penzt8 -- not so much a habit, as an outright addiction. Sure there is habit (or a routine) that everyone who smokes them follows, e.i. after meals, after sex, when stressed, etc.) but ...

Think about it ... cigarettes are nothing more than a 'nicotine injection system', made only to get nicotine into your system. Ther are some reports that cigarette companies even 'add' nicotine to them to keep you hooked, and to hook the teenage population.

I smoked cigarettes since I was 15 years old ... and quit when I started smoking cigars. I don't miss them one bit ... and when I by a pack at the bar when I'm out drinking with my buddies, they almost make me sick. They are nasty ... once you get over the hump ...

Slimboli
"do you smoke after sex", he asked giving everyone a perfect straight line.

Haven't had a cigarette since January and I was a smoker for 27 years.

It's still tough and I think about it every day. Especially when I am stressed or having a beer(which is most days...LOL!).

My main reason for quiting was the expense. I've smoked cigars for years but had to give up one, and cigars are much more of an enjoyment rather than just an addiction. It's tough, but I am trying not to smoke cigars in their place, especially since the inhale reflex is hard to break and I do inhale quite often.

Hang in there and try not to kill anyone.

I think a lot of cigarette smoking "addiction" comes from the personality of the person smoking. To be truly addictive, anyone who smokes cigarettes must become addicted, and that is far from the case. I smoke two to five cigarettes every day and I enjoy it and if I get sick I don't smoke at all as I don't enjoy the taste of smoke when sick. Since I was 21 I smoked cigarettes on a take it or leave it basis, never smoking more than a half pack a day and that was very rare. But during the day I like to step outside my shop once or twice for a cigarette and then in the evening have a cigar. My wife is angry about this, with crazy thoughts that our kids will grow up without a father. But nobody uses common sense with cigarettes, what is the threshold of danger? If you smoke a pack a day probably harmful, what if you smoke five a day, or two a day, or two a week? I enjoy the stimulation and taste of one or two cigarettes a day, I don't enjoy cigarettes for the need to satisfy a craving. There are beneficial effects to cigarettes, just ask a WWI or WWII vet, or Ernest Hemingway if alive.

Interesting point Aberdeen and one in which I am seeing more and more of. I know quite a few people that only smoke cigarettes when out drinking or with people that smoke.

I am sure you'll see more and more people doing the same with the insane taxes being put on tobacco products. Unfortunately, after 27 years of addiction....it's all or none for me. I've tried it many times with no success. I've also heard that 1 to 2 cigarettes a day is enough for the addiction, the rest is habit.

aberdeen -- you are in denial.

Nicotine is highly addictive, and just because you only smoke a 'couple' a day doesn't mean you are not addicted.

There are reports that nicotine is more addictive than herion, but I guess that all depends on who put out the report.

Your cigar is adding nicotine (in smaller quantities if you don't inhale) to your system as well. Your body doesn't care how it gets it ... and just try quitting tobacco products completely, then tell me what you think.

first of all Slim, I don't want to quit tobacco, I enjoy it, and in moderation one can enjoy something without the addiction label thrown around. When I get sick I don't smoke anything for two weeks, for I get no pleasure out of it and cigars taste terrible, so I don't smoke at all then as it wouldn't be enjoyable as I said and I have no withdrawal during that time, I just spend the normal cigar time catching up on my dvd's watching with a cup of tea (I don't drink when I'm sick either or use caffeine). I don't always have a cigarette when I am not sick each day, especially if I am really busy, it's no big deal to me with cigarettes, but if I get a chance for a break, it's nice to relax to a cigarette once or twice at the shop. If I was truly addicted I would smoke when sick and everyday no matter what, but I think you are not using the term addiction as it is defined Slim, otherwise by your definition I would be addicted to half the things I consume or do. Now if anything I would say I am addicted to cigars, but again it's a personality thing not the product. I really look forward to my nightly cigar as I made it my habitual routine and a way for me to unwind and think about my day and the day ahead, it is very meditating for me, like the fanatics who will jog in the mornings no matter what the weather, addiction as well I suppose by this working definition here. I also think the dangers of cigarettes in the first place are overblown. Diet to me is every bit important if not more so than tobacco consumption.

You just don't get it ... do you. I still think you are in denial.

I didn't say you had to quit for good, and it makes no sense to me that you justify it by saying you don't smoke when you are sick. Most people don't ...

Go a couple of weeks or longer without tobacco products when everything is going well and you feel great, then I may believe you.

It's proven that nicotine is addictive ... to some more than others, but still addicting.

Besides ... the only way you could be addicticted to half the things you do or consume, is if they are considered a narcotic.



Hallmarks of addiction



University of Vermont professor John Hughes, an expert on nicotine dependence, says the scientific consensus is that "the core of the issue [over dependence] is the loss of control over use. The drug controls you -- you don't control the drug."



Specifically:




You're not able to stop using it when you decide to.

You use the drug despite clear evidence that it is harming you.

There are clear withdrawal symptoms (defined) -- including, in the case of nicotine, depressed mood, insomnia, irritability and difficulty concentrating.


According to these standards, says Hughes, who is past president of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, "there's no doubt that nicotine produces addiction." He also cites anecdotal evidence about the strength of the compulsion for nicotine -- or tobacco smoke containing nicotine. "If you put people in a position where it's hard to get, they will go to great lengths to get cigarettes. From World War II, there are records of starving people trading food for cigarettes in concentration camps."

Slim you proved my point with your addiction definition. First many people choose not to smoke like when they aren't sick like me, but your quote says people can't choose if they want to use the product or not. Second you fail to consider the threshold of danger. How much cigarette smoking is dangerous? To me you are blind to the fact that having a terrible diet filled with fast food will kill a person before a cigarette or two a day will. (Greece has amongst the lowest rate of cancer in the world but among the highest rate of smokers, this isn't slam dunk slim) And again by your definition everything we use or consume is addictive. You just want to apply your definition to cigarettes but not to other behaviors. And nowhere in the definition of addiction is there the condition that it must be a narcotic. A person's personality can lead him to be addicted to just about anything, like gambling which isn't a narcotic. According to your logic, a person who smokes one cigarette in their life is addicted, for you don't allow for any margin, either all or none. I think it is illogical to lump me in the same category as a two pack a day smoker, and what if I cut back to one cigarette a week, I would still be addicted according to your reasoning. You fail to comprehend that someone can enjoy a cigarette without being addicted, that is completely alien to you for some reason, but they are enjoyable aspects to cigarettes, which appears to seem ludicrous to you, but you know there are many non smokers who think it is ludicrous to be able to enjoy a cigar and that we must all be raving addicts, otherwise why would we smoke those things?

There are physical addictions (narcotic) and psychological addictions (gambling) ...



Research shows that nicotine, like other addictive drugs, affects the part of the brain that produces 'feel good' chemicals (the mesolimbic system). This is the same part of the brain cocaine affects.



When you smoke, nicotine reaches the brain in about eight seconds. It then triggers the release of the same brain chemical that gives you a warm feeling when you eat chocolate or are hugged (dopamine). Your body gets used to nicotine after you've been smoking for a while, so you need more doses to get the same 'hit'. Giving up therefore becomes harder.



But what many people don't know is, it's not nicotine that makes smoking so harmful – it's all the other chemicals that you breathe in each time you take a puff.

So, I'm a cigar smoker because I don't eat enough chocolate or get enough hugs ??? Or, do you think maybe I don't get enough hugs because I'm a cigar smoker ...

aberdeen -- this ought to amuse you ... LOL!

Take this little quiz and see how you do ... just for fun.

Slim, did you create this quiz?! What a joke it is! The first time I answered honestly and the result came back moderately addicted and how cigarettes are a financial burden. Then I took it again with the mindset that I smoke one cigarette a year, and again the same result! Typical anti tobacco propaganda, just as dishonest as any tobacco executive. If there were a honest objective quiz I would like to take it though. But back to your post which agains proves my point. You mentioned the brain after time needs more doses of nicotine to feel the same satisfaction. But I have never increased the amount I smoke, in fact I am smoking less now than ever before because I am more busy. My point which I think your evidence supports is that you can enjoy the nictotine sensation and if you only enjoy it in moderation you won't get addicted. You know not everyone who tries heroin gets addicted. I admit I do enjoy the sensation from a cigarette, it is a stimulant, I also enjoy the rush of a strong cup of coffee in the morning. I also enjoy the simple act of smoking a cigarette and even the taste, as I am picky on what I smoke. If I don't have any cigarettes I won't bum one off anyone unless by some fluke they smoke Old Golds, that's the only cigarette I will smoke. When I worked at a 7-11 when I was 18 I tried all brands and it took over a year to conduct this experiment, and Old Gold was the winner, kind of like finding a number one cigar. People who are truly addicted can't go long periods without a cigarette, some smokers will light up when they are in the most miserable conditions, Larry King I read the other day was having a heart attack, but before he went into the emergency room he stayed outside a bit longer to have that cigarette, now that I would agree is addiction. Thought Slim, if you ever hurt yourself, say having a fall and breaking a leg, a cigarette will make you feel much better. This was learned in WWI, all the injured coming into the field hospitals were given cigarettes, often for the first time, and this calmed them and helped the pain, the downside is that most of our boys got addicted and when they came back all states had to repeal their prohibition laws on cigarettes as they were illegal in many states during this time. But I shouldn't be so long winded.

I guess you missed the humor in my telling you to take that test, "just for fun" ...


So basically, what you are saying is ... that you are some special person that seems to beat all the odds. All you have done, is learned moderation, and that's the key. Well, congratulations ... as many others aren't so lucky.

Tell that to my father-in-law who almost died last year from an abdominal aneurysm caused by arterial sclerosis, due mainly in part to smoking cigarettes since he was 15 years old. The specialist who saved his life told me, that if it weren't for peoiple who smoked, she would be out of a job, and that 90% of her patients smoke some form of tobacco product.

I've got to say, you sure know how to talk in circles, carefully weaving in and out of issues so well ... and you've convinced and justified it to yourself for so long, that you actually believe it. ...

Everything I said is true. You just admitted it ... the nicotine in cigarettes is addicting, but it's the other crap in the tobacco that causes the problems. Nothing you can say will convince me otherwise, because I live in the real world.

BTW ... I'm going to email you the HTML code for paragraph breaks ... LOL!

news blurb/alert

http://www.msnbc.com/news/800483.asp 

Thank you ... excellent article to drive my point home.

I think aberdeen agrees that nicotine is addicting ... and he's just trying real hard to prove that he's not ... which is fine.

Decades of sound medical research has proven to most rational human beings that inhaling tobacco products is harmful to ones health ... and moderation will just do less damage, that's all.

I very much appreciate the stories and advice. I have always thought of myself as a person with sound judgement but in this I find myself lacking. I still argue with myself about quiting this habit, and am heartened to hear of others success. Thx all!!

Another thing. If you go a full year without smoking cigaretes then you've quit. There are many, many things you normally do throughout the seasons and habitually light up that you don't realise till after you give them up. For instance just stepping outside of the house or doing a little work in the garage. I also found out I went fishing most every weekend mainly to smoke. Oh your taste buds, canned beer tastes like crap now. Got to be bottled. It's hard but you can do it.

Slim, I think because of personal reasons you are too emotional about the subject the think about it rationally. There are many people like me, my wife, once or twice a month when she goes drinking with her friends will have one or two cigarettes, but she never smokes otherwise. There are many people slim that only smoke a small amount of cigarettes, whether it be 5 a day or 5 a month, and that is a far cry to the amount your father in law smoked.

You still have not given me an diret answer, what is the threshold here? If nicotine is truly addicting, then everyone who smokes a cigarette will become addicted and smoke more and more as you claim. But this doesn't always happen. So if a person smokes three cigarettes a month, are they addicted? What about 3 a week? What about those that eat two candy bars a day and smoke three a week, are they addicted to both? And bottom line even if we accept smoking three cigarettes a day is an addiction, I maintain that this isn't harmful, and that other factors will kill this person off first, like diet, obesity Slim kills more in this country than anything, and when a smoking obese person dies it is often automatically blamed on the cigarettes, which is often a faulty conclusion.

But I am far from a lone bird on social smoking, or take it or leave it smoking, I guess your beliefs don't allow for any deviations.