Smoking
Cigarettes are currently the most dangerous drug on the planet.
The death bit:
- In the UK 13 people per hour die of a smoking related disease
- The use of tobacco kills more every year than murder, suicide, traffic accidents, all other accidental deaths, poisoning/overdoses, alcohol and all other drugs combined
- The cigarette is the only consumer product that when used as the manufacturers would like you to use them (20 a day) has a 50% chance of causing death in the user.
Some interesting facts:
- Cigarettes do not get you high. You could smoke 1 or 100 in a day and you will not experience any high or intoxication. You may get dizzy due to lack of oxygen or just get sick.
- Cigarettes do not relax you; in fact smokers are more stressed than non-smokers. Cigarettes have been designed so that 1 hour after your last smoke you begin to feel anxious or angry (these are withdrawal symptoms) then when you have a cig it takes away the withdrawal symptoms, thus making it feel like ciggies de-stress you. (Clever eh?)
- The government earns £10 billion a year from the sale of this addictive drug. A 20 a day smoker currently spends £1,750 a year on smoking. So if you smoke from the age of 16 to say 36 and then quit, at current prices you will pay £35,000 for your ciggies.
- Nearly all smokers start between the age of 12 and 25. So tobacco companies absolutely rely on the youth market in order for them to survive.
- Deforestation: On average a tree is felled for every 300 cigarettes! Either to make way for more tobacco fields or to burn in order to dry and cure the green tobacco.
Addiction and overcoming it:
It can be hard to stop smoking for a number of reasons
- It’s physically addictive. In other words when you stop you will get withdrawal symptoms accompanied by a desire to smoke. About 93% of smokers develop a physical addiction
- It’s psychologically addictive. In other words you feel compelled to use it and usually have high expectations of how pleasurable it will be. It rarely lives up to the expectations. It can become a means of trying to escape some of the realities of life, realities that are usually best dealt with rather than ignored.
- It becomes habitual: Probably more than any other drug smoking is insidious. In other words it can become associated with practically everything that you do on a daily basis.
Overcoming addiction has three essential elements:
- Knock out the positive expectations: Addiction feeds us with positive expectations. They are usually illusory and a product of the addiction itself. Find the truth
- Revamp your lifestyle: Replace the expectations formed by the addiction with positive expectations of how good life will be without it. If you smoke to handle stress- find effective ways to handle stress. If you smoke because of boredom- find other more productive ways of getting busy etc.
- Anticipate high risk situations: and have a range of coping strategies in place
If you are a smoker try to visualise all of the positive things that will arise out of you quitting smoking, here are some clues
- Healthier: Running faster and for longer without losing your breath.
- Wealthier: To the tune of £1750 a year for a 20 a day smoker
- Smelling sweeter, fresher breath, an improved blood flow in the places where it matters ( your dick, oh and your brain as well actually )
- A sense of freedom: Beating an addiction feels good, like you have taken off your chains of slavery (or somink)
NHS stop smoking services
If you want to quit then the best single thing you can do is contact your local free stop smoking service. You will get help with medication and quality support. You are more than 4 times as likely to quit by using their methods.
