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On Smoking

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Re: On Smoking

#301

Post by [deleted] »

prionassembly wrote: post #245
IggleSniggle wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fellow non-smoker to another, but with a very different experience. Over a decade ago, I tried chewing tobacco. Definitely a stimulant, but of the relaxing variety. It’s like a shot of adrenaline but only on your brain and with no negative feeling side-effects. Or like eating an especially delicious gourmet hamburger that is both interesting in its complexity and relaxing at the same time. The noticeably pleasant men…

> a stimulant of the relaxing variety This: what other substance in the world relaxes and stimulates at the same time?

[deleted]

Re: On Smoking

#302

Post by kuschku »

joeberon wrote: post #298
kuschku wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why not do the coffee break outside, without the cigarette?

Well, coffee doesn't contain nicotine

And that's where it immediately becomes obvious it's not just about going outside, or having small breaks, it's about the addiction that's so destructive that it's easier to deny it than to accept it.

Re: On Smoking

#303

Post by colechristensen »

1_player wrote: post #54
TameAntelope wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience has been similar. I've smoked cigarettes probably ~12 times in my life, maybe up to 20 if you count cigars, but I've never felt like I need one or am in any way compelled to continue smoking on my own. Always, always while drinking. Maybe that helps isolate the context?

Sorry, I downvoted you, I hate when people think they're immune. They're one of the reason other people find themselves addicted to it. It's irresponsible and frankly immature. Smoking one or 100 cigarettes doesn't guarantee addiction, it's a Russian roulette. If you haven't heard BANG yet, doesn't mean there's no ammo in the chamber. You're not better or smarter than smokers. You just were more lucky.

I’ve smoked maybe... 30 cigarettes a year for half of my life. I will go weeks or months without with zero effort or intent. Sometimes I will get a strong feeling that I want a cigarette and I think “better not” and that’s it.

There is a little bit of “smarter” in there but really, i’m just not an addict. Some people are, some aren’t. I know several people who have rarely smoked and never had problems with addiction.

I think part of it is some people are more susceptible to addiction than others and another part is that the “just one” is BS, you can learn to not let it happen to you without total abstinence.

Re: On Smoking

#304

Post by colechristensen »

joeberon wrote: post #297
qq4 wrote: post #202

Since there seem to be past smokers in this thread, can any of you chime in for me what smoking did or does for you? I don't mean this as a insult, but I've never understood the addiction, at this point I feel like it's impossible for me to experience, and I don't desire to. I've smoked maybe a dozen or so times in my life, each time a dumb decision often for comedic effect where I asked myself afterwards, "am I addi…

It definitely depends how you smoke imo, and probably your predisposition to it. I have tobacco in joints, and I don't smoke weed that much, and I also smoke cigarettes on rare occasions, e.g. on MDMA. I've probably smoked about 100 in my life. I have had moments before where in the day I've thought "I should have a cigarette". However each time that thought has scared me into not having one. In the end it just never…

Some of the “high” of smoking is carbon monoxide poisoning.

Re: On Smoking

#305

Post by fruityrudy »

I feel like all smoking advertising and education is wrong.

Smoking will kill you or is bad for you is a message that few care about.

Trying to scare people doesn’t work. People can smoke a pack a day for 20+ years and be fine.

It is the addictive associative nature of it that should have the focus.

If you smoke when you drink, you will have cravings when you drink that will last a life time.

People always think they can stop, but they don’t consider the other events that will be occurring whilst they try to.

It’s a task that must be conducted on top of all the stressful events people deal with during life. It will become a constant multitasking job running alongside everything else.

The moment you can’t focus on work without a smoke break is when you are hooked.

And people don’t grasp the experience of cancer properly. The slow random nature of it. And the years of looking into the abyss with complete regret.

We need to find ways to immerse people in future scenarios to get them to understand addiction and how it happens. Maybe draw an analogy to addictions they already have.

Re: On Smoking

#306

Post by p2detar »

I used to smoke only at work or when on work trips. My reason to stop was mainly the smell. I hated how my fingers smelled after a smoke. Every time I have the urge to smoke, I remind myself of that smell and it goes away.

Re: On Smoking

#307

Post by colechristensen »

qq4 wrote: post #235
raptorraver wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First few times I felt a little high for a minute but I mostly started because I thought it is cool to smoke. Allen Carr - the guy who wrote the book Easy Way which have helped me and millions of others to kick the habit - has described that smokers smoke to feel the same way as non smokers feel all the time. Nicotine is hell of a drug, it doesn't give you a lot but withdrawals make you anxious and restless, smoking…

Would you say it's a feeling of artificial normality? I read once that some schizophrenics smoke as a method of self treatment. I'm not sure how else to understand how a nonsmoker feels all the time. Did you ever feel a high sensation again, or was it just the first few times? I'm not familiar with nicotine as a psychoactive drug. From what I'm gathering in other comments, it seems like a user manifests a habit, say…

It’s a mild calming stimulant, it does slightly pleasant things in both directions at the same time.

But you adjust to it, so if you try to feel that way all the time really you’re just smoking to get back to baseline, mostly.

Re: On Smoking

#308

Post by golergka »

murat131 wrote: post #3

The thing about smoking is that when you quit smoking you quit it every day. Imagine a light switch on the wall. You turn it off by quitting smoking and you can always go back at a desperate time for instance and turn it on. And some time later off again. Smoking your first cigarette implants that light switch on your mind and you can't make it go away. Since you know how it makes you feel good when the switch is on,…

That was not my experience. I smoked for 13 years, started in 2004, when I was 16. I have had periods when I smoked a pack a day. But in 2017, without even trying to do it, I just realized at some point that I have been forgetting to smoke for a couple of weeks. And I just never bought a new pack after that. Didn't even have to had any disciple of willpower; I'm just that bad at developing any habits.

Re: On Smoking

#309

Post by mPReDiToR »

CraigJPerry wrote: post #30
murat131 wrote: post #3

The thing about smoking is that when you quit smoking you quit it every day. Imagine a light switch on the wall. You turn it off by quitting smoking and you can always go back at a desperate time for instance and turn it on. And some time later off again. Smoking your first cigarette implants that light switch on your mind and you can't make it go away. Since you know how it makes you feel good when the switch is on,…

Anecdata but that’s not how it worked for me. I was “20 a day” (which means 30 a day but that wasn’t socially acceptable to admit) for 4 years, 3.5 of which were spent trying to give up. The only 3 days i didn’t smoke in that time were when i had a horribly bad septic throat due to some infection and physically couldn’t smoke. Patches, lozenges, gums, the little ball tablet things, herbal cigs, e-cig - not the curren…

40 Marlborough reds a day, playing PS3, fag in hand constantly.

Read "The Book" and six months later, quit cold turkey.

I've been out with smokers since who have felt guilty about having one and I've proven a point by lighting their fags for them.

No way do I want or need to smoke.

I'm a non-smoker and have been for over a decade.

If you smoke, read "The Book". Twice. Stop when you're ready.

Re: On Smoking

#310

Post by irthomasthomas »

Some fun facts about the ingredients in tobacco..

The reason smoking causes cancer is the high amount of polonium 210, yes, that stuff they used to kill Litvenchenko. The reason for the presence of polonium 210 is flavour. Truly. It sounds far fetched, but, while the polonium is thought to contaminate the plant from the environment. Tobacco plants have lots of sticky little hairs which attract particles. It could be washed out of the product, but manufacturers found that the harsh cleaning required, ruined the flavour profile of the end product. This was thought to be a disservice to the customer. So the highly radioactive polonium 210 remains... For Flavour!

Another ingredient you may be surprised at is urea。 Pig Urine. But this one is not natural. No pigs are strolling tobacco fields and making no1 on the crops. This one is intentional, and in fact is probably the main flavour you pick up from a smoke.

This history of this particular flavour enhancer is very interesting. They no longer use real pig urine in stuff any more, but a synthesized version. This synthesis was invented in the late 19th century (you can relax now). But the paper that introduced urea synthesis to world is regarded as the beginning of the field of chemistry, and an important moment in history. That paper is now part of the western literary canon, and is often required reading for numerous academic fields.

If I get time, I will add sources, but maybe some HN people already know about this?

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