I've known ecigs existed for a while now but never really considered them an option. I always assumed so many things about them that I am now learning aren't true or have been misinterpreted. Then I picked up smoking again late this past summer and frankly they just aren't a realistic long term option.
I started smoking when I was 15yrs old. My parents smoked when I was a child and my first boyfriend Paul smoked. I remember being so curious and hated the fact that everyone forbid me from smoking (especially Paul, which at the time ...... me off). My first smoke was a menthol that I stole from a pack that my sister had hidden in her dresser (she was actually seriously holding the pack for a friend). My parents were away on a hunting trip so one night when my sister had a bunch of friends over and I had my friend Joy over we both stole a cig from the above mentioned pack and shared it.
For the next year it was an occasional puff here and there and tons of second hand smoke from friends.
It was right around the time that the legal age to buy smokes here went from 16 to 19, it changed just before I turned 16 actually. I had one friend who looked much older so I decided I had enough of mooching a puff here and there and decided to start buying my own smokes. I would give CJ the money, he would go to 7-11 and then I would share with him. Either that or I would buy the occasional smoke from Wodge (nickname), a native buddy who would buy smokes tax free from stores on native land and then would go on his bike between all the jr and sr high schools and sell them for 0.25-0.50 cents a smoke.
That continued till I was 20. Drinking age here is 19 and I was younger than most of my friends at this time so I didn't equal drinking a beer (or other alcoholic beverage) with a smoke but I went up to 1/2 a pack a day. I hid it from my parents by never smoking where it was likely I would be seen. Around this time I also found out that my mom did not quit smoking when I was 7 or 8. She had just been hiding it. Ashamed to admit it but I starting taking smokes from my mom because I knew she would never call me on it but I wasn't buying my own smokes.
This continued for a year. I quit the summer I turned 21 but that Christmas my mom passed away suddenly. My stress reaction had me go straight to 7-11 and CJ (who I hadn't spoken to in a few years) was working. He asked how mom was, I replied "dead" and then I bought a pack of smokes and CJ and I sat outside 7-11 for a couple hours and smoked and talked. I continued smoking till I was 27yrs old.
When I was 25yrs old I met Aaron and moved across the province to be with him. We both smoked a pack a day and when I was 27 Aaron and I quit together. It darn near broke us up because we were both so awful to everyone. For the next 3yrs we would quit, then one of us would slip and we would both start again and repeat it again a few months later.
When I was 29 my father was diagnosed with Cancer. For the next 2yrs I was smoke free while my father fought esophagus Cancer. A few weeks before my 31st birthday I got the call to come home. Dad was going into the hospital and was pretty certain he would not be coming back out. With the stress of that time I started smoking again but stopped when I came back home just before Christmas.
Then this past summer I started working for a company that travels around the area counting inventory. I believe it was the first out of town count where I was away for a few days (staying in motels) and I started smoking again. I have been able to keep my smoking down to days I was out of town.
The truth is that I didn't want to quit smoking. I have replaced smoking with eating and chewing on my nails and my medications for anxiety are used much more when I do not have smoking as an option. I once had a plastic cigarette (that you would put flavored thingies inside) but I kept that plastic cig for the longest time because just the act of smoking was enough to calm me.
I am here now to find a good starting place for vaping. In the few days that I have been a member I have already learned so much and already have a setup that I am planning on purchasing. I expect it to be a fight to get Aaron to see where I am coming from but I honestly see vaping as my only option to stop smoking for the final time.
I started smoking when I was 15yrs old. My parents smoked when I was a child and my first boyfriend Paul smoked. I remember being so curious and hated the fact that everyone forbid me from smoking (especially Paul, which at the time ...... me off). My first smoke was a menthol that I stole from a pack that my sister had hidden in her dresser (she was actually seriously holding the pack for a friend). My parents were away on a hunting trip so one night when my sister had a bunch of friends over and I had my friend Joy over we both stole a cig from the above mentioned pack and shared it.
For the next year it was an occasional puff here and there and tons of second hand smoke from friends.
It was right around the time that the legal age to buy smokes here went from 16 to 19, it changed just before I turned 16 actually. I had one friend who looked much older so I decided I had enough of mooching a puff here and there and decided to start buying my own smokes. I would give CJ the money, he would go to 7-11 and then I would share with him. Either that or I would buy the occasional smoke from Wodge (nickname), a native buddy who would buy smokes tax free from stores on native land and then would go on his bike between all the jr and sr high schools and sell them for 0.25-0.50 cents a smoke.
That continued till I was 20. Drinking age here is 19 and I was younger than most of my friends at this time so I didn't equal drinking a beer (or other alcoholic beverage) with a smoke but I went up to 1/2 a pack a day. I hid it from my parents by never smoking where it was likely I would be seen. Around this time I also found out that my mom did not quit smoking when I was 7 or 8. She had just been hiding it. Ashamed to admit it but I starting taking smokes from my mom because I knew she would never call me on it but I wasn't buying my own smokes.
This continued for a year. I quit the summer I turned 21 but that Christmas my mom passed away suddenly. My stress reaction had me go straight to 7-11 and CJ (who I hadn't spoken to in a few years) was working. He asked how mom was, I replied "dead" and then I bought a pack of smokes and CJ and I sat outside 7-11 for a couple hours and smoked and talked. I continued smoking till I was 27yrs old.
When I was 25yrs old I met Aaron and moved across the province to be with him. We both smoked a pack a day and when I was 27 Aaron and I quit together. It darn near broke us up because we were both so awful to everyone. For the next 3yrs we would quit, then one of us would slip and we would both start again and repeat it again a few months later.
When I was 29 my father was diagnosed with Cancer. For the next 2yrs I was smoke free while my father fought esophagus Cancer. A few weeks before my 31st birthday I got the call to come home. Dad was going into the hospital and was pretty certain he would not be coming back out. With the stress of that time I started smoking again but stopped when I came back home just before Christmas.
Then this past summer I started working for a company that travels around the area counting inventory. I believe it was the first out of town count where I was away for a few days (staying in motels) and I started smoking again. I have been able to keep my smoking down to days I was out of town.
The truth is that I didn't want to quit smoking. I have replaced smoking with eating and chewing on my nails and my medications for anxiety are used much more when I do not have smoking as an option. I once had a plastic cigarette (that you would put flavored thingies inside) but I kept that plastic cig for the longest time because just the act of smoking was enough to calm me.
I am here now to find a good starting place for vaping. In the few days that I have been a member I have already learned so much and already have a setup that I am planning on purchasing. I expect it to be a fight to get Aaron to see where I am coming from but I honestly see vaping as my only option to stop smoking for the final time.
