Smokin’ hot

I just realized that I’m one of the ancient people still smoking cigarettes.

Now, I am not going to break that habit, but I have a feeling that I may be the only one here doing it.

Or am I?

Jacob has asked for prayers around quitting smoking, and I was thinking about him yesterday wondering how he
is doing, in general because he has not been here recently that I know of, but more particularly, in regard to this issue.

@Talljake ... last post May 8, 2024

Have you noticed smoking transitioning into vaping?

Maybe it's more of a young people's thing.

I'm in a financial Discord chat with some young demographics and according to them, "everyone" is vaping in the bathrooms at school or on campuses, etc.

In another chat (with an older crowd,) one guy in his late 30's said he wanted to start because he'd heard it helps with concentration (he owns a business and has a lot on his plate.)

P.S. I see Magenta mentioned Jacob... I miss his flannel-covered posts!

I can think of at least one other member here who's asked for prayer from smoking but of course, it's up to that person whether they want to share.

I hope he doesn't... of course the tobacco companies want to get people hooked young
and vaping was new for a time and seen as less harmful when in actual fact it is not.

Nicotine is terribly addictive and incredibly difficult to give up by will power alone.

I’m so old now that I’m not pondering on quitting. It’ll just have to be just another bad habit lol.

Sorry!

I said all that to say, no judgments here!

We love you the way you are, Susanna. ❤️

We ALL have something, at least one little thing that we feel sets us apart -- whether others know about it or not.

And if anyone wants any prayer for whatever they're dealing with, please feel free to ask.

You don't even have to say what it is, just say you have a prayer request and we'll be happy to take it to God on your behalf.

Thanks a ton for your nice words. My mindset, though, isn’t quite the regular one, I have been told, so I’ll just keep on being the odd one lol.

Do you notice any side effects from it, like shortness of breath?

I have heard of people who smoke two or three packs a day and I have always wondered when they had time for that many.

I wanted to add LOL but it is not really a laughing matter...

Canada has been advertising that they want to make our country smoke free by 2035.

I have no idea how that plan is coming along...

I agree -- I'm sorry if I didn't clarify -- I was only trying to relay what I've heard some people say about vaping... I most definitely wasn't trying to encourage or promote it in any way! I've read it's even worse and more concentrated than cigarettes.

I know one of the major reasons for women to smoke (back in my day at least) was weight loss/management.

I have friends who are lifetime heavy smokers, but I feel very blessed that no one ever tried to pressure me into it.

No, I’m in good shape, but I just smoke four or five cigarettes a day.

Well, that is certainly less than I used to smoke when I was a pack-a-day.

I managed to cut down a few times over the years to three to five cigs a day...

And I do also certainly hope you never experience the debilitating side effects some do.

I have COPD as a result of smoking primarily I assume, although I had other incidents in life that severely affected my lungs as well, such as a smoke inhalation incident that put me in the hospital unconscious for half a day after which I lost my voice for a month, and another time when I lived above an abandoned store, I awoke one morning and the furnace had, um, I don't know, exploded or something? There was fine black soot all over everything and I had breathed it in and my white footed tabby cat was grey... I suppose it is a wonder that did not kill me!

That doesn’t sound healthy at all. Me, I have inhaled all sorts of chemicals and toxins over the years, but so far things are fine. What will happen when I get older I don’t know. Guess I don’t want to know.

I only know three things about it:

1 - It is said to be the hardest addiction to quit (although I don't know who went around getting every single addiction and quitting all of them to see which was hardest.) Mark Twain once said that quitting smoking was easy... He had done it a hundred times.

2 - Despite what I just said, both my parents quit smoking. They bet each other that the other would start smoking again first. Decades later they are still both not smoking, though they ARE divorced so I don't think it would matter if one did lose the bet by starting now.

3 - In hot, rainy or cold weather I feel sorry for smokers.

You are talking tobacco, not the wacky weed?

A dear parent developed a dependence opon deadly Drs from a COPD diagnosis at a small number of cigs/ day. Even though she finally quit, the Drs did not. She did much better when the addiction was overcome.

Yes, sir... and every cigarette filter has a message on it:

Individual cigarettes in Canada now have health warnings printed on them,
in addition to the anti-smoking labelling already on cigarette packages.

“Poison in every puff”
“Cigarettes cause cancer”
“Tobacco smoke harms children”
“Cigarettes damage your organs”
“Cigarettes cause impotence”
“Cigarettes cause leukemia”

Tobacco use remains one of Canada’s most significant public health problems, and is the country’s leading
preventable cause of disease and premature death, former health minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a May 31
statement announcing the new warning labels. We're the first country in the world with such a policy.

This is what you can expect to see as one of many images displayed on a pack of Canadian cigarettes:

You've gotta be Kidding!

Yikes! Those prices sound like a thriving black market will take off.

When I was 10 or so in the early 70s, my mom would give me 35 cents, and I'd ride my bike to the local gas station and get her a pack of Winstons from the cigarette vending machine.