Why is it hard to quit smoking, are cigarette sort of drugs? And can anyone tell me why smoking is considered cool
Smoking it hard to quit because the drugs are addictive. These addictive drugs are ‘enhanced’ in cigarettes by the manufacturer. See the movie ‘the insider’.
Smoking is considered cool because of effective advertising and marketing. Years back the companies used effective marketing strategies including Joe Camel, the Marlboro Man and numerous movie stars smoking in important film scenes. Even today they know their target audience better than almost any other product producer and they know how to market to those people.
They produce a product that, when used as intended, has a highly likelihood of causing serious illness or death. And they know it. I knew a person who worked in the industry and quit. He described management there as similar to a cult following. You had to drink the cool aid and believe the party line, 100%. Everybody watched everybody. It was scary.
to me it was will power, wanting to do it, and of course a medical report that sealed my decision. I estimate I started smoking
in 7th grade …seriously. Smoking was big back in the late 60’s and all of the 70’s and that is what I did. About a pack a day
and sometimes two, throw in a night partying or two, three, four and five and I could easily go thru 2 packs a day.
Late in my 20’s I was into martial arts and training hard traveling to tournaments to compete, well I was getting tireed of
younger people than me beating me on endurance. I buddy of mine was doing alot of running and convinced me that it
would help my endurance but I had to quit smoking. Shortly after that a doctors extensive physical on me came back with
a report that with all my risk factors that they predicted I would have a 200% chance of heart disease by the time I was 38.
Wow…that sealed the deal right there. 6 months later I had officially quit smoking and had my last cig on my 30th birthday.
How did I quit…easy. By a pack, take 4 cigs from the pack and throw the pack away at the store. You have 4 to smoke.
You will want more. Buy a pack…do the same thing again. Continue this process until you have it down to one cig from the
pack. By the time I did this over 6 months I lost the craving to smoke anymore and plus I was doing more workouts.
Conclusion here…it will be 20 years this July since I last smoked and this past December I had an MRI done on my heart
to see how much blockage I have. My colesteral (spelling) is over 200 now, and the report back is I have 1% blockage.
I told my wife…donuts and Burger King is back on the menu 
Nah…that gives me even more ammunition to go all out on my assault on IM MOO in September and also on my NEW bike
due here in a few weeks…Transition PRO. My wife is buying it for me for my 50th b’day.
Try this quitting this way. It is costly but it worked for me.
BamaIM
It has the worst drug imaginable, nicotine. I’ve been addicted to cocaine, heroin, and meth. They’re nothing a powerful as nicotine. After 3 years of being sober and wanting to quit smoking as well, I bought a tri bike. I thought the more I payed for it the more I’ll want to quit. After over 4 grand on bike, helmet, shoes, shorts, gels, jersey, sun glasses and a fuel belt (all colour coordinated of course) I still couldn’t quit. I even did the BSL70.3 as a partial smoker. I’d quit for a few weeks and then get right back to smoking 2 packs a day. Finally reached my 35th birthday last week and I’ve been without a smoke for almost 6 months. I guess I found the time when I was ready. Also, will power and sibling rivalry. Both my brothers do tri’s and I can’t let them beat me. That’s just an ego thing.
K-man
Nicotine actually changes the human brain. I’m not a scientist/healthcare professional, but I used to do public relations work with a program that was funded through the tobacco settlement. I’ve been to dozens of tobacco-related conferences, trainings, etc. In a nutshell, there’s a part of your brain that produces chemicals that make you feel good/stabilize your brain. Nicotine gets into your brain less than seven seconds after inhaling smoke (either directly or through secondhand smoke). The nicotine blocks those chemicals that stabilize your brain and takes over that job itself. After just a few months of “regular” smoking (7-10 cigarettes a week), the change is complete and the brain has lost its ability to stabilize itself; it depends on the nicotine to do that. When a person tries to quit, there is a lag in there – could be a few months to many years – where the brain doesn’t produce any of those chemicals at all. As time passes, it begins doing so again. That’s why some people can be smoke-free for several years and still want a cigarette. Of course this varies from person to person. Some long-term smokers can quit cold turkey and walk away with no problems while others may not be able to quit at all. However, it is a very, very difficult addiction to break.
Note: The above explanation is very much a simplified version. If anyone who is an addiction specialist would like to clarify anything, feel free.
If you think smoking is hard to quit, what about how hard it is to start flossing you teeth…
My teeth only get flossed once a year when I go to the dentist…
I am addicted to not flossing
Why is it hard to quit smoking, are cigarette sort of drugs? And can anyone tell me why smoking is considered cool
Quitting is easy. I’ve done it several times.
Frank
Same here!! I never floss my teeth. Once per year is enough for me
“to me it was will power, wanting to do it”
I concur. Even though I’m an avid athlete (eg, dual workouts during the season), I can still smoke on that once every blue moon & not go back to my chain-smoking days. It’s b/c, while I enjoy the beer-complementing beer buzz, I don’t want to “be” a smoker. If the original poster is out to quit, just sink the idea into your mind. The addictive part, in my opinion, isn’t that bad. Just exercise regularly (& have more sex which should help relax you).
I heard a dentisit say to floss only the teeth you want to keep.
Do you find it is any easier now, 6 months down the line?
Never been a smoker, just curious.
Because most people that smoke have a character flaw, it stinks, its expensive, it causes cancer and you look like a dick standing outside of work in the snow. So to be dumb enough to start smoking in the first place says a lot about a person.
Yes, they tell me the same thing. The hygienist will ask, “when was the last time you flossed?” I usually say something to the tune of, “I know I don’t do it enough.” I’m pretty sure they know I don’t floss. My dad has had dentures forever, and I kind of dig the whole “soak your teeth” thing instead of brushing and flossing. So, I’d like to get dentures by the time I’m 35.
Why is it hard to quit smoking, are cigarette sort of drugs? And can anyone tell me why smoking is considered cool
Billions of years of evolution has resulted in minds that seek to satisfy needs as immediately and completely as possible, as this is the most successful way of being in the wilderness where food and water are scarce. Dopamine flows through your brain making you feel good when you get food, water, sex, encouraging you to do whatever it takes to get more.
Cigarettes tap directly into these chemical mechanisms and BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF THEM
causing you to need more cigarettes, forever!
Why is it hard to quit smoking, are cigarette sort of drugs? And can anyone tell me why smoking is considered cool
started smoking at 12 and until 21, now i`m 36. when i started to run regularly, i did not get the urge to smoke anymore, a stick or two for 2 months after i started running then when june came along i bought a bike and started swimming, i quit without thinking twice and didnt have any cravings since.
If you are trying to quit this video may help you.
If you are considering starting, this video may help you change your mind.
If you don’t care, and still want to smoke; just know that you don’t always die from tobacco.
I know you didn;t ask me, but I quit (for like the 4th time) about 4.5 years ago. For at least 2 years, I still wanted to smoke and would, on rare occasions, sneak a single cigarette (usually on occasions). It got easier to not smoke over time, but it was only after those 2 years that I ever got to the point that I did not want a cigarette on occasion. Some of this came from the fact that once I wasn’t a regular smoker anymore I lost my tolerance to some extent, so the cigarettes I did have didn’t seem as satisfying. It has now probably been two years since my last one, but even now I get the occasional craving (like now that I’m thinking about it).
It is a very hard thing to give up; you have to really want to quit for yourself. You can’t do it because somebody tells you to do it or because you know its bad for you, you have to really want to quit. Hard to explain to non-smokers.
If you removed every other tooth, then they would be self cleansing.
**Why is it hard to quit smoking, are cigarette sort of drugs? **
I honestly can’t believe anyone would ask this question anymore. Nicotine is a known addictive chemical and has been known to be for decades. It is only the tobacco companies who have been in denial.
I quit about 12 years ago after being a pack a day smoker for 10 years. It is incredibly difficult because it is physically addictive as well as a behavioral habit. It is also incredibly difficult because you can buy them everywhere. I had to stop going to bars because I would have a beer then my commitment to quit went out the window.
Smoking became really cool in the 50s. I think James Dean was the inspiration for many of us to start, even though I started in the 80s. He was the definition of cool and the picture of him with a cigarette dangling from his mouth is iconic.
