Drug addiction... I don't care whether it is cigarette, alcohol or any of the illegal ones

[nadinbrzezinski]

Fact is, that it is a bitch... and hard to break...

My dad has been smoking for over fifty years. Hell, he started as a teen way back when during WW II. He spent three weeks in a smoke free environment after his fall, and came out and reached back for it...

There are days...

And yes, part of the problem is how tobacco is prepared to make sure the addict keeps the addictions. Yes, it is crack tobacco... after the marlboro man is done with it.


I am not going to get too judgmental over it, since I know it is one of the hardest habits to break... but god damned it, he doesn't get it how it affects everybody else.

Rant over...

[fenriswolf]

1. sorry to hear that

on a brighter note I have been smoke free for 2 weeks, I think I broke my addiction.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Well he was getting cravings

he also smokes partly because he is bored... ain't shitting you.

But good for you... and I hope you stay clean for the rest of your life

[fenriswolf]

5. yeah if you havnt smoked then you just dont know

you end becoming addicted psycologically

i had to smoke after eating pizza, i lit up when i get into my car, during breaks etc. while surfing the net. people just have to stop deluding themselves. smokes are drugs and people who are addicted are junkies just like any other drug. I was always saying "just one more smoke" or "ill quit tommorow"

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. I consider myself among the lucky ones

I TRIED IT like many teens do... yes I did inhale! I'd admit it. and didn't smoke more than four or five full packs

I got very dizzy and actually sick...

My tongue burned

In the end... I can say I tried the damn things but never got addicted and I count myself lucky!

[blonndee]

2. Sorry, but I bet he does get it, and still can't quit.

That's how hard it is with tobacco for some people.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. No he does not, we tried to explain it

tomorrow will call the doc and get my meds.. or I fear he MIGHT get it after I, or rather somebody else, calls 9.11

[blonndee]

8. That's so sad. Is this the first time anyone has talked to him about his smoking?

Or the first time his health has been affected by smoking? I feel for you. My granddad died from emphysema, and even though he KNEW what it was doing to him and even though he KNEW how his family worried about him, he was unable to quit until he was so incapacitated (i.e., bedridden AND on oxygen) that he literally COULD NOT smoke. So in my experience, my granddad got it, he just couldn't quit. And that has been my own personal experience as well. Sometimes it really has nothing to do with others involved--it's just not enough to overcome the addiction, no matter what. Of course I'm coming from a non-judgmental position, as you are.

Best wishes to you, your dad, and family.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. It is not him that we will have to call 9.11... sorry

but ME... I have asthma, and it has gotten really bad. So tomorrow calling my doctor to get my steroids, or I will be the one that will need to be taken to your local ER with a bad asthma attack!

And we have tried to get him to stop for years.

Hell, he has "tried" many of the remedies, but he truly does not want to quit and doesn't get it how second hand smoke affects the rest of us

[candymarl]

6. According to the Dr's and Rn's

at the VA, nicotine is more addictive than heroin. I've seen the medical literature. It's a mother bear to quit.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. That is why I am not getting judgmental

Hartmnan actually went into it. Nicotine in its natural form is quite mild. The problem is that the process to make commercial cigarettes, essentially makes them crack tobacco.

I checked on it and this was the case. This is why I don't get too judgmental, that said, he smokes I'd say 50% out of addiction (a bitch all on its own) and 50% out of boredom... since it does give him something to do with his hands.

[LandOLincoln]

14. I thought nicotine was one of the deadliest poisons known--

that one drop of pure nicotine on your skin could be fatal...?

Or do you mean that tobacco in its natural form is quite mild?

(Non-smoker here; I've taken an accidental hit of tobacco a couple of times in my life, and it damn near killed me each time.)

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Tobacco, just as cocaine in its natural form (coca leaves)

have very low concentrations... but the way they are processed change the actual composition and make them far more addictive

[LandOLincoln]

20. I think you might want to edit

your post to remove the cap C on coke; I thought for second you meant Coca-Cola. LOL!

Otherwise, thank you, that makes sense.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. done!

:-)

[SeattleGirl]

9. Yep, I think it is too.

I used to work in treatment centers, where we treated people with pretty much all kinds of drug additions (and alcohol). I have many patients tell me that trying to quit cigarettes was hellacious compared to quitting other drugs, including heroin and cocaine.

[EFerrari]

10. One of the big problems is that by the time you know your addiction

has been triggered, it's too late. A whole physiological process has already been set into motion by the time you have the thought "I want a smoke".

I quit for over a year after detoxing and cleaning every surface of the house, the car, my clothes and rearranging the furniture, changing diet & exercise -- really shaking up all the habitual behavior and trying to go around triggers.

Most people have to substitute 12 things to compensate for what their cigs manage for them. It's wild.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. I know and quitting on top of his hip fracture...

That is why I said, I don't care what the addiction is about... all drugs are a bitch!

that does not mean I am a fan of the drug on wars by the by... I became highly allergic to high-velocity lead... which is one side effect of it

[EFerrari]

22. Addiction is basically slavery on the inside.

My mom went 10 rounds with alcohol. She's been sober for over thirty years and we're all just lucky she didn't get dead 25 times.

All addictions are a bitch.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. I know, why I am only sort of ranting

but I know why he ain't rational about this.

I took coursework on addiction many years ago in college, since as a medic I wanted to understand it.

Believe you me though, it is easier when it is Mr. Gonzales, who I've never met and will never see again in my life... than my dad

Ain't that the case? It is always easier with somebody you don't know.

[EFerrari]

30. Living with addiction is also a bitch, yours or theirs.

I hear you.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. Well he is staying longer due to the fracture

(which is a good thing, since we need him to heal... and all that goes with that)

But the usual ten day visit that does not become a crisis may...

:-(

[DemGa]

13. I know someone who switched to American Spirit Brand

which I hear uses no added chemicals--just tobacco. This person told they got withdrawal and got quite ill when they switched brands, and attributed this reaction to stopping the intake of the chemicals in the commercial "crack" cigarette. Sounds very plausible to me.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. It is plausible

and the bad part is the companies MADE their product highly addictive from the git go

[EFerrari]

18. I've given up quitting but maybe trying to switch to a brand like that

would at least be an improvement.

Argh.

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. Do it, Liz

I mean, if you've resigned that you can't quit...

Hell, my doctor recommended I switch to 'em, because of the lack of additives, and that's where most of the carcinogens are.

As an added benefit, if you buy loose tobacco, tubes and an injector and make (not roll) your own, they cost about half as much as the pack or even carton price.

[EFerrari]

28. I think I will switch over. It shouldn't take more than a few days.

Might as well take the measure that you can, you know?

[Oeditpus Rex]

19. Do you mean American Spirit?

I switched to those a year or so ago. I can feel a difference in the physical addiction, but the psychological jones is every bit as strong.



Oops... posted before I saw your edit. :hi:

[DemGa]

21. Yes, I realized it and corrected my post

Thanks.

[EFerrari]

24. American Spirit tastes like a soup mix.

Basil with a hint of oak.

lol

[Oeditpus Rex]

27. Nuh-uh

They make about six different tobacco blends. One of 'em's gotta be okay for ya. :shrug:

Plus, if you make your own like I said above, you can experiment with different brands and types of tubes. They make a difference in the taste, too.

[EFerrari]

29. With the added benefit that you can't roll and inhale at the same time.

:hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

31. That helps, too

You have to think about lighting up — can't just reach into a pack and grab one. I did that so many times, just mindlessly. x(

[EFerrari]

33. I always had one going. Used to sew my kids clothes and

even some of hubby's. It was insane. Always a cig burning in the ashtray because my hands were busy -- and for hours at a time. What was I thinking?

I'm surprised I didn't spray deodorant directly at the sun.

[rAVES]

34. You'll never get rid of Smoking.. as much as you want that.

Natives in the amazon that never heard of the Marlborough man smoke tobacco and have for years and year through generations, its one of those things.

Expecting a person whos leaned on Cigarettes for 50 years to quit after 3 weeks is absurd.

Sorry.

[nadinbrzezinski]

Did I say I want to get rid of it?

That said, the tobacco the natives smoke is VERY DIFFERENT from the tobacco processed by the marlboro man

It is the same difference between coca leaves and cocaine...

It is the chemical process and it makes BOTH drugs that much more addictive

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. Did I say I want to get rid of it?

That said, the tobacco the natives smoke is VERY DIFFERENT from the tobacco processed by the marlboro man

It is the same difference between coca leaves and cocaine...

It is the chemical process and it makes BOTH drugs that much more addictive

[Warren DeMontague]

36. I'm very sorry for you, you have my sympathy. Cigarettes killed MY dad.

Sucks. Pure and simple. And as I understand it, they're VERY hard to quit. My dad was a strong, intelligent guy who sucessfully battled other addictions, like alcohol... (in those old, smoke-filled AA rooms) By the time my dad quit cigarettes, it was too late.

I'm sure if I had ever really smoked them, I would have had a helluva time, myself. Fortunately, I never seriously smoked cigarettes- during the time most people I grew up with were becoming addicted to them, I was too busy smoking pot.

And when the time came to quit smoking pot, that was a piece of cake.

Funny, that.