Another reason to quit smoking. Inspired by Andy_Stephenson

[alfredo]

I have worked tobacco on and off since middle school. I cut, housed, and stripped tobacco.

Tobacco uses a lot of herbicides and other nasty chemicals, but I will leave that to someone who knows about them. What I do know is from living around it and working with it.

tobacco is cured in large barns When it is housed it is hung from rails in the top half of the barns. doors on the sides of the barns are opened and closed to regulate heat and moisture. Being open to the elements leaves it open to other inhabitants of the natural world.

Birds roost in the rafters of the barns. They go there to stay dry and warm. Birds are not house trained so they tend to "soil" whatever is below them.

After the tobacco has cured it is stripped and put into bales. These bales sit on pallets on the ground. The bales provide warmth and shelter to small animals like mice. The mice attract predators like Barn Owls, cats, and Coyotes. Coyotes are a problem to tobacco farmers because they do what dogs do. The mark their territory just like dogs. If they find prey like mice and cats in and around the baled tobacco, they will mark it as part of their territory. The bales of tobacco make a comfortable place to nap and look for prey.

Too much tobacco is fouled with Coyote hair, urine, and skat (feces). To add insult to injury, when daylight comes and the Coyotes return to the forests, the farmer's dog will come in and reclaim (mark) his territory. Think of that before you light up or put a pinch between gum and cheek.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I just copied this a forwarded it to three people I know who smoke.

Thanks.

[Blue-Jay]

6. I'm sure they'll love you for that.

[eleny]

2. Thanks - I saved it, too

[alfredo]

3. Anything I can do to help people quit

smoking and chewing, I will do it.

[parasim]

4. Huh?

I only buy the brand with EXTRA coyote urine. That's the best stuff, doncha know...
Howlin' Piss Deluxe Filter Kings. The Turbo-Natural cigarette.

[Warpy]

5. I remember nothing smelled worse than downtown Durham

NC during September and October.

As far as I'm concerned, the shit on it during curing isn't that big a problem. It's the shit they put in it during processing into cigars, cigarettes, pipe tobacco and chew that is a bigger problem.

If you smoke, find a way to quit. Any way you can manage to quit is the right way. We need all the lefties out there, healthy, and in full cry.

[ultraist]

23. Those warehouses are now vacant or renovated into shopping

Same deal in Winston-Salem, but Winston's warehouses are just vacant. If you drive out in the counties, you see defunct tobacco fields, everywhere...

[alfredo]

29. The tobacco companies are moving off shore. That is why

they are losing political power. Here in Lexington the redryers are gone, and soon all the tobacco warehouses. Those redyers would take your breath away.

[AnnInLa]

7. As a smoker, I have to be honest with you....

I admire you for trying, and thank you for being concerned. That being said, all you did was serve to remind me that I need to go outside and smoke another one. I have seen family members die of lung cancer, I have seen what tar does to a clean, white handkerchief. I have watched gross films and slide-shows of what nicotine does to the lungs. I have heard my daughter beg me to give up cigarettes for the "sake of my little granddaughter." ("Don't you want to be there to watch her grow up, Mom?") I still smoke....it's a lifestyle choice that I don't bother other people with, only myself. So, thanks for the images, but BRB.

[7th_Sephiroth]

8. just so you know, Urine IS a sterile liquid

[coffeenap]

16. I thought only breast-fed babies' urine was sterile.

[7th_Sephiroth]

17. nope

common misconception, urine is filtered through both your blood stream and bladder, it is the definition of sterile

[coffeenap]

18. cool--now I won't die in death valley...(i love it there!)

[ultraist]

26. That's not true! Urine is NOT sterile

"Normally, urine is sterile, but bacteria may enter the bladder through the urethra (the tube which carries urine out of the body http://www.abingtonurology.com/uti.html

[7th_Sephiroth]

32. true

but that is not allways the case

[laundry_queen]

39. Urine is sterile UNTIL it exits the body.

Then the bacteria can have a par-tay.

[jeanarrett]

57. I would rather inhale bird shit and coyote piss

than some of the other crap they put in cigarettes.

[New Earth]

9. on another board, there is this poster there with this sig....

that has since stuck in my head when people bring up the dangers of smoking....

"Non-smokers die everyday".

well it is true :shrug:

[ultraist]

27. Non smokers don't die nearly as frequently

Smoking related Mortality
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/research_data/health_consequences/mortali.htm
Cigarette smoking is the single most preventable cause of premature death in the United States. Each year, more than 400,000 Americans die from cigarette smoking. In fact, one in every five deaths in the United States is smoking related. Every year, smoking kills more than 276,000 men and 142,000 women.1

Between 1960 and 1990, deaths from lung cancer among women have increased by more than 400%—exceeding breast cancer deaths in the mid-1980s.2 The American Cancer Society estimated that in 1994, 64,300 women died from lung cancer and 44,300 died from breast cancer.3

Men who smoke increase their risk of death from lung cancer by more than 22 times and from bronchitis and emphysema by nearly 10 times. Women who smoke increase their risk of dying from lung cancer by nearly 12 times and the risk of dying from bronchitis and emphysema by more than 10 times. Smoking triples the risk of dying from heart disease among middle-aged men and women.1

Every year in the United States, premature deaths from smoking rob more than five million years from the potential lifespan of those who have died.1

Annually, exposure to secondhand smoke (or environmental tobacco smoke) causes an estimated 3,000 deaths from lung cancer among American adults.4 Scientific studies also link secondhand smoke with heart disease.

[Pastiche423]

10. What does this have to do w/Andy?

[New Earth]

11. i think Andy has been trying to quit.

[greatauntoftriplets]

13. Andy quit a couple weeks ago and is encouraging others to do so.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3176604

[bush_is_wacko]

12. FROM A SMOKER! We all realize this. Most of us have wanted and

tried to quit MANY times. I have tried to do it at least 7 times and the last time I even did it for 7 months. I know you ALL mean well and I am very sorry Andy has to go through cancer. But please understand we are not ignorant, we made a stupid mistake and if we had to live it all over again with what we know now we never would have started. I will continue to try and quit when the mood strikes me. This happens with greater and greater frequnecy these days, but in all honesty this does nothing to help me quit. I have seen the lungs of smokers, I have heard all the nasty things this drug is and does. Smoker's will quit when they are ready, willing, and able, but they often fail. We do the best we can.

[ultraist]

21. Have you tried nicorette gum? It worked for me

[bush_is_wacko]

22. gum, the patch, cold turkey, straws, suckers, candy, even the old

smokeless cigarettes from the eighties! I am a quit smoking flunkie of MAJOR proportions, but I still keep trying. I haven't set a date yet for my next adventure!

[ultraist]

34. I've read it takes MOST people at least 10 tries

I've also heard that certain antidepressants work but those pose other risks. (They make some people very depressed).

If you have quit before, you can do it again. If you can go one day without a smoke, you can go a lifetime without, one day at a time of course. ;)

Someone told me that once!

[Ms. Clio]

38. Have you tried the nicotine inhaler?

It really worked for me--gave me a good hand-to-mouth substitute for the smokes. With the inhalers and Welbutrin, I quit a 25 year smoking habit on the first try, in about 5 months.

[bush_is_wacko]

46. No and I think that will be my next try. My doctors wouldn't

prescribe it for me when it first came out. I'm hoping they have changed their minds now. I cannot do Wellbutrin or any other anti- depressant as they seem to react with my thyroid medication and my thyroid goes radical on me. I'm glad to hear the inhaler worked for someone that has smoked that long though. It certainly is worth a try and I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday so I will ask them about it. I have switched doctors too, so maybe this one will be a little more willing to prescribe it to me. Any risks or reaction that you know of?

My thyroid seems to be a spoiler for a lot of things. It is one of the reasons I find it so hard to quit. As long as I stay within my regular habits my thyroid stays stable, the minute I change something I am prone to thyroid storm. That is miserable and makes my thinking muddled on top of withdrawls from nicotine it just isn't very pretty! I feel sorry for anyone within shouting distance of me when I go through this. They need to have quit smoking mental institutions for people like me. The funny thing is, I don't really smoke that much. Under a half pack a day, but I'm addicted as hell!

[Ms. Clio]

48. The main side effect I noticed for the first couple of days was nausea

To call it an "inhaler" is something of a misnomer--it's more like sucking, and that seems to draw the nicotine down the throat and into the stomach, and made me feel a little queasy and sick. But after I got over that, I just loved using the inhaler--I could use it while driving, while in class, etc., and it just worked great for me--and I smoked 2 or more packs a day at the time. I have only smoked one cigarette since I quit 6 years ago and was so nauseated and miserable for hours afterward that I will never, ever do that again.

Sorry to hear about your thyroid problem--I can see how that would be very discouraging. But I would say that if your doctors will permit it, that the inhaler is worth a try--but just don't give up, you can do it!

[bush_is_wacko]

49. I never give up on anything, just ask my family. I'm a pest really...

but smoking is something I know I have to give up. I just wish it didn't feel like I was dying every time I tried to quit! I'll ask my doctor on Tuesday. I deal with nausea all the time, actually that is something smoking can both irritate and at times fix. I am just weird! Of course I have many family members to keep me company on the weirdness issue! Thanks for your post, it sort of reminded me I need to talk to my doctor about this on Tuesday! I'll let you know IF I can get a hold of the inhaler and if it helps.

[Ms. Clio]

53. I hope if you get it that it does help--please do let me know

And if I can help in anyway during the quit process, don't hesitate to PM me.

If you're used to dealing with nausea, you may not even notice that effect of the inhaler--and it didn't last very long, anyway, just a couple of days. Another thing I noticed is that I had the most bizarre and vivid dreams for a couple of weeks, but I don't know if that was the inhaler, the Welbutrin, or what.

You're not so weird--everybody is just different! Since I quit, my husband has tried to quit at least 10 times (he always uses the patch) and has always started again after a few months.

Best of luck to you!

[girl gone mad]

43. Hypnotism, esp. in combination with another method..

might be worth a try.

Just a suggestion.

[bush_is_wacko]

50. I did try hypnosis. I find it is a great relaxation method but not the

best for quitting smoking, at least for me. I guess I forgot to add that to the list. I know many others that have been helped by it though! My chiropractor has also recommended acupuncture. I'm going for that and the nicotine inhaler if my doctor will prescribe it for me.

[alfredo]

31. Just keep trying. It finally worked for me. I went cold turkey

during a bout of the flu. That made it easier. I was miserable anyway.

We need us Liberals/Progressives to be healthy and not dependent.

[marions ghost]

14. trying to intervene with smokers

is successful sometimes, but sometimes not. Nicotine is as addictive as heroin.

My mother and father were both journalists and heavy smokers from childhood. My sibs and I leaned on our Dad hard and convinced him to quit in middle age. Every year he calls on the date of quitting to thank us. He is in his 70's now and doing well. (Dad was formerly known as "The Chimney").

Our attempts to beg, plead, and cajole our mother got nowhere. We finally agreed not to bother her anymore about it. She became more winded and more skeletal, and at the last minute, decided she really did want to live. After a torturous five years, in and out of hospitals, and suffering in the most terrible way, in the prime of her life, our wonderful mother died. Just another victim of tobacco.
As I knew she would be when I was 10 years old.

So sometimes intervention efforts don't help, sometimes they do. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try.

(edit--Mom wouldn't want me to leave that bad spelling and grammar in there)

[Blue-Jay]

19. No. Trying to intervene is annoying.

There's not a single smoker alive today who isn't aware of the significant health risks of lighting up. We do it anyway. We appreciate your concern, but "intervening" just makes us want to have another smoke out of spite.

Personally, I've cut back A LOT. I'm down to about two packs per week, as opposed to 1.5 packs/day. I suppose I'll quit eventually, but not today.

[marions ghost]

37. I'm talking about intervention ONLY in a close friend

or family situation, where intervening is appropriate. So many people I know who did not make any attempt to help an alcoholic or smoker in their immediate family have expressed the fact after their death that they wish they had at least tried, because sometimes it is successful. Of course you have to know when to quit nagging, and acknowledge that they will kill themselves. That's the course I finally took with my mother, but I felt that at least I had tried. At least I didn't do nothing. And it really did work with my Dad.
I have seen successful family interventions in alcoholism also.

I'm not talking about accosting anyone who smokes and trying to get them to quit. But I am talking about doing what you can (to a certain extent) to help close friends or family to quit, rather than closing your eyes to it. It might take a support group. I happened to have like-minded sibs.

Cutting back significantly is a big step and I know how hard it is. I lived with it and I know. I don't put any blame on smokers who can't quit. But families are also victims, and I feel better having acted. So be kind to those who try. Ultimately of course, it's up to you. :)

[Vickers]

15. OK, for the folks who are saying posts like this don't do any good

There are MILLIONS of reasons and catalysts for folks to quit smoking...you never know what is going to "click" with people.

I am an ex-smoker (6.5 years ago, after 19 years of smoking), and one of those things "clicked" for me one day and I have never looked back. There were a lot of other things that DIDN'T work (trying to quit on anniversaries or significant dates, for instance).

So who knows? This might be the nudge that somebody needs. If it just helps one person it was worth the effort.

:thumbsup::thumbsup: to Alfredo

[bush_is_wacko]

25. I geuss that is a true nough statement but we do get annoyed with all

these helpful hints. Especially when we haven't reached the stage you obviously did! Congrats BTW! My husband quit 4 years ago too and never looked back. If you don't mind me asking how old were yuo when you started smoking? I know that gives away your age, but it is really about a theory I have. the only people I know who have managed to quit forever and never lapse again are people who started smoking as adults and not as children. I was about 13 when I started.

[Vickers]

28. I started smoking when I was 14 (9th grade)

smoked until I was 33 (almost 34), and I just turned 40.

I know how irritating it is to hear all the "reasons" to quit smoking...I sure got tired of it, especially from ex-smokers :P

I also used to bite my fingernails, and got tired of all the good reasons I should stop that (it's unsanitary, they protect your fingers, it's ugly, etc.), then one day my girlfriend (now my wife) said "Just stop doing it" and I did...you just never know what will work!

I hope that if you do try to quit you are successful...lord knows I quit a bunch of times before it took.

Sincerest regards,

Vickers

[ultraist]

35. That's very close to my start and stop ages

I started at 15 and stopped about 5 years ago. I'm forty now.

If I can stop bush-is-wacko, anybody can!

You CAN do it!!!

:bounce:

[alfredo]

33. I was 10 years old. I started smoking when I started working outside

the family. I worked the farms and an auction house nearby. Everyone smoked there, so I picked up the habit. I quit when I was 27.

[ultraist]

20. Imported tobacco is soaked in chemicals, 70% of cigs use imported

[bleedingheart]

24. Seeing my dad cough up blood was all I needed to know about tobacco

to know it is bad for you....

I recall him leaning against a wall and he coughed up blood specks all over the wall and these little plaster icons of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.....an image I won't forget.

[ultraist]

36. oh....that is so awful. my dad died from lung cancer

I took care of him, it was HORRIFIC. That was 18 years ago but I will never lose the visuals. uggggh...

[Walt Starr]

30. I only smoke cigars

and do so infrequently.

Most of the cigars I smoke are imported from Nicaragua.

[all.of.me]

40. i studied horticulture, and ...

we had to learn about pesticides. we were required to know enough to get a pesticide sprayer's license (we learned and practiced organic gardening, though).

this was back in 1980. at that time, there were 62 pesticides allowed on lettuce! that is about the only fact i remember. it grossed me out, and i have grown a lot of my own food and bought organic ever since.

i've also lived in eastern tennessee. every scrap of land has tobacco growing on it. every barn has tobacco hanging in it. since i am allergic to mold (tennessee was NOT the best place for me to live!), all i could think about was how moldy those leaves must be getting as they hang to 'dry' in that humidity.

i haven't smoked in almost 30 years, but when i thought about the pesticides in the field, then the mold in the barn, iwas glad i quit!

thanks for this disgusting information! i am going to pass it on to friends who still smoke (although they are few and far between!).

[RetroLounge]

41. Well, I quit myself three weeks ago...

I've tried quiting before, get a month or two, once quit for a year.

So yes, I know, and it's freaking hard to quit.

RL

[alfredo]

42. Good for you.

Put the money you usually spend on tobacco into a jar. After one year, buy yourself a gift.
Keep doing it.

[PowerToThePeople]

44. hmm, maybe why..

The other week a gal friend of mine said my Copenhagen black smelled like cat piss. Maybe it was coyote piss :-) I smoke all Natural American Spirits, so no real added junk (prolly still pesticides though).

[alfredo]

45. Check the alkaline level in snuff. The higher the alkaline, the more

nicotine released into your system.

There are several levels of alkaline depending on the market they target. The snuff targeted at kids have a low level of alkaline. The trick is to move the kids up to more adult (addictive) brands like Copenhagen.

[Eloriel]

47. I quit Dec. 10 -- this herbal program made it easy

I'm not associated with these people in any way, but I am VERY happy with their stop smoking herbal program:

Viable Herbal Solutions
http://www.viable-herbal.com

[BiggJawn]

51. Latakia is cured under camel shit.

I think that's what made it taste so good....

You wanna know what made me finally quit after 30 years of faithful patronage to RJR?

Getting good and pissed-off at my state legislaters looking at me like a stupid good for another 50-cents a pack doofus.

And they're gonna gouge 'em some MORE this year. Gee, that'll probably make it what, $40 a carton?

$160 a month...just about lets me break even from the increase in all the other prices the "Bush Economic Miracle" has wreaked in this region....

[alfredo]

52. I loved latakia. I used to smoke the Peretti Oriental blend

back when I smoked a pipe. It was course cut, moist and dark. Loved it.

Some hashish uses camel shit as a binder.

Some of the best food I have eaten was cooked over a cow shit fire.

[anarchy1999]

54. Oh my god! Are there any natural out there? Nat Shermans, American

Spirit? Are they legit? I am a smoker and I've just been sent to the very dark side!

[superconnected]

55. Ewww. didn't know that about tobacco

I've never smoked.

My mother smoked all her life until she moved in with me.

She was coughing up a storm - as always and I told her when she caught cancer she would have to go live with my sister because I would not be with her through that.

I already was with my father through his continued cholesterol and steak eating habits that caused many heart attacks, multiple by-pass surgery, angio-plasty(sp?), etc. until he finally died.

My belief is, if people are going to put themselves in the hospital by doing these unhealthy habits, even after the doctor says change or die, I do not need to go through it with them.

I meant what I said to my mom. She quit smoking - to my surpise, that day. It's been 5 years and she hasn't smoked since.

seriously, it wasn't my intention, I just wanted her to know, I'll never sit by and watch a loved one kill themselves or suffer with a condition they invoked again. I don't deserve that.

[alfredo]

56. You may have added a few years onto her life.

Way to go.

Here's something of interest.

http://www.sheller.com/SubPage.asp?SubPageID=12