Giving up?

[Gingermick]

Cigarettes should be illegal. To me it is illogical for someone to take a drug that has a very, very, very mild effect,, ensures that your always going to want another and has a delivery mechanism that tastes worse than a cars exhaust, reduces the bodies capacity to carry oxygen, and eventually kills you.
Gave up about 4 years ago, but I refuse to count, makes it seem like one's pining. I hate it. goddam awful sh!te.
Tho I still think that we should ban all drugs or ban none. Fags and drinking kill more people than just about anything else, but they're Ok. Its boggling.

[doug the slug]

Thinking of giving up? I gave up smoking 3Y 8M 2W 5D 48m 20s ago and have saved $8,485.63 dollars from 33,941 cigarettes not going up in smoke,

16W 5D 20h 25m of my life has been recovered.

Money saved was put aside and bought a TS, BS, Jointer, thicknesser, dust collector, timber and goodies form LV and LN (plus a bunch of items for the family).

Iv never been a smoker, so i cant give it up, i guess i will never be able to afford a ts,bs, jointer,thicknessser, dust collector and all that other stuff. i guess i will just have to settle for the triton gear. wish i was a smoker so i could give it up and be able to afford more

[Grunt]

The problem with making it illegal is that everyone who is a smoker and can't give up will become criminals. Should we put them all in jail?

The price of cigarettes will go through the roof. Those who need a fix will be forced to steal, lie and cheat to get their next fix. Real criminals will start a black market for them. They will make some real money.

There are smokers who just can't give up. My mother only stopped smoking because she had had so many small strokes she could no longer pick up a lighter let alone actually make it work. She had half a lung removed because of lung cancer 5 years before she died. Still didn't give up. Dying from smoking isn't enough to make people give up so making illegal won't either.

It is a health issue not a law enforcement issue. The quit campain is working. Less people are smoking now then ever before.

It is illegal for under 18's to smoke yet they do.

[Daddles]

Making smoking illegal will just introduce a heap of other problems, create yet another area for crims to make a buck and create more work for bods like Dan. That isn't to say that we should legalise the other drugs, it's saying, let's maintain the status quo and tackle the problem with education. It seems to be working, though not well enough as kids still take up the habit. Then again, kids drink to excess too (seen the stories on young female binge drinking?).

And in the meantime, the govt makes a motza out of it. Bit like the pokies. There's no real incentive (sorry, saving lives never rates very highly among pollies as it is always too expensive :mad: ).

Sorry, I don't see a solution except to continue educating and helping people quit. I'm not sure you can stop kids from starting as kids will always be attracted to risk and the 'naughty'. At least with alcohol and ciggies, they can legally indulge in this - to me, that surely lessens the attractiveness of the illegal drugs, even if it doesn't stop their abuse.

Richard

[goat]

i gave up smoking 4 years 8 months and 4 days ago when i was a smoker i weighed 85 kilos,very active and fit then i gave up smoking i put the money in to buying a pc then food started to taste really good then i realized that i could drink more with out getting a hangover now i drink too much weigh 110 kilos and sit in front of this dam pc all day too lazy to get off my fat arrrse and expecting a heart attack any day now :confused: i might take up the fags again

[craigb]

The problem with making it illegal is that everyone who is a smoker and can't give up will become criminals. Should we put them all in jail?

The price of cigarettes will go through the roof. Those who need a fix will be forced to steal, lie and cheat to get their next fix. Real criminals will start a black market for them. They will make some real money.

There are smokers who just can't give up. My mother only stopped smoking because she had had so many small strokes she could no longer pick up a lighter let alone actually make it work. She had half a lung removed because of lung cancer 5 years before she died. Still didn't give up. Dying from smoking isn't enough to make people give up so making illegal won't either.

It is a health issue not a law enforcement issue. The quit campain is working. Less people are smoking now then ever before.

It is illegal for under 18's to smoke yet they do.

well said Grunt. Greenie for you if I'm allowed.

[zenwood]

The other aspect that annoys me is the thought of cigarette company executives making millions on such easily avoidable death and suffering.

With cold and sober:eek: consideration, of course you can't suddenly criminalise smoking. I'd like to see much more being spent on anti-smoking campaigns. The "yuck" ads shown on Australian TV are the envy of the world anti-smoking lobby, and we should build on that. The South Australian Quit campaign is also good, but much more should be done in terms of increasing the tax on cigarettes, reducing the profile of cigarette displays at supermarkets, etc, and reducing the amount of advertising.

Am I a hypocrite, though? I like a glass of wine or a beer most evenings, and yet drink-driving is a huge killer. Yet I think there is a disctinction between drinking alcohol, which is enjoyable and harmless in moderation, and cigarettes, which are harmful in any quantity.

Then there's the issues of other drugs. Should we be consistent in how we legislate for tobacco, maruijana, cocaine, etc? If one is a health problem, rather than a criminal one, then aren't they all? Would treating hard-drug addiction as a health problem lead to fewer deaths, and reduce the rate of drug trafficking?

Whew! It's all too much for one post.:confused:

And don't even get me started on poker machines:mad:.

[Sturdee]

I gave up smoking about 13 years ago when Kennett increased the taxes so that a carton was $ 20. I was surprised to see that a carton now costs over $55.


Peter.

[Iain]

Gave up in 92-93 bit like Sturdee.
I actually detest smokers now and find the smell repulsive.
What is the SA campaign, I saw the sign over the pub in the centre of Mt Gambier announcing how many people have died from smoking related illnesses, bit like the jackpot signs over the pokies, goes up every few minutes.

[davo453]

It's odd how we all react differently to things, I gave up smoking about 21 years ago, a then girl friend asked me why I smoked and I although I didn't say so I couldn't think why I did it.

As it turned out I wasn't addicted and had never actually liked the things even though I smoked 20+ a day. I gave them up a few weeks latter and have never had another, I think it was a "look cool thing" pathetic really a folly of youth.

Now alcohol is a different story, I've had issues with that all my life and have to say that the problem is that I do indeed like it and although I’ve tried to give it up it keeps coming back.


Dave

[DanP]

It is illegal for under 18's to smoke yet they do.

No it's not. It's illegal for them to be sold cigarettes but not for them to smoke.

FWIW. I'm a smoker and I have tried to give up several times. Making it illegal will not change peoples addiction. I'm also over the bullshidt that people carry on with about smokers. Things that would be highly descriminatory if said about any other type of person are fine to say about smokers. If you don't like it then don't stand next to me. I always have consideration for those around me when I smoke, moving to an open area and it never ceases to amaze me, the people who come and stand near you then pull faces at the smoke.

Dan

BTW Alcohol causes MANY more social issues than smoking.

[Trav]

Could you just imagine the government putting forward legislation trying to ban smoking? They'd be out on their arris before you know it. Political suicide. It probably wouldn't really work either.

Love it here in Canberra where you can't smoke indoors anywhere (even pubs now) and they have even banned smoking in the stands at the footy. Someone even came up with the idea that non-smokers should get an extra 2 weeks holiday each year....doubt that this will ever get up.

My grandad dies of lung disease and it is a sheyet of a way to go. I feel for people who can't give up, but each drag is killing you.

Trav
(non smoker)

[DavidG]

Lets all get together and pertition the government to ban smokes and alcohol.
This will solve all the world problems.

[rufazguts]

The 11th of February is my "anniversary", and on the next 11th of Feb. it will be 11 years since I smoked my last one. In all that time I have had one drag of a fag and I think it took me 2 days to get the foul taste out of my mouth, YECH! My daughter smoked till 2 years or so ago till she finally had to quit for her kids sakes. My sons have never smoked ( although I did spot Johnny with a fag in his gob one new years when he was very alcoholically challenged) and don't have many friends who smoke. My wife, the local pharmacist, used to counsel people on quitting then nick out the back for a fag when they left... She gave up the same day I did. I hate smoking and I hate the reek of smokers, I really don't like to think that that is how I smelt too!
Anyone who tries to quit should be absolutely encouraged to quit. If someone you know is trying then support them with lots of positives and all the encouragements you can think of.

Oh, Dan, I am sorry mate but I think you will still pong whether I am standing near or way over here in SA!

[maglite]

I know that i really should give the smokes away, but to do so takes a fair bit of consideration.

In fact, i think i need to go outside and have a smoke to consider it.

Cheers
Steve