23 ms·

On Smoking

345 points by exolymph 5y ago

thar327 5y ago
Stop reading and run
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
jessriedel 5y ago
> 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.)
- augusto-moura 5y ago
  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
  - dingo454 5y ago
    That hardly masks anything TBH. You smell the same with some hint of mint on top. Most of the smell comes from your lungs, your clothing and your hair. You need to stay outside for a good 10 minutes to make a significant difference in perceived smell. Anything else is mostly wishful thinking...
    - augusto-moura 5y ago
      It does make a difference, even so slightly. Trust me in that one, I have been called off more than one time by not using mints. But yeah, I agree that it doesn't remove the stench completely
      - dingo454 5y ago
        I generally never comment on this to my coworkers because I want to be polite and keep good relationships (I've had very hard responses to very polite requests just to open the windows in the past, so I simply stopped commenting). I'm doing this here because I'm seeing this often, and I want to be honest: no, it doesn't really do much, unless we're talking about ~50cm face-to-face conversations maybe (something that would make me back-off quite sharply, gum or not). Keep in mind the smell after 10 minutes of open-air ventilation is still not a smell I would consider acceptable. For consideration, a very nasty and strong office fart would be in the same line of stench for my nose at that point. Except a fart doesn't tend to cling on for so long. Sorry for the analogy :(
  - jessriedel 5y ago
    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.
- pengaru 5y ago
  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.
  - bitcuration 5y ago
    has vaping been out of question?
    - jessriedel 5y ago
      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).
  - motohagiography 5y ago
    It is a suprisingly powerful drug. I gave up cigarettes over 20 years ago and have zero craving for them, the smell is revolting. Looking back, the craving felt a lot like fasting. However today, I have a cigar a little more than once a month on average, and I can tell the nicotine content affects mood, sleep, and maybe some hormone levels for a day or two after, as much or moreso than most prescriptions I've ever taken. There is extra focus and centeredness under its influence and a kind of diminished neuroticism, which I suppose was what made it "cool." There are other factors on that as well, since who today has an hour of uninterrupted solitude (let alone in good company) to sit and do nothing but contemplate, with the space of your own to temporarily pollute, and afford to spend the kind of money on yourself that a good one costs. It would be hard to separate this mini-vacation from the percieved smart drug effects of nicotine. Cigarettes are evil and cruel in every concievable way, and anyone under their yoke who breaks it deserves support. Fan of OP's interintellect startup as well.
    - HKH2 5y ago
      "diminished neuroticism" - you've reminded me of the link between smoking and schizophrenia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia_and_tobacco_smoking https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia_and_tobacco_sm...
- alea_iacta_est 5y ago
  Don't be like me and end up addicted to the lozenges... Still using them after 5 years since I quit smoking.
  - staticautomatic 5y ago
    Better than being addicted to cigarettes though.
    - alea_iacta_est 5y ago
      Yes, definitely, even if they're not perfect, they can give you some stomach ache, bloating, mouth sores, etc, but overall, I don't regret the trade.
- xzel 5y ago
  Tobacco free snus like pouches have exploded in the US the past two years. I quit smoking about a year and a half ago by switching to them. I'm not sure if they're cooler or less cool than gum but it's pretty great not smoking. I'd recommend anyone trying to quit to look into them as a possibility.
  - hansbo 5y ago
    I'm on them now, though I used snus before, not cigarettes.
murat131 5y ago
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, you at some level desire to back to it. Whole idea of quitting smoking is then finding ways to stop yourself from turning it on again and this is true until you die. So do yourself a favor and avoid any substance that creates such light switches in your mind. Edit: Of course this is not the case for 100% of humans. Everyone is different. Some weak some strong in willpower, discipline, etc. But we can all agree that it is an addiction that sucks life out of you slowly. You wouldn't want to test your willpower your whole life against such a sneaky enemy.
- augusto-moura 5y ago
  It really depends, my old man smoked for like 20~ years and now he doesn't even remembers that he used to smoke like 1 box a day, only when someone else points it out
- isoprophlex 5y ago
  I don't even smoke. Never have in any capacity. I purchased a single pack once as a teenager, and gave most of it away. But from the stray cigarettes bummed off friends in a drunken mood, or that time smoking hookah till i puked... I have that light switch now. You gave a VERY apt description of nicotine.
  - ridethebike 5y ago
    Tried hookah couple of times with friends. Still don't get it.
- alksjdalkj 5y ago
  This is such a perfect description. I quit years ago but still whenever I see someone smoking I get a craving and when I'm stressed I find myself wishing for a cigarette. I've accepted that it's just something that'll be with me the rest of my life. Seriously, don't start smoking. It's a mistake that you really can't undo.
Jhsto 5y ago
Has anyone else tried writing under some arbitrary restrictions? In case you did not notice, the blog subtitle is 11 sentence essays. The post as well, unsurprisingly, is 11 sentences (... I guess, but it has a number of complicated ones).
- version_five 5y ago
  A month ago I wrote what I would call a professional post on a social media / networking site. I had drafted it in a text editor first, and when I pasted it to post, I found there was a character limit I'd run afoul of and was forced to edit. It was actually very helpful to be forced to clarify and shorten what I'd written. I'd like to find a way to recreate the forced restriction (especially when discovered only after I thought I'd made it concise already).
  - bschne 5y ago
    Agreed! As much as nuance can get lost in short posts, these limits have saved me from putting many an overly convoluted, rambling mess out there.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- becquerel 5y ago
  I used to write short stories that didn't contain the letter 'e', inspired by George Perec's book La Disparition (cracking novel, highly recommended -- all the translations from French keep it up as well). It's challenging, obviously, but also forces you to employ very unusual and unique language.
  - simondotau 5y ago
    I concur. It's difficult, impractical and making my brain hurt. A grasp of (and availability of) synonym information is vitally important.
    - 5y ago
werber 5y ago
I quit smoking when I got COVID because it was the first time I was too sick to smoke. I’ve tried to smoke since and it just tastes awful. I know this might be crude to say but I’m thankful for having had the virus
- k__ 5y ago
  I knew a bunch of people who started smoking menthol because of sickness.
  - the_only_law 5y ago
    For me, menthols never seemed to sit well on my stomach.
- nowahe 5y ago
  Kinda unrelated, but for me the best and first indicator that I'm starting to get sick is cigarettes tasting different.
jhoechtl 5y ago
I smoke 3 to 5 cigarettes a day. A smoke to coffee, on the balcony while gazing at the sun, after a decent meal. Some say you have to avoid all the stimulus when quit smoking. I will not stop walk out onto the balcony and enjoy the sun. I do kot wan to stop drinking coffee.
chippy 5y ago
I started vaping around the same time as the first lockdown. I never enjoyed it really and it kind of actually hurt my lungs a couple of times. I stopped. Break until next lockdown. I started smoking a tobacco pipe. Maybe 1 bowl every 3 days. More meditative, lasts around 40 mins, with the geeky hobby of different flavours, blends, techniques. It's also less nicotine and because there's no inhalation, much less worse. But it feels good and much more "right" than vaping or smoking like an addicted monkey. I never got into smoking cigars, they seem to last way longer and be more powerful. Like being forced to drink 10 espressos over the space of 20 minutes.
- dageshi 5y ago
  Cigars aren't a million miles away from pipe tobacco, you don't inhale them either (some do, but they're lunatics). Larger sizes will probably take an hour, the largest closer to two. Power wise, it very much depends on the cigar, some are very mild, some very powerful, but my personal experience is that much like pipes they aren't addictive for most people, I smoke 2-3 a week in the summer when the weather is nice.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
shoto_io 5y ago
I quit about a hundred times 20 yrs ago. I don’t why, but after that I finally grabbed this damn book by Allen Carr. I would have never that it would work. But for me it did. Been smoke free ever since. Maybe just pure luck. Maybe it was the goddamn book.
- awakeasleep 5y ago
  That book is a gentle and thorough introduction to an idea that I, as a smoker, had been hiding from or confused about. Pretty amazing.
  - refulgentis 5y ago
    Can you tell me more? I'm familiar with the book but it didn't click with me, and I've had a strange feeling the past couple months I'm missing a really good mental model for where it comes from (tl;dr psychiatrist started talking about it after a year of hinting, but they thought I was a step ahead of where I actually am)
    - possibleworlds 5y ago
      You need to read the whole book start to finish, and be open to its subtle reverse brainwashing. Personally the main eye openers were: • Nicotine is scientifically proven to be incredibly physically addictive. • The way this physical addiction plays out is when you smoke a cigarette the effects wear off within half to 1 hr, and whether you are aware of it or not your brain starts begging for another hit. Side note: this explains how the tobacco industry settled on 20 / 25 cigarettes in a packet, ie 1 cigarette every 30 mins to 1 hr per day. • The stress / anxiety you think smoking is helping with are actually the resultant cravings caused by the last cigarette you smoked. Thus when you smoke you are in a constant state of withdrawal, it is like you are quitting all day every day. • You are not "quitting" or "giving up" anything, you are addict who is deciding to make a change and stop. There is lots of other stuff in there, I don't think the above spoils it. Cumulatively the book gets you into the headspace of viewing the journey of stopping as a positive healing process, to the extent that you can actually enjoy the withdrawals and cravings. No joke, it is that eye opening and convincing.
chejazi 5y ago
Here are the steps I took that have helped me not smoke for the past 1.5yrs: 1. Switched from cigarettes (great taste) to an iqos (disgusting taste). 2. Threw away my iqos the day before I moved countries (back to my home country). 3. Arrived in new country around new years, set that new years resolution. 4. Spent first 1-2 months of new year living with my parents while I searched for housing. Aside from the resolution, each step wasn't particularly aimed at quitting _forever_. With time under my belt, I've since adopted a hardline "no cigarettes for life" mentality. It comes at the cost of being overly judgmental of others who are smoking. It keeps me in check though; otherwise, I sense that a relapse is far too easy.
ciconeniba2 5y ago
I have been a smoker for over 20 years as well, I think it was hard at first to quit smoking but I agree with the author article, something changes in you. Every now and then I feel like I want to smoke and I buy a pack of cigarette, I smoke chain a couple of them and figure out I don't really like it and don't want to do that anymore and I don't get the urge anymore for four month or six... I have been doing this for the last five years or so, maybe i didn't quit fully but I don't do a pack and half every day or have to wake up mid night to have a smoke anymore.
varjag 5y ago
I quit after some 15 years of smoking. Not experiencing any cravings at this point. On the onset of COVID I even bought multiple packs to experiment with using the filters in 3D printed nasal breathers - didn't even want to light one. However I wouldn't have bothered quitting had it not been long term health hazard. I quite enjoyed the routine.
deesep 5y ago
I started smoking when i went to study in China. Someone gifted me an expensive brand of cigarette, and I kept it hidden in a drawer for two weeks as I didn't smoke. One very cold day with no where to go and nothing to do, I took the pack out and lit one stick. My did it have a lovely scent. The heat it created inside me was also soothing. It took me about a week and half to finish the pack of 21 cigs. I couldn't afford to buy the same brand often but i had become addicted to smoking. I struggled with anxiety back then and smoking calmed my nerves. Within 1 year I was smoking 2 packs a day. Smoking is frowned upon in Ghana, so upon my return there were few places I could smoke. One day while out and about I got really anxious about something and I needed a cig badly. I had to go some distance to get one, and even got a harder time finding a place to hide and smoke. I felt like I was committing the most heinous of crimes cause I had to take off my shirt to ensure the smell didn't stick on me. I didn't even enjoy the smoke because the quality wasn't that good, I smoked in a hurry and kept looking over my shoulder. I simply couldn't live like that anymore. So I quit after that day. The next time I tried to smoke again was 2 months later. I couldn't even finish a stick as it made me feel sick. I have disliked the smell of cigarettes ever since. And that was 7 years ago.
- sillysaurusx 5y ago
  Related to this, a lot of the reason smokers around me smoke is to just go outside. It’s an excuse to hang out on the porch. You might think that such a societal excuse isn’t needed, but it’s a powerful force.
  - simondotau 5y ago
    I've never smoked, but in my cubicle days I often tag along with a colleague who did smoke. They'd have a puff, I'd get coffee, and we'd hang out and chat for five or ten minutes outside.
    - buu700 5y ago
      I always did the same thing. It'd be nicer if we could build a social convention of drink breaks instead of smoke breaks, which could sort of bootstrap off of smoke breaks in the way you described. At first a few people in any given circle would be drinking instead of smoking, and then over time, as more people opt for coffee/tea/water over cigarettes, it gradually becomes normalized to take breaks without having anyone smoke.
lwhi 5y ago
I'm still smoking at the moment. I've quit for years and started again. It's the push and pull .. the need and that satiation that I find so satisfying, and to a certain extent it's that rhythm I find ultimately attractive. The slow build up of a hunger, before you end it with a delicious meal. The relaxing bath after a 30 mile hike. The 10 hour sleep after a stressful few days running on caffeine. The buzz of endorphins after breaking through the pain barrier on a run. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a junky at heart. But I would like to stop smoking.
- Torwald 5y ago
  Allen Carr's Easy way out. It's a book. He explains the mind hack that smoking is. Once you grok that, quitting is easy.
  - amatic 5y ago
    I quit smoking with Carr too, some half dozen times. It would last for a few months, then I would start again after a few beers. The latest trick, good for two years now, is using nicotine-free rolling herbs (edit: things they give as filler to roll your joints, a mix of things like papaya leaves, tea, etc)
gerdesj 5y ago
I gave up just over three years ago. It was bloody hard. I came up with a couple of things to say to myself if I wanted a fag. I used them as mantras as soon as I wanted a drag. I came up with "I don't want to die" and "I don't want to smell". I also made targets - 1 day, 2, 4, week. Fortnight. Month. etc (I will never go back ...) If you want to give up you can but it is bloody hard
standardUser 5y ago
I think the most important thing for people to realize about nicotine addiction (and all addiction) is that is does not work the same for everybody. Some people can smoke a few cigarettes every other weekend and not think about it otherwise, while others will never voluntarily go more than 45 minutes without a cigarette.
lolc 5y ago
To this day, I can recall how a good one feels. The calm of a sunset. And I can remember how a bad one feels. The sore throat, cough, headache, numbness, sleeplessness, smell, and ennui of ignoring all that when preparing another one. When bad memories had been accumulating for a long while, I quit. And it was easy to recall the bad ones whenever I would think of lighting one again. So I didn't. Even if I knew it'd be a good one. Because there would be bad ones after. I won't forget the good ones either. And if I ever think I can just smoke the good ones, without smoking the bad ones after, then I'll start again.
calebm 5y ago
"The Buddhists think you don’t quit addictions, you become a new person who isn’t an addict." - this really resonates with me. Don't say "I should do better" - change who you are and what you want will change.
sulam 5y ago
I've never smoked (thanks mom for the negative example), but reading Atomic Habits made something about it and other habits clear to me: habits are part of your identity. The best/strongest way to start or end a habit is to convince yourself you are no longer that person. Not "I'm trying to exercise more." I am someone who exercises. Not "I'm trying to stop smoking." I am not a smoker. This is really hard with smoking because there are so many cues that are tied to it. I recommend the book for some help, it has helped me be a much better version of myself.
nverno 5y ago
The best thing about quitting is having that occasional cigarette
- avemg 5y ago
  I don't know if you're making a joke or you're serious. If you're able to quit regular smoking and have only the occasional cigarette then more power to you. But for me, the "occasional" cigarette has doomed many long bouts of smoking cessation. Sometimes i'd fall right off the wagon and other times I'd manage the "occasional" smoke for months. But make no mistake: once I had that one cigarette and opened the door, the intervals between the occasional smoke would get smaller and smaller until I was back to my old habit. I just passed the 10 year mark since my last cigarette. It's easy these days and I almost never think about cigarettes but I still wouldn't trust myself to have one.
rbg246 5y ago
I read Allen Carr's easy way to give up smoking. It was amazing, it opened my eyes to what my addiction actually was and I have never been addicted since reading that book. Been twelve years addiction free.
diob 5y ago
Smoking is the worst. I was subjected to chain smoking indoors while growing up. Can't help but intensely dislike the habit.
bigyikes 5y ago
I think I’m fortunate that I find cigarettes fairly easy to pick up and put back down. Don’t get me wrong, I get hooked like the rest of us, but I seem to naturally fall off the hook after some time. I usually pick them up to cope with intense emotions. Not healthy, I know. After a few weeks of smoking 2 packs per week (not per day, thankfully), I begin to feel intense anxiety from smoking. The longer I continue the habit, the worse the anxiety gets. It escalates to the point where thinking of a cigarette makes me sweaty and nauseous, and actually smoking one will trigger a panic attack. After a few of those attacks I can drop the cigs with minimal fuss. Anxiety feels like a curse, but in this case it acts as a restoration force against my tobacco addiction. Life is strange. (No, anxiety is not a good thing, and no, you should not smoke cigarettes)
muststopmyths 5y ago
The main things that keeps me from relapsing are that California makes it really hard to smoke in public and that none of my friends smoke. I occasionally relapse when with some specific friends from a point in my past. Luckily we live far away from each other so the meetings are rare. The one other reason I don't just pick smoking back up by myself is how nasty my clothes (no hair left any more !) smell after a cigarette. It's very easy to not notice that when you smoke, but impossible to miss when you don't. I certainly don't want my apartment smelling like that either. If they ever made cigarettes that don't smell bad (not weenie vape pens, come on :) ), I'd probably be dead of lung cancer in a decade. It is a tough addiction.
- kethinov 5y ago
  Weirdly, the thing I remember most about my time in California was how hard it was to avoid being constantly exposed to second-hand smoke anywhere I walked in the city. It really hit me when a friend visited from out of town and said something to me along the lines of, "You know, for how green-obsessed everyone here seems to be, it's truly remarkable how much smoke there is everywhere on the streets." Doubtless, this is more a city problem than it is a California problem. I spent most of my life in the suburbs far from any city downtowns growing up and I am truly grateful to have been able to relocate back to the quiet, leafy suburbs once again to start my family. There are some things I miss about downtown, but the constant presence of second-hand smoke on the sidewalks everywhere is definitely not one of them.
  - vlovich123 5y ago
    Which city is this? I’ve lived in major cities in NorCal and SoCal and can’t say that’s ever been my impression. Maybe later in the evening but usually the smokers self-segregate where they’re not around non-smokers.
hooande 5y ago
Does anyone still smoke? I smoke every day, heavily, and greatly enjoy it. I'm smoking a cigarette right now
checkerscaptian 5y ago
i have never smoked but i have been around people who smoke in public spaces and have never found why it would be atractive in the first place. i think that this should be particularly stressed in COVID hit areas as it is bad for your lungs. could someone also tell me what quitting vapes is like, i do not know and i think it would be similar
ac42 5y ago
I think one reason that quitting is so hard is that it is assumed to be a 100 to zero transition. I believe that just as getting addicted, weaning off is a process. Without having established a mindset of truly wanting to quit and without clearly understanding your very own reasons for it, it's way too easy to consider that occasional misstep a total failure of the project.
- antiframe 5y ago
  I used to think it was hard too, but then I read _Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking_. I followed the instructions and continued smoking while reading the book, sometimes literally standing outside my apartment building with a cigarette and book in hand. I read it all the way through in two evenings in a random November. I forget the year; it was long ago. After I finished the book, I put it down and told my girlfriend at the time (now wife) that it worked. I haven't had a craving or cigarette since. It was a 100 to zero transition. Previously when I tried to quit, spending time with smoking friends would get me to smoke again. This time, it didn't. One of my smoking coworkers, mid chat, said he would be back. I told him I can keep talking with him while he goes out for a smoke. He asked if I was crazy, I had just quit, he didn't want to be a trigger. I went out and joined him for some fresh air while he smoke and nothing. Not even a small inkling of a craving. It worked.
hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
When I think about smoking and addiction, I think about how genetics and early childhood experiences actually allow us much less "free will" than we'd like to admit, especially in the US. I picked up smoking in my late teens and early twenties. I tended to smoke socially, but still sometimes smoked by myself. Probably about 2 years into I thought "this is dumb", and just stopped. I never felt addicted. Quitting wasn't difficult for me at all - at the time I was pretty busy so I didn't even really miss it. Basically, I just really don't have an addictive personality or whatever other part of our genes causes people to get addicted. I could quit without a second thought, but many other people I know who started around the same time I did are either still smoking or have had a hell of a time trying to quit. I bring this up because there are so many things that we think of are due to an excess or lack of will power (this view is especially prevalent in the US) - if you are overweight it's because you lack willpower, if you can't quit smoking you lack willpower, etc. etc. My point is that this is usually not true. I was able to quit smoking not because I had a ton of willpower, but because I didn't need it.
- billykid24601 5y ago
  What evidence do you have that this isn't true? It's not really a falsifiable position (since nature vs nurture is hard to show) and free will hard to measure. To me, it simply seems more convenient for the audience to believe free will doesn't exist and addition is genetic.
  - possibleworlds 5y ago
    There is plenty out there [0]. Certain substances are at a baseline and without question addictive for humans, do enough of it and anyone can become an addict regardless of free will. Genetics play a role in susceptibility and level of dependence, as do other factors like underlying mental illness. If you ever see a full blown alcoholic going through withdrawals [1] it becomes clear that physical substance addiction is very much a real thing. [0] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171010124112.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171010124112.h... [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens
throckmortra 5y ago
How do I quit smartphones?
- qq4 5y ago
  Throw it in the trashcan.
01100011 5y ago
On and off smoker here, mostly pipes, sometimes cigars and cigarettes. I always found it easy to start and stop(for months to years at a time). 23andme shows I'm at reduced risk for nicotine addiction. I've got an addictive personality and had problems with other things, but nicotine was never one of them. I'm type 2 bipolar though, and lately I've found nicotine works really well for managing a depressive cycle. I can break a negative thought loop with a nice bowl of tobacco, gingerly inhaled. I have to watch it though. Sometimes the depressive cycle is really just a nic-fit. Nicotine is tricky. I'm also noticing that, as I get older(46), smoking triggers what feels like prostatitis. It doesn't last more than a day, but man it's apparent that my prostate doesn't like nicotine.
efields 5y ago
One of the rare posts here where I read most of the comments, top to bottom. It’s fascinating so many of us can get so articulate and reflective about smoking. Couldn’t smoking be considered a perverse form of breathing exercise? Not a beneficial exercise, but definitely a practice of sorts. Modern (American) society went from taking several breaks a day for breathing to quitting this practice while getting more overweight, overworking, consuming more and more media.
- santiagogo 5y ago
  As an ex-smoker I think the same and that's what actually made it harder to quit for me. Smoking forces you to find open air spaces, is relaxing and induces slow breathing. In some ways it's a form of meditation. Other times it forces social spaces with other smokers in which you have to ask for a ligher and you have a conversation starter. A nice practice with a terrible health outcome.
- ryanmcbride 5y ago
  As harmful as it is it's absolutely a type of meditation. Taking a few minutes out of your day for yourself.
qq4 5y ago
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 addicted now?" and every time I felt nothing, from a cigarette, cigar, vape whatever. There must be a high. Is it relaxing or stimulating? My brother who got himself addicted said it "cleared his head" or something. My whole family smokes, none of them can quit. It feels like hypnosis to me, and I refuse to believe in hypnotism. Before you call me ignorant, I know and acknowledge that the addiction is a real thing, it's obvious. I'm simply curious where it comes from because it feels like I can't experience it.
- gwbas1c 5y ago
  I almost got hooked. Like you, I had tried cigarettes a few times and they did nothing. Then, 10 years ago, I watched "The King's Speach," where King George constantly smokes, and after the movie I bought a pack of hand rolling tobacco. Gosh, rolling those little buggers was FUN. They gave me a buzz, it was an excuse to go outside, and the buzz wore off very quickly. About a week in, I started waking up with the idea that I should immediately smoke a cigarette... Then on my bike ride home I'd get the idea that I should smoke a cigarette. I stopped at that point, realizing that if I gave in, I'd get addicted. The thing is, before the addiction sets in, cigarettes are fun. They're an excuse to go outside, have a conversation with someone, occupy your hands... The nicotine buzz is similar to marijuana, but much shorter and not intoxicating.
- oxfeed65261 5y ago
  The best description I have read—I don’t recall where—described the desire for a cigarette coupled with the fulfillment of that desire, repeated twenty or forty or whatever times each day. It is hard to explain, but that reflects my experience. That tightly-coupled loop of desire and satisfaction is, in a perverse way, somehow preferable to not having the desire in the first place.
  - 5y ago
xvilka 5y ago
Best thing we can do is to ban it completely.
- top_post 5y ago
  If governments truly gave a shit about their people and medical resources that's exactly what they should do.
- t3rmi 5y ago
  This is a slippery slope. Should we also ban high sugar products, alcohol and videogames?
sidcool 5y ago
In a few years, someone will make a post like this for the internet, the YouTube, the reddit or Insta. Avoid addictions of any kind.
- josephcsible 5y ago
  None of those things are actual physical addictions like nicotine is.
  - sidcool 5y ago
    Are you saying that mental health issues are somewhat less excruciating than physical ones?
  - grillvogel 5y ago
    social media is probably worse for humanity than nicotine
    - josephcsible 5y ago
      I'm not convinced this is true, and even if it is, it'd only be because so many more people use social media. For any given individual who uses both, there'd be way more personal benefit to quitting nicotine than giving up social media.
emre 5y ago
"The Buddhists think you don’t quit addictions, you become a new person who isn’t an addict." This is such an amazing quote
- hambes 5y ago
  Makes me think they have not met a single addict ever. This quote makes absolutely zero sense. Most addicts stay addicts for the rest of their lives. They fight their addiction most days if not every day.
- quonn 5y ago
  I don‘t think it correctly reflects Buddhist teaching, though. You become a new person moment to moment and even „you“ is not putting it correctly and everything is tied together by cause and effect regardless. Perhaps a better way to look at it is that the Buddha is only teaching by skillful means. So that quote may be the right thing for a particular addict at a time. In that sense it is true, but not as an absolute truth for everyone always.
t3rmi 5y ago
I smoke occasionally with friends during parties and never after. I've been doing this for a few years now and haven't gotten addicted. This is probably due to the fact the I was heavily addicted to video games during college and kinda of have a mental resistance now. Smoking occasionally with friends is fun. Especially during cold weather.
sateesh 5y ago
Ian Banks in his novel Complicity writes powerfully decrying smoking. Quoting from the novel. I take out another cigarette, light it and draw deeply. I gag again, coughing and hacking and feeling the whisky and the can of Export I had earlier slosh around inside me, almost coming up. My eyes are watering. What a stupid drug, what a completely useless fucking drug; no real hit after the first drag, highly addictive and lethal in all sorts of ways, and even if the lung cancer or the heart disease doesn't get you you can look forward to gangrenous legs in your old age, bits of your body just rotting away still attached and dying in instalments for you, rotting and stinking while you're still alive and then they have to cut them off and you wake up after the operation wheezing and burning with pain and gasping for a fag. Meanwhile the tobacco companies sponsor sport and fight off advertising bans and look forward to all the new markets in the East and the Far East and more women taking up the weed to show that they can be brainless fucks too, and suits with worm-shit in their brains go on television and say, 'Well, nobody's actually proved how tobacco causes cancer you know', and you sit there seething and then you find Thatcher is taking half a million from Philip Morris for a three-year find consultancy and you swear never to buy any of their products ever again but at the end of the day you still light another cigarette and suck in the smoke like you enjoyed it and make more profits for those evil fucks. -- Complicity (Iain M.Banks)
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- habosa 5y ago
  Off topic fun fact: that novel is by Iain Banks, not Iain M Banks. He only uses the "M" for his Science Fiction novels.
choeger 5y ago
I never understood why we need these black & white labels when it comes to substance usage. Obviously, never smoking any tobacco whatsoever is the healthiest option. But so is never drinking any alcohol or never eating any sweets. But it should also be obvious that every cigarette you do not smoke and every beer you do not drink as well as every chocolate bar you do not eat is an improvement for your health. I don't think you are failing unless you completely stop using a specific substance. You are failing when you are not trying to improve. Why not start by not smoking for a day, a week, a month? Why not consider your internalized, automated habits (like smoking one cigarrete after lunch) and try to eliminate them one by one if you feel like they control you instead of the other way around?
- wccrawford 5y ago
  I've heard of quite a few studies that show that some amount of alcohol and chocolate are good for you. I've never heard the same about smoking, though.
fruityrudy 5y ago
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.
p2detar 5y ago
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.
irthomasthomas 5y ago
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?
- Renaud 5y ago
  I didn't know about this and was sceptical but it appears to be right and the CDC[1] mentions it, along with lead-210 being a source of radioactive accumulation in the lungs. Apparently an information that cigarette manufacturers tried pretty hard to hide[2]... [1]:https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/smoking.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/smoking.htm [2]:https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2008/08/29/radioactive-polonium-in-cigarette-smoke/ https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2008/08/29/radioactive-pol...
  - irthomasthomas 5y ago
    Brilliant, thanks. I'm glad this ain't reddit.
- mint2 5y ago
  Polonium is not “THE” reason smoking causes cancer, it is “A” reason. There are plenty of other cancer causing chemicals in there too, polonium has good company. It’s a bit nick picky to point out, but given the historic confusion tactics by tobacco companies, it’s important to be accurate when talking about ways smoking effects health. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/tobacco/cessation-fact-sheet https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/t...
innocentoldguy 5y ago
One aspect of smoking that I don’t see talked about much is how it screws with your blood’s ability to transport oxygen effectively. This can drastically increase your risk of complications if you have to have surgery. My friend is a plastic surgeon and refuses to operate on smokers unless they quit for six weeks to give their body enough time to generate functional blood cells. A few patients have lied to him, though. One had a breast augmentation and her nipples died and had to be removed due to insufficient oxygen supply to the area. If you have to have surgery, it is best to stop smoking for at least a month and a half.
kleiba 5y ago
As a small kid, I think I was fascinated by other people smoking. I mean come on: there's a gleaming fire stick coming out of your mouth!! But also, even as a tiny boy with a single-digit age, I was wondering why anybody would voluntarily pick up a habit that everyone knows raises your chances to get cancer? I liked the idea of being "cool" (which to me was the only real "pro" point of smoking), but when compared to a terminal illness, there really never was any temptation for me. In thinking back about how times have changed since those days, what I find even more interesting though is that smoking was all around you _all the time_. People smoked, you didn't even think about it twice. Inside restaurants where you ate, inside cars when you were given a ride, everywhere. I remember going to clubs when I was a young man, and that feeling of waking up the next morning with you ears screaming and your clothes, your pillow, your hair, everything smelling of cold smoke. Disgusting. Coming to think of it, I wonder why I wouldn't want to pick up smoking out of fear of getting cancer but obviously didn't mind ruining my hearing by spending hours each weekend in unreasonably loud clubs. I mean, I certainly found it perverted that in that environment, when you were talking to someone, you were literally screaming into their ear (just think about that...) but I kept going there every weekend. I suppose in the end, I did it because I wanted to belong. Which, in turn, I'm sure is one of the major reason for people to pick up smoking...
callesgg 5y ago
I don’t see the appeal of chain smoking the first cigarette is nice but subsequent cigarettes does nothing for me. One cigarette a day is about how much I can do and actually cognitively recognize the effects. That is not to say that some part of me does not want to smoke more than one. Cause there is such a part of me. But I as a verbal entity can not justify it in any way. It just does nothing. In fact it makes me feel worse.
timonoko 5y ago
Nicotine was natural cure for ADHD at the time when there was no such diagnosis. I am not kidding: my IQ raised at least 20 points when I started smoking at 16. I was suddenly the very best in mathematics (from barely acceptable level) and was able to concentrate in other studies too. Unfortunately there was only two years left in school, so I was not able to fill the gaps to gain top marks at everything. Should have started smoking earlier. I stopped smoking when there was no need to accomplish anything at age 40. It just happened quite effortlessly. I had all the monies I will ever need, and there was not too many opportunities available careerwise.
- wraptile 5y ago
  Turns out nicotine is a really good drug! The problem is that cigarettes are a terrible delivery method. I've started vaping on ocassion almost purely for work reasons: I vape nicotine to focus and CBD to relieve some stress. It's tasty, fun and AFAIK there really isn't enough research against vaping for me to turn away these benefits. As for cigarattes the negatives would definitely outweigh the positivies for me so I'd refrain from smoking but I can emphasize with someone who would think otherwise. Another benefit is socializing! I'd often work in coworking spaces where cafe and smoke spot is where people socialize - both are basically drug consumption spaces. Finally I don't feel any addiction to these particular drugs other than it's fun and tasty - I can go days or weeks without it without any problems. I know there's strong research that nicotine withdrawals can affect mood but I've never experienced any myself though seen it in others. Vaping is easy to dose though you can easily avoid withdrawals with a bit of math!
bambax 5y ago
> The Buddhists think you don’t quit addictions, you become a new person who isn’t an addict. I don't think that's true, unfortunately. You can quit smoking and stay addicted to other things. You can even quit smoking and stay addicted to smoking, being on the verge of falling for it again. That was not the case for me, but it happens often.
secondcoming 5y ago
I'll quit when this carton is empty. Promise.
phtrivier 5y ago
Anectode. A few years ago, the "neutral pack" was introduced in France, and for some reason, it was decided that the pack would be so neutral as to not even mention the exact composition of the cigarettes themselve. (You can get a CSV with the ingredients from some offical website. Whatever.) One day, I was waiting in line to buy newspapers (the same stores typicall sell tabacco and press here. (And newspapers are that thing... well, too long to explain.)) A supposedly very nice lady was outraged that she could not get the exact composition of her cigarettes any more. 20 years of improv comedy, and I could not come up with "what, you're afraid they might put something bad in it ?" That lady is probably on Facebook at this exact moment, wondering about the pandemic. And she might have relevant questions, and insane answers. Thinking about smoking is hard. Try not to do it if you can.
- bondarchuk 5y ago
  It is true, they put all manner of stuff in it to make it hit faster/harder, to numb your throat so you can smoke more/inhale deeper, etc. Here's a nice overview from some EU body: https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/opinions_layman/tobacco/en/ https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/opinions_l...
- jyriand 5y ago
  This reminded me of this Bill Hicks bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPVivwLym-c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPVivwLym-c (trigger warning)
jhunter1016 5y ago
More than 10 years after quitting smoking, I was standing on a balcony in NYC with a few friends from Italy. They lit up as we drank and talked, and while I didn’t have a true desire to smoke one with them, the thought crossed my mind. What would it be like? Just one cigarette to remind me of when I was young? I think buried deep in our minds once we’ve started smoking and no matter how long after we quit is this question of what it might be like to try it one more time.
malkosta 5y ago
I guess I'm the only person in the world who smoked for 15 years, and stopped on a beautiful day, without suffering. I still smoke very occasionally, socially, once a month maybe, but I definitely stopped having daily cravings to smoke alone days after I stopped.
- 0xbadcafebee 5y ago
  Not quite the same, but I smoked every time I drank for two years, and then just stopped for no reason. Never had a craving, I just "felt like" having a smoke for two years, and then didn't anymore. This was during the time when you could go to a bar or club in Florida, show some person with a giant bag your ID, and receive two packs of cigarettes, free. I did this multiple times a week, so I always had a huge stack of free cigarettes and bar matches. That was also how I learned you could make friends by always having either a free cigarette or a lighter.
Link512 5y ago
I started smoking at 13 and quit at 22 cold turkey. 8 years later, I still sometimes dream at night about lighting a cigarette and it feels ecstatic when I do. Then I wake up and spend the entire day craving a smoke. The hook runs deep.
sAbakumoff 5y ago
>> The Buddhists think you don’t quit addictions, you become a new person who isn’t an addict. The Buddhists believe that you ARE the person that does not need anything, f.e. smoking, to be happy. The only thing you have to do is finding your true nature that is already there.
Dumblydorr 5y ago
Smokers sometimes claim that they'll experience good feelings from cigarettes. But what proportion of those good feelings end up being relief from withdrawal, plus fresh air and an outdoor break? Personally, I know my caffeine withdrawal kicks in each morning and a lot of the good feeling of coffee is canceling withdrawal plus a bit of warmth or icy cold, and hydration.
bernardlunn 5y ago
The urge to smoke does go away in my experience. Now i don’t ever think about it. The physical addiction only lasts a few weeks but is super intense; the only thing that took the urge away was exercise. The psychological addiction took years with many relapses. I was hooked again within days of “just one”. This too does pass!!
ay 5y ago
I smoked a pack a day for 18 years. In the past 10 years I smoked maybe 2-3 packs. The key hacks to this change for me were: 0) decided I will not put a hard barrier (“quit”) but rather reduce (“stop”). This reduces the guilt during the inevitable setbacks. 1) find and break the frequent routines that involve smoking (first coffee + cig => replace with tea. It tastes terrible with cigarette; colleagues asking for a smoke => work from home, etc) 2) very consciously ask myself for every cigarette what is triggering it. Why do I think I need it. If there is no reason - then abstain from smoking, but if there is a good reason - focus on the reason. It’s ok to have a cigarette if there is a good enough reason but I need to think hard about this reason and try to eliminate it. 3) even for relapses, arrange them such that they do not ever turn into micro routines. Smoking in a rarely visited club or place is ok. At home - not okay. 4) make experiment with alternating 2 weeks of non smoking with 2 weeks of smoking, noting my well being. The difference is obvious and very visible. As a result, now I sometimes socially smoke at parties, with smoker friends - but each time after careful consideration of whether the inevitable headache in the morning is worth the “fun” - and again, very carefully checking that the situation didn’t have a potential to turn into a micro-routine. I never quit and if I want, I can always smoke again. But I consciously don’t want to. These hacks are obviously specific to my wiring and may not work for everyone, but just thought to write it in case this helps someone. Good luck!

On Smoking

345 points by exolymph 5y ago

thar327 5y ago

Stop reading and run

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

jessriedel 5y ago

> 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.)

augusto-moura 5y ago
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
- dingo454 5y ago
  That hardly masks anything TBH. You smell the same with some hint of mint on top. Most of the smell comes from your lungs, your clothing and your hair. You need to stay outside for a good 10 minutes to make a significant difference in perceived smell. Anything else is mostly wishful thinking...
  - augusto-moura 5y ago
    It does make a difference, even so slightly. Trust me in that one, I have been called off more than one time by not using mints. But yeah, I agree that it doesn't remove the stench completely
    - dingo454 5y ago
      I generally never comment on this to my coworkers because I want to be polite and keep good relationships (I've had very hard responses to very polite requests just to open the windows in the past, so I simply stopped commenting). I'm doing this here because I'm seeing this often, and I want to be honest: no, it doesn't really do much, unless we're talking about ~50cm face-to-face conversations maybe (something that would make me back-off quite sharply, gum or not). Keep in mind the smell after 10 minutes of open-air ventilation is still not a smell I would consider acceptable. For consideration, a very nasty and strong office fart would be in the same line of stench for my nose at that point. Except a fart doesn't tend to cling on for so long. Sorry for the analogy :(
- jessriedel 5y ago
  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.
pengaru 5y ago
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.
- bitcuration 5y ago
  has vaping been out of question?
  - jessriedel 5y ago
    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).
- motohagiography 5y ago
  It is a suprisingly powerful drug. I gave up cigarettes over 20 years ago and have zero craving for them, the smell is revolting. Looking back, the craving felt a lot like fasting. However today, I have a cigar a little more than once a month on average, and I can tell the nicotine content affects mood, sleep, and maybe some hormone levels for a day or two after, as much or moreso than most prescriptions I've ever taken. There is extra focus and centeredness under its influence and a kind of diminished neuroticism, which I suppose was what made it "cool." There are other factors on that as well, since who today has an hour of uninterrupted solitude (let alone in good company) to sit and do nothing but contemplate, with the space of your own to temporarily pollute, and afford to spend the kind of money on yourself that a good one costs. It would be hard to separate this mini-vacation from the percieved smart drug effects of nicotine. Cigarettes are evil and cruel in every concievable way, and anyone under their yoke who breaks it deserves support. Fan of OP's interintellect startup as well.
  - HKH2 5y ago
    "diminished neuroticism" - you've reminded me of the link between smoking and schizophrenia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia_and_tobacco_smoking https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia_and_tobacco_sm...
alea_iacta_est 5y ago
Don't be like me and end up addicted to the lozenges... Still using them after 5 years since I quit smoking.
- staticautomatic 5y ago
  Better than being addicted to cigarettes though.
  - alea_iacta_est 5y ago
    Yes, definitely, even if they're not perfect, they can give you some stomach ache, bloating, mouth sores, etc, but overall, I don't regret the trade.
xzel 5y ago
Tobacco free snus like pouches have exploded in the US the past two years. I quit smoking about a year and a half ago by switching to them. I'm not sure if they're cooler or less cool than gum but it's pretty great not smoking. I'd recommend anyone trying to quit to look into them as a possibility.
- hansbo 5y ago
  I'm on them now, though I used snus before, not cigarettes.

murat131 5y ago

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, you at some level desire to back to it. Whole idea of quitting smoking is then finding ways to stop yourself from turning it on again and this is true until you die. So do yourself a favor and avoid any substance that creates such light switches in your mind. Edit: Of course this is not the case for 100% of humans. Everyone is different. Some weak some strong in willpower, discipline, etc. But we can all agree that it is an addiction that sucks life out of you slowly. You wouldn't want to test your willpower your whole life against such a sneaky enemy.

augusto-moura 5y ago
It really depends, my old man smoked for like 20~ years and now he doesn't even remembers that he used to smoke like 1 box a day, only when someone else points it out
isoprophlex 5y ago
I don't even smoke. Never have in any capacity. I purchased a single pack once as a teenager, and gave most of it away. But from the stray cigarettes bummed off friends in a drunken mood, or that time smoking hookah till i puked... I have that light switch now. You gave a VERY apt description of nicotine.
- ridethebike 5y ago
  Tried hookah couple of times with friends. Still don't get it.
alksjdalkj 5y ago
This is such a perfect description. I quit years ago but still whenever I see someone smoking I get a craving and when I'm stressed I find myself wishing for a cigarette. I've accepted that it's just something that'll be with me the rest of my life. Seriously, don't start smoking. It's a mistake that you really can't undo.

Jhsto 5y ago

Has anyone else tried writing under some arbitrary restrictions? In case you did not notice, the blog subtitle is 11 sentence essays. The post as well, unsurprisingly, is 11 sentences (... I guess, but it has a number of complicated ones).

version_five 5y ago
A month ago I wrote what I would call a professional post on a social media / networking site. I had drafted it in a text editor first, and when I pasted it to post, I found there was a character limit I'd run afoul of and was forced to edit. It was actually very helpful to be forced to clarify and shorten what I'd written. I'd like to find a way to recreate the forced restriction (especially when discovered only after I thought I'd made it concise already).
- bschne 5y ago
  Agreed! As much as nuance can get lost in short posts, these limits have saved me from putting many an overly convoluted, rambling mess out there.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
becquerel 5y ago
I used to write short stories that didn't contain the letter 'e', inspired by George Perec's book La Disparition (cracking novel, highly recommended -- all the translations from French keep it up as well). It's challenging, obviously, but also forces you to employ very unusual and unique language.
- simondotau 5y ago
  I concur. It's difficult, impractical and making my brain hurt. A grasp of (and availability of) synonym information is vitally important.
  - 5y ago

werber 5y ago

I quit smoking when I got COVID because it was the first time I was too sick to smoke. I’ve tried to smoke since and it just tastes awful. I know this might be crude to say but I’m thankful for having had the virus

k__ 5y ago
I knew a bunch of people who started smoking menthol because of sickness.
- the_only_law 5y ago
  For me, menthols never seemed to sit well on my stomach.
nowahe 5y ago
Kinda unrelated, but for me the best and first indicator that I'm starting to get sick is cigarettes tasting different.

jhoechtl 5y ago

I smoke 3 to 5 cigarettes a day. A smoke to coffee, on the balcony while gazing at the sun, after a decent meal. Some say you have to avoid all the stimulus when quit smoking. I will not stop walk out onto the balcony and enjoy the sun. I do kot wan to stop drinking coffee.

chippy 5y ago

I started vaping around the same time as the first lockdown. I never enjoyed it really and it kind of actually hurt my lungs a couple of times. I stopped. Break until next lockdown. I started smoking a tobacco pipe. Maybe 1 bowl every 3 days. More meditative, lasts around 40 mins, with the geeky hobby of different flavours, blends, techniques. It's also less nicotine and because there's no inhalation, much less worse. But it feels good and much more "right" than vaping or smoking like an addicted monkey. I never got into smoking cigars, they seem to last way longer and be more powerful. Like being forced to drink 10 espressos over the space of 20 minutes.

dageshi 5y ago
Cigars aren't a million miles away from pipe tobacco, you don't inhale them either (some do, but they're lunatics). Larger sizes will probably take an hour, the largest closer to two. Power wise, it very much depends on the cigar, some are very mild, some very powerful, but my personal experience is that much like pipes they aren't addictive for most people, I smoke 2-3 a week in the summer when the weather is nice.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

shoto_io 5y ago

I quit about a hundred times 20 yrs ago. I don’t why, but after that I finally grabbed this damn book by Allen Carr. I would have never that it would work. But for me it did. Been smoke free ever since. Maybe just pure luck. Maybe it was the goddamn book.

awakeasleep 5y ago
That book is a gentle and thorough introduction to an idea that I, as a smoker, had been hiding from or confused about. Pretty amazing.
- refulgentis 5y ago
  Can you tell me more? I'm familiar with the book but it didn't click with me, and I've had a strange feeling the past couple months I'm missing a really good mental model for where it comes from (tl;dr psychiatrist started talking about it after a year of hinting, but they thought I was a step ahead of where I actually am)
  - possibleworlds 5y ago
    You need to read the whole book start to finish, and be open to its subtle reverse brainwashing. Personally the main eye openers were: • Nicotine is scientifically proven to be incredibly physically addictive. • The way this physical addiction plays out is when you smoke a cigarette the effects wear off within half to 1 hr, and whether you are aware of it or not your brain starts begging for another hit. Side note: this explains how the tobacco industry settled on 20 / 25 cigarettes in a packet, ie 1 cigarette every 30 mins to 1 hr per day. • The stress / anxiety you think smoking is helping with are actually the resultant cravings caused by the last cigarette you smoked. Thus when you smoke you are in a constant state of withdrawal, it is like you are quitting all day every day. • You are not "quitting" or "giving up" anything, you are addict who is deciding to make a change and stop. There is lots of other stuff in there, I don't think the above spoils it. Cumulatively the book gets you into the headspace of viewing the journey of stopping as a positive healing process, to the extent that you can actually enjoy the withdrawals and cravings. No joke, it is that eye opening and convincing.

chejazi 5y ago

Here are the steps I took that have helped me not smoke for the past 1.5yrs: 1. Switched from cigarettes (great taste) to an iqos (disgusting taste). 2. Threw away my iqos the day before I moved countries (back to my home country). 3. Arrived in new country around new years, set that new years resolution. 4. Spent first 1-2 months of new year living with my parents while I searched for housing. Aside from the resolution, each step wasn't particularly aimed at quitting _forever_. With time under my belt, I've since adopted a hardline "no cigarettes for life" mentality. It comes at the cost of being overly judgmental of others who are smoking. It keeps me in check though; otherwise, I sense that a relapse is far too easy.

ciconeniba2 5y ago

I have been a smoker for over 20 years as well, I think it was hard at first to quit smoking but I agree with the author article, something changes in you. Every now and then I feel like I want to smoke and I buy a pack of cigarette, I smoke chain a couple of them and figure out I don't really like it and don't want to do that anymore and I don't get the urge anymore for four month or six... I have been doing this for the last five years or so, maybe i didn't quit fully but I don't do a pack and half every day or have to wake up mid night to have a smoke anymore.

varjag 5y ago

I quit after some 15 years of smoking. Not experiencing any cravings at this point. On the onset of COVID I even bought multiple packs to experiment with using the filters in 3D printed nasal breathers - didn't even want to light one. However I wouldn't have bothered quitting had it not been long term health hazard. I quite enjoyed the routine.

deesep 5y ago

I started smoking when i went to study in China. Someone gifted me an expensive brand of cigarette, and I kept it hidden in a drawer for two weeks as I didn't smoke. One very cold day with no where to go and nothing to do, I took the pack out and lit one stick. My did it have a lovely scent. The heat it created inside me was also soothing. It took me about a week and half to finish the pack of 21 cigs. I couldn't afford to buy the same brand often but i had become addicted to smoking. I struggled with anxiety back then and smoking calmed my nerves. Within 1 year I was smoking 2 packs a day. Smoking is frowned upon in Ghana, so upon my return there were few places I could smoke. One day while out and about I got really anxious about something and I needed a cig badly. I had to go some distance to get one, and even got a harder time finding a place to hide and smoke. I felt like I was committing the most heinous of crimes cause I had to take off my shirt to ensure the smell didn't stick on me. I didn't even enjoy the smoke because the quality wasn't that good, I smoked in a hurry and kept looking over my shoulder. I simply couldn't live like that anymore. So I quit after that day. The next time I tried to smoke again was 2 months later. I couldn't even finish a stick as it made me feel sick. I have disliked the smell of cigarettes ever since. And that was 7 years ago.

sillysaurusx 5y ago
Related to this, a lot of the reason smokers around me smoke is to just go outside. It’s an excuse to hang out on the porch. You might think that such a societal excuse isn’t needed, but it’s a powerful force.
- simondotau 5y ago
  I've never smoked, but in my cubicle days I often tag along with a colleague who did smoke. They'd have a puff, I'd get coffee, and we'd hang out and chat for five or ten minutes outside.
  - buu700 5y ago
    I always did the same thing. It'd be nicer if we could build a social convention of drink breaks instead of smoke breaks, which could sort of bootstrap off of smoke breaks in the way you described. At first a few people in any given circle would be drinking instead of smoking, and then over time, as more people opt for coffee/tea/water over cigarettes, it gradually becomes normalized to take breaks without having anyone smoke.

lwhi 5y ago

I'm still smoking at the moment. I've quit for years and started again. It's the push and pull .. the need and that satiation that I find so satisfying, and to a certain extent it's that rhythm I find ultimately attractive. The slow build up of a hunger, before you end it with a delicious meal. The relaxing bath after a 30 mile hike. The 10 hour sleep after a stressful few days running on caffeine. The buzz of endorphins after breaking through the pain barrier on a run. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a junky at heart. But I would like to stop smoking.

Torwald 5y ago
Allen Carr's Easy way out. It's a book. He explains the mind hack that smoking is. Once you grok that, quitting is easy.
- amatic 5y ago
  I quit smoking with Carr too, some half dozen times. It would last for a few months, then I would start again after a few beers. The latest trick, good for two years now, is using nicotine-free rolling herbs (edit: things they give as filler to roll your joints, a mix of things like papaya leaves, tea, etc)

gerdesj 5y ago

I gave up just over three years ago. It was bloody hard. I came up with a couple of things to say to myself if I wanted a fag. I used them as mantras as soon as I wanted a drag. I came up with "I don't want to die" and "I don't want to smell". I also made targets - 1 day, 2, 4, week. Fortnight. Month. etc (I will never go back ...) If you want to give up you can but it is bloody hard

standardUser 5y ago

I think the most important thing for people to realize about nicotine addiction (and all addiction) is that is does not work the same for everybody. Some people can smoke a few cigarettes every other weekend and not think about it otherwise, while others will never voluntarily go more than 45 minutes without a cigarette.

lolc 5y ago

To this day, I can recall how a good one feels. The calm of a sunset. And I can remember how a bad one feels. The sore throat, cough, headache, numbness, sleeplessness, smell, and ennui of ignoring all that when preparing another one. When bad memories had been accumulating for a long while, I quit. And it was easy to recall the bad ones whenever I would think of lighting one again. So I didn't. Even if I knew it'd be a good one. Because there would be bad ones after. I won't forget the good ones either. And if I ever think I can just smoke the good ones, without smoking the bad ones after, then I'll start again.

calebm 5y ago

"The Buddhists think you don’t quit addictions, you become a new person who isn’t an addict." - this really resonates with me. Don't say "I should do better" - change who you are and what you want will change.

sulam 5y ago

I've never smoked (thanks mom for the negative example), but reading Atomic Habits made something about it and other habits clear to me: habits are part of your identity. The best/strongest way to start or end a habit is to convince yourself you are no longer that person. Not "I'm trying to exercise more." I am someone who exercises. Not "I'm trying to stop smoking." I am not a smoker. This is really hard with smoking because there are so many cues that are tied to it. I recommend the book for some help, it has helped me be a much better version of myself.

nverno 5y ago

The best thing about quitting is having that occasional cigarette

avemg 5y ago
I don't know if you're making a joke or you're serious. If you're able to quit regular smoking and have only the occasional cigarette then more power to you. But for me, the "occasional" cigarette has doomed many long bouts of smoking cessation. Sometimes i'd fall right off the wagon and other times I'd manage the "occasional" smoke for months. But make no mistake: once I had that one cigarette and opened the door, the intervals between the occasional smoke would get smaller and smaller until I was back to my old habit. I just passed the 10 year mark since my last cigarette. It's easy these days and I almost never think about cigarettes but I still wouldn't trust myself to have one.

rbg246 5y ago

I read Allen Carr's easy way to give up smoking. It was amazing, it opened my eyes to what my addiction actually was and I have never been addicted since reading that book. Been twelve years addiction free.

diob 5y ago

Smoking is the worst. I was subjected to chain smoking indoors while growing up. Can't help but intensely dislike the habit.

bigyikes 5y ago

I think I’m fortunate that I find cigarettes fairly easy to pick up and put back down. Don’t get me wrong, I get hooked like the rest of us, but I seem to naturally fall off the hook after some time. I usually pick them up to cope with intense emotions. Not healthy, I know. After a few weeks of smoking 2 packs per week (not per day, thankfully), I begin to feel intense anxiety from smoking. The longer I continue the habit, the worse the anxiety gets. It escalates to the point where thinking of a cigarette makes me sweaty and nauseous, and actually smoking one will trigger a panic attack. After a few of those attacks I can drop the cigs with minimal fuss. Anxiety feels like a curse, but in this case it acts as a restoration force against my tobacco addiction. Life is strange. (No, anxiety is not a good thing, and no, you should not smoke cigarettes)

muststopmyths 5y ago

The main things that keeps me from relapsing are that California makes it really hard to smoke in public and that none of my friends smoke. I occasionally relapse when with some specific friends from a point in my past. Luckily we live far away from each other so the meetings are rare. The one other reason I don't just pick smoking back up by myself is how nasty my clothes (no hair left any more !) smell after a cigarette. It's very easy to not notice that when you smoke, but impossible to miss when you don't. I certainly don't want my apartment smelling like that either. If they ever made cigarettes that don't smell bad (not weenie vape pens, come on :) ), I'd probably be dead of lung cancer in a decade. It is a tough addiction.

kethinov 5y ago
Weirdly, the thing I remember most about my time in California was how hard it was to avoid being constantly exposed to second-hand smoke anywhere I walked in the city. It really hit me when a friend visited from out of town and said something to me along the lines of, "You know, for how green-obsessed everyone here seems to be, it's truly remarkable how much smoke there is everywhere on the streets." Doubtless, this is more a city problem than it is a California problem. I spent most of my life in the suburbs far from any city downtowns growing up and I am truly grateful to have been able to relocate back to the quiet, leafy suburbs once again to start my family. There are some things I miss about downtown, but the constant presence of second-hand smoke on the sidewalks everywhere is definitely not one of them.
- vlovich123 5y ago
  Which city is this? I’ve lived in major cities in NorCal and SoCal and can’t say that’s ever been my impression. Maybe later in the evening but usually the smokers self-segregate where they’re not around non-smokers.

hooande 5y ago

Does anyone still smoke? I smoke every day, heavily, and greatly enjoy it. I'm smoking a cigarette right now

checkerscaptian 5y ago

i have never smoked but i have been around people who smoke in public spaces and have never found why it would be atractive in the first place. i think that this should be particularly stressed in COVID hit areas as it is bad for your lungs. could someone also tell me what quitting vapes is like, i do not know and i think it would be similar

ac42 5y ago

I think one reason that quitting is so hard is that it is assumed to be a 100 to zero transition. I believe that just as getting addicted, weaning off is a process. Without having established a mindset of truly wanting to quit and without clearly understanding your very own reasons for it, it's way too easy to consider that occasional misstep a total failure of the project.

antiframe 5y ago
I used to think it was hard too, but then I read _Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking_. I followed the instructions and continued smoking while reading the book, sometimes literally standing outside my apartment building with a cigarette and book in hand. I read it all the way through in two evenings in a random November. I forget the year; it was long ago. After I finished the book, I put it down and told my girlfriend at the time (now wife) that it worked. I haven't had a craving or cigarette since. It was a 100 to zero transition. Previously when I tried to quit, spending time with smoking friends would get me to smoke again. This time, it didn't. One of my smoking coworkers, mid chat, said he would be back. I told him I can keep talking with him while he goes out for a smoke. He asked if I was crazy, I had just quit, he didn't want to be a trigger. I went out and joined him for some fresh air while he smoke and nothing. Not even a small inkling of a craving. It worked.

hn_throwaway_99 5y ago

When I think about smoking and addiction, I think about how genetics and early childhood experiences actually allow us much less "free will" than we'd like to admit, especially in the US. I picked up smoking in my late teens and early twenties. I tended to smoke socially, but still sometimes smoked by myself. Probably about 2 years into I thought "this is dumb", and just stopped. I never felt addicted. Quitting wasn't difficult for me at all - at the time I was pretty busy so I didn't even really miss it. Basically, I just really don't have an addictive personality or whatever other part of our genes causes people to get addicted. I could quit without a second thought, but many other people I know who started around the same time I did are either still smoking or have had a hell of a time trying to quit. I bring this up because there are so many things that we think of are due to an excess or lack of will power (this view is especially prevalent in the US) - if you are overweight it's because you lack willpower, if you can't quit smoking you lack willpower, etc. etc. My point is that this is usually not true. I was able to quit smoking not because I had a ton of willpower, but because I didn't need it.

billykid24601 5y ago
What evidence do you have that this isn't true? It's not really a falsifiable position (since nature vs nurture is hard to show) and free will hard to measure. To me, it simply seems more convenient for the audience to believe free will doesn't exist and addition is genetic.
- possibleworlds 5y ago
  There is plenty out there [0]. Certain substances are at a baseline and without question addictive for humans, do enough of it and anyone can become an addict regardless of free will. Genetics play a role in susceptibility and level of dependence, as do other factors like underlying mental illness. If you ever see a full blown alcoholic going through withdrawals [1] it becomes clear that physical substance addiction is very much a real thing. [0] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171010124112.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171010124112.h... [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens

throckmortra 5y ago

How do I quit smartphones?

qq4 5y ago
Throw it in the trashcan.

01100011 5y ago

On and off smoker here, mostly pipes, sometimes cigars and cigarettes. I always found it easy to start and stop(for months to years at a time). 23andme shows I'm at reduced risk for nicotine addiction. I've got an addictive personality and had problems with other things, but nicotine was never one of them. I'm type 2 bipolar though, and lately I've found nicotine works really well for managing a depressive cycle. I can break a negative thought loop with a nice bowl of tobacco, gingerly inhaled. I have to watch it though. Sometimes the depressive cycle is really just a nic-fit. Nicotine is tricky. I'm also noticing that, as I get older(46), smoking triggers what feels like prostatitis. It doesn't last more than a day, but man it's apparent that my prostate doesn't like nicotine.

efields 5y ago

One of the rare posts here where I read most of the comments, top to bottom. It’s fascinating so many of us can get so articulate and reflective about smoking. Couldn’t smoking be considered a perverse form of breathing exercise? Not a beneficial exercise, but definitely a practice of sorts. Modern (American) society went from taking several breaks a day for breathing to quitting this practice while getting more overweight, overworking, consuming more and more media.

santiagogo 5y ago
As an ex-smoker I think the same and that's what actually made it harder to quit for me. Smoking forces you to find open air spaces, is relaxing and induces slow breathing. In some ways it's a form of meditation. Other times it forces social spaces with other smokers in which you have to ask for a ligher and you have a conversation starter. A nice practice with a terrible health outcome.
ryanmcbride 5y ago
As harmful as it is it's absolutely a type of meditation. Taking a few minutes out of your day for yourself.

qq4 5y ago

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 addicted now?" and every time I felt nothing, from a cigarette, cigar, vape whatever. There must be a high. Is it relaxing or stimulating? My brother who got himself addicted said it "cleared his head" or something. My whole family smokes, none of them can quit. It feels like hypnosis to me, and I refuse to believe in hypnotism. Before you call me ignorant, I know and acknowledge that the addiction is a real thing, it's obvious. I'm simply curious where it comes from because it feels like I can't experience it.

gwbas1c 5y ago
I almost got hooked. Like you, I had tried cigarettes a few times and they did nothing. Then, 10 years ago, I watched "The King's Speach," where King George constantly smokes, and after the movie I bought a pack of hand rolling tobacco. Gosh, rolling those little buggers was FUN. They gave me a buzz, it was an excuse to go outside, and the buzz wore off very quickly. About a week in, I started waking up with the idea that I should immediately smoke a cigarette... Then on my bike ride home I'd get the idea that I should smoke a cigarette. I stopped at that point, realizing that if I gave in, I'd get addicted. The thing is, before the addiction sets in, cigarettes are fun. They're an excuse to go outside, have a conversation with someone, occupy your hands... The nicotine buzz is similar to marijuana, but much shorter and not intoxicating.
oxfeed65261 5y ago
The best description I have read—I don’t recall where—described the desire for a cigarette coupled with the fulfillment of that desire, repeated twenty or forty or whatever times each day. It is hard to explain, but that reflects my experience. That tightly-coupled loop of desire and satisfaction is, in a perverse way, somehow preferable to not having the desire in the first place.
- 5y ago

xvilka 5y ago

Best thing we can do is to ban it completely.

top_post 5y ago
If governments truly gave a shit about their people and medical resources that's exactly what they should do.
t3rmi 5y ago
This is a slippery slope. Should we also ban high sugar products, alcohol and videogames?

sidcool 5y ago

In a few years, someone will make a post like this for the internet, the YouTube, the reddit or Insta. Avoid addictions of any kind.

josephcsible 5y ago
None of those things are actual physical addictions like nicotine is.
- sidcool 5y ago
  Are you saying that mental health issues are somewhat less excruciating than physical ones?
- grillvogel 5y ago
  social media is probably worse for humanity than nicotine
  - josephcsible 5y ago
    I'm not convinced this is true, and even if it is, it'd only be because so many more people use social media. For any given individual who uses both, there'd be way more personal benefit to quitting nicotine than giving up social media.

emre 5y ago

"The Buddhists think you don’t quit addictions, you become a new person who isn’t an addict." This is such an amazing quote

hambes 5y ago
Makes me think they have not met a single addict ever. This quote makes absolutely zero sense. Most addicts stay addicts for the rest of their lives. They fight their addiction most days if not every day.
quonn 5y ago
I don‘t think it correctly reflects Buddhist teaching, though. You become a new person moment to moment and even „you“ is not putting it correctly and everything is tied together by cause and effect regardless. Perhaps a better way to look at it is that the Buddha is only teaching by skillful means. So that quote may be the right thing for a particular addict at a time. In that sense it is true, but not as an absolute truth for everyone always.

t3rmi 5y ago

I smoke occasionally with friends during parties and never after. I've been doing this for a few years now and haven't gotten addicted. This is probably due to the fact the I was heavily addicted to video games during college and kinda of have a mental resistance now. Smoking occasionally with friends is fun. Especially during cold weather.

sateesh 5y ago

Ian Banks in his novel Complicity writes powerfully decrying smoking. Quoting from the novel. I take out another cigarette, light it and draw deeply. I gag again, coughing and hacking and feeling the whisky and the can of Export I had earlier slosh around inside me, almost coming up. My eyes are watering. What a stupid drug, what a completely useless fucking drug; no real hit after the first drag, highly addictive and lethal in all sorts of ways, and even if the lung cancer or the heart disease doesn't get you you can look forward to gangrenous legs in your old age, bits of your body just rotting away still attached and dying in instalments for you, rotting and stinking while you're still alive and then they have to cut them off and you wake up after the operation wheezing and burning with pain and gasping for a fag. Meanwhile the tobacco companies sponsor sport and fight off advertising bans and look forward to all the new markets in the East and the Far East and more women taking up the weed to show that they can be brainless fucks too, and suits with worm-shit in their brains go on television and say, 'Well, nobody's actually proved how tobacco causes cancer you know', and you sit there seething and then you find Thatcher is taking half a million from Philip Morris for a three-year find consultancy and you swear never to buy any of their products ever again but at the end of the day you still light another cigarette and suck in the smoke like you enjoyed it and make more profits for those evil fucks. -- Complicity (Iain M.Banks)

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
habosa 5y ago
Off topic fun fact: that novel is by Iain Banks, not Iain M Banks. He only uses the "M" for his Science Fiction novels.

choeger 5y ago

I never understood why we need these black & white labels when it comes to substance usage. Obviously, never smoking any tobacco whatsoever is the healthiest option. But so is never drinking any alcohol or never eating any sweets. But it should also be obvious that every cigarette you do not smoke and every beer you do not drink as well as every chocolate bar you do not eat is an improvement for your health. I don't think you are failing unless you completely stop using a specific substance. You are failing when you are not trying to improve. Why not start by not smoking for a day, a week, a month? Why not consider your internalized, automated habits (like smoking one cigarrete after lunch) and try to eliminate them one by one if you feel like they control you instead of the other way around?

wccrawford 5y ago
I've heard of quite a few studies that show that some amount of alcohol and chocolate are good for you. I've never heard the same about smoking, though.

fruityrudy 5y ago

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.

p2detar 5y ago

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.

irthomasthomas 5y ago

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?

Renaud 5y ago
I didn't know about this and was sceptical but it appears to be right and the CDC[1] mentions it, along with lead-210 being a source of radioactive accumulation in the lungs. Apparently an information that cigarette manufacturers tried pretty hard to hide[2]... [1]:https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/smoking.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/smoking.htm [2]:https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2008/08/29/radioactive-polonium-in-cigarette-smoke/ https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2008/08/29/radioactive-pol...
- irthomasthomas 5y ago
  Brilliant, thanks. I'm glad this ain't reddit.
mint2 5y ago
Polonium is not “THE” reason smoking causes cancer, it is “A” reason. There are plenty of other cancer causing chemicals in there too, polonium has good company. It’s a bit nick picky to point out, but given the historic confusion tactics by tobacco companies, it’s important to be accurate when talking about ways smoking effects health. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/tobacco/cessation-fact-sheet https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/t...

innocentoldguy 5y ago

One aspect of smoking that I don’t see talked about much is how it screws with your blood’s ability to transport oxygen effectively. This can drastically increase your risk of complications if you have to have surgery. My friend is a plastic surgeon and refuses to operate on smokers unless they quit for six weeks to give their body enough time to generate functional blood cells. A few patients have lied to him, though. One had a breast augmentation and her nipples died and had to be removed due to insufficient oxygen supply to the area. If you have to have surgery, it is best to stop smoking for at least a month and a half.

kleiba 5y ago

As a small kid, I think I was fascinated by other people smoking. I mean come on: there's a gleaming fire stick coming out of your mouth!! But also, even as a tiny boy with a single-digit age, I was wondering why anybody would voluntarily pick up a habit that everyone knows raises your chances to get cancer? I liked the idea of being "cool" (which to me was the only real "pro" point of smoking), but when compared to a terminal illness, there really never was any temptation for me. In thinking back about how times have changed since those days, what I find even more interesting though is that smoking was all around you _all the time_. People smoked, you didn't even think about it twice. Inside restaurants where you ate, inside cars when you were given a ride, everywhere. I remember going to clubs when I was a young man, and that feeling of waking up the next morning with you ears screaming and your clothes, your pillow, your hair, everything smelling of cold smoke. Disgusting. Coming to think of it, I wonder why I wouldn't want to pick up smoking out of fear of getting cancer but obviously didn't mind ruining my hearing by spending hours each weekend in unreasonably loud clubs. I mean, I certainly found it perverted that in that environment, when you were talking to someone, you were literally screaming into their ear (just think about that...) but I kept going there every weekend. I suppose in the end, I did it because I wanted to belong. Which, in turn, I'm sure is one of the major reason for people to pick up smoking...

callesgg 5y ago

I don’t see the appeal of chain smoking the first cigarette is nice but subsequent cigarettes does nothing for me. One cigarette a day is about how much I can do and actually cognitively recognize the effects. That is not to say that some part of me does not want to smoke more than one. Cause there is such a part of me. But I as a verbal entity can not justify it in any way. It just does nothing. In fact it makes me feel worse.

timonoko 5y ago

Nicotine was natural cure for ADHD at the time when there was no such diagnosis. I am not kidding: my IQ raised at least 20 points when I started smoking at 16. I was suddenly the very best in mathematics (from barely acceptable level) and was able to concentrate in other studies too. Unfortunately there was only two years left in school, so I was not able to fill the gaps to gain top marks at everything. Should have started smoking earlier. I stopped smoking when there was no need to accomplish anything at age 40. It just happened quite effortlessly. I had all the monies I will ever need, and there was not too many opportunities available careerwise.

wraptile 5y ago
Turns out nicotine is a really good drug! The problem is that cigarettes are a terrible delivery method. I've started vaping on ocassion almost purely for work reasons: I vape nicotine to focus and CBD to relieve some stress. It's tasty, fun and AFAIK there really isn't enough research against vaping for me to turn away these benefits. As for cigarattes the negatives would definitely outweigh the positivies for me so I'd refrain from smoking but I can emphasize with someone who would think otherwise. Another benefit is socializing! I'd often work in coworking spaces where cafe and smoke spot is where people socialize - both are basically drug consumption spaces. Finally I don't feel any addiction to these particular drugs other than it's fun and tasty - I can go days or weeks without it without any problems. I know there's strong research that nicotine withdrawals can affect mood but I've never experienced any myself though seen it in others. Vaping is easy to dose though you can easily avoid withdrawals with a bit of math!

bambax 5y ago

> The Buddhists think you don’t quit addictions, you become a new person who isn’t an addict. I don't think that's true, unfortunately. You can quit smoking and stay addicted to other things. You can even quit smoking and stay addicted to smoking, being on the verge of falling for it again. That was not the case for me, but it happens often.

secondcoming 5y ago

I'll quit when this carton is empty. Promise.

phtrivier 5y ago

Anectode. A few years ago, the "neutral pack" was introduced in France, and for some reason, it was decided that the pack would be so neutral as to not even mention the exact composition of the cigarettes themselve. (You can get a CSV with the ingredients from some offical website. Whatever.) One day, I was waiting in line to buy newspapers (the same stores typicall sell tabacco and press here. (And newspapers are that thing... well, too long to explain.)) A supposedly very nice lady was outraged that she could not get the exact composition of her cigarettes any more. 20 years of improv comedy, and I could not come up with "what, you're afraid they might put something bad in it ?" That lady is probably on Facebook at this exact moment, wondering about the pandemic. And she might have relevant questions, and insane answers. Thinking about smoking is hard. Try not to do it if you can.

bondarchuk 5y ago
It is true, they put all manner of stuff in it to make it hit faster/harder, to numb your throat so you can smoke more/inhale deeper, etc. Here's a nice overview from some EU body: https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/opinions_layman/tobacco/en/ https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/opinions_l...
jyriand 5y ago
This reminded me of this Bill Hicks bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPVivwLym-c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPVivwLym-c (trigger warning)

jhunter1016 5y ago

More than 10 years after quitting smoking, I was standing on a balcony in NYC with a few friends from Italy. They lit up as we drank and talked, and while I didn’t have a true desire to smoke one with them, the thought crossed my mind. What would it be like? Just one cigarette to remind me of when I was young? I think buried deep in our minds once we’ve started smoking and no matter how long after we quit is this question of what it might be like to try it one more time.

malkosta 5y ago

I guess I'm the only person in the world who smoked for 15 years, and stopped on a beautiful day, without suffering. I still smoke very occasionally, socially, once a month maybe, but I definitely stopped having daily cravings to smoke alone days after I stopped.

0xbadcafebee 5y ago
Not quite the same, but I smoked every time I drank for two years, and then just stopped for no reason. Never had a craving, I just "felt like" having a smoke for two years, and then didn't anymore. This was during the time when you could go to a bar or club in Florida, show some person with a giant bag your ID, and receive two packs of cigarettes, free. I did this multiple times a week, so I always had a huge stack of free cigarettes and bar matches. That was also how I learned you could make friends by always having either a free cigarette or a lighter.

Link512 5y ago

I started smoking at 13 and quit at 22 cold turkey. 8 years later, I still sometimes dream at night about lighting a cigarette and it feels ecstatic when I do. Then I wake up and spend the entire day craving a smoke. The hook runs deep.

sAbakumoff 5y ago

>> The Buddhists think you don’t quit addictions, you become a new person who isn’t an addict. The Buddhists believe that you ARE the person that does not need anything, f.e. smoking, to be happy. The only thing you have to do is finding your true nature that is already there.

Dumblydorr 5y ago

Smokers sometimes claim that they'll experience good feelings from cigarettes. But what proportion of those good feelings end up being relief from withdrawal, plus fresh air and an outdoor break? Personally, I know my caffeine withdrawal kicks in each morning and a lot of the good feeling of coffee is canceling withdrawal plus a bit of warmth or icy cold, and hydration.

bernardlunn 5y ago

The urge to smoke does go away in my experience. Now i don’t ever think about it. The physical addiction only lasts a few weeks but is super intense; the only thing that took the urge away was exercise. The psychological addiction took years with many relapses. I was hooked again within days of “just one”. This too does pass!!

ay 5y ago

I smoked a pack a day for 18 years. In the past 10 years I smoked maybe 2-3 packs. The key hacks to this change for me were: 0) decided I will not put a hard barrier (“quit”) but rather reduce (“stop”). This reduces the guilt during the inevitable setbacks. 1) find and break the frequent routines that involve smoking (first coffee + cig => replace with tea. It tastes terrible with cigarette; colleagues asking for a smoke => work from home, etc) 2) very consciously ask myself for every cigarette what is triggering it. Why do I think I need it. If there is no reason - then abstain from smoking, but if there is a good reason - focus on the reason. It’s ok to have a cigarette if there is a good enough reason but I need to think hard about this reason and try to eliminate it. 3) even for relapses, arrange them such that they do not ever turn into micro routines. Smoking in a rarely visited club or place is ok. At home - not okay. 4) make experiment with alternating 2 weeks of non smoking with 2 weeks of smoking, noting my well being. The difference is obvious and very visible. As a result, now I sometimes socially smoke at parties, with smoker friends - but each time after careful consideration of whether the inevitable headache in the morning is worth the “fun” - and again, very carefully checking that the situation didn’t have a potential to turn into a micro-routine. I never quit and if I want, I can always smoke again. But I consciously don’t want to. These hacks are obviously specific to my wiring and may not work for everyone, but just thought to write it in case this helps someone. Good luck!