Quitting smoking (almost) 1 year in.

[Priscilla]

Neighbour puffs away merrily 1 pack a day Benson and Hedges $32.50.

 

[SloopJonB]

I'll bet the Kiwi government puts street drug sellers in jail too don't they? Fuckin' hypocrites.

How much is a bottle of Stoli there?

 

[Guest]

The idea is to discourage smoking but at a certain point it starts to build a strong black market. Smoked briefly as a teen, 90 cents for a pack of Rothmans, $2 for 50 grams of roll your own.....

We have free healthcare so there is an interest in reducing costs

 

[Priscilla]

Stoli is about $40.

The Government tobacco excise duty and GST take nationally per annum will peak at $2 Billion Kiwi roubles by 2020.

They spend about $62 Million on smoking prevention and quit programs.

5000 people a year or 13 a day die from smoking related diseases.

Violent thefts and robberies are escalating nationally for cigarettes and all stock are held in secure cabinets and plain packaged.

The sooner retailers move away from selling death sticks the better off we all will be smokers included.

Hah, have a mate who shifted from tobacco to weed and reckons he is saving money and never been happier.

Funniest thing I heard in a while was as our prisons become smoke free the inmates were rolling up and smoking the nicotine  patches.

I quit 20 years ago and used this product which contains high doses of quinine which was used to quell the frayed nerves of Vietnam helicopter pilots.

Commerce you gotta love it.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=145607

 

[mikewof]

Yep, No nicotine.  Problem I have it that I live close walking distance to a service station.  It can be very hard to take that short walk after a couple of beers.

No nic solves this problem.

Vaping is not smoking, nicotine or no nicotine should not effect insurance.  They should only be interested in if you smoke or not.  Remember the Nicotine is not harmful, it just makes you feel good and is very addictive.

Understatement of the decade, nicotine is like the fingers of heaven massaging the cerebral cortex.

I assumed it's harmful though. I don't understand all of this.

 

[mikewof]

Stoli is about $40.

The Government tobacco excise duty and GST tax take nationally per annum will peak at $2 Billion Kiwi roubles by 2020.

They spend about $62 Million on smoking prevention and quit programs.

5000 people a year or 13 a day die from smoking related diseases.

Violent thefts and robberies are escalating nationally for cigarettes and all stock are held in secure cabinets and plain packaged.

The sooner retailers move away from selling death sticks the better off we all will be smokers included.

Hah, have a mate who shifted from tobacco to weed and reckons he is saving money and never been happier.

I quit 20 years ago and used this product which contains high doses of quinine which was used to quell the frayed nerves of Vietnam helicopter pilots.

Commerce you gotta love it.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=145607

Quinine ... ahhh. I wonder if I can get that high dose quinine here, I love the way it makes me feel. I even drink plain tonic water without the gin lots of times because I crave the quinine.

 

[the_abandoned_brane]

Nothing like that cool first drag in the morning from a fine Laramie cigarette.

Actually I smoke good cigars, and when only fishing these days. 

 

[shaggy]

How are you coming with this? The local vape place on Evans and Hampden (Yuphorix?) sells zero-nicotine vape juice, and the pens are pretty advanced now, they can even do vape juice with caffeine or with melatonin. It got me interested, how do the lungs handle the vapor? Does that oily stuff deposit on them? Is it mostly water-based? I have found that the vape is a lot easier than cigs, no lighting involved, no chance of burning down the bed, you can take a single puff without feeling obliged to go through most of the stick. Are you off nicotine completely? Do you still crave the zero-nic juice?

Ok, so ...  I used to smoke 1-2 packs of al Capone cheezy cigars on a good wed night, weekend regattas I brought 4 and rarely came home with many left.  Love the somoke feel of a good cigar, but could never get through an entire cubano and I never wanted to waste 30 bucks, so the Al Capones were small and good and I never really cared if I had to throw the damn thing overboard if something went screwy.  Once I went vape though, my god, I can breathe in the morning, hangovers are 1/2 as evil and my wallet is a bit heftier after buying into the whole vape thing.  I am still at 3 mg but could prob go down to 0 without much hassle.  The big thing is you gotta get a good pen.  Spend the $70- $100 for a good mod(the thing that holds the batteries) and get a good tank.  With a good mod you can adjust the ohms and wats to your taste.  This is a good thing...  I originally went the route of buying the cheep pens first then after a year of replacing shit every week, bit the bullet and got a good one.  I have had it for about 2 years and only have had to replace the battery once (lion).  As to the juice, I honed it down to chi tea 3 mg from Centennial vapor (10 bucks or so for a btl, YMMV( it lasts a week or 2 depending on partying).  I went down the custom expensive road for a while, but landed on that.  So pros are you can wake up and be functional immediately without the smoking hangover, cons well, we will have to wait and see..  It has to be better than smoking right??  

 

[floating dutchman]

I assumed it's [nicotine] harmful though. I don't understand all of this.

Common misconception.  Smoking is bad for you, cigarettes do contain nicotine.

Nicotine is about the only substance in cigarettes that is not bad for you.

It is the bit that makes you want to smoke again and again so the rest of the cigarette can kill you.

Vapeing is about as bad for you as Coffee.

 

[Mid]

quitting is easy .......................

I've done it plenty of times

7 yrs plus this time so here's hoping .

never think you can just have one ...............................

shit is worse than smack .

 

[Steam Flyer]

Congrats to all those who have quit and not looking back.....

KEEP TRYING to all those who are looking and occasionally stepping back: your life is worth it

-DSK

 

[mikewof]

It was pretty easy compared to some others apparently, but not without pain.  But about giving up addictions ...

Friend of mine gave up smoking because he could no longer afford it.  Still not smoking years later even though he has money now, I think I have mentioned this before.  But he has been drinking too much for too long and he has pancreas problems, inflammation if he hits it hard.  So he reverted to the plan that worked last time and gave away his rum still and all brewing equipment, then started buying much smaller quantities of expensive booze and he is tapering off successfully.

I think that we all have our own personal kryptonites ... smoking, drinking, sex, overeating, caffeine, television, gambling, internet, drugs. Yeah, we can kick some addictions, others aren't so easy.

I don't know anyone who isn't addicted to something, except for a few very old people. Addiction might even be a feature of our humanity.

This thread is encouraging. Smoke is bad for decent health as much as I forget, and vapor seems to be a good way out. Life is too much fun to throw it away with diseased lungs now that vapor can deliver the pleasure. I'm in love with the caffeine vape I've found, sometimes I don't even think about nic ... uh, maybe once or twice, but it has happened.

 

[SloopJonB]

I think that we all have our own personal kryptonites ... smoking, drinking, sex, overeating, caffeine, television, gambling, internet, drugs.

Uhhhh - yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.........what's your point?

 

[barleymalt]

January 2,1997. Finally fulfilled a promise to my father made six months earlier as he lay dying from lung cancer from a lifetime of smoking. I have kept it, after the first couple years I didn’t miss it at all. Still smoke an occasional cigar. One of the wisest things I ever did.

 

[mikewof]

Ok, so ...  I used to smoke 1-2 packs of al Capone cheezy cigars on a good wed night, weekend regattas I brought 4 and rarely came home with many left.  Love the somoke feel of a good cigar, but could never get through an entire cubano and I never wanted to waste 30 bucks, so the Al Capones were small and good and I never really cared if I had to throw the damn thing overboard if something went screwy.  Once I went vape though, my god, I can breathe in the morning, hangovers are 1/2 as evil and my wallet is a bit heftier after buying into the whole vape thing.  I am still at 3 mg but could prob go down to 0 without much hassle.  The big thing is you gotta get a good pen.  Spend the $70- $100 for a good mod(the thing that holds the batteries) and get a good tank.  With a good mod you can adjust the ohms and wats to your taste.  This is a good thing...  I originally went the route of buying the cheep pens first then after a year of replacing shit every week, bit the bullet and got a good one.  I have had it for about 2 years and only have had to replace the battery once (lion).  As to the juice, I honed it down to chi tea 3 mg from Centennial vapor (10 bucks or so for a btl, YMMV( it lasts a week or 2 depending on partying).  I went down the custom expensive road for a while, but landed on that.  So pros are you can wake up and be functional immediately without the smoking hangover, cons well, we will have to wait and see..  It has to be better than smoking right??  

I've noticed with vaping that is is addictive in a different way than smoking. With ciggerbuddies, you have to find the time, the place, get away from your desk, or your home, light up, make a moment out of it. That's almost kind of good in a way, it's a moment away from life.

But with vape, you don't need fire, you can do it anywhere, any time, even one puff then put it away. Its convenience inserts it into many more aspects of life. I think you're right, it's better than smoking, but I can also see that the way it's integrated into much more of life, it might be more difficult to not do it at some point. I remember that feeling of not being able to leave the house without keys, pack of butts and a lighter. And long ago, when I mostly kicked, it felt free to be able to leave with just keys. Now it seems that the vape pen is becoming that necessity in the pocket, all the time. And the vapor is fulfilling, it's cool, it goes right in front of the eyeballs with no irritation, no particles, just whatever liquid makes that vapor. it's thick and dissipates just right. 

But I'm open to the idea that this may genuinely be something new ... it seems an ideal way to deliver medications or nutrients. I could see specialized medical vape pens being prescribed soon enough.

 

[Mrleft8]

Cigars are great for gnat amelioration when gardening in early spring..... Gotta be a good cigar though. Guinea stinkers just don't cut it.

 

[TPG]

wheeee zombie thread. 3 years now.

 

[floating dutchman]

I've noticed with vaping that is is addictive in a different way than smoking. With ciggerbuddies, you have to find the time, the place, get away from your desk, or your home, light up, make a moment out of it. That's almost kind of good in a way, it's a moment away from life.

But with vape, you don't need fire, you can do it anywhere, any time, even one puff then put it away. Its convenience inserts it into many more aspects of life. I think you're right, it's better than smoking, but I can also see that the way it's integrated into much more of life, it might be more difficult to not do it at some point. I remember that feeling of not being able to leave the house without keys, pack of butts and a lighter. And long ago, when I mostly kicked, it felt free to be able to leave with just keys. Now it seems that the vape pen is becoming that necessity in the pocket, all the time. And the vapor is fulfilling, it's cool, it goes right in front of the eyeballs with no irritation, no particles, just whatever liquid makes that vapor. it's thick and dissipates just right. 

But I'm open to the idea that this may genuinely be something new ... it seems an ideal way to deliver medications or nutrients. I could see specialized medical vape pens being prescribed soon enough.

When I changed from smoking to vaping I treated exactly like smoking, I never smoked in the family home so I vaped outside as well, same at work, vaping is treated like smoking so outside you go.  Some people might not like you vaping around them and this way you still get that moment away from life.

For me smoking was a habit, a ritual if you like, checking pockets for smokes before heading out the door is very much part of that, having the vape in my pocket instead was an easy switch.  Now that I'm on zero nic, doesn't mater if I leave it at home, unless I'm going for a beer, then I gotta have it with me.

 

[Priscilla]

When I changed from smoking to vaping I treated exactly like smoking, I never smoked in the family home so I vaped outside as well, same at work, vaping is treated like smoking so outside you go.  Some people might not like you vaping around them and this way you still get that moment away from life.

For me smoking was a habit, a ritual if you like, checking pockets for smokes before heading out the door is very much part of that, having the vape in my pocket instead was an easy switch.  Now that I'm on zero nic, doesn't mater if I leave it at home, unless I'm going for a beer, then I gotta have it with me.

You are still a slave to a product.

Get totally clean and enjoy being so.

Believe me there comes a time when you are free from fags or vape and it is simply a fantastic feeling of freedom and health not to mention wealth.

 

[Mid]

While I was smoking, I recall lighting up in other people's homes!   Faaaaaarkkk!

putting out ashtrays for guests ......................

ashtrays on Doctors desks .