Who cares?
Call me an ex-smoker. Call me a non-smoker. Just don't call me Iffy... Oh, wait... never mind!
Call me an ex-smoker. Call me a non-smoker. Just don't call me Iffy... Oh, wait... never mind!
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DC2 - I consider that assertion (technically nicotine is not significantly addictive) to be interesting and one I'll continue to be on the lookout for. This assertion surely counters one of the fundamental idea that the FDA is running with in its pseudo campaign against tobacco use. If it is not significantly addictive, the case against vaping as a viable alternate to smoking, does go significantly down.
I could see this assertion be challenged (among scientists) and/or people making claims along lines that no one is (or very few are) administering nicotine alone and thus is inapplicable to the behaviors of vaping and smoking.
I could see this assertion be challenged (among scientists) and/or people making claims along lines that no one is (or very few are) administering nicotine alone and thus is inapplicable to the behaviors of vaping and smoking.
Yeah, even though you may consider yourself an ex-smoker or a non-smoker if you only vape, your job, insurance, and any other non-educated people will call you a liar
OP's post made me roll my eyes.
I'm an ex-smoker, and beyond that I'm not going to waste my time justifying or defending myself to you. You're not my husband, father, employer or insurer.
I'm an ex-smoker, and beyond that I'm not going to waste my time justifying or defending myself to you. You're not my husband, father, employer or insurer.
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i was born smoking,,my parents smoked till 60,,one is still smoking so the cards were stacked against me,,i always wondered what would happen if i deprived my body of something that had been there since conception,,i found out..and body has been freaking since then
yes,,i am an ex-smoker and no desire to be a smoker ever again,,i hated it for the 34 years that i actually smoked
yes,,i am an ex-smoker and no desire to be a smoker ever again,,i hated it for the 34 years that i actually smoked
I kind of agree. I bet many of the people who claim they are ex-smokers would become smokers again if e-cigarettes and e liquid were banned. I have already decided though, if they are banned, I am just gonna go through the hellish nic withdraw and stay away from the smokes.
While i may not smoke cigarettes, i remain a nicotine addict. I think of it in the same way as alcoholics anonymous etc...i know I'll always be an addict and i think in the future it'll help me to think this way. One day, i hope to not vape anymore but I'll have to remember that just one cigarette could get me back on smoking.
I read somewhere that nicotine permanently alters the brain so it would make sense to think this way...but its my way of thinking and if others disagree, that's cool.x
I read somewhere that nicotine permanently alters the brain so it would make sense to think this way...but its my way of thinking and if others disagree, that's cool.x
You just agreed with me?? Or I have no idea what you are trying to say!
All smokers have different levels of abstinence, me it was about 15 minuets in the end, some it is weeks or months! it doesnt matter what time lapses in between a smoking regime if you smoke every 15 minutes or you smoke one a week you are a smoker,not to be mixed up with a person trying to quit who relapses and has a smoke then quits again!
Many so called ex smokers start to smoke one or two mini cigars when they go out for a drink instead of a cigarette and all other times profess they dont smoke when in actual fact they are just as much a smoker as anyone who smokes, they are just denying themselves what they crave longer than a person smoking more.
There is now consensus that the age a person started smoking can determine their full cessation success, those that started smoking at a young age before their brain fully developed amount to the majority that fail to quit smoking permanently because the nicotine replaced or slotted into "Feel good" receptors in the brain that did not develop fully and will never be replace naturally. Those that started smoking above the age of 21 with a fully developed brain can usually quit cold turkey without too much fuss and cannot understand why others cant quit just as easily!
Those that smoke one or two just for fun or have the odd smoke here and there are smokers,those beyond peer pressure that have never smoked in their lives do not have a smoke just for fun or the odd smoke here and there, because they are not smokers!
A non smoker is a person who has never smoked as is an ex smoker who never smokes again. a person that has a cigarette now and again or just for fun are neither a non smoker or ex smoker,they are a smoker!
Den
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It's probably the latter.
And all non-smokers have different levels of smoking. Some non-smokers have never smoked. Other non-smokers may smoke 100 cigarettes a day, and in the moments they are not-smoking, they are non-smokers. Labeling someone a 'smoker' is the fallacy. It is also common nomenclature.
They are also just as much non-smokers as anyone who never smokes (by your logic). They are just affirming for themselves what they crave more than a person who smokes less or not at all.
As we may never agree on the fundamental point, though I'm willing to discuss it as long as there is a discussion to be had, I will just say that within context you are bringing up, I find it unreasonable to equate a person who smokes 1 cigarette a year to a person who smokes 8 packs a day. They are not equals smokers. Your point from earlier (on p.6) is attempting to equate them 'just as much a smoker.' They are also not equal non-smokers. But they are, arguably, both smokers and non-smokers.
I am in a similar position as you,well I think I am?
All the above you wrote also applies to my smoking situation even the time frame!
No 2 smoking situations are identical so that is why all smokers and ex smokers have a different spin or theory on smoking and quitting as do non smokers.
I hated smoking and just could not quit, I have had a smoking life of people telling me I have no will power because i could not quit, for this reason I cant understand why anyone can have a smoke just for fun? There smoking situation must be very very different to mine.
Den
What I do not agree with you is that a smokers time frame "between" smoking makes them a non smoker at those times?
This is Alan Carr hogwash!
you are wrong I am afraid when a person is smoking they are a smoker the time frame in between smoking the smoker is just "not smoking".
a person who does not smoke is a non smoker.
Levels of smoking cannot be put into a category of casual use or abuse by the amount a smoker smokes it is an addiction like no other drug!
A person who smokes occasionally may be doing less harm to their body than one who smokes more but they are still a smoker doing harm and you will never convince me otherwise,the reason for this is I have a long life experience of smoking and associating with non smokers/ smokers and never smoked while smoking the whole time myself,this makes my smoking opinions "expert" and as good as anyone's,smoker non smoker anti smoker or scientist!
Den
This is Alan Carr hogwash!
you are wrong I am afraid when a person is smoking they are a smoker the time frame in between smoking the smoker is just "not smoking".
a person who does not smoke is a non smoker.
Levels of smoking cannot be put into a category of casual use or abuse by the amount a smoker smokes it is an addiction like no other drug!
A person who smokes occasionally may be doing less harm to their body than one who smokes more but they are still a smoker doing harm and you will never convince me otherwise,the reason for this is I have a long life experience of smoking and associating with non smokers/ smokers and never smoked while smoking the whole time myself,this makes my smoking opinions "expert" and as good as anyone's,smoker non smoker anti smoker or scientist!
Den
You calling me Allen Carr?
I have never been so insulted in my life.
Okay, not really.
When a person is smoking, you may call them a smoker. It is still a fallacy. It's a forgivable fallacy, but a fallacy nonetheless.
When a person is not smoking, it is observable, in that moment, that they are a non-smoker. Attaching your label (judgment) to them, doesn't make them what you think they are, except for you. That judgment is on you, not them.
I am able to put levels of smoking into categories, so it can be done. If there is a level of 'not smoking' and another level of 'smoking,' then I believe you too can put levels of smoking into categories. I observe you do not wish to entertain other levels beyond that.
I too am an expert, in my own mind. So we have that in common.
I have never been so insulted in my life.
Okay, not really.
When a person is smoking, you may call them a smoker. It is still a fallacy. It's a forgivable fallacy, but a fallacy nonetheless.
When a person is not smoking, it is observable, in that moment, that they are a non-smoker. Attaching your label (judgment) to them, doesn't make them what you think they are, except for you. That judgment is on you, not them.
I am able to put levels of smoking into categories, so it can be done. If there is a level of 'not smoking' and another level of 'smoking,' then I believe you too can put levels of smoking into categories. I observe you do not wish to entertain other levels beyond that.
I too am an expert, in my own mind. So we have that in common.
Personally, after reading all the replies to my thread, I can honestly say, I think a lot of you have either not recognised the little voice in your head or are choosing to ignore it. Do you know the voice I mean? When I used to try to quit smoking the conversations in my head used to go like this....
Right i'll get this house cleaning done then I can relax with a coffee - hey and then we can go and get a pack of smokes! No, i'll make a coffee then maybe i'll go for a walk, get my lungs working - and while we're out lets pop by the shop and get some smokes! NO, lets fix those 2 computers that need doing then maybe watch a video - you've done really well today, lets celebrate with a smoke! and on and on ad nauseum. After a couple of days of this i'd eventually fold and buy smokes.
If you have a cigarette sometime between now and judgement day then you are and always were a smoker. A non smoker probably won't because they have never smoked. We do not know what will happen in the future, the annals of smoking history are full of people who said they would never smoke again and did.
It's been an interesting thread so far, many of you disagree with me and that's cool, a rich world we live in with so many opinions, but some of you do get my point and that's good too.
Right i'll get this house cleaning done then I can relax with a coffee - hey and then we can go and get a pack of smokes! No, i'll make a coffee then maybe i'll go for a walk, get my lungs working - and while we're out lets pop by the shop and get some smokes! NO, lets fix those 2 computers that need doing then maybe watch a video - you've done really well today, lets celebrate with a smoke! and on and on ad nauseum. After a couple of days of this i'd eventually fold and buy smokes.
If you have a cigarette sometime between now and judgement day then you are and always were a smoker. A non smoker probably won't because they have never smoked. We do not know what will happen in the future, the annals of smoking history are full of people who said they would never smoke again and did.
It's been an interesting thread so far, many of you disagree with me and that's cool, a rich world we live in with so many opinions, but some of you do get my point and that's good too.
So that means... that if I still think about the good times I had when me and my ex girlfriend banged... she is still my girlfriend?... WOOO HOO, I got a girlfriend! 
I've come to the conclusion that the term ex-smoker is a fallacy, it doesn't exist. Once you are a smoker you will always be one. You may be choosing not to smoke, you may be vaping as opposed to smoking, but in the background, in a tiny piece of your brain, right in the back of your mind, you remember the good smokes.
I haven't had a cigarette for nearly 3 months, will be 3 months on the 23rd of this month and that's due to vaping. I need you to understand I was the epitome of smoking, I LOVED smoking, the way the smoke felt in my mouth, that first dawn smoke sitting outside my house with my cup of coffee; everyone knew I was a smoker and nobody believed i would ever stop.
I like vaping but sometimes feel it's not enough, its nothing to do with the flavours or the equipment, its difficult to put my finger on, I don't get that same kick or feeling as i did when i smoked, I even dream about smoking sometimes.
I put this post out there because it's more an admission of guilt (?) or at least a need to share what's in my head and nothing about the hardware of vaping. I would like to think I will never smoke again, that vaping will be my be all and end all of this particular addiction. But dammit, sometimes i just want a smoke.
I understand what youre saying and I think it ties directly into what I said about a dry drunk. For those that dont know thats a term used by people in Alcoholics Anonymous to describe someone who's sober but not really using 'the plan" to change themselves and the way they think.
Giving up cigarettes isnt enough to stay off of them, we have to completely change the way we think. Thats one of the reasons why I dont advocate hanging out in the smoking section or allowing ourselves to be classifed with them in any way. Its also why I chose fruit flavored juices over tobacco, I want to get as far away from those thought patterns and behaviors as I possibly can before weaning myself completely off of nicotine.
Will I be successful, who knows.There are a lot of factors at the moment not the least of which is the FDA. I do think that this strategy is going to give me a greater chance of success though.
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Seriously though, there's like a billion labels that you could apply to yourself (and others). I'm an eater, I'm a jogger, I'm a baller, I'm a worker, I'm Batman, and so on and so forth. These all apply (in a pseudo way) when you're smoking and not smoking. This idea that non-smoker doesn't apply if you ever once inhaled smoke into your lungs is the stuff that pipe dreams are made of, as Snoopy Fish's post alludes to.
If a non-smoker smokes (or even inhales) something other than tobacco, are they a smoker? How about if a non-smoker smokes in a dream? Pretty easy answers unless we start splitting hairs. And really easy answer if you realize stigmas do not become us. Try as we might.
If a non-smoker smokes (or even inhales) something other than tobacco, are they a smoker? How about if a non-smoker smokes in a dream? Pretty easy answers unless we start splitting hairs. And really easy answer if you realize stigmas do not become us. Try as we might.
I guess I don't understand what you guys are getting all lathered up about. Does it personally offend you if a member calls themselves an ex-smoker or a non-smoker? Why do you care? If I want to call myself a giraffe because I think I have a long neck, how exactly does that affect you? If calling ourselves nonsmokers or ex-smokers helps us psychologically in our battle to stay off cigarettes, why would you want to sabotage that?
You just seem to be taking this all so seriously and getting so defensive about it. If you want to tell people that you are a smoker who is in between smokes, go for it, but why label the rest of us in the process? If I am married to someone and we get divorced, I become that person's ex-wife. There always exists the possibility that the two of us might remarry, but that doesn't change the fact that until we do, I'm his ex. I no longer smoke, therefore I am an ex-smoker. There exists the possibility that one day I might engage in the act of smoking again, but until I do, I am an ex-smoker.
I used to have that voice whispering in my ear "wouldn't a smoke go lovely with that cup of coffee or on that walk" but I don't anymore. That voice is gone. That's how I know I'm an ex-smoker and not just on a long break between cigarettes.
You just seem to be taking this all so seriously and getting so defensive about it. If you want to tell people that you are a smoker who is in between smokes, go for it, but why label the rest of us in the process? If I am married to someone and we get divorced, I become that person's ex-wife. There always exists the possibility that the two of us might remarry, but that doesn't change the fact that until we do, I'm his ex. I no longer smoke, therefore I am an ex-smoker. There exists the possibility that one day I might engage in the act of smoking again, but until I do, I am an ex-smoker.
I used to have that voice whispering in my ear "wouldn't a smoke go lovely with that cup of coffee or on that walk" but I don't anymore. That voice is gone. That's how I know I'm an ex-smoker and not just on a long break between cigarettes.
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