Quitting the ol' Cancer-sticks

[tonksy]

If you don't want to quit, you won't. If you do want to quit you will. Period. Saying you want to but can't is a lie.

I agree. I try to understand why some people can't quit but I just don't understand. Is it a chemical make-up thing? Is it a stress management thing? Is it a crutch?
My ex tried time after time to quit and couldn't. I always had contempt for him about it but that seems unfair for me to do. It seems like there are sooo many people in the same boat on this issue that there must be something to it. What makes a perceived need or craving for something stronger than your will?

 

[Gonz]

why deprive yourself for some
unguaranteed extension of the twilight of your life

Taxes.

 

[Winky]

so there's 2 kinds of people?

 

[catocom]

Dood you shouldn't quit
think about it
it brings you enjoyment
something in short supply
why deprive yourself for some
unguaranteed extension of the twilight of your life

"Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette
Puff, puff, puff until you smoke yourself to death.

Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait,
But you just gotta have another cigarette."

Winky goes off to twist up a Bugler and burns one.

It's the thing of getting harder to breathe, and the hacking cough, and the
fear of heart-attack since I getting heavier, that's Will be the reasons...
And I Will quit. Never said I can't. It's just a matter of devoting some time
in the short run for it.
And Wink, I really did used to enjoy it, but it's just not as enjoyable as it used to be.
I vow for it to be my New Years resolution to quit...sometime early in this next year though,
and I don't usually make NY-resolutions...

 

[Winky]

Hey buddie I hears ya
It ain't as fun

and I've begun to see the damage

and I KNOW it will shorten my life

but hell I ain't quittin' twice

I may not quit at all

at this rate I'll keel over and that will be that heh

 

[Gonz]

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Advocates for early-childhood education launched an initiative called First Things First in Arizona Wednesday to add an 80-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes. The increase will reportedly generate $150 million annually to help children prepare for kindergarten, according to The Arizona Republic .

Arizona, which has the nation's 13th-highest tax rate on cigarettes, would rise to fourth, with a tax of $1.98 per pack, pushing the cost per pack to well over $5. Also, taxes on other products, such as cigars and pipe tobacco, would rise by varying amounts, the report stated.

Hilarious source

Cigarette taxes vary quite a bit from state to state. Massachusetts imposes the highest tax at $1.51 per pack. New York and New Jersey charge a $1.50 per pack tax. Nine other states impose per pack taxes of at least $1.

Virginia has the lowest cigarette tax at 2.5¢ per pack, though counties and cities in Virginia may impose their own tax of between 2¢ and 15¢ per pack. Kentucky charges the next lowest tax among the states at 3¢ per pack.

The federal tax on cigarettes, by the way, is 39¢ per pack.

All those taxes add up to a pile of money. In 2001, the federal government collected $7 billion in cigarette taxes, while the 50 states collected almost $8.7 billion.

(obviously an old story)

The Free Market

 

[Luis G]

No wonder you guys are a bunch of junkies, marihuana is cheaper than cigarretes.

 

[Winky]

Legalize Pot and tax that!

 

[catocom]

Raising taxes on it won't work. They'll just start being smuggled in.
Just ask so Canadians that smoke.
I'll be like back in prohibition days.

 

[Winky]

hella yeah I switched to roll yer own when they slapped
the monster tax on here
only costs 13 bucks a month to shorten my life span

what a fuckin' smokin' deal!!!

 

[unclehobart]

No wonder you guys are a bunch of junkies, marihuana is cheaper than cigarretes.

Perhaps where you live... certainly not here.

 

[catocom]

yep $50 fo 1/4oz, or has it went up?

 

[Gonz]

I can't be certain about roll your own but, in general, the cheaper the cigarette the more horrendous it smells. Nothing like smoking stinky weed called GENERIC CIGARETTES or going high class with Basic or Dorals.

 

[Luis G]

Really? I can get a kilo for 80 pesos.

 

[tonksy]

yep $50 fo 1/4oz, or has it went up?

*sigh...That's correct....I remember in Louisiana I paid $35 for a 1/2. Almost glad I quit.

 

[catocom]

I can't be certain about roll your own but, in general, the cheaper the cigarette the more horrendous it smells. Nothing like smoking stinky weed called GENERIC CIGARETTES or going high class with Basic or Dorals.

I smoke Doral mostly right now because I get coupons, and get a carton for right at $20.
They have some here called "GT ONE" generic like, that are made in Columbia
that are acceptable for a generic. It about the only one worth striking a match to.

 

[majestyx]

After smoking for 20+ years, I actually quit. That was after numerous try and fails. I stayed 'quit' for almost 2 years. I fell back in to the habit, and would really consider quitting again, but haven't gotten there yet. On the numerous times that failed, I tried the nicotine patches. That was more expensive than smoking!!! I have always smoked Marlboro brand, and when I started smoking again, I smoke the Ultra Lights. (I know, there is just as much harm in smoking the Ultra Lights as there are in the full flavor ones.) I've tried the generic brands..............No thanks.............blech! This last time when I did quit, I went to a stop-smoking seminar. It actually worked and I didn't have a huge craving for a smoke. I did however keep the makers of Listering Pocket Packs in business. After eating, when the craving for a smoke came, popped one of those in my mouth and the craving was gone.

This is just my own personal opinion, so take it only as that. If you want something bad enough, you will succeed. You have to WANT to quit smoking and follow through.

 

[chcr]

After smoking for 20+ years, I actually quit. That was after numerous try and fails. I stayed 'quit' for almost 2 years.

That's not "quit," that's "paused."

 

[Professur]

and follow through

And there, in a nutshell, is the entire story. You're not just giving up smoking. You're giving up all that goes with smoking. You're suddenly having to try and find something to do for those 15 minute breaks. You're giving up the "after-dinner-smoke". The "with-a-beer-smoke". And not to mention the "after-sex-smoke". Horrifically, you must endure the morning coffee without it's trusty companion. You either give up the smoke break at work, or give up the smoking friends.

Sound silly? It is. But it's still true, and every quitter has to deal with it.

 

[majestyx]

That's not "quit," that's "paused."

I say quit, you say paused.

And, I didn't give up the smoking friends NOR the beer in that time either!