[Jacob]

Originally Posted by Pony99CA

Check out the review of "My Last Cigarette" at pocketnow. Apparently it's for people who have actually stopped smoking (or at least think they have :-)).

Steve (who fortunately doesn't smoke)

I used an app similar to that when I quit - except for the PC.

It was very nice to have to provide motivation - seeing how much money you saved by not smoking helps you realize how much money you waste on it.

[Jacob]

Originally Posted by Pony99CA

Check out the review of "My Last Cigarette" at pocketnow. Apparently it's for people who have actually stopped smoking (or at least think they have :-)).

Steve (who fortunately doesn't smoke)

I used an app similar to that when I quit - except for the PC.

It was very nice to have to provide motivation - seeing how much money you saved by not smoking helps you realize how much money you waste on it.

[Janak Parekh]

Originally Posted by dh

One of the nice things about being in the US is that most places are smoke free.

Agreed, 100%. I have to thank Mayor Mike over here for banning smoking from bars and restaurants. In my opinion, it's the best thing that ever happened to NYC. My boss also stopped smoking except outside, which benefits us as well. Kowalski, from what I've heard from my friends' experiences, that'll be one of the most difficult things -- going out to dinner or a bar and resisting a casual smoke.

shawnc, I'm also very sorry to hear about your story.

--janak

[milkman dan]

Where I work, we all pile into the back of a white van and drive about 1 hour to our work site. The back of the van's roof is literally brown from cigarrete smoke, it is discusting! BTW, how much are cigarettes out where you live? out here they are almost $10 canadian for a pack of 25

[shawnc]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this site is the best thing going. I am SINCERELY touched by the expressions of sorrow shown over my parents. Thank you all very much.

Hang with it kowalski. It's not going to be easy, but you can do it!

[hollis_f]

Originally Posted by dadarkmcse

If you need incentive to quit smoking, just remember the facts. Smoking WILL kill you in some way eventually.

I'm afraid you've fallen under the spell of the anti-smoking propaganda. If you smoke for 50 years then your chance of getting lung cancer by the age of 70 are 16% - That's just one chance in 7. Half of all lifetime smokers die from causes not related to smoking. Half of all lifetime smokers die from causes related to smoking.

Yes, it's a horrible habit. But trying to scare people with obvious untruths (everybody my age will have known elderly relatives that smoked) will just dilute the real facts.

[Kowalski]

First of all i want to say that i am very greatfull to you all, your help will be invaluable for sure.

Pony, thank you for your advice on My Last Cigarette, this program seems to be very helpfull

I smoke the occasional pipe, maybe once every other month, and a clove cigarette every once in awhile

It gives real delightfull to smoke only one or two cigarettes a day, but if you smoke a packet like me it looses all its taste and becomes a compulsion

Kowalski, from what I've heard from my friends' experiences, that'll be one of the most difficult things -- going out to dinner or a bar and resisting a casual smoke.

janag, you cant imagine how hard this is

out here they are almost $10 canadian for a pack of 25

this is an obstical in our country, a pack of Marlboro is 1.75$ only :evil: a 15 year old school kid can buy one pack a day easily

[Jon Westfall]

Originally Posted by hollis_f

I'm afraid you've fallen under the spell of the anti-smoking propaganda. If you smoke for 50 years then your chance of getting lung cancer by the age of 70 are 16% - That's just one chance in 7. Half of all lifetime smokers die from causes not related to smoking. Half of all lifetime smokers die from causes related to smoking.

Yes, it's a horrible habit. But trying to scare people with obvious untruths (everybody my age will have known elderly relatives that smoked) will just dilute the real facts.

No, I'm not mistaken on that statement. Smoking kills not only though lung cancer. A variety of other cancers can be caused by smoking, as well. Also, smoking complicates other health issues that will lead to an early death as well (When was the last time you saw a regular smoker that could jog without gasping?).

There are the exceptions, people whose body chemistry just seems to be immune. My grandmother smoked for 75 years and died at age 92, from multiple issues (Including a collapsed lung).

And if you don't want to believe me on a physical level, look at it psychologically. How many times have you seen smokers suffer from withdrawal and are literally ready to jump out a window to get a cigarette. That time adds up and if you want to get technical, really deprives your life of other activities. I don't think I'd want to have to plan my day around when I could take smoke breaks (Which I have friends who do). Also, many people don't want to date or be around smokers. So there is another socially interactive psychological element there - loss of friends, romance, etc...

Smoking also kills financially, as others have noted. It isn't cheap (Except for kowalski, unfortunatly)

So I stand by my statement, cigarettes will eventually help you meet your maker a bit sooner than if you hadn't smoked them. If I had wanted to scare people by diluting the facts, I would have stated that smoking made you turn green and grow a third eye or something. Now that's scary.

And shawnc, I as well am sorry to hear of your loss.

[shawnc]

Originally Posted by hollis_f

I'm afraid you've fallen under the spell of the anti-smoking propaganda.

If you smoke for 50 years then your chance of getting lung cancer by the age of 70 are 16% - That's just one chance in 7. Half of all lifetime smokers die from causes not related to smoking. Half of all lifetime smokers die from causes related to smoking.

Hollis - Are you kiddin me???? Anit-smoking propoganda? The problem with statistics is that you can use them to make a case for two totally contradictory positions. I'm not certain where you get the stats you use, but trust me, my research indicates that the proportion of smokers who will die from smoking-related complications is MUCH higher 50%.

But the heck with statistics. Just ask yourself a simple question - how many long-term smokers do you know who died of old age? In my case (and I'm truly not exagerating) my guess is less than 5% of the long-term smokers I have come in contact with (mostly friends of my parents) died of old age. That leaves 95% to some other cause and my guess (and that's all it is) is that the overwhelming majority of those died from smoking-related illness/complications. I understand that Black folks don't always get the best, or highest quality, health care, so it's possible that race is a factor. Even allowing for that, those are some l-o-n-g odds that I wouldn't want to mess around with.

I understand your point of diluting the message with false scare tactics. I just don't think that has occurred in this thread, or the post you reference.

[Jon Westfall]

Originally Posted by shawnc

Hollis - Are you kiddin me???? Anit-smoking propoganda? The problem with statistics is that you can use them to make a case for two totally contradictory positions.

Hollis has simply framed the data to fit in with his belief. I'm reminded of a question posed in a child psych class once: Do older mothers give birth to more babies with birth defects than younger mothers? The class responded yes - as you age your risk of birth defects grows. The professor laughed and said "But younger mothers give birth to FAR more children than older mothers do, so they actually give birth to more babies with birth defects because the volume is larger".

Same thing here. Your odds of dying of other things are WAY higher than lung cancer (i.e. heart disease), but using that to justify smoking as harmless is insane.

And 1 in 7 are NOT odds I want to take knowing the horrible way lung cancer rips someone apart. If the odds of the lottery were 1 in 7, people would be playing it constantly.

Originally Posted by shawnc

I understand your point of diluting the message with false scare tactics. I just don't think that has occurred in this thread, or the post you reference.

Thank you Shawnc. I don't mean to scare people, I just think denial is a very real problem in society today. If I can help someone realize they need to look out for their health better, that's my goal. But not by scaring them.

[tanalasta]

Right... I was going to refrain from posting 'ere given the controversy but I'm definitely anti-smoking.

Random tidbits...
1. <5% people quit just because their Doctor tells them to do so. But the fact that a small proportion do make it all worthwhile.
2. If you are not willing to give up smoking, there's no way you will succeed. You have got to WANT to.
3. Apart from the fact lung cancer is horrible and almost certain to kill you if it get it, eventually it is the disabling effects of smoking which are more commonplace, and significant. Every year you smoke decreases your lung function - i.e. your lungs 'age' or deteriorate much faster than they should. Stopping smoking does not reverse this damage - it only means your lungs start deteriorating at the same rate as somebody who is a non-smoker. The damage that has been done already - is permanent.

It is the disabilities that result from smoking that are important.

The number of elderly patients with decades of pack-years (no. of 25x cigarette packs day x no. of years smoked) who may require portable oxygen and can barely move, shower, get out of bed, prepare their meals or do ANYTHING without feeling short of breath (akin to being really unfit and having just done a killer aerobics session) is horrendous. Given their condition was preventable. Their disabilities affect them. They regret it. To be fair, there's a wide-range of severity but keep smoking and the eventuality that this will affect you becomes all the more likely. And these people are a massive burden to all those around them. And they cost the health system a lot of money.

4. Smoking is associated with an increased risk of almost every other disease you can name. You're more likely to die of other causes. Period.
5. If you're diabetic AND smoke - expect to have your legs cut off before you die. Poor circulation due to peripheral vascular disease and smoking is not nice.
6. There are obvious social implications from smoking and most people don't think it's cool. Smoking is now banned from my State casino and some clubs/pubs/shopping centres. We no longer have to dryclean our suit everytime we visit the casino to get rid of the tobacco smell

We can debate statistics but the truth is, what people have been writing above could happen to YOU if you smoke. And being preventable, it's not a gamble I'd take.

Here's a statistic I heard a Doctor once tell a patient: Did you know that if you stopped smoking, you'd be able to afford a trip to Bali every 6 months?!? Say you smoke a packet/day. That's A$70 a week. A$280 a month. A$1680 in 6 months. Umm... US$1000 can buy you a lot of things. Like almost any PocketPC on the market.

Okay that's enough of the scare campaign. It's just that all the ad's in Australia have been of people dying, destroying their lungs or operated on. Or doing other stupid things. Why start in the first place? But if you decide to quit, all the best! Congratulations. Yay!

For a laugh, does anybody else know someone else who doesn't smoke who tried nicotine patches for exam revision and got addicted to them? :roll:

And a packet of cigarettes (25) in Australia costs A$10. that'd be US$7

*edits - minor grammatical changes*