I posted this on the forum and thought it was as good a place as any to start the blog.
The government and a large number of the public here are so anti-smoking that it makes this forum look like peace valley. The latest law, which comes into force in December, is that cigarettes have to be sold in plain packaging. I think they are still also going to be required to have the pictures of cancerous gums and clogged hearts etc on them. They also have a continual price rise plan. A packet of 20 is currently $14. All government buildings, workplaces, bars, shops, cafes, and restaurants are required to be smoke-free.
People around me who smoke have gruesome pictures on every packet they carry.
I don't like that I have to go outside with the smokers at work because I don't smoke and don't like what I do being lumped in with the very thing that was destroying my health - and it was destroying my health. Fortunately a huge number of people I work with are happy I started vaping.
When I smoked 40-50 a day I went outside to smoke at other peoples houses, even if they said they didn't mind. I knew it stank up the room.
I'm not anti-smokers at all. I started smoking when I was 10 years old. My parents smoked around us kids for years. I picked up the habit because I thought it was grown up. I have damaged lungs - fortunately not severe, but its still damage. I have reduced lung capacity - just enough to make me afraid to smoke again, and not enough to cause any real impairment day to day. The biggest problem I had for years was denial.
I certainly want to help anyone who wants to quit. I'm not the kind of person that can have a couple a day - once I start I go the whole hog. I haven't smoked for over 5 months. I can hardly believe it sometimes.
I come to this forum to celebrate being off smokes, and for support, and to support others who are also vaping. I'm not here to support smoking. But, I do understand what smoking is like. I do know what it's like to smoke so much that I'm not really even tasting them anymore, just dragging down a fix. I do understand that people on tight budgets spend money they don't have on something that is harming, and in some cases killing, them. I do understand being locked into a habit and feeling like the government and the public consider me an inferior person because of it. I do understand alternating between shame and denial over being forced to carry around gruesome pictures from smokers autopsies on every packet.
I tried nicotine patches and had to stop using them because I developed a nasty rash. I was ready to climb the walls four days into quitting anyway. vaping has done it for me. I see on this forum what it's done for others. Since I started vaping 2 people I work with have quit and another has cut right down, and three people outside of work have started vaping. One was denied an operation he needs because he smoked 50 a day. Since he started vaping he's at 4 cigs a day and back on the list for the operation. Without the operation his life expectancy isn't good. I'm not anti-smokers - the people. I'm for living.
I know I wasn't the only smoker who had the secret desire at times to quit, but felt like I just couldn't. I am particularly interested in people who also feel that way - because there is an alternative.
The government and a large number of the public here are so anti-smoking that it makes this forum look like peace valley. The latest law, which comes into force in December, is that cigarettes have to be sold in plain packaging. I think they are still also going to be required to have the pictures of cancerous gums and clogged hearts etc on them. They also have a continual price rise plan. A packet of 20 is currently $14. All government buildings, workplaces, bars, shops, cafes, and restaurants are required to be smoke-free.
People around me who smoke have gruesome pictures on every packet they carry.
I don't like that I have to go outside with the smokers at work because I don't smoke and don't like what I do being lumped in with the very thing that was destroying my health - and it was destroying my health. Fortunately a huge number of people I work with are happy I started vaping.
When I smoked 40-50 a day I went outside to smoke at other peoples houses, even if they said they didn't mind. I knew it stank up the room.
I'm not anti-smokers at all. I started smoking when I was 10 years old. My parents smoked around us kids for years. I picked up the habit because I thought it was grown up. I have damaged lungs - fortunately not severe, but its still damage. I have reduced lung capacity - just enough to make me afraid to smoke again, and not enough to cause any real impairment day to day. The biggest problem I had for years was denial.
I certainly want to help anyone who wants to quit. I'm not the kind of person that can have a couple a day - once I start I go the whole hog. I haven't smoked for over 5 months. I can hardly believe it sometimes.
I come to this forum to celebrate being off smokes, and for support, and to support others who are also vaping. I'm not here to support smoking. But, I do understand what smoking is like. I do know what it's like to smoke so much that I'm not really even tasting them anymore, just dragging down a fix. I do understand that people on tight budgets spend money they don't have on something that is harming, and in some cases killing, them. I do understand being locked into a habit and feeling like the government and the public consider me an inferior person because of it. I do understand alternating between shame and denial over being forced to carry around gruesome pictures from smokers autopsies on every packet.
I tried nicotine patches and had to stop using them because I developed a nasty rash. I was ready to climb the walls four days into quitting anyway. vaping has done it for me. I see on this forum what it's done for others. Since I started vaping 2 people I work with have quit and another has cut right down, and three people outside of work have started vaping. One was denied an operation he needs because he smoked 50 a day. Since he started vaping he's at 4 cigs a day and back on the list for the operation. Without the operation his life expectancy isn't good. I'm not anti-smokers - the people. I'm for living.
I know I wasn't the only smoker who had the secret desire at times to quit, but felt like I just couldn't. I am particularly interested in people who also feel that way - because there is an alternative.
