I was a heavy smoker for over 20 years, from the age of 16 until I had my 4th child. What started out as experimentation or normal teenage behavior became an addiction for me. Near the end, I smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day.
Honestly, I did not like smoking and I quit several times, but never for long periods of time. Eventually, some stressor would send be back to the store for a pack of cigarettes.
You know its a problem when you are down to your last $5 before pay day and your kids need milk but you buy cigarettes instead. Then they were about $2 a pack. In spite of saying, "I will quit when cigarettes cost ______ dollars," I continued to smoke and I decreased my budget in other areas, usually food.
I have known people who would smoke a pack of cigarettes on New Year's Eve and never smoke another one throughout the year. I have also known people who smoke 3 cigarettes a day after they got off work and some who smoked a pack on the weekends. I was never able to do that.
But I think it's like most things that are vices. Some people are not really affected by the behavior and other are. I can drink alcohol and simply stop when I have had enough or I am ready to go home, but a great many others can not control their alcohol consumption. Some people can eat 5 Doritos and others can't stop until they eat the whole bag. I can eat 2 cookies but my husband can't stop until you put the bag away!
Now that I know longer smoke or identify myself as a smoker, cigarette smoke actually bothers me. It stinks and makes me cough. I do not like to be around smokers and I hate the way my hair and clothes smell when they leave.
I have had 2 members of my family die from smoke related cancer and both my parents suffered heart problems and strokes due to smoking, both cigars and cigarettes. My neighbor has had lip cancer twice, both times from cigarette smoking.
Nicotine is actually found in many plants in low concentrations, like tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers and may have a positive effect against Parkinson's disease. Tobacco has higher levels of nicotine and is actually an effective pesticide. In the past, many farmers (in the South anyway) planted tobacco on the outsides of their regular crops because the insects were drawn to it. When the ate the leaves, they died from the nicotine. Some even made a tincture from the tobacco leaves and sprayed it on their vegetables as a natural pesticide.
When I think about plants and animals native habitats, I wonder what God had in mind when he gave us those resources. Tobacco is native to North and South America. It was used for all sorts of purposes, including their religious ceremonies. I would imagine, then, that that population of people were probably immune to some of the side-effects. In fact, I believe that lung cancer is relatively lower in Native American populations than among those of European descent. And blacks have the highest rates of lung cancer.
I know that is off topic, but I think of things like this.
For me, smoking is addictive. I stay away from it because I don't have the money for it now and I don't want to die prematurely. I cannot just smoke 1 or 2.
When did you quit? Did you pick a date and time and went cold turkey?
I tried to quit several times, mostly during the times I was pregnant. I just found it weird to be hugely pregnant and inhaling a cigarette. Having an education in a medical field, I knew that I was passing my chemicals onto my unborn child. Unfortunately, I was never able to quit for long periods of time because most of the people around me smoked, including my husband. It was too much of a temptation for me.
Finally after the birth of my 4 child, I quite for good. My husband and I went cold turkey together. But as mentioned earlier, my husband and I both gained a lot of weight afterwards.
I have been a non-smoker for 11 years now. And my weight steadily increased during that period of time.
However, I have no major health problems and have decided that being overweight is better than dying with a heart attack, stroke, or lung cancer as have all of my relatives who smoke.
Topic: Can you smoke without being addicted? (Read 6075 times)