Where's the Quit Smoking Post Smoking is Drug like any other Posted: 09-26-07 08:36am
I'm curious as to why the quit smoking
post was removed? Was it because of the
person's wbsite or because quitting
smoking belongs in the lifestyle section
of the forums?
That's really a bummer. I wrote a lot of
information that might help someone quit
smoking in my response to that post.
Quitting smoking should be in the
addiction and recovery section or in the
mental health section along with all the
other drug addictions.
Having it under lifestyle along with
fitness and cosmetic surgery really
trivializes smoking.
Smoking is an addiction just like other
drugs.
It is even more destructive than all other
addictions in the U.S.
400,000 smokers die every year from
smoking in the U.S.
That is more than all the drug and alcohol
overdoses. Drunk driving deaths. Gun
related deaths. Homicides. Suicide and Car
accident deaths and combined.
I know that other drugs and alcohol can
ruin people's lives, but so can smoking.
Just because a smoker doesn't reach rock
bottom the same way other drug users do,
doesn't mean that they don't reach rock
bottom. It is just that when a smoker
reaches rock bottom it is usually too
late.
But I have seen people have arms and
legs amputated because of smoking and
still continue to smoke. My grandfather
had lung cancer and smoked up unitl about
three days before he died and only because
he was too weak. My grandmother is on
oxygen and still smokes. She takes off the
mask so she can suffocate hersefl even
more by inhalinh cigarettes smoke. My
stepdad had heart surgery. Almost all his
heart valves were clogged from smoking and
he still continues to smoke.
Quitting smoking deserves to be in this
section. Not in a section with Yoga and
such.
Especially since smoking is tied to
depression and linked to schizoprenia and
those to topics are in this section.
Sorry, just venting out loud.
Eric
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shadowalker164
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Jan 2005 Posts: 175 Location: Tampa, FL
Posted: 09-26-07 13:31pm
I hear you Eric…
I have gone cold turkey off Alcohol, off
Heroin and crystal meth, not all at the
same time, at different times, and I found
quitting smoking harder to do than any of
those other drugs. It is a real drug and
one does get real strung out on it… That
is a fact.
But…
I never came too, the back of my head
glued to the floor in my own dried vomit
because I smoked a pack of Kools.
If those other drugs you talked about were
legally available at the corner
convenience store and about 27-28% of the
population were strung out on them, they
would make smoking look like a walk in the
park! I guarantee it.
The different classes of drugs aren’t
even in the same league with each other.
I don’t care if people post about
quitting smoking here, I may even have
some advice on that subject, I smoked for
years, and haven’t in over 20 years. But
if I was forced (thank God I’m not) to
pick between active alcoholism and
smoking, where do I light up?
Just my two cents worth
Richard
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UCanQuit
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 109 Location: SEATTLE
Posted: 09-27-07 08:25am
Hi Richard,
I hear whay you're saying. My point was
just that the quitting smoking section
should not be under lifestyles.
Putting it into a category with Yoga and
facelifts seems a bit odd. Smoking is not
a lifestyle. Smoking is not a habit. It is
an addiction.
Though it is not an addiction that will
not most likely get people to wreck their
cars because they are impaired, or steal
to maintain that addiction.
It shouldn't be treated as a nasty
little habit. Being in the lifestyle
section makes it seem that way and it is
this thinking among people trying to quit
smoking that causes a lot of failure
quitting.
Eric
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shadowalker164
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Jan 2005 Posts: 175 Location: Tampa, FL
Posted: 09-27-07 08:50am
Now that I think about it, maybe quitting
smoking ought to have it’s own forum. I
know, we all know, someone who wants to
quit, who has tried to quit and yet are
still smoking.
Like I said, it is one tough addiction to
give up.
I know the major physical stuff is over in
3 or 4 days, But I remember sitting in my
car almost two years after I quit, and I
was just watching this guy across from me
opening up a pack of smokes. You know,
whipping open that little red string on
the wrapper, and tapping the entire pack
into the palm of his hand. And the most
intense urge to smoke came over me just
watching someone else going through the
routine of lighting up. I was really
surprised how long the physiological stuff
hangs on.
That stuff has no effect on me now, but
there was a time…
Richard
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admin
Advanced Support Team
Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 3235 Location: Coral Springs, FL USA
Thanks: 91
Thanked:17
Posted: 10-01-07 04:58am
Dear Eric,
We're considering moving the Quit Smoking
Forum - where do you think it fits best?
Please PM me, send a suggestion to us via
the Suggestion Forum or send us a User
comment form...
In addition, what is the URL of the moved
post? I'm not quite sure what you've
referenced, and I can correct the error
and copy a smoking post to both the
Addiction, Recovery and Stop Smoking
forums
- Lee @ Admin
emptynest
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 05 Oct 2007 Posts: 21 Location: Northern California, United States
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
Posted: 10-15-07 23:59pm
I haven't smoked ever. Really happy about
that cuz I watched my husband try to quit
over and over again for 20 years! He
finally did it 5 years ago. I guess the
difference with a nicotine addiction is
that you are able to function day to
day...no "under the influence" behavior.
Yeah, not so good for the health...but
it's not ruining lives (I'm not counting
cancer, etc). Anyway...my husband's last
attempt to quit smoking utilized
Wellbutrin and nicotine patches. He also
embarked on this last effort while on
vacation....avoiding work stress. He says
he no longer fantasizes about having a
cigarette. He once quit for 6 years and
went back to smoking! It had a grip on
him for a long, long time. Just keep
trying to quit. Try different methods.
It will eventually happen!
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