Wow, do you still smoke?

[Digger]

I think some brands hit $40 AUD here these days, but cheapest are about $20 upwards. I don’t smoke, never have as I was a keen speafisherman from early teens and needed all the breathe I could muster.

 

We had lunch with a woman dying from cancer on Sunday and I can tell you that is not the way you want to go! Mum died from it too and I watched her every bit of the way. It’s bloody awful!

 

A Muso mate of mine had the whole roof of his mouth removed because he smoked and boy did that change his life!

 

Anyway congratulations to all here that have quit.

[dustymars]

My wife and I quit smoking 38 years ago and now gag if near someone who smokes. Several close friends are gone from lung cancer. It is not a pleasant way to die.

[Pinch]

I lost my first wife to lung cancer in 2011 at the age of 45. I don't know if she smoked a pack a day...maybe close to it. She also smoked weed. A lot of weed. A lot has been said about using weed as a multi faceted cancer treatment; some say it's just to help the pain, some say it helps the nausea from chemo, some will claim it CURES cancer.

 

Um, nope.

 

She began having chest pains in September, a biopsy confirmed cancer in late October, a visit to a cancer center in late November confirmed Stage 4, and she died January 6th. Smoked Marlboros and weed right up until the last day.

 

Yet I kept on smoking for another three years.

 

My new wife quit cold turkey in January 2013 and I eventually followed suit in spite of me being asymptomatic; I had no cough, seemingly no shortness of breath, etc. I felt great. However I also realized it's not just a matter of shaving X amount of years off your life from smoking. Nope, there are things like limb amputation, bladder cancer, stroke, heart attack, all those lovely things. I could picture myself going to the doctor for a routine visit and walking out with an oxygen tank I didn't plan on acquiring that day. Then it's too late. That's when you would give any amount of money, throw your $50,000 collection of Gibsons and Martins into a pile, push the Corvette off a bridge, just to be able to go back in time and snuff that cigarette out. And to then tell your children, your wife, your MOTHER that life is going to be a lot different from now on and maybe we should plan vacations months ahead instead of years ahead. Maybe just the ONE year subscription to Reader's Digest and not the three year. And at some point you won't even want to buy green bananas.

 

The thought of waiting for the results of an X ray or biopsy, plus watching videos of smiling people adjusting to life with their new portable oxygen tanks scared the crap out of me, so I quit.

 

Wow. Thanks for sharing.

 

I doubt there's anything in weed that aids the treatment of cancer... Maybe it'll make you forget about the chemo or whatever for a bit. I really don't think it's a miracle drug for anything but not giggling and, in time, slowing down your thought processes if you smoke habitually. Lungs weren't designed to acommodate smoke of any kind.

 

That said, and even for someone who doesn't partake, I approve of legalization. Hell, I drink wine every now and then, and I cannot come up with a single argument why one should be legal and the other one not. It's a tired argument, I know, but it's usually coming from people who smoke weed, and I don't, so maybe my argument carries some weight? I dunno. I can't get worked up about it.

 

Lung cancer - not the way to go. Hell, even Slash quit (and went on Swedish snus. I dunno how much it is over there. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus).

[Retired]

I lost a coworker friend who smoked a lot. We carpooled together and between him and his wife, they went through a carton per week if I remember. Maybe it was more? Anyway, when one cigarette was burned out, another one was lit. He coughed a lot and thought he had Bronchitis real bad, fact was, he was eaten up with cancer and I visited him in the Hospital untill he died. He looked like a skeleton with skin draped over. Then we visited his wife and she was doing the same thing...burning one right after another. That was decades back and I'd imagine she's been gone too. Cancer is a horrid way to go.

[Dub-T-123]

Unfortunately I still do.

But considering at one time, I was up to almost 5 packs a day, but down to maybe 3/4 of a pack, I am cutting down.

Being in construction, I built a suite for RJ tabaco, and they would give me cases, ( not cartons ) but cases of cigarettes , so because I had them of course I smoked them.

When the seven or eight cases ran out, I realized ,”Damn” now I have to pay for these damn smokes.

When you consider that a single cigarette will burn out in 7 min without any one touching it, I litterally had a cigarette in my hand day and night.

But one thing I never do, is smoke inside my house or any one else’s house.

Plus when you’re working in construction, you can usually smoke all day while you work. I see a bunch of guys doing this

 

I don’t smoke cigarettes anymore, still like the ganj though

[brc]

Plus when you’re working in construction, you can usually smoke all day while you work. I see a bunch of guys doing this

 

I don’t smoke cigarettes anymore, still like the ganj though

 

That’s true, working outside does have some advantages if you still smoke.

Granted, that was many years ago that I was working high rise buildings, and you could get away with a lot more back then, plus being 40/50 floors up in the air, what are they going to do about it.

But I have cut down considerably .

[ocdman]

ive never smoked so im glad that's one habit i didn't pick up. My wife smokes and she is trying to quit. she has cut down on how much she smokes

[D-28]

Does Crack count?

[RevDavidLee]

I quit smoking everything back in 2012. I quit cold turkey with no patches or anything. I finally just had enough. I had terrible headaches for about 7 days probably from withdrawals then I was done. For good. Never felt the need to start up again. I think the key is just simply making up your mind that you're done. I smoked cigarettes and weed most of my life prior to that. I'm lucky (so far) to have not gotten lung cancer or emphysema or COPD. I hope it stays that way!

[Retired]

1521118834[/url]' post='1923939']

Not cigarettes.

 

Yes, drinking and smoking but mostly smoking all day long. He reaked of cigarette smoke on his clothes. When it was ruled you couldn't smoke in the car pool by another guy, 3 guys went nuts on the way home and had a cigarette in their mouth waiting for the car to stop so they could light up. One guy would jump out every time before the car stopped.

[Tman]

Unless you are a deaf and dumb person on this planet you will have had drilled into you the dangers of smoking and second hand smoke and that it causes death. So any senscient being would know that what they are doing is not good for them and can cause their demise. If they really want to do it they will pay the money to do it. Dennis are you calling them out because they choose to tempt death or because they spend more money than you think they should for the habit (addiction)?

[badbluesplayer]

No 'rettes for 25 years.

[Karloff]

thought about this thread as I walked into a convenience store last night. big sign MARLBORO $6.75 A PACK. when I quit in June of '94 (cold turkey) I was up to 3 packs a day. if I was still lighting up 3 packs a day at current prices, we're talking $600 a month. just crazy. How does anyone afford them these days ?

[RevDavidLee]

This thread got me to thinking - one of the dangers of playing gigs for over 35 years was the 2nd hand smoke from the patrons at the bars we played in. It wasn't all that long ago in my state when smoking in clubs & restaurants was stopped. When I think of all the smoke all of us inhaled from thousands of people over all those years - it wouldn't have mattered in one respect if you yourself didn't smoke. Our clothes, our gear and our lungs were under constant assault. It's a miracle many of us are still alive. FYI - a pack of Marlboro reds - which was my brand when I smoked - is $8.50 per pack now here. And our state legislature is contemplating adding a $1.50 tax per pack on top of that. For many reasons I'm very happy I was able to stop.

[Karloff]

Rev, you're right. not only was I chain smoking, but the bars I'd play in were thick with smoke. when I'd get in at 2 or 3 in the morning my wife would make me throw all my clothes in the washer before coming to bed. even then my hair smelled like an ashtray. my gig bag & guitar cases all smelled like cigarettes.

[Dennis G]

Dennis are you calling them out because they choose to tempt death or because they spend more money than you think they should for the habit (addiction)?

Wasn't so much "calling them out" as it was just a shock to me what the cost of a pack of cigarettes is these days.

[Pin]

I must be one of the few on here that still smoke.

 

You know what - I like it!

[Karloff]

I must be one of the few on here that still smoke.

 

You know what - I like it!

 

 

You ain't no quitter.

 

Have at it Pin ! lol.

I only quit because I was waking up feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest.

[eldorado2001]

I quit cigs in 1980, and gave up weed a few weeks ago. I'm amazed at how much better I feel since quitting pot.

[Karloff]

I quit cigs in 1980, and gave up weed a few weeks ago. I'm amazed at how much better I feel since quitting pot.

 

I quit getting high 4/16/94. Hardest thing I ever did. Quitting everything else was simple compared to that.

[RevDavidLee]

I quit getting high 4/16/94. Hardest thing I ever did. Quitting everything else was simple compared to that.

 

I hear ya Karloff - I have a cousin who lives in Maui. I can no longer visit him I could not resist if I were there. He's a legal grower too.... I hate him now..

 

Not really. But I still cannot visit him

[Dave1963]

I was in New York in February and was struck by how few people were smoking. In the UK, almost very bar/pub will have people standing outside smoking. There did seem to be a lot of weed about though as walking around the smell of it was quite noticeable.

[LarryUK]

My ex and her son smoke and the amount of money per week is staggering. They spend about £140 ($195) a WEEK on them! That is a mortgage. The other thing is, look at the tax the government take from them. They take £100 ($139)of the £140 here in the UK. Shocking.

[ksdaddy]

The cost of smoking was never a deterrent for me. When I started smoking at the beginning of 7th grade (1972), I got 35 cents lunch money a day. A pack of cigarettes was 42 cents. I tried to maintain a little stash of pocket change so I could cover the difference. I skipped lunch altogether for several school years. Up until the early 80s, all brands were the same price so it didn't matter. When "A Grade" cigarettes hit $1.50 a pack or so, some generic brands popped up for 99 cents. I ignored them until the spread got wider....my Camel non filters and Lucky Strikes were up to $3.50 a pack and the generic ones were well under $2.00. Suddenly they were more appealing. Never during that time did I smoke less or consider quitting, I just opted for the cheaper brand more and more. By around 2005 or 2010, very few people were buying Camels and Luckies because of the cost. If I was in the unfortunate situation of being at a store where my only choice for non filters was Camels, I would cringe because I knew I was going to pay $8 or $9 and they would be old and dried out.

 

Over the years I would roll my own too. I don't know how much money I actually saved. I had one of the old Bugler canvas and metal rollers that was fine on the kitchen table but wasn't fun to try to roll one up in the car or inside a school desk. Later on I got one of those little pocket Rizla rollers, which worked great. I never could roll by hand. Never. I could roll something up and smoke it but it only vaguely resembled a cigarette. It looked more like a wad of tissue that I set fire to.

 

Nowadays people have some pretty fancy rolling machines; they buy cigarette tubes with the filters already on, and the cigarette shops sell tobacco in big bags. They market cigarette tobacco as "pipe tobacco" so it falls under a lower tax rate.

 

As I sit here, there's my father's 1981 Martin M-38 leaning up in a corner about 8 feet away. I know when I pick it up, it will still faintly smell of my old habit and HIS old habit, even though he's been gone almost 20 years.

[Bronx]

I quit smoking January, 1986 and still get a craving every once in a while. I'll never smoke again but it's weird that all these years later every now and then I get this thing in my head that a cigarette would taste good. However, when I pass by someone who's smoking the smell is pretty repulsive. Sorry now that I once did that to others.

 

When I started smoking cigarettes were 35¢ a pack at the corner store. If I ran out and had to buy a pack at the local bar I would ***** about the price because they were 65¢ in their machine.

 

Bronx