Giving Up Cigarettes

[Arminius]

Part of me wants to smoke and drink; part of me doesn't want that. I went to an AA meeting for help. At the meeting, before and after, everyone was outside smoking. It wasn't a place I wanted to be.

I can imagine.

Do you think that you will overcome the urge of the part of you that wants to smoke and drink?

When I gave up cigarettes (more than eleven years ago) I did not have any urge or demand or desire to smoke or to drink. Perhaps it was just the fact that the time of giving up cigarettes had come; so it was easy to do it.

[Carleas]

Good poem. I like the comparison of addiction and abusive love. Too often the anti-addiction sentiment ignores that there is love there, and while it's right to leave an abusive relationship, it's also healthy to grieve.

My aunt is dying too young of lung cancer, so count yourself lucky that you have lived long enough to escape. And stay strong.

[Arminius]

Carleas, do or did you smoke?

Be honest!

[Carleas]

I've never been addicted to cigarettes, though I've smoked many at varying frequencies throughout my adult life. I'm not sure why, but even when I would chain-smoke for weeks to get through finals, I had no problem stopping and no cravings afterward.

I do struggle with drinking, but I come from a family with a lot of alcoholism so I knew before I started that it was something to watch out for, and that vigilance has helped me keep it in check (mostly). Weed has been similar, though it's a lot less worrying as an addiction.

My worst addictions are fortunately fairly benign: TV, video games, internet trash. They're limiting, but they're also fairly socially acceptable. But as cravings they feel the same way booze feels: the need, the tug, the surge of blessed dopamine, the "just one more". And the prospect of quitting feels like breaking up, like losing a friend or family member, a part of my identity.

Thankfully, they won't kill me, they just stunt my personal and professional development.

[Arminius]

I've never been addicted to cigarettes, though I've smoked many at varying frequencies throughout my adult life. I'm not sure why, but even when I would chain-smoke for weeks to get through finals, I had no problem stopping and no cravings afterward.

I do struggle with drinking, but I come from a family with a lot of alcoholism so I knew before I started that it was something to watch out for, and that vigilance has helped me keep it in check (mostly). Weed has been similar, though it's a lot less worrying as an addiction.

My worst addictions are fortunately fairly benign: TV, video games, internet trash. They're limiting, but they're also fairly socially acceptable. But as cravings they feel the same way booze feels: the need, the tug, the surge of blessed dopamine, the "just one more". And the prospect of quitting feels like breaking up, like losing a friend or family member, a part of my identity.

Thankfully, they won't kill me, they just stunt my personal and professional development.

If you really can stop smoking so easily, why do you not stop smoking?

[Carleas]

I think I was unclear when I answered the question. I would not say that I smoke. I've never smoked regularly for more than a couple months at a stretch, and usually much less; a few packs to get me through the late nights churning out final papers, but that would only last a week, maybe two, then I'd go another semester without buying a pack. I bum cigarettes when I'm hanging out with smokers, which is rare, maybe a few times a year.

I did vape consistently for a few months this year, but I stopped when my daughter was born without any problem. Vapes are significantly preferable to cigarettes, but I enjoy both and crave neither.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Still smoking over here. I'll quit maybe next year when I'm thirty. Not in a hurry quite yet.

Yes, that's ok. How many cigarrettes do you smoke per day?

Fifteen to eighteen.

[Ierrellus]

Good poem. I like the comparison of addiction and abusive love. Too often the anti-addiction sentiment ignores that there is love there, and while it's right to leave an abusive relationship, it's also healthy to grieve.

My aunt is dying too young of lung cancer, so count yourself lucky that you have lived long enough to escape. And stay strong.

Thanks for your understanding of my poem. Sorry to hear about your Aunt's condition.

[Pneumatic-Coma]

I've never been addicted to cigarettes, though I've smoked many at varying frequencies throughout my adult life. I'm not sure why, but even when I would chain-smoke for weeks to get through finals, I had no problem stopping and no cravings afterward.

I do struggle with drinking, but I come from a family with a lot of alcoholism so I knew before I started that it was something to watch out for, and that vigilance has helped me keep it in check (mostly). Weed has been similar, though it's a lot less worrying as an addiction.

My worst addictions are fortunately fairly benign: TV, video games, internet trash. They're limiting, but they're also fairly socially acceptable. But as cravings they feel the same way booze feels: the need, the tug, the surge of blessed dopamine, the "just one more". And the prospect of quitting feels like breaking up, like losing a friend or family member, a part of my identity.

Thankfully, they won't kill me, they just stunt my personal and professional development.

Yes, Amen, yet "Though it's a lot less worrying as an addiction?" An addiction nonetheless right? Yet I've never seen marijuana as lethal myself.............................................................. Ever.


I feel as though it's a more lenient addiction than any other smoke drug.

[Arminius]

Still smoking over here. I'll quit maybe next year when I'm thirty. Not in a hurry quite yet.

Yes, that's ok. How many cigarrettes do you smoke per day?

Fifteen to eighteen.

Okay. And what do you pay for those fifteen to eighteen cigarettes?

[Pneumatic-Coma]

A lot! I would assume....

[Arminius]

Cigarettes have become very expensive. Haven't they?

[Pneumatic-Coma]

Too expensive if you ask me.... All Hail E-Cigs

[Arminius]

Do you know the prices for cigarettes in the USA?

[Pneumatic-Coma]

5 - 8 dollars

[Arminius]

For how many cigarettes?

[Pneumatic-Coma]

I'd say you get about the same amount which would be 20 yet you pay for flavor and product so .... That's why the price ranges

[Arminius]

5 - 8 dollars for 20 cigarettes (resp.: 25 - 40 cents for 1 cigarette) - that is quite expensive, especially if one compares that price with the price of the past.

[Pneumatic-Coma]

Definitely

[Pneumatic-Coma]

Almost makes me lose this brain in my head!

[Pneumatic-Coma]

Inflation is the source of all this! Attack the Inflation!!!!

[Arminius]

Yes.

I attack the inflation by consuming less than I would without inflation.

[Pneumatic-Coma]

We'll get em! Mock my words... We'll get 'em!