Smoking?

[Larry Gude]

Is it an addiction or a habit?

I ask because in another forum quiting came up, the "I want to quit but can't seem to" refrain and some people are saying things like 'smoking is more addictive than heroin'.

We don't give people cigarettes to ease pain. We smoke because it is an enjoyable habit. While drinking, stuck in traffic, waiting for 'puter to boot up, with coffee, with conversation, taking polls and so on.

It is my position that we do not quit until we actually want to, meaning we want the pleasures of NOT smoking more than the pleasures OF smoking.

So, the joy of a smoke and coffee is replaced by the joy of a cup of coffee not ruined by smoke. The pleasure of drinking and smoking loses out to the pleasure of drinking and NOT smoking and so on.

That's how I quit cold turkey four years ago. I wanted to NOT smoke more than I wanted to smoke, in every way. Vrai smokes but she only smokes by the window in our bedroom and by the fireplace. I usually go out with her in the rain and cold and will sit with her in a bar all night as she merrily puffs away. Not a problem because I don't want to smoke. I nag her but it's because it STINKS not because it tempts me.

So puffers and quiters and never smokers, what say ye people?

 

[workin hard]

I think it is both a habit and addiction. The nicotine in cigarettes is addicting but I think the habit is very comforting. I've never smoked but the DH does and he does it because he actually enjoys it no matter how much I tell him I hate it. It is his way to relax and kick back.

But I think the people who say I can't quit because it is so addicting or whatever just don't really want to quit.

 

[cattitude]

I think it's a habit and an addiction...or are they almost the same thing?

I've never smoked. I hate it that Otter smokes. I hate hearing him coughing himself to death every morning. I feel like his smoking is shortening the time I have with him. He thinks I b!tch because I don't like the smoke. But it's really because I love him and I see our mortality more every day. :sad:

 

[Railroad]

I smoked for 37 years. I tried to quit 5 times before my doctor put me on the patch and Wellbutrin - that was the 6th time and it worked. I've been a non-smoker for 2 years now, and so has my wife. If she hadn't quit at the same time I did, I don't know if I'd have been able to keep it up. After 2 years, smoke doesn't smell good anymore, and it's easier to stay away. I say it's an addiction and should be treated as a medical condition. Those that quit cold turkey have my utmost respect - I tried several times and just couldn't do it.

 

[PJumper]

I think it is both a habit and addiction. The nicotine in cigarettes is addicting but I think the habit is very comforting. I've never smoked but the DH does and he does it because he actually enjoys it no matter how much I tell him I hate it. It is his way to relax and kick back.

But I think the people who say I can't quit because it is so addicting or whatever just don't really want to quit.

I used to smoke and I believed it's more of habit forming than actual addiction. I do agree that it is a very relaxing habit. I smoked for 7 years straight before i decided to quit, cold turkey, the only effective way. It's tougher if you're a drinker because it kind of complete/complement the drinking pleasure.

 

[Kizzy]

It is a habit and an addiction, and studies have proven that it is more addictive than crack and herion.

Larry, you did hit on one key factor you need to have to quit. You have to want to quit and hold ground to it. I quit for a year, 6 months, 9 months, at a time and they say, you are a puff away from a pack a day. Boy, isn't that the truth. Each time, I just picked up one, next thing, I ended up buying a pack.

I have cut way back and so has my hubby. For the first time in my entire life, I was smoking 2-packs a day near the end of last year and the early part of this year. I have never smoked that much, and for many years, I never smoked more than 15-a day. I am back to that amount now.

But I enjoy smoking.

 

[Christy]

Anyone got a light?


I confess, I am an addict.

 

[bresamil]

I believe it is both. I have never smoked - our family had 3 smokers and 3 nonsmokers.
My father smoked for over 70 years (he started before he was 12 ) Now he has COPD, only 30 percent lung capacity, and is oxygen dependent. He quit cold turkey because he wanted to live.

 

[CableChick]

I voted habit, but can see where it could be an addiction. I started smoking when I was 14 years old. I stopped for almost a year using the Wellbutrin, but was quick to go back citing stress. It was because I wanted to start again .. I missed it. :shrug:

When I found out in 2001 I was pregnant I stopped cold turkey. Haven't looked back since. Believe me, there have been plenty of times I could have started back. Sometimes I missed it terribly! And now I get one whiff and am sickened by the smell. It's mind over matter!

 

[aps45819]

It is my position that we do not quit until we actually want to, meaning we want the pleasures of NOT smoking more than the pleasures OF smoking.

And how is this different than any other addiction?

 

[virgovictoria]

I think it's a habit and an addiction...or are they almost the same thing?

I feel that cigarettes are both addictive and habit forming, which in my experience are two different things but can go - and often do go - hand in hand... Like other addictions, when you quit/are trying to quit, you often have to break the habits associated with the use of the addictive agent.

With that said, I chose "Anyone got a light?"

 

[DoWhat]

I want a beer now.

 

[vraiblonde]

I don't know about anyone else but, for me, it's not an addiction to the nicotine so much as it's an addiction to the physical act of smoking. Sometimes I'll be sitting there with a lit ciggie in the ashtray and I'll absentmindedly light another one. Sitting in front of the computer, working, I'll chain smoke. But if I'm somewhere that I can't smoke, it's no biggie - I can go for hours.

That's why I don't think nicotine replacement stuff would do anything for me. I need to replace the physical act of smoking with some other habit. For me it's more like someone who bites their nails.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

I'm inclined to say a little of both. I was addicted to the habit of smoking while drinking coffee or alcohol, driving, boredom, etc. I will be smoke-free 2 years in August. It feels GREAT!

 

[Kizzy]

I do the same thing vrai, but I know when I quit, I would have French kissed my sister for a smoke.

 

[Kizzy]

I'm inclined to say a little of both. I was addicted to the habit of smoking while drinking coffee or alcohol, driving, boredom, etc. I will be smoke-free 2 years in August. It feels GREAT!

I am so proud of you. It isn't an easy habit to overcome.

 

[jazz lady]

To me, it's definitely an addiction and a habit. Even though I quit many moons ago, when I get in a situation where I used to smoke, like in a bar with a drink in hand, the urge is still there and I could easily light one up.

For me, the physical addiction was easier to break than the situational habit.

 

[nawty1]

I agree with Vrai. Gotta have it burning while in front of the computer. Tend to light up more when I have a beer in my hand. But I did go on the patch a few months back and only smoked 2 a day. At that point, I was thinking...okay this is easy...if I can only smoke 2 a day I REALLY don't need them. WRONG! All it took was one good week of my boys hitting that nerve and voila! back up to 10 a day. I keep saying "this is the last pack I will buy"...need more willpower!!! If it is addiction, how do all these people go cold turkey without ripping their hair out? Are the cig companies and the patch people in this together? Tell the public that cigs are addicting and they CAN quit with the patch/pills and we can make more money...muwahahaha! Dunno...but inquiring minds wanna know.

 

[vraiblonde]

For me, the physical addiction was easier to break than the situational habit.

That's me, too. When I'm in a bar, when I'm at the computer, when I'm involved in a gab-fest. When Larry quit, I got used to not smoking throughout the house - now it's to where I can't even imagine smoking, like, in the kitchen or somewhere. If we're in the bedroom talking, I want him out of my chair so I can smoke by the window, even though it probably doesn't matter. But it feels weird to sit on the bed or at my dressing table and smoke.

 

[Larry Gude]

aps...

And how is this different than any other addiction?

Heroin is a chemical dependency. You are in physical trouble if you're addicted and you ain't got no smack, right?

Cigarettes are a habit, you aren't in physical distress when you're out of smokes. You're in mental, ie, something you can control, distress.

The withdraw symptoms of quiting smoking are nothing compared to those of quitting hard drugs or alcohol.