smoking

[DeMoN`idle]

a friend of mine has been smoking for 9 years..trying to get him to quit.

He claims that if he stops before the age of 24 then his lungs can fully rebuild themselves, so he will be fine. He truly believes this is the case.

Has anyone else ever heard this excuse?

[sc`]

Why does it matter, if he thinks stopping quitting will save him from an alien invasion, it'll still produce the desired end result.

[jennMWdragon]

"1 to 9 months after quitting: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection."

http://www.dineoncampus.com/quinnipiac/index.cfm?cmd=Nutrition

There are other sites out there with the same information as this one if this site doesn't suit you.

Your lungs can rebuild themselves. It is an excuse to continue smoking though. I used to say that I would quit when I decided to have children but then I'd still be smoking for years.

Only your friend can decide to quit. The best way to quit is to have a reason to quit in the first place and our own health isn't enough. If we cared that much about our health, I doubt we would have started smoking in the first place. Everytime I saw anti smoking commercials or pictures of damaged lungs, it always reminded me that I smoked and made me want to go outside and smoke one. I quit for someone else, not myself. Your friend will find their own reason to quit eventually. And after 9 years of smoking, that will be hard for them to do.

[Risingson]

theres some new drug coming out thats supposed to help the physical addiction tremendously, far superior to any patch or gum. But that stil means you want to quit mentally and emotionally, which is the tough part :(

[rasputin]

Your friend is only half right. According to researchers, if one quits before the age of thirty, they can actually revert themselves back to being a non-smoker over time. If you quit after that, you're simply a smoker in remission (similar to an alcoholic that quits drinking). The affect cigarette smoke has had on a person's lungs depends on a few factors: how long they smoked, how much they smoked, and how "deep" they inhaled the smoke. Pack years are how doctors are now determining when a smoker/ex-smoker may be in danger of developing an illness directly associated to smoking. A person that smokes a pack a day for ten years is equivalent to someone smoking two packs a day for five years.

Your friend has smoked for nine years, and he's young, so if he quits now, there's a great chance that after five+ years, his lungs will be back to the capacity they were the day before he started smoking. There are guys younger and younger every year developing lung cancer because they start smoking very young. Every day you're a non-smoker your lungs repair themselves. There will always be irreversible scar damage but if he quits now, there's no reason he can't live a healthy life.

[DeMoN`idle]

well that's good to hear. it's not that i care about his health..i just was hoping to prove him wrong cause his smoking is an inconvenience to me and that "if i stop before I'm 23 I'm safe" bit sounded a bit ridiculous. Constantly having to go outside, smoking in the car, me having to inhale his second hand smoke, etc is bugging me.

[Vanquish]

Quitting smoking was the best thing I ever did. I smoked for 4 years (started when I was 16 when I joined the army, I'm 20 now). I quit 6 months ago when I started dating a non-smoker, still with her. :)

I *still* have cravings. But I think that's because I still inhale tabacco smoke every now and then. I smoke weed habitually (say once a week with some friends), and they always put a pinch of tabacco in with their weed. I wish they wouldn't, but they're convinced it gets them higher and makes the joint bigger. After that for a day or so whenever I see someone smoking I get a craving. Not nearly as bad as it was when I smoked or during the first couple weeks afterwards, but it's still enough to be annoying.

Anyone who smokes should quit. There is no point to it.

[typeA]

the antidepressent Welbutrin is supposed to help some.

[Yesbama]

i hate smoking and people who smoke around non-smokers, like jen said, smokers won't quit for anything having to do with their own health. My mom smoked during all three pregnancies with us and her and my dad smoke in the house/car, etc. It horrible and as long as it's "socially acceptable" it will continue. Smokers need to be treated like they are a servere inconvenience and the absolute definition of inconsideration (esp. if they smoke around other people). There's no excuse what so ever.

[Rodert]

i smoked chronically for four years and recently quit. when someone smokes for a time (how long i do not know, let's say for the sake of argument, 1 year), after quitting they begin to reduce their risk of cancer, but this risk will obviously not go down to zero. i would say that if you smoke for x years, real comfort of mind concerning cancer would be after not smoking for 2x years subsequent.

if you wanna quit, just quit. it will suck and yes you will want a cig, but you will not die and your body will thank you in the long run. nicotine patches and gum and all that shit has its own efficacy, but if you really wanna quit, just use some will power and be a man about it.

there is a medication just released called chantix that was developed for the sole purpose of helping people quit smoking. it acts like a nicotine antagonist and will actually sit on the nicotine receptors in the brain. this reduces the cravings produced from cigarette withdrawal and in fact, if you were to actually smoke a cigarette while taking the drug, the nicotine cannot bind. pretty cool. if you really have trouble quitting this may really help people, but expect to spend about $100/month for 2-3 months depending on whether you do 1 or 2 regimens.

deciding to quit smoking is the smartest way to make up for the stupidity of starting. it's hard but it's well worth it. and yes, i miss those cigs from time to time, especially if i've been drinking, but cancer is real and it will fucking kill you, so yeah, word.

[bergenhell]

Quitting smoking was the best thing I ever did. I smoked for 4 years (started when I was 16 when I joined the army, I'm 20 now). I quit 6 months ago when I started dating a non-smoker, still with her. :)

I *still* have cravings. But I think that's because I still inhale tabacco smoke every now and then. I smoke weed habitually (say once a week with some friends), and they always put a pinch of tabacco in with their weed. I wish they wouldn't, but they're convinced it gets them higher and makes the joint bigger. After that for a day or so whenever I see someone smoking I get a craving. Not nearly as bad as it was when I smoked or during the first couple weeks afterwards, but it's still enough to be annoying.

Anyone who smokes should quit. There is no point to it.

army... weed.... oh, canadian army. carry on.

[WorldRunner]

the antidepressent Welbutrin is supposed to help some.

It does...

My friend used that after his doctor told him it's the only thing available that has a good success rate (including patch, gum, etc)

My friend who had smoked 1-1.5 packs a day for 10 years quit for a month... but all it took was a stressful road trip for him to stop at a gas station and by "Just one pack"

That was 3 months ago and he's back on it now so he probably will smoke for life now. So it helped him quit... but he ended up going back.

The downside to welbutrin is it is ridiculously expensive... If I remember right he paid $100 for his RX....also it doesn't start working for 10 days so you can't just quit the day you get your RX.

[Vanquish]

army... weed.... oh, canadian army. carry on.

1 third of the last rotation we sent to Afghanistan failed their drug tests. Most for weed, a lot for cocaine and other drugs. They sent em anyway. So long as you're not fucked up while you're doing your job the army couldn't care less for the most part.

[dys]

get off his nuts and let him do what he wants. he'll quit when he wants to.

[Breaker]

i hate smoking and people who smoke around non-smokers, like jen said, smokers won't quit for anything having to do with their own health. My mom smoked during all three pregnancies with us and her and my dad smoke in the house/car, etc. It horrible and as long as it's "socially acceptable" it will continue. Smokers need to be treated like they are a servere inconvenience and the absolute definition of inconsideration (esp. if they smoke around other people). There's no excuse what so ever.

no excuse except that nicotine is more addictive than heroine and cocaine combined ( although the withdrawl is not nearly as bad )

I've quit for a year before, but i only did it to try to get my brothers and parents to quit. I started smoking again but i've switched from newports and marlboro lights to the american spirit tobacco that you roll up. It doesn't taste as good as newports but it is additive free (not addictive free), you have to roll your cig whenever you want a smoke, and i smoke a lot less. this stuff also comes in packs but i preffer to roll them since it means i need to put a small amount of effort into smoking a cig. Plus its a lot cheaper to buy a can or bag of it for $13 that will last over a week instead of buying a pack every day.

[Rodert]

you can get american spirits in packs in ohio. even though they are additive free doesn't really mean shit though man, they are still very bad for your lungs and will cause cancer all the same.

[AntioK]

i hate smoking and people who smoke around non-smokers, like jen said, smokers won't quit for anything having to do with their own health. My mom smoked during all three pregnancies with us and her and my dad smoke in the house/car, etc. It horrible and as long as it's "socially acceptable" it will continue. Smokers need to be treated like they are a servere inconvenience and the absolute definition of inconsideration (esp. if they smoke around other people). There's no excuse what so ever.

lol fuck off. I can understand if you don't want somebody smoking in your house or even your car, but if you're in neutral territory and you don't like that somebody is smoking, then move away from them and let them enjoy their delicious cancer stick without being bothered.


Just for this post im gonna smoke an entire pack in a room of as many non smokers as possible tonight.


As for the topic at hand, these things are the absolute devil, and i firmly believe the tobacco companies employ the most evil scum on the planet, that said the marlboro man has me by the balls and has for quite some time. Im slowing down, about 2 packs every 3 days of my favorite marlboro milds.

I've heard that the addiction is supposed to be "over" in 4 days and its all mental after that, however i don't believe that at all and i'd like to know what asshole came up with that. I quit for 3 months starting on my 21st birthday last year, but after a stressful semester i sparked back up at a end of the semester celebration as a "reward"(i really am an asshole sometimes) to myself, the cravings were getting much better by that 3 month point but they still wern't going away entirely. I'm gonna be biting the bullet soon and going at it again, cold turkey with a couple hundred packs of trident. Ugh this is gonna suck.

[Neuro]

for all the people who are saying he/she/i "quit for x"... you never quit anything until you don't do it again.

no excuse except that nicotine is more addictive than heroine and cocaine combined ( although the withdrawl is not nearly as bad )

lol, you've obviously never tried coke or dope. but then again it's different for everyone...

[beast]

didn't read the rest of the thread, but my dad is a doctor and he has told my friends something to that effect before. however, he said it's best to go ahead and quit of course. i don't recommend telling people how to live their lives.

[Vanquish]

Cold turkey is the only way to quit smoking. Otherwise, with the gum and such, you're just prolonging the period of nicotine intake, and prolonging the cravings. You have to change your habits so that you avoid situations that normally induced a craving. Be it having a smoke with your morning coffee, to smoking while you drive, to just about anything. At least for a week or two try to change your routine so that you avoid the daily reminders that used to trigger your cravings.

Neuro: You may not have quit something until you never do it again, but spending 1000 bucks a month on lottery tickets and 10 bucks a month on lottery tickets is the difference between a problem gambler and a responsible gambler. I 'quit' smoking 6 months ago, I still have cravings, I still inhale tabacco smoke in joints about once a week, but I don't buy packs and I haven't had a cigarette in 6 months. Can I say I quit? Not 100%, but for all intents and purposes I have.

[Phazex3375]

smoked pack/day since i was 15 up till two months ago. patch for the win.

I notice the quality of girls you can get goes WAY up. Gf i have now said she wouldn't have even considered me if i smoked.

Also i still have one now and again when im drunk. So i don't consider that i quit. But honestly, i don't smell like shit all the time, i taste things again, and the psychological dependence is far gone (driving, morning coffee mentality)

But yeah it's all up to the individual person. My cousin recently quit also after she saw how i could do it. People doubt themselves to much, and 95% of smokers i know say they want to quit every day.

[Gogeta]

my dad smoked for 15-16 years, and quit in 1 day. (no lie)
the next week, he became a much nicer person.
I'd encourage the quit.