Explain something to me about smoking, please.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

We're democrats. We're against corporate welfare and giving to the RNC. But there are a ton of DUers who smoke. How can you smoke with a good conscience KNOWING that besides killing yourself slowly, you are helping to keep Bush in the White House. I just wish someone could tell me why, knowing all that you know, that everyone doesn't try like hell to quit, or at the very least, slow down. And plus, I like you guys. It'd be nice to have more of you around for a lot longer. :) I swear this post isn't to belittle anyone who smokes. I just really want to know why.
Duckie

[Osama_Bin_Winnin]

1. Smoke for a year or so then try quitting and you'll understand.

I quit 9 weeks ago and I've never been nastier. I feel almost like a republican

[realisticphish]

2. thats ok

just go beat some homeless people, and get it out of your system...

welcome to DU!


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[Bernardo de La Paz]

37. Stay Quit. It does get better.

Stay quit. In the long run, you will feel more capable and less nasty and you will enjoy life more than when your stress hormones are running up and down in anti-cycle response to nicotine levels. With a steady level (zero nicotine level), ultimately you will be less nasty than you have ever been.

Stay quit. You can do it.

[freetobegay]

3. I can't stand people who bitch about people that smoke!

If I knew 30 years ago what I know today, I would not smoke! But thats not the case. I have tried to quit & have been unsuccessful.

My insurance won't help me quit, but when I get a fatal illness that will cost up wards close to a million then they will talk to me. Why don't you work on that problem.

[dflprincess]

4. I'm addicted

Both to the nicotine and the habit. Whenever I've quit I'll get through the physical withdrawal and then it's always the habit cigarettes that push me off the wagon. go through the litany of why I shouldn't smoke everyday - health (itemizing everything it does to a person), costs (why not just set some money on fire?) - and it is offensive.

However, I never thought about it helping Bush* - I'll add that to the litany, maybe that will be the final straw for me.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

40. Just do it. You can do it.

Just do it. This is not warm-and-fuzzy speak or a drill sargeant barking. Everyone who has quit has done so by deciding to do it. Decide to do it. Get a buddy to help you. Then cut down as much as you can on your own without undue stress. Then go onto that level of nicotine by patches to break the finger habit, the puff habit, and the smell habit. Once those are broken, take a two week vacation and quit cold turkey. Pamper yourself with good food that you will be able to taste like you've never tasted before.

Do whatever it takes that is legal and ethical and harms nobody. Make the decision and do it.

Bless you for quitting.

[salinen]

5. Sure

And everyone who lives in a metropolitan area better move, because the air is foul in cities.

[AngryAmish]

6. Smoking is awesome

It gives you something to do with your hands. It allows instant bonding with people you do not know. It gives you something to do when sitting alone in public so you do not look like such a doofus. Plus it is soothing.

Quitting was hard, but not really that bad for me. I used the gum for about three weeks. I still smoke the occasional cigar, and a smoke or two when out drinking, but four months on it is ok.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

18. That soothing feeling?

It's the dopamine in your brain being triggered when you feed the addiction. It's not really the cigarette. You can get the same rush from Antidepressants.
Duckie

[AngryAmish]

39. When I can smoke Prozak, I will

No doubt nicotine does pleasurable things to one's brain chemistry. That is why people smoke, drink, have sex and do dangerous things.

[belladonna]

7. Okay, a serious answer to your question

I no longer smoke, though I've been on and off the wagon more times than I can count and lately I'm tipping towards falling off again. I think that the reason you see so many DU'ers who are smokers are because MOST of us started young, as teenagers. Teenagers don't think about who owns the tobacco companies and the politics of the entire thing. They start smoking for much simpler reasons, they get addicted and by the time they're of an age to understand, well, it's too damn late. That's MY best guess anyway :shrug:

[Droopy]

14. That is the case with me

I had my first cigarette when I was 11 (stolen from my dad), and I started smoking regularly when I was 16. I started because all the people around me were smoking and I wanted to see what it was all about. I found it to be quite pleasureable and I was hooked.

[belladonna]

Same here

I used to pilfer my Dad's Pall Mall unfiltered cigs from him :puke:, starting when I was around 10 years old. I didn't care who made them or who profited or any of that, and by the time I did care, I was hopelessly hooked

[Dookus]

8. According to Fran Lebowitz...

"Smoking is fun. Smoking is cool. Smoking is, as far as I'm concerned, the whole point of being an adult."

[olddem43]

9. As an ex-smoker myself, I can testify that smokers are

simply victims of the tobacco industry. Once hooked, it is very, very difficult or nearly impossible to quit. I finally managed to quit myself with mostly the thought that those bastards weren't going to kill me while taking my money at the same time.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

10. I've heard

addiction to nicotine is as hard to quit as addiction to heroin.

I am married to a smoker. I can tell you from watching him it is hard as hell to quit.

One thing though: the person has to REALLY REALLY want to quit in order for it to work. And it's a one day at a time kind of thing. If the person doesn't really truly want it badly enough, it's not going to work. That holds true for just about any addiction.

I pass no judgement and I presume you don't either? It's a vice, addiction is like a monkey on your back. We all have our vices, some are just more visible than others.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

20. Nope, I'm not passing judgement...

I'm really just asking innocently. No bullshit.
Duckie

[Lasira]

11. I don't smoke personally, but

the Dems I know who do smoke quote Denis Leary to you in explanation.

"They're a drug, we're addicted, ok!?"

[Droopy]

12. It's a serious addiction

There's no way I can help you relate to how hard it is to quit unless you've been a drug addict yourself. It's even harder than some hardcore drugs to quit. I have a friend who used cocaine heavily for a year. He also smokes cigarettes. He was able to drop the cocaine no problem and has been free of it for about a year. But he can't stop smoking cigarettes. Nicotine has got to be one of the most addictive substances on the face of the planet.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

45. You're right

I did cocaine heavily for quite a while, as in I did it when I woke up in the morning and I did it all day long at work, etc. I stopped because I was taking an unpaid internship. I was basically tired for a couple days and wanted it, but I didn't have any problems stopping. I've done it since socially and have had no problems. Very few smokers I know manage to successfully quit. The only other substance I've seen people have an equally hard time with is heroin...I don't even know why people try that. I've lost too many people to it.

[Leilani]

13. I hate when Dems are politically correct!

I am a smoker...I choose to smoke...I live in America....I am free to make these choices...Got it?

Love your puppy....he is beautiful!!! I am looking at MAYBE getting a bulldog. Is he sweet & loyal? I am looking for a lazy couch potato lover of a dog.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

21. I honestly found him on the internet...

I was looking for something cute to replace the pic of the drowned rat Cat that I used to have in my sig line. I'm sure he is loyal and sweet. I have a friend from high school that had one. I honestly suggest you going to your local humane shelter and getting a dog. They are the best, most of the time. Pure breeds are great, but the ones who need homes end up being way better pets and loyal out the wazoo.
Duckie

[likesmountains 52]

15. quitting

Sure, quitting is hard...but what was harder for me was pushing my hairless (from chemotherapy) hacking (from 40 years of smoking Kools) mother outside of her hospice in a wheelchair so she could have one more cigarette. That kind of gave me the incentive I needed to quit.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

22. Welcome to DU.

I also watched my father die of smoking related illness, and it's not a fund thing to do. I'm glad you quit. Good job.
Duckie

[Vanje]

16. Its an addiction tied inextricably with depression....

...(Thats why you get so mean and nasty and all republican-like when you quit.)

I used to smoke AND dip snuff similtaeneously! For like 20 years!

I quit many times and would cheat and when the depression hit.
3 years ago it finally took. But I had to confront my depression straight on. The good news is, I dont even remotely want a smoke or a dip of snuff.

If I can quit, anyone can.
Its absolutely the most worthwhile project I've ever done.

An online community called Quitnet was a valuable resource. So was Zyban.

Edward Abbey wrote about the fascists : "At least we'll outlive the bastards!"
Unfortunately, Ed, in fact didnt.

[NeoConsSuck]

19. About the depression..

I did quit cold turkey for 40 days. And damn, was the depression really bad. Every day I would come home and sit frozen on my living room couch. I then had a 5 day relapse, and I am now 35 days quit. *BUT*, I am still taking in nicotine through patches, gum & inhaler. The hell with the cold turkey.

I don't want to go on anti-depressants (again). I'll just try to wean myself slowly off the nicotine, but I'm in no rush.

Does nicotine harm the heart or the circulatory system?

[Vanje]

29. Nicotine is pretty much bad for the circ system

Sorry.

You might consider a months supply of Zyban, just to tide you over.
Its used for depression AND smoking cessation. Its not cheating. Suffering sucks.

It dosnt knock out libido like some of the other antidepressants.

[NeoConsSuck]

17. Because Nicotine is addictive...

I'm smoke-free for 35 days now, although I'm still on the nicotine patches.

The best website to help you quit smoking is www.quitnet.com, and what's more, it's free to join, with an option to sign up for their premium service, which isn't really needed.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

23. Keep up the good work...

Once that nicotine gets out of your system, you'll do great. Good luck you guys that are trying to quit. I'll keep sending good vibes and prayer your way.
Duckie

[Catholic Sensation]

25. start drinking, it will take your mind off smoking

;)

get on aim duckie :P

[tcfrogs]

24. A lot of the $$$ we pay goes to taxes

Yes, we smokers are indirectly funding RNC interests. I don't know exactly what the breakdown is anymore, but I do know we pay a hell of a lot of taxes to local/state/fed governments for our "sins".

[Catholic Sensation]

26. sin tax is a stupid term for cigarette taxes

prolonged suicide tax would be more apt.

[tcfrogs]

27. Don't blame me!

I didn't start naming it a sin tax :)

[Catholic Sensation]

28. just saying it's a stupid term in general

agreeing with you when you said "sin" only being less subtle about my opinion of the term.

[johnnie]

30. I like smoking

And I don't think I support the shrub by doing so. That's like saying if you drive a car you support big oil and the killing of thousands of innocent Iraqi people.
If I die next week from smoking, then so be it. It's better than being hit by a bus and living for a month with your legs plowed up your ass.

[JitterbugPerfume]

31. I am a proud Ex-smoker

but I am sure that I inhale enough smoke from my friends that I still get my "daily dose" <sigh>

[Bernardo de La Paz]

36. You've never seen someone die from smoking

It takes more than a month to die from cancer or emphysema. A heart attack may be quicker in the instant, but the after-effects can last for more than a month. Care to have your sternum bone sawn open and your ribs cracked for a bypass? A stroke can destroy your powers of speech or locomotion or your personality for the rest of your life.

All of those feel more or less worse than your legs plowed up your ass. When you experience it, you won't much care about the exact difference. Unfortunately, if you smoke, they are way more likely than being hit by a a bus.

[onebigbadwulf]

32. We're democrats - we're about sympathy

We understand addictions go beyond personal responsibility. We sympathize with those who battle the 'disease' of addiction. If a smoker starts smoking before the age of 18, it is almost impossible for he or she to quit.

As a democrat instead of battling those who are already smokers, we aim to deter future smokers. We do this through anti-smoking campaigns, and anti-tobacco legislature. Not by harassing current smokers for supporting GW Bush

[ElsewheresDaughter]

44. yup yup yup .....you're suppose to be nice to people who are dying......

that's what my momma always told me...so be nice to me!

nicotine: : a poisonous alkaloid C10H14N2 that is the chief active principle of tobacco and is used as an insecticide

[UTUSN]

33. I Smoked 30 Yrs and Quit 10 Years Ago

and if I get old, I'm gonna smoke AGAIN!!!!! n/t

[ScreamingMeemie]

34. Here's the something...it's highly addictive.

I also don't see it as supporting Bush anymore than I see viewing a movie with Republican supporting actors as supporting Bush...or driving a gas eating car as supporting Bush. Smoking is an addiction and most who smoke have a hard time quitting. :hi:

[Bake]

35. I"m a total addict!

I've quit a number of times. The last time, I had a patch on my arm, was chewing a piece of Nicorette, and went outside for a smoke!

I suppose the reason I've never managed to quit is that I always did it for the wrong reasons -- for other people, etc. I didn't really WANT to quit.

Bake
Smoke 'em if you've got 'em.

[asthmaticeog]

46. Seriously, never do that again!

A patch on, chewing the gum AND smoking? Consuming that much nicotine at once can seriously mess up your heart. And quickly, too, not down the road.

Besides, the gum and patches haven't worked for me for shit, anyway. Next time I quit, it's cold-turkey, probably with Xyban so I don't rip peoples' heads off -- withdrawl makes a nasty MF out of me.

*lights one up*

[dolo amber]

38. Yes

And that, almost more than anything, is what finally made me quit for good a couple months ago.

Wellbutrin is my friend. ;)

[jukes]

41. ADDICTION!

it's a hard habit to break. quit for four years. took 1 hit 1 day, back to 2+ pax a day.

will try again soon.




besides, i have lot's more than that to feel guilty about!

[Nevernose]

42. Kids have no concept of mortality - more addictive than heroin

Seemed like a great idea when I was 13. Of course, now I'm 30, and it doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore. I freak out when they're unavailable, I wake up coughing, I'm going to die of heart disease or cancer, and THE MONEY -- dear God -- THE MONEY I spend on these fuckers.

Studies have shown that nicotine is 20-30 times more addictive than heroin, btw. I even knew this when I started, but hell, when you're a kid, somewhere deep inside you truly think you're immortal; there's really no true concept of mortality there.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

43. addiction ....i'm a friggen nicotine junkie plain and simple..i hate it!

god help me cuz i can't quit...i'm 51 and have tried many times ...even tho stanley rosenblatt is a family friend ....sigh

[Cats Against Frist]

47. See How Deep the Fucking Rabbit Hole Goes

I smoke. I am ashamed of it. I intend to quit by Nov. 23.

However -- and I was thinking about this today -- why is it that people who always complain about stuff like this, seem to be just as wrapped up in the consumer world?

It is not just giving money to tobacco corporations that is the problem. Supporting any corporation who makes gadzillions in profits, or ones that outsource, or ones that use prurient advertising, or ones whose advertising supports dumb shows -- is going against the progressive cause.

What about pop culture? Most music -- even music that people think is pretty good (like college radio) -- is really just fucking three-chord whinny ass dogshit that serves to dumb down the appreciation for better music that is much more obscure and less commercial. What about popular books -- fantasy books, Grisham, Crichton, all that crap? Most movies are narrative, recycled bullshit that are nothing more than vehicles for star worship.

A lot of the celebrities that are helping the left are just as vacant and greedy and oblivious as anyone else. They might be on our side in a culture war, but how many of them are producing something worthwhile in return for all that money. What the fuck has Jennifer Anniston ever done or acted in that she deserves all that she has -- over a social worker or a teacher?

Everything one participates in has a political cost -- every time you eat or buy anything made or sold from a national chain has political cost.

Why do you bother to have more than one outfit? If you're so "individualistic," be a fucking Libertarian. Why do you look at "pretty" men or women? Should anyone ever be judged for their looks? Why would you buy anything new, when there's tons of stuff for $.75 sitting on the shelves at Houseworks and Goodwill? Why would you collect Chick Tracts or King Kong Lunchboxes or buy records that cost $500? Why would you pay any money for anything beyond its practical value? Better yet -- why use money at all?

What about believing in "God?" We dump on the Christian Right all the fucking time -- for being crazy fundamentalists. Why the fuck is it any less crazy to believe in a God with fewer rules? No one knows why we're here -- no one knows anything. People still cling to their mysticism, which I would argue steers us in the wrong direction, toward absolutes and constructs that are just not there.

Let me tell you a little something about this "smoker." I am in good physical health, I have three black dresses that I wear, and throw on one of two cardigans in the winter. I haven't been inside a Wal-Mart or a Burger King for years. I have gone to a shopping mall exactly five times in the last four years -- three of those times were to take my son on the merry-go-round, one time was to see the Easter Bunny, and another was to get an emergency pair of glasses at the Lenscrafters -- the only place open on Sunday. I very rarely eat foods that are not organic or are processed. I shop at thrift stores, and try to stock up on things at the farmers' market or festivals where artisans are selling things. I have trained myself never to care about physical attractiveness or ability. I almost always walk or take public transportation.

I am addicted to smoking, and have never even had the desire to quit, until now -- but the point is that myself, yourself and everyone has things that they will and will not do, for the cause. There's no end to how ascetic or puritanical that someone can become -- and I'll tell you -- I'm just about farther out there than anyone I know.

I don't mean to be hostile, but I am weak. Where my addiction to smoking starts, the cause, yes, takes a backseat. But in my estimation, just about sticking your nose out of your house -- even SHOWERING and FLUSHING THE TOILET waste resources.

If you want to have a "whose the best" warrior contest -- I'm game. But I'm warning you, I'm fairly far out there...:)

****edited to add, this is a rant in general, not directed at you, Ducky -- I believe you were just asking, I'm simply projecting...:)

[ElsewheresDaughter]

49. CAF...OMG what a wonderful post..... we have to be relatives

[otohara]

48. Same Goes For Fast Food, Beer, Soda Pop

I don't smoke anymore - I don't eat shit food from McDonalds, Burger King, Taco hell - no more Coke, Pepsi or other toxic brown liquids - don't drink alcohal much anymore either, if I do, it's Mexican beer or French wine.

First I cut all this out of my life for my health - but now it's even more gratifying to know that I'm not supporting many large GOP corporation who get people addicted to their crap and then turn around and give butt loads of money to the GOP