:'(
when the government puts taxes on tobacco, they do it to stop the smoking they say. but then they only have more incentive to keep it going because they make money. it is then basically just a legal bribe paid by the companies to the government.😠
what can be done?
I think all 4 of my grandparents died from smoking
:'(
Originally posted by flexmoreSorry but what you are saying is not completely correct. The government puts taxes on smoking to create a new supply demand equilibrium taking into consideration the negative externalities of smoking. Smoking is a demerit good meaning it not only affects the private consumer but it also has negative effects on the public (polution etc.). As I think bill Clinton said in concern with his re-election wins, 'it's the economy, stupid', that is what society as a whole cares about. There is not a tax on cigerettes because of sentimental feelings towards people dying from smoking. Concerning smoking, I think you should let people do as they wish. As long as you inform smokers of what thier actions are doing there is not a problem. I believe this is being done yet I still choose to smoke. There is no point trying to save us all!
:'(
when the government puts taxes on tobacco, they do it to stop the smoking they say. but then they only have more incentive to keep it going because they make money. it is then basically just a legal bribe paid by the companies to the government.😠
what can be done?
I think all 4 of my grandparents died from smoking
:'(
Europeans (some of us smoke) 😉
I've been smoking a pack a day for ten years this year. It's a strange relationship. I know it's killing me, it smells bad, and I want to quit; but I just love to smoke. That's the only explanation I have. I really enjoying having a smoke. People always ask me: why don't you quit? I ask them: Have you ever smoked? 90% of them say no, so I say: then don't talk to me about quitting if you've never tried. I've tried to quit and it really is one of the hardest things I've ever attempted. My whole personality changes when I try to quit. I was dating a girl once who hated cigarettes, but after spending a week with me when I was trying to quit, opted to grin and bear it instead of being around an @$$hole all the time.
The trying to quit one is difficult - I am a firm believer in you can't quit until you really want - I tried a couple of times and then 4 years ago really just didn't want to smoke anymore so stopped no patches no gum the 1st 2 weeks were hell the last 2 weeks I've only fancied a cigarrette once! Hopefully the craving will go completely one day.🙄
Originally posted by HentschelI think historians will look back with a grim smile at the liberatrian argument for smoking, encouraged by a tobacco industry which has taken us all for a mutlibillion dollar ride while causing about 5 million deaths a year and rising.
Sorry but what you are saying is not completely correct. The government puts taxes on smoking to create a new supply demand equilibrium taking into consideration the negative externalities of smoking. Smoking is a demerit good meaning i ...[text shortened]... no point trying to save us all!
Europeans (some of us smoke) 😉
It's a daft argument because we have much less choice than we imagine, manipulated as we are by advertising and social convention and trapped by a lethally addictive product.
But it works both ways, and just as we can be easily persuaded to smoke, so we can be persuaded not to smoke - through scarier warnings, higher taxation, better quitting aids, advertising bans and restrictions on where we can smoke, all of which are proven to work.
Now I'm an ex-smoker who still likes the occasional drag, but I support every single one of these measures absolutely - it's difficult not to when you start counting up the millions and millions of lives they will save.
Mind you, I do work for a cancer charity, so I guess I have to say that...
Rich.
I agree that quitting is extremely difficult. I was a smoker for about 12 years and i just decided to quit cold turkey. Never had any cravings but ruined 7 years of being smoke free by smoking during my divorce. Another 12 years passed and I tried countless times to quit with no success (but i did last a week). Finally on 4/19 last year i entered a drug research program through Pfizer Pharmacutical. I was down to 2 cirrarettes on 4/20 and 1 or 2 per day until 4/26. I have been free of cigarettes since. Unfortunately, the drug that was being researched was extremely effective in trials with no serious side effects (really none to mention at all) but do you really think RJ Renyolds et al (and the government via taxes) want to lose billions of dollars so a drug can be marketed?
Feivel the Smokefree HardcoreFreethinker
Have you noticed, that no matter how 'poor' or 'broke' a smoker is, they always have money for a pack?
I've never actually tried to quit, did a 2 month stretch about 5 years ago, then quit trying to quit.
It just goes down so well after a meal or with the odd pint that I don't think I'd be able to stop in the near future...
My father smoked rather heavily for almost 20 years, and had never even tried to quit untill one day, after he'd just had a smoke, he announced to me and the rest of the family that that was his last cigarette. And it was. He gained a bit of weight, and slept hardly at all for about two weeks, but he managed to quit cold turkey. Now he's been a non-smoker for about 15 years. 🙂
I just have to admire his strength of will. What he said about quiting was what I think is probably very true - that the initiative and the motivation to quit has to come from within you. Other people telling you to quit just won't do it.
I'm glad I don't have to quit, as I've never started. 🙂
-Jarno
The smoke after dinner and in the morning are indeed so good...
I think I could even survive on those only
(though maybe i would start eating a lot just so I can have that smoke afterwards, which would even be a worse idea than just continueing)..
*takes another puff* 😏
I have smoked since I was thirteen. I started off at about one or two a day, peaked at the age of sixteen when I would smoke between three to five packs a day (yes, I said packs). Now I am 21. Been smoking for damn near eight years now. While I still smoke, I try to make my habit less damaging by being educated in the matter. Now I smoke about half a pack a day. I only smoke one brand, chosen due to the actual content of it cigs. American Spirits is the name, pure tobacco is the game (leaf only). No chems, no "additives", just the organic tobacco in pure paper with soy based ink and a cotton filter. I don't know how much difference it will make in the long run, but I have been smoking these cigs only for a couple years now and my health is much better. If you smoke, I HIGHLY recommend you find a brand like American Spirits and stick with it. Research you cigs. Another company that makes the "true" cigarette as I call it in the states is called Bison. If you live in the states there's probably a gas station in your town that sells spirits, but if not almost every smoke shop carries them nowadays. If you do not live in the states, you can still smoke "true" cigs as well. There may very well be a brand sold near you that is the same as American Spirits or Bison. If not, any smoke shop worth its salt will carry tobacco for "roll your own" cigs that is pure tobacco leaf. The best filters you can get are charcoal or cotton. I wouldn't smoke a cig with any other filter. I don't know which is better, being a non-filter lover myself.
The key things I would look for in a cig is:
Pure tobacco leaf. NO reconstituted sheet tobacco or stems, etc. Just leaf tobacco of high quality.
Additive and preservative free. Your common US Marlboro cig is absolutely LOADED with chems to "enhance" your nic and make the cig burn faster. It wasn't untill I went to the "tru" cigs that I found out how addicted I was to the chemicals in the cigarettes, not just the tobacco and the psychological aspects of smoking.
Paper and ink content. I don't know the regs for advertising, but I would check out the paper and ink as well. It might be possible to claim additive and preservative free tobacco while still lacing the paper and ink with "extras".
The filter should be cotton. Possibly charcoal. Many filters in your average domestic cig contain lots of "goodies" that also "enhance" you smoking experience (like fiber glass). I don't know all the facts about charcoal, but it is my understanding that a charcoal filter is designed to actually remove the impurities from the smoke as it passes through. I have not tested it myself, but I think it is worth looking into. Again, as a non-filter smoker I have spent the least amount of time researching this.
As an ending note, if better health doesn't grab you, lets talk finance. My spirits cigs burn almost twice as long as a regular cig. That's right, TWICE as long to burn through. I do indeed frequently smoke them half at a time. As a test for yourself, just light up a typical domestic cig and a spirit or bison and watch them burn. Domestic cig runs the lap in record time, while your "true" cig burns dull and slow without help from puffing. In fact, I often leave my spirit in an ashtray for a minute only to come back and find it has gone out.
I hope to quit someday, but untill that day comes I am going to be as educated a smoker as I can be.
I don't smoke, never have. And I won't tell folks here to give up: you all know the health arguments, cost arguments etc. and I'm not your dad.
My only bugbear is people smoking while I'm eating. It wrecks my meal. In a restaurant it is very typical for smokers to finish their meal, sit back and puff up: sod anyone else around them. Roll on non-smoking eateries. But its only a small hate. I don't burst a blood vessel or anything.
The good side of smoking for the non-smoker is economic and twofold: first, there's a huge 'voluntary' taxation that you aren't paying: splendid. Secondly, smokers die young. Pension payments for the elder generation are kept significantly lower thanks to smoking deaths. A grim way of looking at it, but true.
Originally posted by OmnislashThat was very interesting and informative. I'm certainly intrigued. What about Winstons. They claim to be the No Bull cig, have you done any research on them? I smoke Marlboro Lights right now, and I can testify that these cigs burn like greased lightning. I can go outside have a smoke and be back at my computer before it boots up in the morning. I also find myself chaining a lot with these cigs.
I have smoked since I was thirteen. I started off at about one or two a day, peaked at the age of sixteen when I would smoke between three to five packs a day (yes, I said packs). Now I am 21. Been smoking for damn near eight years now. While I still smoke, I try to make my habit less damaging by being educated in the matter. Now I smoke about half a pack ...[text shortened]... to quit someday, but untill that day comes I am going to be as educated a smoker as I can be.
Originally posted by phishermanYup to Toe... I don't smoke around other people, especially if they are eating. Very Rude!
That was very interesting and informative. I'm certainly intrigued. What about Winstons. They claim to be the No Bull cig, have you done any research on them? I smoke Marlboro Lights right now, and I can testify that these ci ...[text shortened]... n the morning. I also find myself chaining a lot with these cigs.
I smoke regular Winston’s. From what I hear Lights can be just as bad if not worse... you suck them down trying to get a good drag off it.... and end up chaining them.
I often wonder how many people would be on the planet right now if no one ever died from smoking. I know it is knocking the years off me... but yet I still do it. Tried to quit a few times... but like has been said... you got to want to quit and I guess I don't.
I want to quit... but I don't want to quit. The worse is people telling you to quit... I know they are right... but I also think they should shut up. Oh well!
The best way I ever got close to quiting was using a timer.
Just count the number of hours you are awake, and divide that by the number of cigs you smoke per day. So, if you smoke a full pack you can have a cig every hour or so. Set your timer, or watch the clock.
Even if you don't want a smoke you must go have the smoke. You can't smoke when you wake up, you need to wait for the timer. Add 5 minutes to the timer every couple days and next thing you know you might be down to a cig every 4 hours....
That is where I got... 4 cigs a day for a while. I figured I could smoke casual at that point and found myself back to a pack a day in about 5 days.
Duh! Think I'll give it a try again... I just bought a house, get married in 9 months... and plan to have kids. Wish me luck.
P-
I have only ever had 1 cigerette. ( Yeah I know kinda dumb, don't ask me it was my friends idea and I didn't want to look a chicken by "chickening out" ) I don't see what people like about it so much. It just made me cough a lot and made my eyes water. Is there any good reason to smoke that I'm just not getting? 😕