Just Stop Smoking

I started smoking when i was 14 or 15 off and on. Sometimes I’d stop for months but then I’d get this bad craving for them and start again. This is whats happening now. I’m nearly 22, haven’t smoked since January or February, and I am craving it bad right now. How long do you stay addicted to them, until you no longer care for them anymore? Its been nearly 6 months and I still have this craving.

I know the feeling - I’m a smoker, but I associate a cigarette with a particular time of day, after a hearty meal or when I’m doing something that requires concentration. I try not to crave - maybe I’m fooling myself and it’s the same thing?

Because Cigarette Manufacturers are no longer permitted to advertise here (I imagine USA is the same), I’m sure that they’re including additional chemicals in an effort to get us addicted more quickly. It’s all a game for them and the object of the exercise is to make sales - nothing more - nothing less.

I’ve heard rumours that there are in excess of 450 different chemicals in an average cigarette; most of which are embedded in the paper. The fine rings that go around a cigarette (they look like thin blue lines) are partially responsible for making the cigarette continue to burn if it’s left unattended in an ashtray. This way - the cigarette has burned away when you return to it - so what do you do? …. you light another one. How ingenious is that? You smoke more, but you enjoy less.

I have a friend who quit smoking about 3 years ago and she hasn’t touched a cigarette since. She still describes herself as a "smoker" and her cravings occur everyday, but she chooses not to smoke. Unfortunately, my will power isn’t that strong.

Good luck with your cravings and your self control to kick the nasty habit completely. The experts say that cravings will eventually cease, but it takes a long time.

Here’s something that might help. Assuming that the tobacco section of an average cigarette is about 2 inches long and if you smoke 20 cigarettes everyday for the next 30 years - by the time you finish, you would have smoked a cigarette equivalent to approximately 7 miles long.

Scary - huh?

My girlfriend is 17, has been smoking for about a year now. I’m trying to get her off it, but she refuses. She always tells me she knows what she’s doing, she knows its hurting her, and she can stop whenever she wants. I find that hard to believe, because she always ‘needs’ one, and she freaks if she doesn’t. The least she smokes a day is 5, but that’s a rare thing, its almost always more. What can I do to stop her?

If you hate smoking. Don’t date smokers. That’s just common sense.
If you don’t like what’s on the shelf, leave it for someone who will like it.

I haven’t really said anything, but I would really like my boyfriend to stop smoking so much. I mentioned it once, and he said he would but nothing really happened. I’m not asking him to stop completely, I just think he needs to tone it down a bit. Is there anything I can say or do to help him stop doing it so much?

If you hate smoking. Don’t date smokers. That’s just common sense.