Heh, I'm either going to live to be 120, or I'll be dead in a car accident in the next 10 years. Either way, not a big deal to me. And honestly, the wife understands my habit. She's never been a smoker, but she's seen how wound I get sometimes, and the effect it has on me. Truth or not, that little 3-5min break is a godsend sometimes, especially as high strung as I am.
I quit smoking 24 years ago. I was a 3 pack a day smoker who started on Marlboros, Salems were my brand of choice when I quit.
My 82 year old father (who has smoked heavily and incessantly for 62 years and also bitches about the self extinguishing Winstons) went in the hospital the day before Thanksgiving, complaining of severe back pain and a sudden and alarming weight loss, he had lost about 40 pounds in 4 weeks.
In early December, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He has a particularly virulent type; it didn't show on his X rays at his last checkup six months ago. About a week after the docs found the lumps in his left lung, they found two lesions on his brain. The week before Christmas, they found two more. The damn thing spreads like wildfire. The old bastard has been my rock all my life, he's always been there. He now has between 2 and 12 months to live.
Puff on, guys. Just remember at some point someone who really cares about you could be sitting there watching you die and asking themselves what the berkeley was so goddamn important about burning weeds twisted in paper.
To get this back on topic...
A few years back my sister and her husband were killed in a house fire, after she fell asleep with a lit cigarette while sitting in an easy chair in the living room. The fire safe cigarettes may be inconvenient for smokers, but if they can prevent fires I'm all for them.
Toyman01 wrote: 3 of my 4 grandparents had dementia or Alzheimer. The 4th died of old age at 83. She was the only one that smoked. I'm hoping lung cancer or heart disease gets me before I loose my mind.
Amen to that... I've got all four grandparents with Alzheimers.. I'm sooo screwed 
I'm thinking I'll leave this world backwards and on fire at 200mph
ps. the FSC suck
You can just quit! I did! I smoked for ten years, and about 5 years ago I just stopped. Most of what kept me quitting was the thought that I convinced myself of that I was a Pansy ass butt-muncher if I was weak enough to go back to smoking.
For the love of all that's holy, i miss smokeing.
Also, we always used to wish for a cigarette that would go out when you set it in the ashtray. That and menthol camel wides... That would be my perect smoke...
Joey
Wow, camel wides are brutal enough without adding menthol to em. That is a hardcore smoke.
mndsm wrote: Wow, camel wides are brutal enough without adding menthol to em. That is a hardcore smoke.
That's how I roll.
Or did roll, when I rolled my own.
Joey
Well for those of you who smoke and hate those FSC cigarettes, 12 more states just passed laws on them. That leaves Wyoming as the only state in the union without them.
I'll break my own rule this time and say just quit. It sucks burying a loved one because they couldn't stop smoking. I miss my grandparents 
If you could will yourself up what-the-heck o'clock in the morning to go to school when you were a dang kid, then you can do it. Hell, I love chocolate malts as much as any of you could possibly love cigarettes, but if I knew they were killing me I'd give them up. Death from smoking is a terrible way to go. And a terrible reason to go.
Smokers just throw the butts on the ground - how many tons end up in our waterways ? When I see someone take the filter with them I thank them for not throwing it on the ground . Parents smoking with little ones in the back of the car and no windows open . Children look up to their parents and do as they do . Sad - very sad . If you smoke you can take a break , but if you don't- can you just walk out and hang outside for a couple minutes? Carry on
i quit 11yrs ago from a 3pack a day habit. I still get urges and guess i always will . Some brands make me ill when i smell them others stir up a craving i cant explain. I had a guy ask me once . Do you get up in the middle of the night just to smoke?? He explained that a true addict would have to get there fix and wouldn't be able to sleep. For some reason it made scense to me and i quit.
Both of my Grandparents died slow deaths from smoking.
Not touching it with a 10 foot pole.
joey48442 wrote: For the love of all that's holy, i miss smokeing. Joey
Pansy ass butt-muncher.
I quit about the same time Pimpish did. I too just stopped. And while I REALLY want one every second of every day I REALLY prefer having the money, health and cleaner smelling clothes. Mostly the money.
Truly sorry Jensenman Sadly, we just had a friend die from lung cancer last month. It was a slow, painful one too. Enough to make me quit? Of course not.
I think about it all the time. I love (and by love, I mean 'can't berkeleying stand') the people who say "This worked for me, dumbass, it's the only way to go." Well, berkeley off. I've heard this "If you can make it X amount of hours, then you're home free" bull E36 M3, and while that may work for some, it doesn't work for me.
The last time I quit, it was for almost a month. Cold turkey. The day I bought a pack was the day that I was seriously (no berkeleying joke) concerned that I was going to berkeleying murder someone; with my bare hands if necessary.
Trust me, I hate being a smoker, and I think about it all the time. It's embarrassing. I know damned well (as all of us do) that given a long enough time line, we'll die a slow painful death from this E36 M3. But while it's easy for someone who's quit to say "just quit," the addiction is different for everyone. I've put down a lot of bad habits. This one's a different animal for ME.
And aussiemg: You're absolutely right (not being facetious) I totally smoked my first, second, and many more in an effort to look "cool." We do dumb E36 M3 when we're 12. Dumbest berkeleying thing I've ever done in my life. I see high school kids walking in front of our shop with a butt hanging out of their mouth and I want to smack the E36 M3 out of them.
I started when I was 15, totally old enough to know better!
It doesn't take long for the physical addiction to leave, but the mental addiction will be there for years.
Joey
I smoked a pack and a half a day for 12 years or so. Ended up quitting in 2001 when American spirits went above 3.25 a pack.
Smoking is the most rediculously stupid thing a person can do. It makes you stink, takes your money and takes your life.
Two months after quitting smoking you will start to realize just how terrible you felt all the time. Then you will notice all that extra money you were throwing away starts to amass into useable units that could be spent on project cars or mortgages.
I really do beleive that smoking is a conspiracy to keep poor people poor and unhealthy. How many times have you heard someone complain about being broke and then light up?
Quitting really sucks but its worth it. It was a month long white knuckle ride for me but that is in the past now.
mndsm wrote: Wow, camel wides are brutal enough without adding menthol to em. That is a hardcore smoke.
OMG Camel Wide Filters were so good.... MMMMMMMmmmmm.... juicy.
I quit this past September cold turkey. Wasn't hard at all.
I wasn't a pack a day smoker, though... probably 3-4 packs a week. It was more a phychological habit for me, rather than an addiction.
I find i stuff my face with food constantly now. It was WAY cheaper for me to smoke.
poopshovel wrote: The last time I quit, it was for almost a month. Cold turkey. The day I bought a pack was the day that I was seriously (no berkeleying joke) concerned that I was going to berkeleying murder someone; with my bare hands if necessary.
Have you considered enlisting the help of a doctor? They have medications specifically designed to dial down those homicidal reactions
out of all the members of my immediate family.. Mom, Dad, and two Sisters... I am the only one who never took up smoking.
Dad quit, older sister quit, little sister is both a 2 pack a day smoker AND working on becoming an alcoholic... and mom has had a chronic cough for the ten years.
Whenever I try and broach the subject with mom.. her reply has always been "I have to die of something" I have also tried the monetary approach as she is on a fixed income... I swear she is trying ti kill herself with cigs somedays.
When I was growing up, there was always a haze of brown that floated in the air and coated everthing in the house. Today in NJ.. the only places you can smoke in a public building is on the casino floors.. and when you walk into a smoking area, it hits you HARD!
ditchdigger wrote:poopshovel wrote: The last time I quit, it was for almost a month. Cold turkey. The day I bought a pack was the day that I was seriously (no berkeleying joke) concerned that I was going to berkeleying murder someone; with my bare hands if necessary.Have you considered enlisting the help of a doctor? They have medications specifically designed to dial down those homicidal reactions
I think that's going to be the strategy next time, though I'm apprehensive having seen a buddy get on welbutrin (sp?) and turn into a jittery psycho (read: Finding more excuses not to quit today.) 
Thanks for the suggestion though. Been meaning to talk to my doctor sis-in-law about that.
poopshovel wrote:ditchdigger wrote:I think that's going to be the strategy next time, though I'm apprehensive having seen a buddy get on welbutrin (sp?) and turn into a jittery psycho (read: Finding more excuses not to quit today.)poopshovel wrote: The last time I quit, it was for almost a month. Cold turkey. The day I bought a pack was the day that I was seriously (no berkeleying joke) concerned that I was going to berkeleying murder someone; with my bare hands if necessary.Have you considered enlisting the help of a doctor? They have medications specifically designed to dial down those homicidal reactions
That's actually not all that uncommon of a side effect for wellbutrin. It's also common with zoloft. If you are already prone to anxiety (and I get the impression that you are based on the homicidal maniac comment) you want to stay away from those families of meds all together as they tend to make anxiety worse.
Sorry for the topic detour.
I actually smoked more when I was on Welbutrin.
Damnit. I smoked like crazy on the patch too...to the point where I had a hard time smoking without the patch when I decided "this isn't working."
And yes, prone to anxiety. Maybe I should try the "yeah, I'm totally sucking on a tampon applicator; berkeley off" fake cigarette thing.
I used a hypnotist in a one on one session it worked for me...YMMV ... also it was expensive ($ 285 15 yrs ago ) so I guess I'll never know whether it was the hypnotist or the monetary tight a$$ that I am... which ever I'm glad I did
I started when I was 18 (like said above) I was really old enough to know better a pack only cost a quarter back then... course I didn't make much either
I was with a friend of mine when he bought a pack of Camels from a convenience store last night. Just shy of $7 for a single pack; it's a very, very expensive habit nowadays.
poopshovel wrote: And aussiemg: You're absolutely right (not being facetious) I totally smoked my first, second, and many more in an effort to look "cool." We do dumb E36 M3 when we're 12. Dumbest berkeleying thing I've ever done in my life. I see high school kids walking in front of our shop with a butt hanging out of their mouth and I want to smack the E36 M3 out of them.
I started when I was 12 for the same 'gotta look cool' reason, inside of a few months I was hooked through the bag. I used all my paper route money to buy cigarettes and motorcycle parts.
I told my kid (she's 12) that if she has any sense at all she'll never start smoking. I also told her even if she decides to start when she's 70, I will rise from the grave and smite her.
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