Is it really easier to quit smoking than drinking? Dipsomaniacal poll.

In My Humble Opinion
1

My own self as case in point here. Any dopers ever quite smoking, but kept having a daily, or weekly drink?
Speaking in pure heath terms, everyone knows smoking will eventually kill you - with the exception of Geaorge Burns types - but lung cancer is a terrible thing.
What about drinking? I quit smoking more than a year ago and I rarely if ever want a cig. But I like my rum n’coke or vodka orange when I get home or when out with fiance and friends. I know most people have their vice, be it Dorito’s, crack, pot, booze or running, walking, hiking, fishing…

But what are peoples experiences with both? Is smoking in fact easier? Or am I just not wanting to let go of a vice?

2

Alcohol held very little interest to me after I quit smoking. The two go so hand in hand for me.

I crave a cigarette more frequently than I do a drink.

I probably drink a couple of glasses of wine every few months or so and I don’t miss it at all - but then I was never a heavy or frequent drinker.

3

I’m a regular drinker and a heavy smoker.

I can go without the booze whenever I like.

I can’t last more than about 2 hours without a cigarette.

4

My father quit smoking cold-turkey when they told him he had six months to live otherwise. But he was never able to quit drinking.

5

Isn’t that interesting, Jim - I was like that as well. Couldn’t go 2 hours without a Marlboro Red . That was when I was on travel. One day about a year and a half ago I bought a new pack, smoked two side by side, and crumpled the pack up, and threw it out the window in southern Utah. I figured the disgust of buying a whole pack and wasting it would be enough self punnishment to work…It did. The first two weeks I coughed every night, then I was ok.
But I havn’t been able to lift the rum n’coke or screwdriver from my day to day. I work long hours and I also work with my soon-to-be wife. We work in Boston but live Friday through Sunday in Vermont. The other four days are in Newton, MA. I just like to have a little tension tamer when I get home. I want to eliminate the latter.

6

I’ve dealt with plenty of patients who were addicted to alcohol, heroin, cocaine, and nicotine, and eventually got clean. Virtually all of them say that nicotine was the toughest to give up (followed very, very, very closely by cocaine).

7

I’ve always heard the opposite, that it’s easier to quit drinking than smoking. My father is a recovering alcoholic but he has never been able to quit smoking for more than a few weeks. He drank for about 35 years before he gave it up.

8

I agree with the Doc. Nicotine is the hardest to give up, at least it was for me. However, Antiquarian if you think you have too much to drink, try cutting back a bit and seeing what that does.

9

I was never much of a drinker, and when the doctor told me to stop, I didn’t give it a second thought.

But it’s been a month since I stopped smoking, and I’m in agony every day.

10

Are you talking about people who are alcoholics, or just people who drink at all? I quit smoking about a year ago and still have a drink sometimes, but never tried to ‘quit’ drinking as I am not addicted to alcohol. Weeks can go by without a drink, no problem. I was physically and psychologically addicted to cigarettes, so that was a different story.

All the evidence I have heard suggests that quitting smoking is one of the most difficult habits to break, up there with ‘harder’ drugs (like QtM said). Nicotene is a very addictive substance. I am sure that for some people it may have been harder to give up alcohol though, every person is different. It might also depend on how psychologically dependant someone is on alcohol.

There aren’t many people who can smoke once in a while and not become addicted, but there are many people who can drink this way.

11

That’s funny, to me it’s the opposite.

I never want a cigarette until I open a beer. Ahhh.

I do love beer, though. Sometimes in the middle of the day I’ll think “a beer would be good right now”. I’d drink beer every night if I could get away with it. :wink:

However, if I never drank another beer again, I wouldn’t ever crave a cigarette again. Odd, ain’t it?

[sub]maybe I should just invest in some beer-flavored lollipops :stuck_out_tongue: [/sub]

12

Much easier for me to quit smogs than dope and booze. Much.

13

I’m a former pack-a-day-plus smoker that hasn’t had a cigarette in almost five months, although knowing my history that doesn’t mean I won’t be smoking again tomorrow.

I haven’t actually ever tried to quit drinking. I rarely drink more than once or twice a week, and don’t really think about it at other times. Quitting completely would have such an impact on my social life though and for that reason alone I’m not sure I could do it.