# Mature Smokers Who Don’t Want to Stop Smoking **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718 "2015-08-24T13:40:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/21 "2015-08-24T18:22:18Z")
> [@Randolph](#): > > Hate to break it to you, but you’re **in** trouble. It’s just the kind you can rationalize away. You’re headed for **trouble you can’t ignore any longer**. ``` My first thought was blood circulation when I first started noticing the numbness. I have been back to the Dr. a few times now and they insist my circulation is fine. The Dr. is leaning toward pinched nerves in my lower back. Possibly smoking is causing inflamation. Either way quitting is no longer an option I am afraid. ``` ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/22 "2015-08-24T18:29:32Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > That is me all over. > > I started when I was about 18/19. It wasn’t because I thought it was cool (has anyone in the last thirty years actually thought that?), but because a) everyone I used to hang around with smoked and I felt a bit left out sometimes, and b) I actually used to enjoy the smell of cigarettes (stale ashtrays, not so much). > > Twenty years later, I still enjoy it. Yeah, there are times when I’m standing outside in the rain, smoking purely to satisfy a craving, and I think ‘yeah, this sucks’. But on the whole, I do still enjoy a good smoke. > People like to tell me that ‘it’s just the addiction talking, you wouldn’t miss it if you quit’. But that’s not the case. Firstly, I did switch to e-cigs for a while - I was still getting my nicotine hit, but it wasn’t the same. I can’t get along with e-cigs at all, and I ended up switching back again. Secondly, I did quit once (for almost a year - more than long enough to get over the addiction), and I damn well did miss it, thank you very much. I started again not to satisfy a craving, but because I enjoyed it. > > Having said all that, I’m in the process of quitting again. I’m not twenty any more, and I don’t like what smoking is doing to my body. So it’s time to quit. > > If I could cut right back to two or three a day, I’d do that - that’s not enough to really cause much problem, and I’d still get some enjoyment. But I know from experience I can’t do that. Two or three a day would soon become five or six, and then before I knew it I’d be back to where I was. It’s all or nothing for me. This was me. I smoked for 23 years, minus the quit attempts. Longest was a year, to the day. After a few months of that one, I told myself that if I still craved a smoke after a full year without, I’d have one. I did, and got right back into the habit of course. Quit this time with no nicotine for a month, cold turkey, because I started to get a little coughy/wheezy. I was going nuts again, just like the last time. Then I tried a Swedish Snus on a Saturday night. Sunday was the first day in 23 years that I didn’t crave a smoke, including the full year when I quit. I use Snus now(real Swedish, not American), and don’t have the slightest craving for cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Abracadebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Abracadebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abracadebra)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/23 "2015-08-24T18:33:09Z")
There’s just something about a doctor telling you, while you’re in the hospital for respiratory failure, that you have three, maybe five years at best unless you stop smoking. I was diagnosed six years ago with COPD, but I just kept on smoking. This won’t actually kill me, right? Old people get this and THEY die from it, but I’m 48! I’ve got plenty of time. I didn’t wait to find out if I only have a short time left. I quit that day. My husband still smokes, and I don’t care if I’m called “one of those non-smokers”, it’s a smelly, disgusting habit. I have supplemental oxygen, and I go to pulmonary rehab. I take what seems like a lot of medicine. I’m getting there, though. Eventually I won’t need the oxygen to function like everyone else does. Someday next spring I will hike with my father in the North Georgia mountains to some Mayan ruins and see what that’s about. He’ll be 77, and if I can’t keep up with him, I’ll never live that down. And yes, I started smoking at 17. All my friends did. If someone had offered me a deal to quit smoking, I have to honestly say it would depend on when in my life it was offered, because I loved to smoke. Loved. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/24 "2015-08-24T18:40:47Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > But that’s just my experience. Perhaps there are exceptions. So the question for mature smokers is: suppose you were offered a (one-time, non-deferrable) chance to remove any urge to smoke with no effort on your part, are there any who would prefer to remain smokers? ^ That was my mom. She was adamant that she loved smoking and did not want to quit. When she was forcibly removed from nicotine twice during her heart surgeries the first thing she did as soon as she was physically able to drag her ass out of bed and get someplace that sold tobacco was buy a pack of cigarettes. In both those instances she had gone _months_ without a smoke so the physical cravings were minimal and withdrawal over, it was pure psychological want. We knew she was near the end and dying when she stopped asking for cigarettes. Which was also about the same time she stopped asking for food or water or even responding to anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/25 "2015-08-24T19:07:41Z")
skipping cigars and pipes- the "enjoyment’ is just your body reacting to the fresh drug infusion. Smoking _causes_ stress, it does not relieve it. The feeling of temporary stress relief you feel is just the addiction knowing it’s gonna get fed. You may think you enjoy it, but that’s the addiction. Who is in charge of your life- you or the addiction? ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/26 "2015-08-24T19:18:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > skipping cigars and pipes- the "enjoyment’ is just your body reacting to the fresh drug infusion. > > Smoking _causes_ stress, it does not relieve it. The feeling of temporary stress relief you feel is just the addiction knowing it’s gonna get fed. > > You may think you enjoy it, but that’s the addiction. > > Who is in charge of your life- you or the addiction? I found Allen Carr’s book helpful, too as well as Joel Spitzer’s material. But I can tell you, for me, they’re wrong about that part. I still remember how I felt with that first smoke, after a year of being off nicotine. Relieved, for the first time in a year. The only thing stressful was the health concern. I should know - hell, I was there. I consider it the major weakness to the Carr/Spitzer approach: they refuse(d) to concede that nicotine provides any pleasure/benefit, other than the cessation of withdrawal symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/27 "2015-08-24T19:44:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You may think you enjoy it, but that’s the addiction. Nope. You’re wrong. In my case, at least. That’s the same tired BS I’ve heard from a hundred other people that think they know my smoking habits better than I do. If I ever get stressed, I rarely bother with a cigarette - I just smoke it too quickly and don’t enjoy it. Stress has nothing to do with it. I’m not denying my addiction, but I smoke because I enjoy it. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t smoke. Addiction be damned. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/28 "2015-08-24T20:00:19Z")
\*\*DrDeth’s \*\*theory doesn’t work for me either. I don’t even think about smoking when I’m at work and I could take a break and smoke pretty much any time if I wanted to. Ditto when I’m out shopping, at the movies, whatever. Unless there’s some chemical thing that happens when nicotine and alcohol are combined(?) I like the smell of a cigarette (though not so much the residue on my or other peoples’ clothes), the feel of the smoke in my throat; everything about it really. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/29 "2015-08-24T22:00:28Z")
I started smoking in HS, maybe I was 15. I stopped when I was 28, the day I had a heart attack. One of the hardest things I ever did. That was over 50 years ago, so I guess it was worth it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/30 "2015-08-24T22:03:32Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > \*\*DrDeth’s \*\*theory doesn’t work for me either. I don’t even think about smoking when I’m at work and I could take a break and smoke pretty much any time if I wanted to. Ditto when I’m out shopping, at the movies, whatever. Unless there’s some chemical thing that happens when nicotine and alcohol are combined(?) I like the smell of a cigarette (though not so much the residue on my or other peoples’ clothes), the feel of the smoke in my throat; everything about it really. Sigh. You know at one time they tried to sell nicotine free cigs. No one smoked them. The enjoyment you feel is that of the body knowing it’s going to get it’s fix. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/31 "2015-08-24T22:30:24Z")
I’ve yet to meet a smoker who wanted to quit. I’ve met many who know they need to quit. But the most common phrase I hear, word for word, is, “I know I need to quit, but, I know this sounds weird, but I really \*like \*smoking!” Yep. You and every other smoker. Me too, when I smoked. If you wait until you \*want \*to quit, chances are that you never will. Longest time I’ve spent without a cigarette is now, 4 years and 4 months, and I have to vape to do it. I have absolutely no desire to smoke a cigarette at all, but I need to vape to keep that desire at bay. (I often vape nicotine free liquid, so the pleasure has nothing to do with nicotine addiction for me. Plain old Freudian oral fixation combined with the pleasure of deep breathing and tasty flavor.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/32 "2015-08-24T22:34:50Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’ve yet to meet a smoker who wanted to quit. I’ve met many who know they need to quit. But the most common phrase I hear, word for word, is, “I know I need to quit, but, I know this sounds weird, but I really \*like \*smoking!” > > Yep. You and every other smoker. Me too, when I smoked. If you wait until you \*want \*to quit, chances are that you never will. > > Longest time I’ve spent without a cigarette is now, 4 years and 4 months, and I have to vape to do it. I have absolutely no desire to smoke a cigarette at all, but I need to vape to keep that desire at bay. (I often vape nicotine free liquid, so the pleasure has nothing to do with nicotine addiction for me. Plain old Freudian oral fixation combined with the pleasure of deep breathing and tasty flavor.) I wish you didnt have to vape, but my hat’s off to you anyway. Really fucking tought to quit. Some heroin addicts have said it easier to quit shooting up than cigs. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/33 "2015-08-24T22:37:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sigh. You know at one time they tried to sell nicotine free cigs. No one smoked them. The enjoyment you feel is that of the body knowing it’s going to get it’s fix. Probably for the same reason that alcohol free beer isn’t popular; it’s missing a part of what makes it good. I won’t pretend the nicotine hit isn’t a part of the enjoyment, but it’s not the only part - in much the same way that I don’t drink pure ethanol if I want to get drunk. That said, two (anecdotal) stories: - Years ago, I used to smoke Marlboro Reds. At one point, I switched (pretty much overnight) to a much lower tar, lower nicotine brand. My cigarette consumption remained unchanged and despite suddenly cutting my nicotine intake by more than half, I didn’t really notice the difference, other than I could suddenly breathe easier. - Last year, I ended up sick in hospital for just over a week. I was sick enough for the first couple of days that smoking (or indeed, long term consciousness) was impossible, but for the last few days, I was well and mobile enough that I could have got up and dressed and wheeled my IV stand out of the ward and out to the smoking area - a few others on the ward did just that. But, it was January, and going outside to smoke would have been a miserable experience (and probably inadvisable, considering my condition!). So I simply didn’t, I just couldn’t be bothered. I had a few cravings, but I ignored them. Didn’t get that bothered about it. Of course, once I got out and back home where I could smoke in comfort, I carried on smoking again. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/34 "2015-08-24T22:40:08Z")
I quit more than a decade ago. I enjoyed the hell out of smoking - everything about it (well, except for the ‘horribly addicted to stuff that leaves you smelling like crap and eventually dying’ parts 😃 ). One of life’s pleasures. I know the theory is that it isn’t pleasureable, or that the pleasure only comes from the cessation of withdrawal symptoms - and I can appreciate why such a theory is useful in getting people to quit - but damn, it just ain’t so. If it was, it would be easy to quit, as the actual withdrawal pangs are pretty mild and only last a coupla weeks at most. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/35 "2015-08-24T22:47:57Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I quit more than a decade ago. > > I enjoyed the hell out of smoking - everything about it (well, except for the ‘horribly addicted to stuff that leaves you smelling like crap and eventually dying’ parts 😃 ). One of life’s pleasures. I know the theory is that it isn’t pleasureable, or that the pleasure only comes from the cessation of withdrawal symptoms - and I can appreciate why such a theory is useful in getting people to quit - but damn, it just ain’t so. If it was, it would be easy to quit, as the actual withdrawal pangs are pretty mild and only last a coupla weeks at most. Well, according to my buddies at NA, they said the reason why Cigs were harder to quit than heroin, is that (unlike heroin, unless you live in a very bad area), cigs are sold everywhere, you can bum one easily, there’s always the smell of one being lit, not to mention billboards, magazine ads, friends who still smoke, movies who show smoking… etc etc. The _physical addiction_ of Nicotine is comparatively mild. But it’s a _social drug_, unlike heroin. The _psychological_ addition is the hard part. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/36 "2015-08-24T22:49:09Z")
You know how much I miss it? When someone who’s just been smoking walks past me, I have a very brief, but intense urge to _lick_ them. My wife thinks that’s the weirdest thing ever, but if there’s any group that could possibly understand, it’s the former smokers here. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/37 "2015-08-24T22:56:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, according to my buddies at NA, they said the reason why Cigs were harder to quit than heroin, is that (unlike heroin, unless you live in a very bad area), cigs are sold everywhere, you can bum one easily, there’s always the smell of one being lit, not to mention billboards, magazine ads, friends who still smoke, movies who show smoking… etc etc. > > The _physical addiction_ of Nicotine is comparatively mild. But it’s a _social drug_, unlike heroin. The _psychological_ addition is the hard part. This is exactly my problem. As I said upthread, the chemical addiction part of smoking is something I can ( and previously have) beat easily. I get a few cravings, get a bit cranky maybe, but I see it for what it is and ignore it. It passes soon enough. The problem I have is that it’s a) something I love to do, and b) easy to get hold of. I’ve found my best success is when I can restrict my access - if I can’t smoke, I won’t usually worry about it. But I can’t have access to cigarettes and not smoke them. We all have our little vices and habits, things we like to do. Things we’d miss if we had to stop doing them. A glass of nice scotch in the evening, maybe, or a relaxing hour or so doing needlepoint. We can live without them, but our lives would be emptier. I just happen to have chosen the one that’s really, really bad for me. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/38 "2015-08-24T23:00:59Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > This is exactly my problem. As I said upthread, the chemical addiction part of smoking is something I can ( and previously have) beat easily. I get a few cravings, get a bit cranky maybe, but I see it for what it is and ignore it. It passes soon enough. > > The problem I have is that it’s a) something I love to do, and b) easy to get hold of. > I’ve found my best success is when I can restrict my access - if I can’t smoke, I won’t usually worry about it. But I can’t have access to cigarettes and not smoke them. > > We all have our little vices and habits, things we like to do. Things we’d miss if we had to stop doing them. A glass of nice scotch in the evening, maybe, or a relaxing hour or so doing needlepoint. We can live without them, but our lives would be emptier. I just happen to have chosen the one that’s really, really bad for me. :rolleyes: Honestly, I really think the “something I love to do” is the psychological addition hitting you. Yep. Just about the very worst legal habit. Sorry dude. It’s tough. Anyone who sez it’s easy (for everyone) is crazy. One step might be saying to yourself that the love you think you feel is just the addiction. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/39 "2015-08-24T23:10:24Z")
You know what people trying to tell me that I didn’t really like cigarettes always makes me want to do? Light up a cigarette. Honest now - how many current smokers lit one up while reading this thread? 😃 I found it much more useful to tell myself, “Yep, you like smoking. Tough shit. You don’t want to quit. Tough shit. This is killing you, like it or not.” And then I got my first ecig. So, on the theory that I’m not some special snowflake, when my patients tell me they like smoking, I believe them. I don’t try to talk them out of it. Of course they like smoking. Smoking is fucking awesome. It feels good, it’s tasty (when you’re a smoker), it shields you from someone else’s smoke (which always smells worse than yours), it gives you a legit reason to take a 10 minute break every few hours… Smoking fucking rocks, man. Shame about the death thing. “I like it,” is about as good a reason to keep smoking as “I don’t like it” is to keep not exercising. Grown ups have to not do things they like and do things they don’t like. That’s why we get to buy booze and have sex. “I like it,” can be completely 100% true…and still not be a reason to keep doing something. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718/40 "2015-08-24T23:17:10Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > You know what people trying to tell me that I didn’t really like cigarettes always makes me want to do? Light up a cigarette. Honest now - how many current smokers lit one up while reading this thread? :D. Yep. And you know why that is, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mature-smokers-who-don-t-want-to-stop-smoking/728718.md?page=3)