Tobacco companies had to own up to the fact that smoking is harmful in the 1960s when undeniable evidence came out. People struggled to quit because it is somewhat addictive, but mainly because they enjoyed it.
Those companies then encouraged the rhetoric about it being more addictive than heroin. It isn’t. In my experience it’s less addictive than caffeine.
Here’s my history with nicotine:
- Smoked cigarettes from 15 - 26.
- Quit totally for 14 months
- My friend who smoked moved back to town and I smoked when I was with them.
- Switched to vaping 8 years ago.
- Quit vaping in January this year (2024).
I bought 30 cigars at the start of last month (April 2024) and have smoked 9 of them so far. I normally just have 1 a week if I’m having a beer at home but I went out drinking 2 nights in a row at the start of this month and smoked 6 over that weekend.
Am I addicted? Maybe, but I haven’t had any nicotine this week and don’t plan on having any next week either.
Counter point: Smoked over half their life with 2-3 breaks, but claims it’s not that addictive.
The amount of self delusion in this post is pretty normal for an addict.
Personally I was always told quitting was worse than quitting heroin. And when I quit because I wanted to “feel better”, I just did without any of the crazy symptoms they told me about. I think what he is trying to say is craving cigarettes/smoking is not the same as Nicotine addiction.
I thought I would have to crave cigarettes for the rest of my life, and that simply isn’t true. (I was a very heavy smoker).
Interesting. It’s been like 7-8 years here and I still crave them once in a while, especially in stressful situations. Not the sweats and the likes that I got in the first couple of days, obviously, but I kind of accepted at this point that “cigarette = relaxing” is just how my brain connects the dots, and it’s up to me to rationalize.
The relaxation element of cigarettes is partly that you have to go and be yourself in the quiet but mainly because you’re stopping and taking a deep breath. Try some breathing exercises and try to associate that with relaxation.
I thought I would have to crave cigarettes for the rest of my life, and that simply isn’t true.
This is what I was trying to get at.
I also smoked weed most days for about 15 years then quit due to starting a job that drug tests and had no ill effects. I thought this would be more common but reading what people are saying here there are a lot of individuals who have problems quitting even weed which is far less habit forming than nicotine.
The problem with weed is it absolutely wrecks sleep for people. Without the high, people don’t fall into deep sleep and end up having vivid nightmares. It can take weeks or months for your brain to adjust.
Lots of people have trouble quitting cigarettes, but they aren’t having nicotine symptoms.
People and substances are not a one size fits all.
Thank you.
I smoked for a decade, 1-2 packs a day. Met my wife; she didn’t smoke, so I quit cold turkey. That was 20 years ago; I’ve smoked 4 cigarettes since I quit, 3 of those in one night about a decade ago.
I also drank alcohol - like, normal amounts, not day drinking - and abruptly gave that up a couple of years ago. Now, I have maybe a drink a month.
Quitting this kind of stuff has never been hard for me, but I believe that’s purely genetics, because I have 0 willpower. I am simply not prone to addiction, and thank goodness, because I’d probably already be dead by now otherwise. But I hit the genetic jackpot on that one; many (most?) people haven’t.
The moral of your story is: don’t extrapolate onto everyone else based on your own experience.
I love this takeaway. So few people seem to follow this line of thinking.
I was a pack-a-day smoker at my worst, probably a pack every 2-3 days for most of it. I smoked for less than a decade. It took me all my willpower and slowly cutting down on nicotine through vapes over a couple of years, until I couldt kick the habit itself without the physical cravings getting in the way. But I’m on the opposite side of the spectrum, and I think that what I now know to be my ADHD impulsiveness is making me really prone to addiction…
Its the stimulants your brain craves. It fucking sucks. But now you know where it comes from it at least makes sense why its hard. Addiction is just hard enough with support, and i dont understand why people have a punitive view of rehabilitation. congrats on beating the habit and good luck, that sounded like hell.
How about you look up a study instead of relying on your own experience? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5797716/
Its like saying “smoking doesn’t kill, grandma smoked a pack a day until she was 89 and she’s fine!”
I didn’t say smoking doesn’t kill, it’s one of the most harmful activities a person can engage in. My point was about the addictiveness of smoking, not the harm.
But I didn’t read any studies because this is unpopular opinions, not unpopular balanced research.
It was an example of anecdotal evidence. Your post isn’t really an opinion either, unless you count “I think the sky is actually not that blue” as an opinion that should be on this community.
Not saying you’re not allowed to have your opinions. But at the same time I’m allowed to call you out for being wrong
Well, I hate to break it to you, but when your opinion is outright ignorant, I don’t think it reasonable to call it unpopular. It’s just wrong. That’s not even word play, it’s just the condition of subjects where there is adequate evidence to work with.
I suppose you could just call it an empty opinion, if you were wanting a less accurate way of looking at it.
But the truth is that willful ignorance isn’t an opinion, it’s just stubbornness and stupidity rolled into one.
This is extremely ironic.
From the several “quittings” to what is at most a few weeks of going without nicotine.
“It’s less addictive than caffeine”, it isn’t, you just have a poor understanding of it. Nicotine is way morr addicting than caffeine. That’s a scientific fact.
I hear excuses like yours from smokers all the time. Myself included.
