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On Smoking

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Re: On Smoking

#361

Post by graeme »

unixhero wrote: post #24
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,…

I quit smoking, and it was very very hard. I don't agree with you that the addiction, need and nicotine + other triggers will remain with me until the end of time. Deprogramming is part of the process of quitting to smoke. I do now never want to smoke. It is not attractive to me as a way to relax or focus. I can stand in a tobacco section of an airport taxfree shop holding a 5 cartons in my hands with absolutely no d…

How did you deprogram? This seems like it would actually be broadly relevant to habit change, so as a non smoker I’d be interested to know more.

Re: On Smoking

#362

Post by tomcooks »

mavhc wrote: post #52
dimmke wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I quit smoking back in 2016 and I don’t think of myself as a smoker at all anymore. I sometimes have to remind myself I used to smoke.

Why do people start smoking? Surely they know it's addictive, expensive, and bad for you

Feels good man

Re: On Smoking

#363

Post by Stevvo »

DeRock wrote: post #268
Stevvo wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Peking"? What?

Peking == Beijing. It’s the more phonetic translation of the mandarin name for the city.

No, Peking is not more phonetic than Beijing, and it isn't even Wade-Giles. Beijing is the currently accepted western name. You could make a linguistic argument for Wade-Giles, but not for the postal romanization.

Re: On Smoking

#364

Post by jessriedel »

greenshackle2 wrote: post #104
pengaru wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also worth noting nicotine has interesting "nootropic" properties. You don't really have to quit your addiction to quit smoking, and there can be some advantages to continuing if you can afford it in safer forms.

I got myself addicted to nicotine gum and I never even smoked. To the point that I was constantly using it. Going through maybe 10-15 2mg gums per day. I used patches and regular non-nicotine gum to quit but I still have the urge, especially when I have difficulty focusing at work, because it does actually seem to help with that.

So, no one knows with complete confidence the long-term effects of nicotine alone (i.e., nicotine when taken without all the carcinogens in cigarettes associated with combustion that are not found in nicotine gum). But the evidence we do have suggests it's vastly safer than cigarettes. In fact, I don't even think we know if it's harmful on net.

https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine

Given the appetite suppression, and the known terrible effects of obesity, it could even be beneficial.

You will get addicted to it though.

Re: On Smoking

#365

Post by jessriedel »

amatic wrote: post #250
fnord77 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it is quite possible that nicotine is a carcinogen itself and there is no safe form

I've read the opposite from gwern - that nicotine is safe, and the carcinogens are mostly in the burning of tobacco products. He tested nicotine as a nootropic, apparently has significant effect.

I like Gwern's nicotine webpage, but the evidence we have is consistent with nicotine being a carcinogen alone. Indeed, he says so himself in his third footnote.

Re: On Smoking

#366

Post by jessriedel »

bitcuration wrote: post #16
pengaru wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also worth noting nicotine has interesting "nootropic" properties. You don't really have to quit your addiction to quit smoking, and there can be some advantages to continuing if you can afford it in safer forms.

has vaping been out of question?

The author said they were embarrassed by gum. Outside of very specific subcultures, it's safe to say they would be much more embarassed by vaping. But sure, vaping will deliver nicotine, and its significantly safer than cigarettes (though we don't know if it's safe).

Re: On Smoking

#367

Post by jessriedel »

augusto-moura wrote: post #4
jessriedel wrote: post #2

> too embarrassed of chewing-gums In case others don't know, there are nicotine lozenges that are smaller than the gum and require no chewing. And if you happen to swallow them nothing happens, the nicotine is destroyed by your stomachs without being absorbed. They are really very discreet to use. (Even the gum isn't actually chewed like regular gum; you just chew it for a few seconds and let it sit on your gum.)

I think that she means chewing gum to mask off the breath. I'm a smoker and do that very often, it's kinda rude to speak to other people while having a breath of thousand cigarrettes

That wasn't my interpretation of the blog post, but we'd have to ask the author to find out what she meant for sure.

Re: On Smoking

#368

Post by Cederfjard »

mlang23 wrote: post #293
Cederfjard wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not an expert, but from what I’ve read, tobacco (especially cigarettes) are up there with the most addictive substances. Like, competing with cocaine and heroin. Obviously since the mind-altering effects are much more subtle, and it’s legal, it’s less disruptive (at least until it gets you sick).

Comparing heroin, cocaine and nicotine as if they were similar pretty much shows that your experience only comes from reading about them :-)

I compared one specific aspect, which is addictiveness. Other aspects might be (and obviously are, in this case) more different, but that's comparisons work - the specifics about what you're comparing doesn't become invalid just because other things about them don't match the same way.

I still stand by this particular statement. Given how you phrased what you said, I don't know if you think cigarettes are way less addictive than the others, or if you got hung up on me comparing them at all, or if you actually don't have any beef with the claim per se but just wanted to say that for some reason. For what it's worth you have no idea about my lived experiences.

Re: On Smoking

#369

Post by im_down_w_otp »

throwaway1777 wrote: post #219
inamiyar wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good story but for some reason has a distinctive...LinkedIn story vibe. I can't put my finger on it.

It could very well be true, but it seems fake because the ending is too perfect. Nothing is that easy in real life.

Oh, it didn't end perfectly. His wife was the office manager, and grew to resent me immensely for being perceived as inspiring her husband's change in behavior. Less smoking, more walking, dietary changes, etc. Unlike him, she had less than zero interest in any of those lifestyle changes and it created strife, which palpably transfered to me all the way up until I eventually quit.

Re: On Smoking

#370

Post by cloverich »

warent wrote: post #105
dimmke wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I quit smoking back in 2016 and I don’t think of myself as a smoker at all anymore. I sometimes have to remind myself I used to smoke.

This is my experience as well, and I can still occasionally have a cigar or hookah on special occasions a couple times a year without any problems. Then again I only smoked about 1/3rd of a pack a day for about 3 years, so maybe the addiction levels also depend on the quantity and the length of time

After getting fully non-addicted (~3 years) I was able to do this. But after having cigars a bit more frequently (once every ~6 weeks, ~7 times total) I found the cravings started to come back. It surprised me a little, so I've stayed away. Back to actual special occasions if that. For comparison I smoked ~5-10 a day for ~15 years, with a few quitting segments in between.
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