Smoking

DCHurricane · December 21, 2010, 1:37am

It’s pretty easy to tell who here has actually smoked and who hasn’t.

Here’s a tip parents: telling your kids things they already know (“you’ll get cancer”) or the self-righteous stuff that interesteddad posted above isn’t going to help them quit. If you really care about them quitting then you’d ask them why they smoke, without being judgmental, and then try and help them find ways to replace those urges for nicotine.

But no, it’s so much easier to just assume everyone who smokes is an idiot who deserves what’s coming to him instead of offering support :rolleyes:

interesteddad · December 21, 2010, 2:51am

That’s like sitting down with a heroin junkie, asking them why they shoot up, and trying to help them “find ways to replace those urges for smack”.

None of that makes a bit of sense in the context of a powerful drug addiction. People smoke because their brain chemistry has been altered by using the drug, altered in ways that make them physically need the drug. It’s not an “urge”. It’s a physical need; a demand by specific brain receptors.

And, yes. I smoked at least a pack a day, every day, for my entire life, starting when Richard Nixon was in the White House, for 38 years. The only way anybody is going to break the addiction is to decide that enough is enough. I don’t think sugar-coating the drug addiction is doing them any favors.

IMO, the most effective way to convince people to quit is two-fold:

a) brutal honesty about the nature of the addiction. Most poeple don’t want to be drug addicts. That requires stripping away all the BS about smoking. No, it does not relieve stress. No, it does not help concentration. No, it is not a social activity. And so on and so forth. Smoking, inhaling the poison insecticide from burning leaves, does exactly one thing: deliver the drug the addict needs. Period.

b) Communicating to the nictoine junkie that they can quit. Most nicotine addicts do not believe they can quit. They believe that they are special, different somehow from the other 46 million Americans who have quit. They enjoy smoking more. They need it to relieve stress more. Or whatever (see BS in A) above).

DCHurricane · December 21, 2010, 9:40am

Well how did you quit mate? I’ve tried a few times, and hey maybe it’s because I didn’t truly want to quit, but I’ve always relapsed within a few weeks. I might be at a convenience store getting some coffee, or I’ll be hanging out with my friends who smoke, and I just figure I’ll have one. I only smoke 3 cigarettes a day or so, meaning you’d think it’d be way easier for me to quit, but nope…

Hanna · December 21, 2010, 10:42am

“who deserves what’s coming to him”

Well, yes, anyone who makes a deliberate decision to take an unnecessary risk with full knowledge of the danger involved deserves the consequences they get. Reaping what you sow is the essential meaning of “deserve,” no? The consequences may be very sad (I don’t want skydivers or helmetless motorcyclists to get hurt), but I can’t say they are undeserved.

interesteddad · December 21, 2010, 1:35pm

There’s no such thing as “just one” for a nicotine addict. It’s a physical addiction that has been researched to death. The brain chemistry mechanisms are very well understood. In studies using CAT scans to identify brain receptors, ex-smokers (completely off nicotine) who smoke one cigarette have the nicotine bind to 89% of these brain receptors for over three hours. That one cigarette physically re-activates the addiction which is all about de-regulating those specific receptors and triggering releases of dopamine, seratonin, and other neurotransmitters. BTW these are the same group of receptors responsible for both cocaine and heroin addiction. Closely related to the mechanism for nicotine addicition. What nicotine lacks in the euphoric buzz of cocaine or heroin, it makes up for with the reinforcement of the addiction hour after hour, day after day, year after year, totally hijacking key brain receptors that are specfically tasked with teaching you to keep doing something.

The choice then, is never “just one”. The choice is always none or all of them. For a pack a day addict, the choice is smoking none or smoking seven thousand five hundred cigarettes in the next year. That’s the reality. That’s why I harp on the physical addiction. Heroin addicts or and alcoholics know what they have to do to escape the living hell of their drug addictions. They simply have to stop using the drug. Period. No, ifs, ands, or buts. You’d never tell an alcoholic that it’s OK to have a shot of whiskey every once in a while, you know, when they are out at a party and everyone is drinking. Nicotine addiction is even more of a living hell – you just don’t see it until it starts to take over your life. Like the day you put down your own child because you need to get nicotine. Or the day you notice that you’ve had to stop exercising. Or the day you realize you can’t walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded. And, that’s if you’re lucky. Once you peel away all the “junkie lies” about “enjoying smoking” or “relieving stress” and see it for what it is, it’s really no big deal to walk away from it.

It takes three days for the drug to be out of your system, which is when peak physical withdrawal will be occurring. Within 2 to 4 weeks, the junkie brain chemistry has reverted to normal and you are done with the psychological no-man’s land where the brain receptors are still too desensitized for food or warmth to trigger a dopamine release, but you aren’t getting nicotine to trigger a dopamine release, either – thus feeling empty and on edge. That resolves itself as the screwed up brain chemistry resolves. From a month on, it’s just a matter of reprogramming all those years of Pavlov’s dog behavior cues. You extinguish the triggers (all the things you have learned to associate with getting your nicotine fix) by experiencing them and responding by not smoking. Figure 4 months for most of them, a year for seasonal “first time triggers”, like the first Thanksgiving dinner, the first time raking leaves, the first time mowing the lawn, and so forth.

To quit:

a) Jump in and start paddling like heck. The first step has to be to stop smoking. No style points. It doesn’t have to be pretty. You just have to stop. Period.

b) Get daily education and support reinforcement, perhaps even hourly at first. Commit to a several months of intensive education about the addiction and what you will be experiencing as you break it. 46 million Americans have successfully quit. It’s not the impossible thing that the nicotine companies (tobacco and pharma) want you to believe.

c) Commit to and constantly reinforce your own personal commitment to never take another puff. Simply not an option. That removes the whole “should I or shouldn’t I debate”. I don’t have to talk myself out of injecting heroin today. It’s simply not an option. I never had to talk myself out of smoking “just one” because from the moment I made the decision that it was over (on my third day without nicotine), I no longer allowed it to be an option. Now, nearly three years later, the thought of smoking is actually revolting to me.

I believe that the best resource for free smoking cessation is

[WhyQuit</a> - the Internet’s leading cold turkey quit smoking resource](<a href=“http://www.whyquit.com%5DWhyQuit”>http://www.whyquit.com)

Everything in the second and third column of links is fantastic, I particularly recommend their free downloadable PDF books.

[Joel’s</a> Quit Smoking Library](<a href=“Joel's Quit Smoking Library”>Joel's Quit Smoking Library)
[Freedom</a> from Nicotine - The Journey Home](<a href=“http://whyquit.com/ffn/index.html]Freedom”>Freedom from Nicotine - The Journey Home)

And, their free 8-page PDF of nicotine cessation tips:

<a href=“http://whyquit.com/Tips2007.pdf[/url]”>http://whyquit.com/Tips2007.pdf</a>

And, what got me through the first five days was the free audio/video lessons, basically a smoking cessation clinic at your fingertips. These are the 60 topics that Joel Spitzer covers in his seminars. He was one of the very first quit smoking clinic leaders in the United States, running clinics starting in 1976 for the American Cancer Society and Chicago area hospitals. With these, you can go to one of his clinic sessions in your pajamas at 3:00 am without leaving your bedroom, if that’s when you need it. I like the podcast versions that can be played on your computer or downloaded to your iPod as MP3s to take with you:

[Joel’s</a> Jukebox - Audio Quit Smoking Lessons](<a href=“http://whyquit.com/joel/mp3/listen.html]Joel’s”>Joel's Jukebox)

Finally, I make it a point every month on the anniversary of my quit date, of spending a few moments reading stories of people who thought they could have just one in The One Puff Files. I renew my personal commitment to never take another puff for 30 more days.

[The</a> One Puff Files](<a href=“Freedom - Information”>Freedom - Information)

interesteddad · December 21, 2010, 1:53pm

While [www.WhyQuit.com[/url</a>] and the links above are the best free resource and the best resource period for the period starting with the moment you put out your last cigarette, there is another resource that does a phenomenal job of taking a current smoker from a mindset of “enjoying” cigarettes to a mindset of saying “enough is enough” and putting the last one out.

It started with Allen Carr’s legendary book which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide:

[url=<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Way-Stop-Smoking-Non-smokers/dp/1402771630/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1]Allen”>http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Way-Stop-Smoking-Non-smokers/dp/1402771630/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1]Allen</a> Carr: The Easy Way to Stop Smoking](<a href=“http://www.whyquit.com%5Dwww.WhyQuit.com%5B/url”>http://www.whyquit.com)

The book is almost certainly in your local library.

If you have some money to spend, the Allen Carr folk have a four hour web version of their stop smoking seminar for $149. I had a chance to watch it with a buddy who was quitting and it is a superb presentation. You can quit without spending a dime (I did), but if $149 is in the budget, this is four hours that will change the way you think about smoking as effectively as any presentation I’ve ever seen. Carr’s approach is just masterful at cutting through all the junkie lies. It’s like pulling the curtain back on the Wizard of Oz and finding out that this thing you think you need and enjoy to get through life is really just a pathetic little con man…

[Quit</a> smoking online with our stop smoking web seminar](<a href=“http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/webcast.aspx]Quit”>http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/webcast.aspx)

The crux of the Allen Carr approach is the single most important concept. As long as you think you are “giving up” smoking, you will struggle to quit. The moment you realize that you aren’t **giving up **anything, but gaining everything, nothing but positives in every imaginable way, then the desire to smoke goes away. Once the desire is gone, replaced by a desire to escape the trap of nicotine addiction that you have been dragging around like a ball 'n chain, then it really easy to make a commitment to never take another puff. When faced with the inevitable well-learned trigger situations, you simply visualize the many positive, real benefits.

For example, in the early days, I would pour a cup of coffee, walk out on my “smoking deck”, and take four or five deep long cool breaths of fresh air, focus on it reaching deep into my lungs and visualizing how wonderful it would be as I continued to see the benefits of improved breathing. That turns the smoking trigger on its head. Now, it is powerful and positive reinforcement for responding to the that trigger by enjoying not smoking.

[Allen</a> Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking > Webcast > FREE clips > Video Example 2](<a href=“http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/Webcast/FREEclips/VideoExample2/tabid/128/Default.aspx]Allen”>http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/Webcast/FREEclips/VideoExample2/tabid/128/Default.aspx)

PackMom · December 21, 2010, 1:54pm

Both my S’s went through a “smoking stage”. One did it senior yr. in h.s. and the other freshman yr. of college. The gave it up before getting addicted thank goodness. 
DH smoked when we started dating (in the 80’s). I hated it. When we started talking about marriage I told him I would not marry him until he stopped smoking. He quit and has never smoked since.

HImom · December 21, 2010, 2:27pm

There is a huge difference between “dying someday” and watching people suffering with cancer & folks with emphysema gasping for air. As most of us are aware, it isn’t a pretty picture but NO ONE can make any other person quit smoking. Many successful quitters quit because of some powerful motivator (often their kids who begged them frequently and only wanted that as a gift for many, many years).

interesteddad · December 21, 2010, 3:04pm

Regardless of the specifics, nobody ever breaks their active nicotine addicition until the moment when their **perceived **benefits of not-smoking exceed their **perceived **benefits from smoking.

A pretty girl who hates smoking could (and often does) tilt the equation in favor of the **perceived **benefits of not smoking!

Ironically, many smokers decide to quit totally on the spur of the moment. Recent research has shown that these spur of the moment quitters (defined by not planning ahead, even as little as one hour) are up to twice as likely to still be ex-smokers at the 12 month mark (the holy grail of quitting). I certainly fit this category. I lit my last cigarette ten minutes after coming back from a midnight run to the store to buy two packs of cigarettes. I opened a pack, lit the first cigarette, took one puff, tamped it out, and never took another puff. That was the first time I had gone 24 hours without smoking in 38 years.

What tilted the equation for me was a flu bug and a scratchy throat. The **perceived **benefit of not smoking was that my throat didn’t hurt from inhaling the hot smoke. After I had gone 24 hours without nicotine, I had “proof of concept” that I could actually quit and not melt into a puddle of goo or something. For obvious reasons, that reduced my **perceived **benefit of continuing to smoke. Having gone 24 hours, I saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an opportunity that you don’t want to walk away from lightly. I mean, when you’ve smoked for 38 years, you figure that if you don’t seize the moment, odds are that you’ll smoke to the day you die. When you look at it realistically that way, you appreciate the need to shove all your chips to the center of the table and go “all in” to “get 'er done”. Dabbling in quitting smoking does not work.

I will say that a lot of young smokers quit without a great deal of drama. However, the young people “trying to quit” in smoking cessation support groups have a horrible success rate. It is far more likely for a 50 year old to successfully quit than a 20 year old. The costs are not yet real enough to them.

DCHurricane · December 21, 2010, 4:45pm

Interesteddad, thank you for the advice.

interesteddad · December 21, 2010, 5:19pm

BTW, I should be clear. I don’t view smokers as “idiots”. I view smokers as trapped, probably as teenagers, and living a miserable life dragging the ball n’ chain of addiction around 24/7. I feel sorry for them, huddled in the cold, outside the grocery store or the movie theater or the nice restaurant, freezing because they need their fix, taking those looks and those wrinkled noses from passerbys. It’s a horrible way to live.

No, I view anyone deciding to smoke their first cigarette in 2010 – knowing that it sets in motion a chain of events that leads, with astonishingly bad odds, to a lifetime of miserable addiciton, in an era where smokers are treated like lepers and it costs thousands of dollars a year – as idiots. I don’t know how else to view someone making that decision in this day and age. For what? To inhale insecticide poison (nicotine) from burning leaves rolled up in a paper tube? Like that’s supposed to “enjoyable”? It’s obviously not “enjoyable” the moment you inhale the first puff and start coughing or even vomit. On the contrary, anyone who has ever taken their first puff on a cigarette knows that it is comprehensively unpleasant.

Hanna · December 21, 2010, 7:46pm

“The costs are not yet real enough to them.”

That’s an interesting insight…probably that’s why anti-smoking campaigns have begun to focus on here-and-now costs: expense, lost romantic potential, bad breath, standing outside in the cold, etc.

interesteddad · December 21, 2010, 8:39pm

Yes, although the anti-smoking lobby isn’t concerned enough about young people to get nicotine products out of the corner convenience stores. In fact, pharma is lobbying to get their nicotine products sold over the counter in one-day packs in convenience stores.

The anti-smoking efforts over the last 20 years have been an abject failure. The quit rate, after steady decline for three decades, has stopped in its tracks since about the mid 1990s. When you consider how much money was spent from the Master Agreement lawsuit settlement with tobacco companies, funding massive anti-smoking bureaucracies, it’s an epic fail.

Meanwhile, tobacco and pharma are joined at the hip spending huge dollars with the message that quitting the use of nicotine is impossibly difficult. 46 million ex-smokers in the United States alone highlight that little bit of false advertising, but why would they want addicts to stop buying nicotine? Especially when their buddies in Congress gave them an exclusive to corner the market with the Marlboro Monopoly Protection Act of 2009, euphemistically known as the anti-smoking bill. Phillip Morris wrote the bill.

Smoking

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