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Did you or do you smoke?

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I'm a leper smoker.
I have been one for 16 years. I average about half a pack a day,...
I had not thought about that winter thing, hmmm... maybe starting any sort of habit along these lines might not be the best for me after all. I have a meager income besides. I have no clue what vaping would cost, but I can imagine smoking would most certainly be out of my budget, from what you are telling me here in terms of prices. WOW!
 
just for the record, cigarettes cost about 50 cents per pack when I first started smoking. That was decades and decades ago, obviously! LOL...
Hee I remember my first "real" job, a cashier at a drugstore, and selling cigs for 2.11 a pack....... And that was considered pricey!
-Now that I think about it, it's kinda weird that they'd let a 16 year old sell stuff that is illegal till age 18. I don't think they'd allow that anymore.
 
However, the day I took a puff off of one of my father's cigars
Oh no, you didn't INHALE, did you?? I had a friend grab a cigar once and I was totally cool and not taking in all the smoke.... while we had "Mr Sophisticated" vomiting it up at the end of the night eewwww.
Sorry for the gross anecdote but it is one of those experiences that remains vivid in my memory.
 
Hee I remember my first "real" job, a cashier at a drugstore, and selling cigs for 2.11 a pack..........
Actually, they let an 18 year old work in a bar here in town, and our drinking age is 21. That was about 2 years ago, but that bar closed, so who knows, but maybe that was why it closed, even.
 
I am wondering how many of us smoke. If you did or do smoke, what made you start? If you have quit, what helped you to quit? How long have you smoked, if you do? Have you tried to quit, but failed? Have you tried to quit a number of times even?

- Started @17 when I enlisted.
- Quit when I was pregnant, until my OB had me start again.
- Quit during my divorce, because if things were going to suck I wanted it to be my fault / somewhat under my control (I also remodeled my kitchen).
- Started again a few years later, about the same time I registered here. 10NOV2014

but that bar closed, so who knows, but maybe that was why it closed, even.
Selling, serving, and pouring ages all vary by state.

In my state anyone who is legal aged to work (14-16) can sell, 18 to serve, 21 to pour.
 
Tried my first one in the 4th grade that I stole from my dad's pack. Years later I did it again, but he finally caught on by marking the filters with a felt tip pen.

Started smoking on a regular basis in 10th grade and didn't stop until May 1, 2007. I had to hide it from my parents, and of course, as we eventually learn, spraying all that shit to try to mask it just makes it worse. lol

I eventually tired of not being able to breathe when I climbed steps, tired of my hair, hands, and clothes smelling like smoke, tired of having to always leave some of my favorite people and moments to go smoke, tired of scraping change together or digging for butts, tired of coughing up at least half a lung each morning when I woke up, and tired of being given the stink eye when I was standing outside smoking at all the places that no longer allowed smoking.

One year for my b-day, my now husband was trying to take me out to dinner, but most of the restaurants were no longer allowing smoking and I realized just how incredibly hooked I was when we drove all over town to finally find one that did.

I had convinced myself for decades that it was the best and least expensive legal nerve tonic to be found, until I started getting on my own nerves with it. lol Then I paid more attention to the long term effects of some of the old school smokers around me and decided it was time to get serious about quitting.

I tried using the nicotine patches free of charge through a stop smoking program via the state agency I worked for, but they made me feel way too pukey and jittery. Then I tried the gum and it made me feel pukey but not jittery and tasted pretty gross. I had a friend who tried the chantix prescription and had pretty bad side effects, so I was hesitant to go that route.

An extra incentive at the time was that I was dating my now husband who didn't mind me smoking, but I had to do it outside at his place because of his kids. We dated 5 years and were planning to get married and I was wanting to be a better example for the kids as well as not wanting to have to freeze my ass off in the winter once we moved in together.

I planned my quit date two weeks ahead of time and slowly tapered off. I looked at pictures of smoker's lungs, learned more about the other ingredients besides tobacco and nicotine that I'd never paid any attention to before, read about the changes in the body over time as you quit, etc.

My very last one was on May 1st with my morning coffee. Later that night, on my way home from work (where I had to dodge smokers all night and had students and co-workers begging me to smoke and offering to buy them for me), I stopped and grabbed a pack of menthols. I hated the taste of those, so I figured I wouldn't be tempted, but wanted an "emergency pack" on hand, resisting letting that security blanket go, I suppose.

Knowing it was there kept me awake, so I went and opened the pack, took one out, sniffed it repeatedly, grabbed the lighter, and in that moment decided I wasn't going to let those f*ckers kick my ass and took the pack outside and tossed it in the dumpster. I refused to go dumpster diving for a smoke and finally fell asleep.

The next two months were hell, but I made it with chewing gum, candy, celery, carrot, and red pepper sticks, chewed on straws, pens, pencils, fingernails, ate more food, reese cups and hershey bars, gained more weight, etc. It was the hardest thing I ever tried to do (until I changed to whole foods plant-based vegan eating and gave up highly processed foods, caffeine, and alcohol...lol).

I have friends who smoke organic tobacco without all the additives and such, but more for occasional ceremonial purposes rather than as a coping mechanism like I used to do. I've also seen some various interesting herbal blends, minus cannabis, but I haven't tried any. I personally feel cannabis should be allowed in each home for anyone interested, either via juicing, cooking, oil, tincture, or smoking. However one prefers. So many benefits for so many dis-eases.
 
I started smoking the day I turned 18. On the day of my birthday I walked down to the gas station, bought a pack of cigarettes, went back home and smoked one. And then kept smoking for years.. almost 11 years now, it has been. It did help back then, the instant and habitual stress relief.. though it was because I was losing oxygen supply to my brain.
 
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