"I don't like the picture on the cigarette packet!"

[An Haddock]

Bill Hicks had a great bit about that.

"Just don't buy the ones that say lung cancer. What's that one? Low birth weight and yellow teeth? Shit - I found my brand!"

[wordgirl]

nicotine is as addictive as "hard" drugs like coke, heroin, and meth. driving up the price won't make people quit.

Hmm. Depends on how bad the addiction is. One of my best friends @ work quit when they increased insurance premiums for people who smoked, with employment-based penalties for people who weren't insured as smokers but were caught smoking.

It was a struggle but he quit.

Some addicts never can manage it, but for many others, there can be a tipping point. The British Medical Journal did a review of 37 different studies and experiments and found that gruesome pictures can be an effective tipping point for some: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/conten...14-051978.full . The amount of impact varies by study but the trend is strong in favor of effectiveness.

So when SCs ask for a different picture, dig out the most gruesome one you can

[Ironclad Alibi]

One only needs the proper motivation to quit smoking, for example.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

nicotine is as addictive as "hard" drugs like coke, heroin, and meth. driving up the price won't make people quit.

As a 30+ year smoker, I can agree with that. Only thing that made me put down the methol was the fact that I started having health issues earlier this year . . . and the e-cigs are a big help w/not smoking. The regular cigs were starting to taste pretty bad when I started the e-cig, then about a week after I'd started on the pen, I put down the cigarette pouch I'd be carrying w/me for years like a security blanket.

As far as the e-cigs go, I'm tapering down on the nicotine level at MY pace. Started out w/24 mg, now I'm down to 11 mg. My goal is to be on 0 nicotine by early next year. And I can get e-liquid with 0 nicotine, so I can still enjoy a good vape w/out the nicotine.

And, as a side note, the smell of regular cigarette smoke is almost unbearable to be around now. I'll have to walk away from it, otherwise I'll start feeling a bit sick. I have to remind my coworkers if they want to go outside my back door and smoke, please turn the fan on over the door so we can try to keep most of it outside.

[Minflick]

My mother smoked for 50 years, the last 20 years she smoked Sherman's unfiltered. She only stopped smoking the day her chiro sent her to the ER because she was turning blue.... That was 20 years ago, and she's now on oxygen 24/7.

[Kaylyn]

My own mother would complain about being unable to buy something or pay a bill, but she ALWAYS, and I mean always, had money for cigs.

My husband has recently cut off his mother for this. She asked him for a "loan" (yeah right, we don't expect she'll ever pay us back) of about $200 to pay her bills, and he "loaned" it to her on the condition that she stop smoking. He put his little brother, who still lives with her, on the lookout for her sneaking cigarettes. She got a vape and had started doing that, and while that IS still an expense and that money could be put to bills, he said it was okay if she vaped since at least it was healthier than cigarettes.

...and then a month later she got caught by little brother with cigarettes. No more "loans" from us if she's gonna waste money on cigs. She can sit in the dark for all he cares; maybe then she'll figure out that she MIGHT actually be able to pay her bills if she stops. He was ADAMANT about not helping her out again. I'm proud of him.

[icmedia]

*Thread title

"Then it's working now, isn't it?"

[lordlundar]

"I don't want the picture of the yucky lungs. Get me another!"

Lady (and I use the term loosely)

THAT IS THE FUCKING POINT!

[Canadian In Maine]

No pictures on packs for me. I get mine at a reserve for $15 for 200 cigarettes.

[CyberLurch]

They'd just take out loans, sell their cars and anything else they could spare, or steal the cigs. It's a serious addiction. My own mother would complain about being unable to buy something or pay a bill, but she ALWAYS, and I mean always, had money for cigs.

My grandmother smoked three packs a day for decades and died of emphysema. Her last words, gasping through a respirator, were a wish for a cigarette.

[BrenDAnn]

Cyberlurch and Mooncat are absolutely right. I know I've seen more than one relative of mine die to their own smoking vice. I had one uncle who lost most of a lung to cancer, and went right back to smoking. It's mind-boggling, but it is a serious addiction. I've heard people who have recovered from drug & alcohol addiction say that quitting smoking is harder than either of those. Granted, custys not liking the picture is the point, but really, I don't think it's much of a deterrent.

[xxscooterxx]

As a 30+ year smoker, I can agree with that. Only thing that made me put down the methol was the fact that I started having health issues earlier this year . . . and the e-cigs are a big help w/not smoking. The regular cigs were starting to taste pretty bad when I started the e-cig, then about a week after I'd started on the pen, I put down the cigarette pouch I'd be carrying w/me for years like a security blanket.

As far as the e-cigs go, I'm tapering down on the nicotine level at MY pace. Started out w/24 mg, now I'm down to 11 mg. My goal is to be on 0 nicotine by early next year. And I can get e-liquid with 0 nicotine, so I can still enjoy a good vape w/out the nicotine.




And, as a side note, the smell of regular cigarette smoke is almost unbearable to be around now. I'll have to walk away from it, otherwise I'll start feeling a bit sick. I have to remind my coworkers if they want to go outside my back door and smoke, please turn the fan on over the door so we can try to keep most of it outside.

Yay! I vape also, and I love it! Cigarettes are gross to me now. I still crave one every now and then, and I get nauseous every time I light one up. I much prefer my fruity goodness. I'm on 3mg and I really have no plans to taper off. Nicotine helps me not strangle my coworkers.

[Jetfire]

My mom smoked for decades (as did most/all of her family) since that was her and their generation. Her father quit at some point, but her mom (my grandmother) smoked right up until her death. After that death, mom quit soon after, and while she may have puffed a few times since, she's been off the sticks for decades now.

Now, she can barely stand the smell of cigarettes. Me, I've never smoked and the smell tends to make me gag. When I go up to visit them and we go play bingo, I'm often gagging for the first few minutes until I can handle the smoke.