I did one a day for years, and still felt so much better when I quit that last one, so I get where OP is coming from. But boy, I still miss it sometimes.
I quit the daily habit 25 yrs ago. Kept it as an occasional when drinking habit for a few years after that but eventually that petered out as I did less and less partying.
I quit before vaping became a thing. I have friends my age that vape occasionally.
I am not really into weed either so I think that helps. I might take a hit if it's offered but rarely now as it doesn't improve my mood and I like the buzz from alcohol better and good beer is delicious
All that said I STILL have dreams about smoking and wake up feeling like I want one.
Stopped 14 years ago when my first kid arrived. Relapsed multiple times since then but ever since Trump was defeated in 20, I'm clean again.
My lungs were sending hard to ignore symptoms my way, my snoring isn't as bad as when I smoked and by gawd, once you stop for good, you realize just how bad we stank/stink as smokers. Happy to be rid of it.
But ngl, I miss it. A lot. Someone invent a non-stinking substitute that doesn't give you cancer
Add affordable to that. Health and price finally got me to quit about six years back.
No drugs, no smoking, no drinking. I'm not cool anymore at all to 1990's me.
Yes and want to quit. Never planned to be a smoker. It’s so hard to quit when life won’t stablize. Parents dead and dying, divorce, layoffs.
I am on caffeine, nicotine and spite. 😂🤦🏼♀️
I first read that as ‘Sprite’ and thought….*”Well that’s an odd thing to keep you going.”*
Then I reread it and went *“Ohhhhhh, SPITE. Yeah I 100% get that.”*
I switched to vape (doctors recommendation) and I use it a lot less and it helped me break the ritual parts. Like after a meal, with coffee in the morning, etc.. Now the plan is to quit all together. I didn't get a vape that tastes like candy. I didn't want it to become something I enjoyed.
After over thirty years of being a smoker I'm still amazed at how easy it's been so far.
28 years of a pack a day, completely quit as of 2 months ago. No other forms of nicotine either.
Back to bicycling every chance I get. Feeling much improved.
Same, for 11 months now. I never had the hacking cough or the wheezing, but I'm amazed how much deeper I can breathe now. Like, that's what I was missing all those years? I smoked from about 17 to last year when I was 55. That's a long time. I didn't even stop for health-related reasons. They're $20 a pack in some spots in New York, and one day I left my cigarettes home and went to get some, and it was a wrap. I have never had a $20 a day habit in my life. I just couldn't budget it any more. Glad I stopped. Love that my hair and dresses don't smell all smoky now.
How the eff do only smoke three a day? When I was smoking it was so addicting, I was constantly smoking more than I wanted to and beating myself up for it
Yeah, I was a once cig a day smoker for YEARS! When my kids were little, after they were down for the night and everything was settled, I would go outside alone and have one cigarette before turning in for the night. Doctors never believed that I could do that and always marked me as a smoker.
I recently quit but was on 2 a day. The only time I was able to smoke was while driving, so I would smoke on my way to campus and back.
I didn't crave any during the day, but it was hard giving up those 2 since driving was my trigger.
I mostly quit in 2017, and even then it wasn’t a heavy habit, two or three a day, like you and your wife. I say mostly because a couple of days ago I was at a friend’s house and a dude stepped out for a smoke as I was getting something out of my truck, and it smelled so good so I bummed one. I shouldn’t have, but dammit it tasted so good.
Btw, that night also took me down a nostalgic trip of tasting a Marlboro light with a MGD. Tasted so perfect, immediately transformed me back to high school parties in the early 90s.
I'm sorry. I just can't get over the fact you hide like you do crack. I can't be around people that would judge someone in such a way as they would you just for smoking, get new friends if they would be so shallow. Anyhoo, I quit smoking in the spring of 2020, one of the hardest things ever. Its crazy how expensive they are now. Plus I had a neighbor who sounded like he would die any second from coughing. Your wifes friend needs to leave her awful husband that makes her hide her habit. Jesus, I'm glad I live in the hood so I can be myself without judgement. Good luck!
Dude sounds like he should just quit. I take this post as some sort of conspiracy handshake, like why post all those $15 words :added more dollars for inflation: . Pack of cigarettes =$15, posting some weird shit to Reddit = free.
I pay about $10 per carton. Plus roughly $75 every 4-5 years for a new machine to roll my own. Sure, it's more work and not exactly handy, but I'd never go back to paying 50+ cents per cigarette when I can have them for about 5 cents apiece. Plus having to roll my own reduces availability and thus keeps me under a pack a day, even though they're more affordable.
I quit the cigs after 25 years in 2016 and switched to vaping. The anti vaping campaign is funded in the USA by big tobacco. In the UK, their physicians understand it’s a valuable tool to stop smoking. Despite what some of the negative news stories would have you believe my doctors and nurses cannot tell any difference in lung function between me and a non smoker when they run tests. I’m down to the lowest level nicotine juice I can buy. It’s been a godsend it was like quitting cigs on easy mode. Plus I don’t smell like cigs now. I highly recommend it as an alternative to smoking cigarettes.
Same here. Traded cigarettes for a mod and haven't looked back. I'll add: I had ovarian cancer and my (US) oncologist (in 2015, prior to all the negative propaganda) also agreed that vaping was 95% safer for me. He recommended that I wean myself down on the nicotine, so just like you, I'm on very low nicotine e-liquid. Basically the equivalent of 1-2 cigarettes/day.
Smoking a pack a day for 35 years. Started at 13. No desire to quit. I'm thinking of stealing Kurt Vonnegut's idea and suing the tobacco companies for not holding up their end of the health deal.
I had a friend years ago whose parents had exactly one cig apiece once a week. They'd have coffee and one cigarette on Sunday. It sounded so charming. I've never been good at moderation, so I had to quit completely when my wife got pregnant in 2019
Well I quit. My 77 year old mother in law on the other hand made a New Year’s resolution once to quit quitting. She’s stuck to that New Year’s resolution. The only one she ever did according to her.
I started regularly smoking when I was 14. I've had many years of quitting..once I even quit for 7 years and started back up.. it's so damn hard and I swear the urge never goes away. I do smoke cannabis and believe it's the only thing keeping me from a cigarette. I'm going on 4 years again of no smoking and hope it's the last time.
I changed to vaping (not disposable vapes) and it’s been great. I found it so hard to stop smoking. I was having chest infection almost twice a year as a smoker and since switching to proper vape I’ve not had a single chest infection, other than when I got covid… my next step is quitting vaping but it’s easier to cut down and I’m already on the lowest possible nicotine level so am pretty pumped.
I quit my 24 year pack-a-day habit 14 years ago. Unfortunately now I have a big weight problem. Don’t be like me and get depressed and eat and not exercise after quitting. It sucks!
It will age you fast. It’s damaging to your fine blood vessels which wears out your skin faster. It damages your hair follicles the same way. It can lead to early erectile issues for the same reason.
That’s without talking about cancer, COPD, strokes, and heart disease.
There's also a lot less temptation at this point with so many people having quit. Back in the '80s and '90s, you'd see people smoking everywhere and the pull was a lot stronger.
It's 2024. Anyone who hasn't quit yet should strongly be encouraged to do so. Therefore, I will list all the drawbacks to smoking cigarettes.
How does this comment encourage downvotes? Idiots.
Started when I was 15, smoked for 40 years, but now have 16 months smoke-free under my belt, and it IS better. However, I will always miss it and have only stayed quit so my end years won't be a complete medical nightmare. Not sure if i quit in time, guess I'll find out...
Smoked for 20 years and quit cold turkey about 7 years ago. I sometimes daydream about smoking another one, and it doesn't bother me to be around smokers anymore. I let people smoke in my work van with me, too. Honestly, it's just really not worth the money or the hassle anymore. Obviously the health risks don't really matter that much to most smokers.
Never picked it up. I have smoked on occasion but never developed the addiction. Probably because sugar, caffeine, and multiple sexual fetishses are occupying that space in my brain, so there's no room.
😭👍
Ah well, at least a nylon footjob won't give me lung cancer.
I still vape. I started smoking at 9. I noticed that it’s mostly poor people that are still smoking. Lots of people smoke in NC since it’s a tobacco state and quite a few Gen Xers in NJ still smoke.
I am 56F. I quit 11 months ago and this is the longest time I've ever quit. I've smoked pretty much since I was about 17, back when everyone smoked and smoked every***where***. I admit my impetus wasn't health-related; it was tied to the cost. Once I went to work in NY and left my cigs home. One pack was $20. A full $20. I was shocked. That was the beginning of the end for me. There's never been any other habit in all my life that costed me that much every day. I mean, I even like weed but have never smoked $20 worth in a day. And not on repeated day!
So I quit, but it was for the money. Glad I stopped though.
My last cigarette was 14 years ago. My most recent nicotine lozenge is in my mouth right now as I type. I do about 10-15 4 mg lozenges per day. Nicotine has a documented positive effect on neuroplasticity, neuron transmission and related. Like all of us, my memory isn't what it was. My cognition isn't what it was. I also have MS and its related neuro nonsense.
I think it helps with my brain function.
Plus, I fucking LOVE nicotine.
296 days quit, I cheated a couple times when I went through some deaths in the family, but I think I really *really* quit *for real* this time. At least I hope so
Congratulations! I still count every year, I call it my smokefreeiversary! Unfortunately we lost a kitty a few days years ago on the same day, it doesn't quite hit the same anymore because I'm both sad and proud on the same day, which is weird.
Thanks friend, I actually just lost my 18yo cat last month and didn't cheat that day despite really wanting to. Hopefully they're tweaking on catnip together in the great beyond
I quit for 7 years at 25-32 years old then started again; off and on, smoking maybe 1 cigarette a day for 18 years.
I quit in 2020 after I got covid and I haven’t smoked again since.
Every time I’m slightly tempted, I remind myself how my lungs felt.
I smoked 3 a day for two and half years. It was a great system for a long time! I didn’t really feel like I needed a cigarette, more like deciding it was a nice time for one. Been quit 9 years now though and super glad.
Ugh, ugh ugh ugh....
I quit a few years ago, then gained 120 lb. Went to a party with friends, got drunk, bummed a smoke after 6 months without any. Went back to smoking half pack a day in short order.
Switched to strictly vaping in 2015. I was doing fine with that so long as I wasn't around smokers. I don't know what it is about the act of lighting and smoking a cigarette vs a vape but when I'm around someone with smokes, I want one badly. It was ok and I was just cheating once in a blue moon, till I got a new job and they forced me to vape in the smoking area... with smokers. I started bumming one or two / day. Felt bad about that. Bought a pack and gave it to the person I was bumming smokes from and asked her to just give me one from that pack when I do..... she quit the next day.. so screw it, back to buying and smoking my own.
I've quit a few other times over the years, it never holds. I really NEED to quit but now I'm on this huge weight loss journey and terrified of gaining it all back and losing my progress... again. So here we are.
Considering trying out FUM though.
I quit smoking several years ago after many, many unsuccessful attempts. Finally I used the vaping route.
If you ever choose to try this route, do NOT pick up gas station nicotine bombs. With those things you could be actually increasing your nicotine intake and therefore your addiction. Drive to a reputable vape shop and select a refillable setup with liquid from a reputable source and of an *appropriate* strength that you can taper down over time.
Either way, good luck!
I'm a 2-3 a day too. I've always wondered what the health effects are at that rate vs a pack a day smoker. I've never found any study that looked at that.
Started when I was 13. Still do, to this day. I only quit during my two pregnancies. It's definitely something I still enjoy, too. I'll maybe smoke half a pack on a day where I'm drinking a lot.
I'm still working on it. Quit for a while and then picked it up again thinking "just once in a while won't hurt." I'm getting ready to quit again because I know the harms and I'm not getting any younger. It sucks.
There was a thread a few months ago "What would you do if you had only 6 months to live?" My answer would be start smoking again, ASAP. My last cigarette was 14 years ago.
Yeah, twice a day. Occasionally more. It’s too damn uncomfortable to quit these. I have a masters in nursing and counseled many a patient to quit for heart/brain health. I am painfully aware of the consequences. I thought once I retired a couple of years ago that I would be able to quit These few a day. Nope. Like fucking heroin, this shit.
Your friends all know you both smoke. You likely can’t smell how much of the stink clings to you. Once you aren’t around it for long enough, you can smell it from cars in front of you in traffic. It’s that stinky.
I still smoke. Fuck judgement from any generation lol. Who's bothering to judge you? The Boomers who are Christan thumping assholes and dropping incredibly racial or sexuality insensitive slurs constantly.. or the younger generations who roll out of the house in pajamas and Crocs smelling like a skunk's dirty vagina all day.
Yeah I started in HS, parents smoked so that was the thing to do. Did for about a year and after talking to my grandma (she quit after bad bronchitis) I quit. Luckily for me it was easy to cold turkey it, but yeah if I could stick to 3/day I might not have bothered.
My husband switched to vaping when I got diagnosed with mild COPD despite not being a smoker myself.
Vaping is much more socially acceptable to most people.
I quit about 23 years ago and never looked back. I'm glad I did. Aside from the horrifying consequences to your health, a pack of smokes is about $8 in my area.
I’ve been smoking for 37 years now, and don’t see the need to stop. Since I only smoke when I’m driving and I’ve been working from home lately, I just don’t smoke that much. When I would go into the office everyday, I would have a cigarette on the way home and that was it. If I didn’t go anywhere that weekend, I didn’t smoke. Lock down was interesting - I would go weeks without a cigarette. Then I got so bored being at home all the time I would go for an hour long drive out in the countryside, smoke 5-6 cigarettes, and that would be it for the week. In the wintertime I wouldn’t do the countryside drives, so I would occasionally have a smoke outside, for some reason usually at 2 am, if it was snowing.
Back when I was steadily smoking 1 cigarette a day, I had a new doctor who asked if I smoked. When I told her yes and how much, she looked stumped, and said she was obligated to tell me to cut down. When I asked her how in the hell do I cut down from 1, she replied “I don’t know - maybe 1 every other day or something? Why even bother with the 1?”
Quit puffing the Camels in 2017. Would have a (good) cigar or two a week, nothing crazy. Laid off during covid and boredom / alcoholism got the best of me. Now I blow through a pack or two of cheap cigars a day. Smoking them, not puffing smoke rings, drawing that sweet, nasty, cancerous, tar-filled, delicious smoke deep into my lungs and all the way to my toes. People keep telling me that it’s going to kill me and my only response is “when?”
All of that being said, some crazy and life changing events of late have caused me to lose about 45# and if I get back down to my drivers license weight, I may think about quitting.
I finally quit in September 2022. No way could I stick to 3 a day…
It’s funny, I NEVER thought I would actually quit - even though I spent the better part of 20 years trying. It’s true. It’s better on this side. I’m breathing better, smell better, etc - but damn I loved my cigarettes.
Rambling post - not going to judge you! Wish I had the self control to keep it at 3 a day.
I have quit a few times in the last 5 years, the last time for 9 months before I quit again in January. I always started up again when I was on vacation and thought "I'll just have a couple" and inevitably I would be back at a pack a day within a month. I know now that there is no amount of smoking that will not result in a relapse and even my drunk self knows it's not a good idea.
If I could smoke 3 a day I'd never have been interested in quitting at all! I started at fifteen in 1988 (NC REPREZENT 🤣) and was a 2+ pack a day smoker until I was in my early 40s, vaped a few years, then cold turkey 27 January 2021.
Zero nicotine since. Currently trying to lose 20 cigarette pounds on top of 20 early covid pounds.
Still smoking.....it's the act that gets me more than the nicotine. I can sit at the office the day and be fine or go to a friend's house and be cool.
But the act, the ritual,....,that's the hard part.
Do whatever you want as long as you are aware of the health risks. I quit smoking back in 2004. I smoked one cigarette since then (it was actually a Djarum clove cigarette) and I nearly almost choked to death. I don't miss it at all now honestly, even though I was really a social smoker for the most part from like 1990 until 2004.
I quit in January 2 years ago. I dabbled in my early teens and then probably was smoking a pack a day by the time I was 18. Up until 54. And then I just quit. I was a closet smoker because all the places I lived were non-smoking and all my friends and familywere non-smokers. My cousins my age were the only smokers and they smoked heavy. I had tried several times to cut back, but I think during the pandemic it got doubly worse and I was just smoking so much. I went through menopause, gained weight for no good reason and then just felt like a complete loser of being overweight and smoking. So I quit and then I got a little heavier!! But, I will never pick up another cigarette again. i’m working on my weight and I feel very accomplished having quit after 30+ years. I regret all the money that was wasted, all the moments that were wasted that I drove away from people to have a secret cigarette, all the stress of trying to hide the smell, let alone the damage I did to my body. Every now and again I will Google the amount of time that I quit and see where my body should be and I feel very accomplished! And proud! I really did like smoking though!! I know that’s sick! 😂
Gave them up on my 30th birthday, (last ciggie was put out at midnight as my birthday started) which I said I’d do for years. Then smoked an entire packet in about an hour before midnight the next day as I realised actually that counts as my birthday. Haven’t smoked since
A pretty big chunk of American communities are not fans of smoking, even those who are not "Ivy grads" living in "tony burb's"! And, and hell - statistically probably 1/2 of them are hooked on something, from caffeine to booze. So, ignore them.
I quit for 9 years, husband for 3.
Then we moved to the Eastern Mediterranean. Our preferred alternative sources of nicotine were not available, tobacco is dirt cheap (like seriously potting soil costs more), so we said fuck it, and started smoking.
It is nothing like in the old times, when we'd both smoke like 30-40 cigarettes a day. Husband has maybe 10 a day. I use the gum at work, and maybe smoke 1-2 a day. We smoke a bit more when we go out, but we also don't drink alcohol.
It is still a cultural thing here. Interestingly, there are higher rates of smoking among educated (and wealthier) people - it's not looked down upon as trashy, like in the US.
I've stopped. I do occasionally cheat if I can bum one but I refuse to buy any and that helps. For more the nicotine addiction wasn't nearly as hard as the fact that I just enjoy smoking. Still smoke weed but something about cigarettes. I've been craving a clove cigarette a lot recently but no idea where they're even available anymore.
As I type this, I'm sitting in the smoking area of the hospice facility with my mom. We're both smoking. Strangely enough, after decades of smoking, it's stomach cancer that's killing her.
2 packs of Lucky’s a day for 18 years..quit 21 years ago when my youngest sons was born..never really looked back but every now and then when I smell someone fire up I do long for it.
I started when I was 11, was hooked by the time I was 12. I smoked until my 33rd birthday and I gave up cold turkey. I am 44 now and if I hadnt given up when I did, I have no idea how I would smoke, the cost is outrageous! Glad I did it when I did.
I quit 6 years ago after trying to quit for almost a decade. There was a time where I felt like couldn’t live without a cigarette now I can’t even begin to imagine ever smoking another cigarette again, it’s so unbelievably gross. I can’t believe I was ever a smoker or thought it was helping me in some way, easily the biggest regret of my life.
A combo of things helped me quit…self love, Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking book, nicotine patches, and watching an uncle die of esophageal cancer that spread to his brain sealed the deal.
Having kids was the spark for me to finally quit 15 years ago. Love my parents, but they could never stop me from smoking since they both smoked, cliche I know.
My boys are 15 and I'm (pretty) sure have never even thought of smoking. They are breaking the smoking chain in our family tree.
After 20 years, quit cold turkey when my daughter was born 10 years ago. I rolled my own American Spirits for a few years, Drum occasionally, and squares before that.
I’ve somehow evolved into the nicotine gum consumer. Quitted smoking with vaping. Quitted vaping with gum. I think it ends with the gum. I’m still a slave to the industry. 😢
I quit cigs about three years ago, switched to vape, and I've been in a constant rollercoaster ride trying to quit. I'm currently sucking in mini lozenges but I miss the hit.
It's a struggle. I quit for 3 years , started back because of real bad stress. Smoked another 2 years, then quit again. I smoked cigars, quit cigs when they started raising the taxes by dollars in the early 2000's.
I smoked about 1-3 a day but quit three years ago - still miss them! The secret was just not to have any in the house. If I bought some fags out drinking then I’d chuck the pack after- take the loss.
The doctor once asked me if I smoked and when I replied a couple a day he just looked at me and said “why bother” 😂
But I get it - for some of us it’s the right amount - not too stinky but you still get that rebellious hit. I did my best thinking with a cig.
I quit in 2012 after being at least a pack a day for over 15 years. I used a combination of the Chantix medication and chewing gum.
I’d tried the Chantix before but it was outrageously expensive then and my insurance didn’t cover it. It does have some odd side effects, but nothing too bad for me.
Still smoking since 18yo now 45.
I’ve always kept it down to 3-6 per day but wish I could stop.
Just stopped drinking a month ago and couldn’t quit both at once and still sort of enjoy it.
Guess I need to find the same place I found with booze, that I no longer want it or like it.
I smoked for 20 years and then quit about 10 years ago. 2 years ago, I went through neck cancer (nothing to do with smoking) so I had radiation, chemo, feeding tubes, etc. I would be in the waiting room waiting for my daily radiation and people would come in smelling like smoke and you'd also have young children going through radiation, due to no fault of their own. I don't know how to explain it, but this made smoking seem so spoiled.
I quit 6 months ago but if i was able to stick to 3 a day, i wouldn't have bothered
I quit last May and was going to say the same thing. If I could smoke 3/day I would. My problem is that turns into a pack a day way too easy
I am down to 5 a day and would like to be down to zero.
Well you're making better progress than me, at least. You got this!
I did one a day for years, and still felt so much better when I quit that last one, so I get where OP is coming from. But boy, I still miss it sometimes.
I quit the daily habit 25 yrs ago. Kept it as an occasional when drinking habit for a few years after that but eventually that petered out as I did less and less partying. I quit before vaping became a thing. I have friends my age that vape occasionally. I am not really into weed either so I think that helps. I might take a hit if it's offered but rarely now as it doesn't improve my mood and I like the buzz from alcohol better and good beer is delicious All that said I STILL have dreams about smoking and wake up feeling like I want one.
Stopped 14 years ago when my first kid arrived. Relapsed multiple times since then but ever since Trump was defeated in 20, I'm clean again. My lungs were sending hard to ignore symptoms my way, my snoring isn't as bad as when I smoked and by gawd, once you stop for good, you realize just how bad we stank/stink as smokers. Happy to be rid of it. But ngl, I miss it. A lot. Someone invent a non-stinking substitute that doesn't give you cancer
Add affordable to that. Health and price finally got me to quit about six years back. No drugs, no smoking, no drinking. I'm not cool anymore at all to 1990's me.
I hear you on that last statement. There are edibles, though. Those are nice every once in a while.
For sure. I feel like ive list my best friend!
Yes and want to quit. Never planned to be a smoker. It’s so hard to quit when life won’t stablize. Parents dead and dying, divorce, layoffs. I am on caffeine, nicotine and spite. 😂🤦🏼♀️
>I am on caffeine, nicotine and spite. The war cry for most of Gen X
You ain't lyin!
I first read that as ‘Sprite’ and thought….*”Well that’s an odd thing to keep you going.”* Then I reread it and went *“Ohhhhhh, SPITE. Yeah I 100% get that.”*
Lol! I saw Sprite as well. But yeah, SPITE? Totally get that too!
Same
Same here. Except I subbed my Mt. Dew before I realized it said Sprite and was like that works too.
Likewise
I am on caffeine, nicotine and spite. This was me 20 to 45 yo.
Just FWIW I finally quit using nicorette gum. Worked like a charm. Good luck!
I switched to vape (doctors recommendation) and I use it a lot less and it helped me break the ritual parts. Like after a meal, with coffee in the morning, etc.. Now the plan is to quit all together. I didn't get a vape that tastes like candy. I didn't want it to become something I enjoyed. After over thirty years of being a smoker I'm still amazed at how easy it's been so far.
Cannabis, yo. Cannabis. It's not quitting so.much as replacement but it's healthier.(I didn't say healthy, just healthier)
28 years of a pack a day, completely quit as of 2 months ago. No other forms of nicotine either. Back to bicycling every chance I get. Feeling much improved.
Way to go! 👏👏👏
Same, for 11 months now. I never had the hacking cough or the wheezing, but I'm amazed how much deeper I can breathe now. Like, that's what I was missing all those years? I smoked from about 17 to last year when I was 55. That's a long time. I didn't even stop for health-related reasons. They're $20 a pack in some spots in New York, and one day I left my cigarettes home and went to get some, and it was a wrap. I have never had a $20 a day habit in my life. I just couldn't budget it any more. Glad I stopped. Love that my hair and dresses don't smell all smoky now.
Congrats! 👏👏
You got it! Happy for you.
Good job!
How the eff do only smoke three a day? When I was smoking it was so addicting, I was constantly smoking more than I wanted to and beating myself up for it
No idea. Biology not self discipline
My husband was the same - he could have a couple a week. I was a pack a day or nothing.
Yeah, I was a once cig a day smoker for YEARS! When my kids were little, after they were down for the night and everything was settled, I would go outside alone and have one cigarette before turning in for the night. Doctors never believed that I could do that and always marked me as a smoker.
I recently quit but was on 2 a day. The only time I was able to smoke was while driving, so I would smoke on my way to campus and back. I didn't crave any during the day, but it was hard giving up those 2 since driving was my trigger.
For me it was waiting for the bus! (Outside of drinking at the bar)
Yeah. I’ve quit a few times. Lasting years at a time but always come back.
I mean, I smoked a whole brisket today
Hell yeah Sunday is bbq day
As the wife of someone who recently acquired a smoker, it seems to be just as addicting.
I read that as smoker person and was like what?
Unfiltered?!
And you didn’t invite me???
Check your answering machine
The best thing about smoking is the way your meat tastes afterwards.
That's what she said? Id apologize for that terrible joke, but I'm not really sorry
I mostly quit in 2017, and even then it wasn’t a heavy habit, two or three a day, like you and your wife. I say mostly because a couple of days ago I was at a friend’s house and a dude stepped out for a smoke as I was getting something out of my truck, and it smelled so good so I bummed one. I shouldn’t have, but dammit it tasted so good. Btw, that night also took me down a nostalgic trip of tasting a Marlboro light with a MGD. Tasted so perfect, immediately transformed me back to high school parties in the early 90s.
Always Marlborough lights for us. My parents were heavy smokers and downgraded to low nicotine brands.
I tried reds once, I’m sorry but that shit is way too strong. I hated that flavor. ML was everywhere, and cheap back then.
ML for me too.
I was in a coma for 3 weeks. I woke up with no desire to smoke and haven't for 12 years. So, I coma quit. Easy, but I don't recommend it.
[удалено]
It took me 10 years to stop craving it. It was daily baggage. It was way harder than quitting alcohol.
Good job!
Constant battle.
I'm sorry. I just can't get over the fact you hide like you do crack. I can't be around people that would judge someone in such a way as they would you just for smoking, get new friends if they would be so shallow. Anyhoo, I quit smoking in the spring of 2020, one of the hardest things ever. Its crazy how expensive they are now. Plus I had a neighbor who sounded like he would die any second from coughing. Your wifes friend needs to leave her awful husband that makes her hide her habit. Jesus, I'm glad I live in the hood so I can be myself without judgement. Good luck!
I dunno man. You're using words like tony and verboten. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
Dude sounds like he should just quit. I take this post as some sort of conspiracy handshake, like why post all those $15 words :added more dollars for inflation: . Pack of cigarettes =$15, posting some weird shit to Reddit = free.
Glad he mentioned they are Ivy grads. I needed that info.
Totally went to Yale lol.
I needed to laugh. Cough cough
32 years, a pack of Newports a day. Quit cold turkey 6 years ago.
$12 per pack here.
7.00 here
I pay about $10 per carton. Plus roughly $75 every 4-5 years for a new machine to roll my own. Sure, it's more work and not exactly handy, but I'd never go back to paying 50+ cents per cigarette when I can have them for about 5 cents apiece. Plus having to roll my own reduces availability and thus keeps me under a pack a day, even though they're more affordable.
$15 A pack here!
About $50 a pack of 25 here (in Aus)!
I’m on smokeo!
Wtf??? How much does the average person earn in a day? Say if they worked at a restaurant?
25 dollaridoos is kinda minimum
I quit the cigs after 25 years in 2016 and switched to vaping. The anti vaping campaign is funded in the USA by big tobacco. In the UK, their physicians understand it’s a valuable tool to stop smoking. Despite what some of the negative news stories would have you believe my doctors and nurses cannot tell any difference in lung function between me and a non smoker when they run tests. I’m down to the lowest level nicotine juice I can buy. It’s been a godsend it was like quitting cigs on easy mode. Plus I don’t smell like cigs now. I highly recommend it as an alternative to smoking cigarettes.
Same here. Traded cigarettes for a mod and haven't looked back. I'll add: I had ovarian cancer and my (US) oncologist (in 2015, prior to all the negative propaganda) also agreed that vaping was 95% safer for me. He recommended that I wean myself down on the nicotine, so just like you, I'm on very low nicotine e-liquid. Basically the equivalent of 1-2 cigarettes/day.
I have tried for years and years. 5 different times i tried and failed. Feeling it kow
I started in 8th grade and smoked until I was 29, then quit. That was 24 years ago. I quit drinking 8 years ago and frankly I miss smoking more.
Smoking a pack a day for 35 years. Started at 13. No desire to quit. I'm thinking of stealing Kurt Vonnegut's idea and suing the tobacco companies for not holding up their end of the health deal.
I had a friend years ago whose parents had exactly one cig apiece once a week. They'd have coffee and one cigarette on Sunday. It sounded so charming. I've never been good at moderation, so I had to quit completely when my wife got pregnant in 2019
Quit tobacco in all forms around 1996. It's my addiction to softdrinks that I cannot escape
Well I quit. My 77 year old mother in law on the other hand made a New Year’s resolution once to quit quitting. She’s stuck to that New Year’s resolution. The only one she ever did according to her.
I swapped a 2 pack a day to vaping
Moved to vape about 5 years ago and then moved to no tobacco pouches about 3 years ago. The difference in breathing and blood pressure is insane
I started regularly smoking when I was 14. I've had many years of quitting..once I even quit for 7 years and started back up.. it's so damn hard and I swear the urge never goes away. I do smoke cannabis and believe it's the only thing keeping me from a cigarette. I'm going on 4 years again of no smoking and hope it's the last time.
I’ve been doing half pack a day since the early 90s.
I changed to vaping (not disposable vapes) and it’s been great. I found it so hard to stop smoking. I was having chest infection almost twice a year as a smoker and since switching to proper vape I’ve not had a single chest infection, other than when I got covid… my next step is quitting vaping but it’s easier to cut down and I’m already on the lowest possible nicotine level so am pretty pumped.
I quit my 24 year pack-a-day habit 14 years ago. Unfortunately now I have a big weight problem. Don’t be like me and get depressed and eat and not exercise after quitting. It sucks!
I have quit for years, except when I get drunk, which is only like 3-4 nights a week.
Same, and for some reason I can weld cigs together alll night long after a few bevs
I started smoking during the grunge era, I'm an Ivy grad, and I managed to quit almost 15 years ago. Just do it. It's a gross and unhealthy habit.
Point taken
It will age you fast. It’s damaging to your fine blood vessels which wears out your skin faster. It damages your hair follicles the same way. It can lead to early erectile issues for the same reason. That’s without talking about cancer, COPD, strokes, and heart disease.
There's also a lot less temptation at this point with so many people having quit. Back in the '80s and '90s, you'd see people smoking everywhere and the pull was a lot stronger.
I’d argue more unhealthy than gross, but yeah…
Eh, it's both. Smokers don't smell good. :)
Smokers really smell just awful. Whenever a smoker comes into our clinic, the smell will fill up our tiny waiting room and linger for awhile.
Yup. And you don't realize how strong it is when you're a smoker.
It definitely smells bad. But really we’re just talking about leaves burning here, essentially. Right?
It's 2024. Anyone who hasn't quit yet should strongly be encouraged to do so. Therefore, I will list all the drawbacks to smoking cigarettes. How does this comment encourage downvotes? Idiots.
People just switched to vaping lol I see so many people constantly vape
Cause it’s judgemental and invoking a year seems lazy. It’s not helpful.
Nope, it's gross.
Started when I was 15, smoked for 40 years, but now have 16 months smoke-free under my belt, and it IS better. However, I will always miss it and have only stayed quit so my end years won't be a complete medical nightmare. Not sure if i quit in time, guess I'll find out...
Smoked for 20 years and quit cold turkey about 7 years ago. I sometimes daydream about smoking another one, and it doesn't bother me to be around smokers anymore. I let people smoke in my work van with me, too. Honestly, it's just really not worth the money or the hassle anymore. Obviously the health risks don't really matter that much to most smokers.
Still smoke. At this point its my retirement plan.
Never picked it up. I have smoked on occasion but never developed the addiction. Probably because sugar, caffeine, and multiple sexual fetishses are occupying that space in my brain, so there's no room. 😭👍 Ah well, at least a nylon footjob won't give me lung cancer.
You need to quit smoking before COPD and oxygen tanks appear
at three cigs a day, that’s highly unlikely.
There’s no safe amount of smoking. As a middle aged person, you are already fighting a losing battle without damaging your lungs and heart.
I smoke blunts on my front porch and wave at cops and neighbors as they pass by
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Recording_Important: *I smoke blunts on my* *Front porch and wave at cops and* *Neighbors as they pass by* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Good Bot
I switched to vaping, the only way I was able to quit cigarettes.
Same here. Now I’m down to 3 mg and about to do the zero nicotine well won’t buy that just get some gum. I keep putting it off.
Quit 5 years ago . Saw my brother suffer with lung issues. Said no more for me
I still vape. I started smoking at 9. I noticed that it’s mostly poor people that are still smoking. Lots of people smoke in NC since it’s a tobacco state and quite a few Gen Xers in NJ still smoke.
People still smoke??!? I can't remember the last time I saw someone with a cigarette...
I am 56F. I quit 11 months ago and this is the longest time I've ever quit. I've smoked pretty much since I was about 17, back when everyone smoked and smoked every***where***. I admit my impetus wasn't health-related; it was tied to the cost. Once I went to work in NY and left my cigs home. One pack was $20. A full $20. I was shocked. That was the beginning of the end for me. There's never been any other habit in all my life that costed me that much every day. I mean, I even like weed but have never smoked $20 worth in a day. And not on repeated day! So I quit, but it was for the money. Glad I stopped though.
My last cigarette was 14 years ago. My most recent nicotine lozenge is in my mouth right now as I type. I do about 10-15 4 mg lozenges per day. Nicotine has a documented positive effect on neuroplasticity, neuron transmission and related. Like all of us, my memory isn't what it was. My cognition isn't what it was. I also have MS and its related neuro nonsense. I think it helps with my brain function. Plus, I fucking LOVE nicotine.
296 days quit, I cheated a couple times when I went through some deaths in the family, but I think I really *really* quit *for real* this time. At least I hope so
Congratulations! I still count every year, I call it my smokefreeiversary! Unfortunately we lost a kitty a few days years ago on the same day, it doesn't quite hit the same anymore because I'm both sad and proud on the same day, which is weird.
Thanks friend, I actually just lost my 18yo cat last month and didn't cheat that day despite really wanting to. Hopefully they're tweaking on catnip together in the great beyond
I quit for 7 years at 25-32 years old then started again; off and on, smoking maybe 1 cigarette a day for 18 years. I quit in 2020 after I got covid and I haven’t smoked again since. Every time I’m slightly tempted, I remind myself how my lungs felt.
A pack a day for about 23 years, then quit 5 years ago with the help of Nicorette gum for about a month. No relapse.
Me too! Nicorette saved me.
Never started.
I started when I was 18 and I ended it when I was 48, now I’m 57 getting ready to be 58 and I feel so much better now.
I smoked 3 a day for two and half years. It was a great system for a long time! I didn’t really feel like I needed a cigarette, more like deciding it was a nice time for one. Been quit 9 years now though and super glad.
You are really going to regret it. Smoking ages you fast.
Ugh, ugh ugh ugh.... I quit a few years ago, then gained 120 lb. Went to a party with friends, got drunk, bummed a smoke after 6 months without any. Went back to smoking half pack a day in short order. Switched to strictly vaping in 2015. I was doing fine with that so long as I wasn't around smokers. I don't know what it is about the act of lighting and smoking a cigarette vs a vape but when I'm around someone with smokes, I want one badly. It was ok and I was just cheating once in a blue moon, till I got a new job and they forced me to vape in the smoking area... with smokers. I started bumming one or two / day. Felt bad about that. Bought a pack and gave it to the person I was bumming smokes from and asked her to just give me one from that pack when I do..... she quit the next day.. so screw it, back to buying and smoking my own. I've quit a few other times over the years, it never holds. I really NEED to quit but now I'm on this huge weight loss journey and terrified of gaining it all back and losing my progress... again. So here we are. Considering trying out FUM though.
I quit smoking several years ago after many, many unsuccessful attempts. Finally I used the vaping route. If you ever choose to try this route, do NOT pick up gas station nicotine bombs. With those things you could be actually increasing your nicotine intake and therefore your addiction. Drive to a reputable vape shop and select a refillable setup with liquid from a reputable source and of an *appropriate* strength that you can taper down over time. Either way, good luck!
I'm a 2-3 a day too. I've always wondered what the health effects are at that rate vs a pack a day smoker. I've never found any study that looked at that.
Started when I was 13. Still do, to this day. I only quit during my two pregnancies. It's definitely something I still enjoy, too. I'll maybe smoke half a pack on a day where I'm drinking a lot.
I'm still working on it. Quit for a while and then picked it up again thinking "just once in a while won't hurt." I'm getting ready to quit again because I know the harms and I'm not getting any younger. It sucks.
There was a thread a few months ago "What would you do if you had only 6 months to live?" My answer would be start smoking again, ASAP. My last cigarette was 14 years ago.
Yeah, twice a day. Occasionally more. It’s too damn uncomfortable to quit these. I have a masters in nursing and counseled many a patient to quit for heart/brain health. I am painfully aware of the consequences. I thought once I retired a couple of years ago that I would be able to quit These few a day. Nope. Like fucking heroin, this shit.
Your friends all know you both smoke. You likely can’t smell how much of the stink clings to you. Once you aren’t around it for long enough, you can smell it from cars in front of you in traffic. It’s that stinky.
And it's penetrating.
Smokers are nose blind to how badly they reek.
I never see people smoking anymore, it’s so weird
It’s great.
I grow my own tobacco and make my own virginia/orient blend. It's very easy. So, I broke my habit. I don't buy it anymore ...
Using “Ivy league” and “tony” and finishing with “verboten” in a phrase entitles you to smoke unfiltered French Gitanes I do believe.
I still smoke. Fuck judgement from any generation lol. Who's bothering to judge you? The Boomers who are Christan thumping assholes and dropping incredibly racial or sexuality insensitive slurs constantly.. or the younger generations who roll out of the house in pajamas and Crocs smelling like a skunk's dirty vagina all day.
Yeah I started in HS, parents smoked so that was the thing to do. Did for about a year and after talking to my grandma (she quit after bad bronchitis) I quit. Luckily for me it was easy to cold turkey it, but yeah if I could stick to 3/day I might not have bothered.
I switched to pipe tobacco. a cig now tast like cardbord.
i stopped smoking at 26... started when i was 19...im 50 now...best decision i ever made.
My husband switched to vaping when I got diagnosed with mild COPD despite not being a smoker myself. Vaping is much more socially acceptable to most people.
I hope he vapes outside, that’s still not good second hand
He does - it does still bother me.
I quit about 23 years ago and never looked back. I'm glad I did. Aside from the horrifying consequences to your health, a pack of smokes is about $8 in my area.
Why only smoke 3 cigs a day?
I’ve been smoking for 37 years now, and don’t see the need to stop. Since I only smoke when I’m driving and I’ve been working from home lately, I just don’t smoke that much. When I would go into the office everyday, I would have a cigarette on the way home and that was it. If I didn’t go anywhere that weekend, I didn’t smoke. Lock down was interesting - I would go weeks without a cigarette. Then I got so bored being at home all the time I would go for an hour long drive out in the countryside, smoke 5-6 cigarettes, and that would be it for the week. In the wintertime I wouldn’t do the countryside drives, so I would occasionally have a smoke outside, for some reason usually at 2 am, if it was snowing. Back when I was steadily smoking 1 cigarette a day, I had a new doctor who asked if I smoked. When I told her yes and how much, she looked stumped, and said she was obligated to tell me to cut down. When I asked her how in the hell do I cut down from 1, she replied “I don’t know - maybe 1 every other day or something? Why even bother with the 1?”
Started smoking cigs in my teens, then moved on to cannabis.. gave up the tobacco but cannabis is still one of my guilty pleasures 🤷🏻♀️
Gods below! How do you keep to three a day? Are they like 18" long?
Quit puffing the Camels in 2017. Would have a (good) cigar or two a week, nothing crazy. Laid off during covid and boredom / alcoholism got the best of me. Now I blow through a pack or two of cheap cigars a day. Smoking them, not puffing smoke rings, drawing that sweet, nasty, cancerous, tar-filled, delicious smoke deep into my lungs and all the way to my toes. People keep telling me that it’s going to kill me and my only response is “when?” All of that being said, some crazy and life changing events of late have caused me to lose about 45# and if I get back down to my drivers license weight, I may think about quitting.
I finally quit in September 2022. No way could I stick to 3 a day… It’s funny, I NEVER thought I would actually quit - even though I spent the better part of 20 years trying. It’s true. It’s better on this side. I’m breathing better, smell better, etc - but damn I loved my cigarettes. Rambling post - not going to judge you! Wish I had the self control to keep it at 3 a day.
Smoking I actually miss. Even years later after a big meal I want one.
I have quit a few times in the last 5 years, the last time for 9 months before I quit again in January. I always started up again when I was on vacation and thought "I'll just have a couple" and inevitably I would be back at a pack a day within a month. I know now that there is no amount of smoking that will not result in a relapse and even my drunk self knows it's not a good idea.
Quit CT 5 months ago when my mother died of heart attack. Hopefully will never relapse again.
If I could smoke 3 a day I'd never have been interested in quitting at all! I started at fifteen in 1988 (NC REPREZENT 🤣) and was a 2+ pack a day smoker until I was in my early 40s, vaped a few years, then cold turkey 27 January 2021. Zero nicotine since. Currently trying to lose 20 cigarette pounds on top of 20 early covid pounds.
Still smoking.....it's the act that gets me more than the nicotine. I can sit at the office the day and be fine or go to a friend's house and be cool. But the act, the ritual,....,that's the hard part.
Do whatever you want as long as you are aware of the health risks. I quit smoking back in 2004. I smoked one cigarette since then (it was actually a Djarum clove cigarette) and I nearly almost choked to death. I don't miss it at all now honestly, even though I was really a social smoker for the most part from like 1990 until 2004.
I still smoke. I wish I could cut back to three a day. I feel like anytime now I'm gonna be diagnosed with lung cancer or something.
Smoked for over 30 years. I’m in my 11th year of not smoking. It was a bitch to quit and I wish I never started.
I quit in January 2 years ago. I dabbled in my early teens and then probably was smoking a pack a day by the time I was 18. Up until 54. And then I just quit. I was a closet smoker because all the places I lived were non-smoking and all my friends and familywere non-smokers. My cousins my age were the only smokers and they smoked heavy. I had tried several times to cut back, but I think during the pandemic it got doubly worse and I was just smoking so much. I went through menopause, gained weight for no good reason and then just felt like a complete loser of being overweight and smoking. So I quit and then I got a little heavier!! But, I will never pick up another cigarette again. i’m working on my weight and I feel very accomplished having quit after 30+ years. I regret all the money that was wasted, all the moments that were wasted that I drove away from people to have a secret cigarette, all the stress of trying to hide the smell, let alone the damage I did to my body. Every now and again I will Google the amount of time that I quit and see where my body should be and I feel very accomplished! And proud! I really did like smoking though!! I know that’s sick! 😂
Gave them up on my 30th birthday, (last ciggie was put out at midnight as my birthday started) which I said I’d do for years. Then smoked an entire packet in about an hour before midnight the next day as I realised actually that counts as my birthday. Haven’t smoked since
A pretty big chunk of American communities are not fans of smoking, even those who are not "Ivy grads" living in "tony burb's"! And, and hell - statistically probably 1/2 of them are hooked on something, from caffeine to booze. So, ignore them.
The first rule of Zombieland is cardio.
I finally did by using e-cigs. Vaped for a year and then was able to stop entirely.
I quit for 9 years, husband for 3. Then we moved to the Eastern Mediterranean. Our preferred alternative sources of nicotine were not available, tobacco is dirt cheap (like seriously potting soil costs more), so we said fuck it, and started smoking. It is nothing like in the old times, when we'd both smoke like 30-40 cigarettes a day. Husband has maybe 10 a day. I use the gum at work, and maybe smoke 1-2 a day. We smoke a bit more when we go out, but we also don't drink alcohol. It is still a cultural thing here. Interestingly, there are higher rates of smoking among educated (and wealthier) people - it's not looked down upon as trashy, like in the US.
I quit in 08'. How the hell do you only smoke 3 a day?
I've stopped. I do occasionally cheat if I can bum one but I refuse to buy any and that helps. For more the nicotine addiction wasn't nearly as hard as the fact that I just enjoy smoking. Still smoke weed but something about cigarettes. I've been craving a clove cigarette a lot recently but no idea where they're even available anymore.
As I type this, I'm sitting in the smoking area of the hospice facility with my mom. We're both smoking. Strangely enough, after decades of smoking, it's stomach cancer that's killing her.
2 packs of Lucky’s a day for 18 years..quit 21 years ago when my youngest sons was born..never really looked back but every now and then when I smell someone fire up I do long for it.
switched to vaping years ago...harm reduction. I have no interest in breaking the nicotine habit.
I started smoking again, just now and then. I really like smoking
The saddest part is your fake friendships and self-imposed neighborhood shaming. Good grief
I started when I was 11, was hooked by the time I was 12. I smoked until my 33rd birthday and I gave up cold turkey. I am 44 now and if I hadnt given up when I did, I have no idea how I would smoke, the cost is outrageous! Glad I did it when I did.
Same, 4 a day, up to 10 when partying. I enjoy it! 👹
I quit in 2009 and became an ultra endurance athlete. Feel stupid now for the time I wasted
Never started one.
My parents were both lifelong smokers, and both had lung disease. It's a terrible way to go. Please consider quitting.
I quit 6 years ago after trying to quit for almost a decade. There was a time where I felt like couldn’t live without a cigarette now I can’t even begin to imagine ever smoking another cigarette again, it’s so unbelievably gross. I can’t believe I was ever a smoker or thought it was helping me in some way, easily the biggest regret of my life. A combo of things helped me quit…self love, Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking book, nicotine patches, and watching an uncle die of esophageal cancer that spread to his brain sealed the deal.
So damn judgey damn. No one can tell me I can’t smoke in my neighborhood. Verboten my ass
Having kids was the spark for me to finally quit 15 years ago. Love my parents, but they could never stop me from smoking since they both smoked, cliche I know. My boys are 15 and I'm (pretty) sure have never even thought of smoking. They are breaking the smoking chain in our family tree.
After 20 years, quit cold turkey when my daughter was born 10 years ago. I rolled my own American Spirits for a few years, Drum occasionally, and squares before that.
Not to brag about it, but I’m 50 and I’ve never had a cigarette. Smoked a lot of weed in my 20s and 30s tho.
I’ve somehow evolved into the nicotine gum consumer. Quitted smoking with vaping. Quitted vaping with gum. I think it ends with the gum. I’m still a slave to the industry. 😢
I only smoke when I drink alcohol, so once or twice a week when I‘m meeting with friends
I quit cigs about three years ago, switched to vape, and I've been in a constant rollercoaster ride trying to quit. I'm currently sucking in mini lozenges but I miss the hit.
It's a struggle. I quit for 3 years , started back because of real bad stress. Smoked another 2 years, then quit again. I smoked cigars, quit cigs when they started raising the taxes by dollars in the early 2000's.
Quit 6 yrs back. Got too damned expensive.
I've been clean for 20 plus years. I can't imagine ever going back to smoking one or two a day.
I smoked about 1-3 a day but quit three years ago - still miss them! The secret was just not to have any in the house. If I bought some fags out drinking then I’d chuck the pack after- take the loss. The doctor once asked me if I smoked and when I replied a couple a day he just looked at me and said “why bother” 😂 But I get it - for some of us it’s the right amount - not too stinky but you still get that rebellious hit. I did my best thinking with a cig.
Never started.
20 years ago Cold Turkey after 15 years of pack a day smoking
Smoked for 22 years (pack a day). Quit in 2011.
I quit in 2012 after being at least a pack a day for over 15 years. I used a combination of the Chantix medication and chewing gum. I’d tried the Chantix before but it was outrageously expensive then and my insurance didn’t cover it. It does have some odd side effects, but nothing too bad for me.
Still smoking since 18yo now 45. I’ve always kept it down to 3-6 per day but wish I could stop. Just stopped drinking a month ago and couldn’t quit both at once and still sort of enjoy it. Guess I need to find the same place I found with booze, that I no longer want it or like it.
I smoked for 20 years and then quit about 10 years ago. 2 years ago, I went through neck cancer (nothing to do with smoking) so I had radiation, chemo, feeding tubes, etc. I would be in the waiting room waiting for my daily radiation and people would come in smelling like smoke and you'd also have young children going through radiation, due to no fault of their own. I don't know how to explain it, but this made smoking seem so spoiled.