Most smokers want to quit, CDC report finds

[Bann]

I quit 11 years ago, and I'm still glad I did. I don't have the nagging cough anymore, I rarely get sick & I believe I do have more stamina.

I don't know that I won't die from a stroke or heart attack or lung disease. But I am happy not smoking and don't care if my friends do - it doesn't impact me.

 

[Neversaykever]

Yeah the cough is a huge improvement for me. I went from constantly clearing my throat and hacking to absolutely nothing in like a week. plus i can stay on the football field longer without wheezing.

Of course, like frequentflier, I've also known people who smoke hard their entire lives and it never seems to phase them. Maybe it depends on the person, like the blood type or something haha

 

[mitzi]

Conversations like this make me never want to quit smoking. I'd hate to be so miserable every time I walked out of my house because I might encounter a smoker somewhere and seize up. It seems incredibly anti-social to be so sensitive to the smells of other people.

I've actually had people say around me "They need to ban smoking everywhere, it stinks" and fanning their hands around referring to ME smelling like one since I had just come in from outside. Everytime they were doused in some God awlful cologne or hair dressing that makes my nose curl up & was repulsive to me.

 

[Railroad]

Smoking is not a stigma that makes you sub-human. It's like anything else we do that becomes a habit, except that there are toxic clouds hanging around smokers that they don't register until they quit. As an addict of one thing or another myself, I don't condemn any smoker, but I really DO recommend getting off the weed. A better life awaits you, and you have been sucked into the addict culture just as I was. There are ways to quit without going crazy and there are solutions that keep the discomfort a minimum. And it takes your personal physician, not some pinhead with a canned solution. It differs from person to person.

 

[Gilligan]

Dang. I smoke more than anyone I know, and I spend around $200/mo - about a carton a week.

I had a some kind of mental aversion to buying cartons and very seldom did..I would buy and smoke two packs every day.

And no, I'm not sure really why I did that..

And I forgot about the cough...I had one of those typical smoker's persistent coughs thta was gettting pretty annoying and it is now almost entirely gone.

 

[Gilligan]

I've actually had people say around me "They need to ban smoking everywhere, it stinks" and fanning their hands around referring to ME smelling like one since I had just come in from outside. Everytime they were doused in some God awlful cologne or hair dressing that makes my nose curl up & was repulsive to me.

I was working in a NAVAIR activity office back in the 80s when the first no-smoking regulations started being handed down; the first I remember required that any office 'block' (as defined by door(s) and walls, no matter how many cubicles were within) be smoke-free if anyone in that block objected to smoking. For the first few months we remained a smoking office and one of the old hands hung a big sign off the outside of his cubicle partition: "Thank You For Holding Your Breath While I Smoke"

Those were the days..hard to imagine now.

 

[Railroad]

I was working in a NAVAIR activity office back in the 80s when the first no-smoking regulations started being handed down; the first I remember required that any office 'block' (as defined by door(s) and walls, no matter how many cubicles were within) be smoke-free if anyone in that block objected to smoking. For the first few months we remained a smoking office and one of the old hands hung a big sign off the outside of his cubicle partition: "Thank You For Holding Your Breath While I Smoke"

Those were the days..hard to imagine now.

Remember them well. My best friends were on me every day to stop poisoning them, but I never did. Several years later cancer (actually my wife) caused me to quit. I hated discarding the big amber ashtray from my desk.

 

[vraiblonde]

I'm going to start being rude to people who smell. "Good lord, who marinaded in that cheap cologne??" "Please tell me that body wash was a gift from your grandmother!" "Dude, seriously, when was the last time you showered??"

They'd do it to me because I smoke. :shrug:

Actually, I'm not a stinky smoker and my house smells more like cats than nicotine. I've had non-smokers tell me that. But I'm going to be rude to smelly people anyway.

 

[Gilligan]

. But I'm going to be rude to smelly people anyway.

Must be a new trend.

 

[luvmygdaughters]

I think smoking is a personal choice. I'm not saying its good for you, but as an adult, its my choice to do so. What I do not like is the government raising the taxes on cigarettes every two years. If it causes cancer...why hasnt it been taken off the markets. Oh thats right, they tried that with prohibiton and we all know how that worked out. I agree with banning cigarettes in a public, government building, restaurant, elevators, etc. In fact, I have smoked for thirty years, never in an elevator or store or other confined space. I think however, that banning cigarettes in bars is ridiculous. Children are not permitted in bars, so there is no danger in a child inhaling 2nd hand smoke. It should be up to the people who own the bars, pay the taxes and employ people. If you own a bar, you should be entitled to hang a sign on your establishment that says "Smoking Establishement, Enter at your own Risk." Or " Non-Smoking Establishment, violaters will be asked to leave". I dont think I need the government laying down a president for my own good. Tobacco is a product that is legally sold in this country,therefore, the restrictions should be minimal and age appropriate. I think the government should be focusing on the rampant drug abuse and the crime associated with that, instead of a product that is grown and sold here.

 

[Bann]

I'm going to start being rude to people who smell. "Good lord, who marinaded in that cheap cologne??" "Please tell me that body wash was a gift from your grandmother!" "Dude, seriously, when was the last time you showered??"

They'd do it to me because I smoke. :shrug:

Actually, I'm not a stinky smoker and my house smells more like cats than nicotine. I've had non-smokers tell me that. But I'm going to be rude to smelly people anyway.

I've been in your house as a non-smoker and it doesn't reek of smoke or even smell like it. (Unless there is smoking going on.)

Still - I lubs my friends & if their smoke bothers me, I move away from it -it's not like they force me to come over. Of course I wish they'd quit, but I don't make their decisions & am not responsible for their life care.

My mother on the other hand - is on oxygen 24/7 and I just found out she was sneaking money to someone to buy her cigarettes at the facility where she is currently residing. She has congestive heart failure and severe COPD, along with a myriad of other serious medical issues. She is presently taking an antibiotic because the fluid began building up again in her lungs. She has been going outside to smoke at this place, leaving her oxygen inside. She apparently took this up about 2 weeks ago.

She had quit for 2 months, there was no reason to begin again. She was progressing very well in her P/T, pulmonary rehabilitation & O/T goals. I guess she started feeling better and figured a way to get someone to buy cigs for her. She totally hid this from me, although all the staff there thought I knew - she wasn't hiding it.

It's really too bad, because she is reversing the progress she made for 2 months as I have been noticing for the past week her stamina levels & general overall appearance has gone downhill. I am powerless to stop her. It will kill her. And it is her choice.

 

[mitzi]

I'm going to start being rude to people who smell. "Good lord, who marinaded in that cheap cologne??" "Please tell me that body wash was a gift from your grandmother!" "Dude, seriously, when was the last time you showered??"

They'd do it to me because I smoke. :shrug:

Actually, I'm not a stinky smoker and my house smells more like cats than nicotine. I've had non-smokers tell me that. But I'm going to be rude to smelly people anyway.

I said to one guy once "maybe they should ban stinking cologne or anything that people don't like to smell". He got a deer in the headlights look and shutup. Don't say it mean, just in a normal voice.

 

[vraiblonde]

Don't say it mean, just in a normal voice.

Puh. I'm going to say it with choking disgust. Then I'm going to admonish them - "You really should take a shower. All that smelly bacteria on your body isn't good for your health. Think of your children."

For some reason it's socially acceptable to snark about smokers right to their face, yet we wouldn't dream of saying things like that or acting that way to people with BO.

 

[mitzi]

I was working in a NAVAIR activity office back in the 80s when the first no-smoking regulations started being handed down; the first I remember required that any office 'block' (as defined by door(s) and walls, no matter how many cubicles were within) be smoke-free if anyone in that block objected to smoking. For the first few months we remained a smoking office and one of the old hands hung a big sign off the outside of his cubicle partition: "Thank You For Holding Your Breath While I Smoke"

Those were the days..hard to imagine now.

It is hard to imagine now. I worked in a hospital. People going up and down the halls with a cigarette, etc.

 

[mitzi]

Puh. I'm going to say it with choking disgust. Then I'm going to admonish them - "You really should take a shower. All that smelly bacteria on your body isn't good for your health. Think of your children."

For some reason it's socially acceptable to snark about smokers right to their face, yet we wouldn't dream of saying things like that or acting that way to people with BO.

Go for it! Their stinking cologne stops me up. The smell of dirty hair repulses me. However, when we're out in public just deal with it.

 

[Sweet 16]

Spend a week with someone who is dying from emphysema or heart failure. They are suffocating to death. I literally watched my dad suffocate to death. A most horrible death. Quit for those who love you.

As a kid, I watched my neighbor's beloved Nana, a HEAVY smoker, die of lung cancer. Unfortunately, it did nothing to deter me from starting smoking in my teens. I smoked for 19 years and finally quit -- cold turkey and without drugs, hypnosis, depression or massive weight gain -- and I have been smoke-free for 13 years. To those of you thinking of quitting, do it now! And don't listen to the drug companies -- despite what they tell you, you don't need nicotine gum, patches or any other "crutch" to quit. Those things only prolong your habit and make those companies rich in the process.

 

[atheos]

I quit a little over 5 years ago (after 30+ years) and have been disappointed ever since. I was promised that food would taste better, the flowers would smell sweeter, I would have the stamina of Steve Austin... About the only thing that happened was I saved some cash, which in the end was the main point, MOM was planning on raising taxes on cigs and I didn't want to make the drive to VA every week.

I forgot to mention, I still love the smell of cigarette smoke.

This is the best post I have heard all day. You have got to love brutel honesty. Thank you for your response!

The only reason I'd quit smoking is because it's inconvenient now that you can no longer smoke anywhere in public.

Totally agree.

For some reason it's socially acceptable to snark about smokers right to their face, yet we wouldn't dream of saying things like that or acting that way to people with BO.

So Very True. Off topic, but there is a UFC Fighter, an American whose parents where Mexican and entered the country in the 70's and gave birth to him. I suppose he is proud of his parents Mexican Heritage and had "Brown Pride" tattooed across his chest. This is all fine, except one thing. Does anybody believe if a white man tattooed "White Pride" across his chest and then tried to enter the UFC as a fighter, his tattoo would be accepted as this guys "Brown Pride" has? Obviously not. I find your post to be along the same lines. In our backwards society, they find the strangest things to allow and accept and then turn ugly against things that Americans used to be proud of. Wasn’t long ago, as a lot of posters have pointed out that smoking was not only the norm, but was something people fought for. Now, tides have turned and people that once smoked forget how strongly they felt about there rights to do as such freely and now use that same motivation to ensure all smoking is banned from there presences. Dumbfounds me.

 

[happyazz]

When I quit smoking 20+ years ago, Camels (and Pall Malls) were a buck a pack in the cigarette machines! (remember those?!) Yeah, I was a tough broad- liked them non filters.

My Mom died of lung cancer at the age of 53; with her cigarettes by her side.

Her mother lived into her late 80's and smoked 2 cartons of Marlboro 100's a week til the end. My Mom's father sometimes smoked cigs; but mostly stogies and a tobacco pipe all his adult life and also lived into his late 80's- without any apparent medical issues. Go figure.

Was your mother born prematurely?

 

[aps45819]

Actually, I'm not a stinky smoker and my house smells more like cats than nicotine. I've had non-smokers tell me that. But I'm going to be rude to smelly people anyway.

good to hear the stench of your animal's excrement overpowers the odor of your ashtray

 

[Larry Gude]

good to hear the stench of your animal's excrement overpowers the odor of your ashtray

I fart when the dog farts. Ergo I never fart. Which is to say I do fart. It just a tree amidst the forest. So to speak.

Interestingly enough, dog pee doesn't stink much. Cat pee is horrific. However, cat poop ain't so bad and dog #### is, well, smells like dog ####.