ )

Thanks,
~Ren

Cigarettes are more distracting during tedious homework where I'm okay with the intuition and the problem solving, but I have to grind through a whole bunch of derivatives and approximations.

Pot is more distracting when I don't do know what to do with a problem. When I've turned about four or five pages on it and ended up going down the wrong road too far or I can't find a mistake in the math (when it's obviously a mistaken assumption I'm making somewhere). I just want to take a break, and not think about it it anymore so that I can reset my mindset on the problem. I'll often play a video game and hit the bong at this point, then I'll read some of the chapter to gain some intuition and totally new perspective before going about the problem.

This is especially true for my classical mechanics class, where there's about a hundred different ways to approach a given problem, but only some of them will take you to the answer symon wants (symon is our text author)
 
  • #64
All, I'm going to say quit smoking, but if you don't want to then smoke dominican cigars. Not because of only the taste, but you know help a fellow country :-p
 
  • #65
The third week today! Yahoooooo! o:) :biggrin:
 
  • #66
radou said:
The third week today! Yahoooooo! o:) :biggrin:

I think the biggest advantage to quitting smoking is food tastes so much better. I gave the habit up 7 years ago and think even if I wanted to I couldn't afford to go back.
 
  • #67
radou said:
The third week today! Yahoooooo! o:) :biggrin:

Nicely done, keep going.
 
  • #68
Ronnin said:
I think the biggest advantage to quitting smoking is food tastes so much better. I gave the habit up 7 years ago and think even if I wanted to I couldn't afford to go back.

Yup, food tastes better, and in general, everything smells better! :smile:

My whole room used to stink like cigarette smoke, and I wasn't smoking at home! It was just because of me and my clothes! Now I see how disgusting it really was.
 
  • #69
radou said:
The third week today! Yahoooooo! o:) :biggrin:
Congratulations!
 
  • #70
ME TOO! I quit on St. Patrick's Day! GOOD FOR US RADOU! :biggrin:
 

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