Smoking

[Ben_]

This topic will always end the same.

At the end of the day most smokers will not give a flying feck what non smokers think of their habbit anyway.

So greenalien is right, but to slur people that smoke in such a way is ridiculous, it makes you no less a bright person if you do or dont smoke. Many very important and intelligent people smoke aswell as those that dont..

[staffsMike]

So greenalien is right, but to slur people that smoke in such a way is ridiculous, it makes you no less a bright person if you do or dont smoke. Many very important and intelligent people smoke aswell as those that dont..

I would say it was more a question of character than intelligence.

[0iD]

Merlin, protection from parkinson's? the amount of protection you get from smoking against parkinson's is much more many times than the risks of cancer. you can look it up if you want....

Oddly, I do have Parkinsons (no, really, before I get flamed for being tasteless) & I don't smoke, go figure, if i'd only known.

[Salazaar]

At the end of the day most smokers will not give a flying feck what non smokers think of their habbit anyway.

And nor should they, it's not our place to tells smokers whether they are right or wrong, pretty much all the facts are available right now and smokers can make an educated choice.

However I do reserve the right to take the lit cigarette of any smoker who fails to respect my right not to have to breath in that foul smelling s**t, and push it forcefully into one of their eyes. I think it's a fair compromise.

[Ben Rogers]

I smoke roll ups but not as many as I used to. Too hard to stop for me as I have other issues in my head and smoking a cig helps slightly, sometimes.

Also, Im glad about the smoking ban in pubs etc because, although it was nice having a fag with a beer the non-smokers cant have been very happy having to put up with the smoke constantly and I remember what my clothes smelt like when I got back from the pub when I was young and didnt smoke/drink, was not nice.

[rufeo]

Oddly, I do have Parkinsons (no, really, before I get flamed for being tasteless) & I don't smoke, go figure, if i'd only known.

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm medic and i'm interested in hearing your experiences if you don't mind of course..... how are old are you and when was the onset? obviously smoking isn't a complete guarantee against not getting parkinson's but it does lower the risk but a long long way, but there's always the other side to consider such as family history of the disease, environmental factors etc. please don't feel you have to say anything if you're uncomfortable though

[greenalien]

it makes you no less a bright person if you do or dont smoke. Many very important and intelligent people smoke aswell as those that dont.

I don't think intelligence is uniform - clever people can still do stupid things!

[steve threlfall]

Oh dear, your poor poor under educated man.

Well aren't you just a fantastic advert for smoking.

You missed out a comma. I guess that makes you the poor, poor uneducated man.

[Barakka]

Smokers will always see the views of non/ex smokers as excluding/discriminating/patronising towards them and having been a smoker for over 10 years i've been in that mindset and would never tell people they shouldn't smoke or they should quit etc.

Non-smokers will never understand why people started in the 1st place, which is understandable, I would applaud them for managing to make it adulthood without smoking - although not so much these days as it was 10-15 years ago.

Ex-smokers tend to fall into two categories:
1) They have quit when they didn't really want to and spend the rest of their days repressing their desire to smoke (and often start again for short or long periods) so feel resentment to the people still "enjoying" what they gave up. I met someone a few years ago who had quit 25 years previously and still got cravings daily.

2) They gave up because they wanted to, easy to spot, they're the ones that once they accepted they didn't want to smoke anymore didn't find it difficult to quit, but they often get frustrated because they realised that if you get the right mindset quitting is easy.

All have their reasons to be frustrated with each other and to be honest IMO none are wrong.

[Raz316]

I've been smoking since January (having already smoked when I was younger). It's pretty sad, but the only real reason is, I was bored. When working from home, it makes for a nice 5 minute break with a cup of tea.

When I'm with people who don't like smoking (like my parents) or at work, I don't smoke at all and don't even think about it. However, in the evening when I get home, I HAVE to have one because I can. Sunday I'm moving in with someone who doesn't like smoking so I'll stop and that'll be that (I hope).

[SmileyUK]

best of luck raz

[Steven W]

I gave up after my honeymoon as we wanted to try for a baby - which is now on the way.

I'd smoked for about 15 years and just gave up overnight.

I miss it all the time though.

[noTHINGface]

I'd smoked for about 15 years and just gave up overnight.

Yup, I smoked for 20 years, maintained quite the habit from 14 onwards and gave up last year, end of Jan 2007. I always defended my right to smoke and all that but giving up was undoubtedly the best thing I ever did, finally free of all the rituals and habitual behaviour. I missed smoking real bad at first, pubs were the hardest but the smoking ban certainly helped there.

[Lee H]

I smoke, but have cut down so now a 20 pack can last me 3-4 days

It's the routine of getting in, making a nice fresh coffee and then sitting in the garden having a smoke and relaxing straight after work which get's me everyday at about 6-6.30

I did 3 weeks of cold turkey and gave up but just lapsed one drunken night out with a few folks.

[Blitzen]

you could take her to see my mum Russ and that would probably make her stop. In feb this year we found out that she had cancer of the mouth and tongue that had got so bad she could no longer eat. The reason it took a while to discover is because we couldnt find her an nhs dentist, when she found one she was referred to a doctor immediately.

They put her in for an immediate operation where they sliced her throat from shoulder to shoulder, removed the lymph glands from both sides of her neck as well as every one of her teeth. They cut her leg open to remove some of the muscle so they could reattach it to what was left of her tongue. They also removed a large chunk of her jawbone. A facial reconstruction had to take place due to all the veins they removed and had to be replaced from ones in her leg. The operation took 13 hours to complete and she was in intensive care for days without us knowing if she was going to survive or not. She was literally swollen to the size of a balloon around the area that was operated on and even now her neck is severely damaged and scarred.

She has also now had to undergo radiotherapy, which there are 7 more sessions to go, her skin on her face and neck is bright red, burnt far more than any sunburn you will ever see or imagine and the doctors think the skin on her face might split from the damage that it is causing.

She still has no teeth and cannot eat anything, in fact since the radiotherapy started she hasnt been able to eat anything and has to live with a feeding tube in her nose to her stomach. There is a good chance she will never be able to swallow food again and will have to live on soup and yoghurt for the rest of her life. She also has no confidence in her voice and is now scared to talk to anyone who is not a doctor or one of her family.

Now if anyone thinks it is worth putting your family and loved ones through that for your little stress relief then you go for it. The fact is, that you arent relieving stress you are relieving a craving. Go read Allens Carr's easy way to stop smoking for a far better explanation than i could give.

You keep going in the hope that nothing happens to you, and then if it does you can go through the pain my family has with explaining it to kids/grandkids that their loved one may have killed themselves for a false crutch that provides nothing but a cure for the itch it causes.

Sorry if this sounds ranty but its very raw at the moment and i am at the point where i cant understand why anyone does it. And yes i have done it in the past and stopping is one of the best things i have ever done.

This is the most informative and readable post i have EVER seen here.
Even though i am a smoker, this really triggered the thoughts.

I hope your mum starts to feel beter soon fella

[Clunk]

His book helped me tremendously too.