# Twenty Years Ago Today I Gave Up Smoking **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2011, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438 "2011-01-13T10:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/1 "2011-01-13T10:08:00Z")
I don’t think I am renowned for making great personal decisions, but that is one decision I have never regretted. In another twenty years I plan to give up sex. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/2 "2011-01-13T10:16:45Z")
Disgusting habit, still that first one in the morning … ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/3 "2011-01-13T10:20:19Z")
I will hit the 10 year mark myself this year 🙂 One of the better decisions I have taken and stuck to. Congrats to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![2Fiona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/5f8ce5/32.png) [@2Fiona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Fiona)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/4 "2011-01-13T10:50:11Z")
It is a little dispiriting to find you know the date even after 20 years… just saying’ ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/5 "2011-01-13T11:01:08Z")
Congratulations! Keep up the good work! My Dad quit over 30 years ago, and says he could go right back to smoking. You’re doing a hard thing - stay on course! ---
**Author:** ![ColdPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/6 "2011-01-13T11:11:02Z")
I’ve been quit smoking for a few months now. I think I’ll start again when I’m 60. I may start adding heroin to the cigs when I’m 70. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/7 "2011-01-13T11:39:16Z")
> [@2Fiona](#): > > It is a little dispiriting to find you know the date even after 20 years… just saying’ My memory is not that good- I just knew the Gulf War erupted a few days later. I thought if my giving up smoking caused this to happen, I’m never giving up drinking! ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/8 "2011-01-13T11:40:40Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Congratulations! Keep up the good work! My Dad quit over 30 years ago, and says he could go right back to smoking. You’re doing a hard thing - stay on course! Typo Knig, I could never go back to smoking. I am very anti smoking- when I gave up I found it surprisingly easy and thought I must never have enjoyed them that much anyway. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/9 "2011-01-13T16:08:28Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Typo Knig, I could never go back to smoking. I am very anti smoking- when I gave up I found it surprisingly easy and thought I must never have enjoyed them that much anyway. I wish I felt this way. I try to stand downwind from smokers, just to enjoy that second hand smoke. I’d go back to smoking in a heart beat and I quit more or less fifteen years ago. After my third surgery for oral cancer. And I’d still go back. But I’ve gone overboard with every bad habit I ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/10 "2011-01-13T16:22:48Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > My memory is not that good- I just knew the Gulf War erupted a few days later. I thought if my giving up smoking caused this to happen, I’m never giving up drinking! Whew. I gave up smoking when I found out I was pregant and I STILL have to count backwards to remember when it was. I backslid a couple time when the kids were very young but I still count that as my quit date. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/11 "2011-01-13T16:32:32Z")
Congrats. I never really had a quit date. I went from smoking, to smoking only when I drank, to smoking only when I was drunk, to smoking only when I was inebriated. Then I decided to just give it up. This was phased in (or out) over a 10, or so, year period. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/12 "2011-01-13T16:43:51Z")
Congratulations Cicero. I got the tobacco monkey off my back about 10 years ago and it still calls to me. > [@ColdPhoenix](#): > > I’ve been quit smoking for a few months now. I think I’ll start again when I’m 60. I may start adding heroin to the cigs when I’m 70. Why not? I told myself (when I was in my teens) I wouldn’t try drugs until I was over 50. Then I could do anything I wanted because it wouldn’t matter if my chromosomes or whatever got messed up. I stuck to my plan and now my reward is: I’m too old and square to know anybody with drugs, so I couldn’t get them if I wanted. Don’t leave things until too late! ---
**Author:** ![Any\_Other\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Any\_Other\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Any_Other_Name)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/13 "2011-01-13T18:04:23Z")
Congratulations **Cicero**! > [@2Fiona](#): > > It is a little dispiriting to find you know the date even after 20 years… just saying’ I don’t remember the exact date I quit, I just know it was sometime after Y2K and before 9/11. I wish I did remember, I’d like to celebrate the anniversaries. I said then that when it was my time to go, I’d hope it was something long and lingering, so I could take up smoking again. And I did feel that way for a good long while. But unlike the others who commented here, I’ve grown out of the desire. I’d say that took more than a few years though. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/14 "2011-01-13T18:12:08Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I don’t think I am renowned for making great personal decisions, but that is one decision I have never regretted. > > In another twenty years I plan to give up sex. Outstanding! Twenty years is a major benchmark, as it means you are now completely free of the latent effects of the habit (according to my cardiologist). Chefguy - tobacco-free for 29 years ---
**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:** [January 13, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/15 "2011-01-13T19:37:52Z")
I have not smoked since that day in April, 1965, when I had a heart attack. Still have not given up sex though. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/16 "2011-01-13T20:30:56Z")
Congratulations **Cicero**! That’s quite an achievement. My mom and aunt quit almost 2 years ago and they’ve never looked back. Good on all you ex-smokers. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/17 "2011-01-14T03:01:38Z")
Yay! I just passed the 3 year mark January 1. I’m much like you in that I’m very anti smoking now. I hate smelling it. I was so happy when NC passed the law that you couldn’t smoke in restaurants anymore. Now I don’t have to endure being in an enclosed area with the smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/18 "2011-01-14T11:34:07Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > Yay! I just passed the 3 year mark January 1. I’m much like you in that I’m very anti smoking now. I hate smelling it. I was so happy when NC passed the law that you couldn’t smoke in restaurants anymore. Now I don’t have to endure being in an enclosed area with the smoke. _NORTH CAROLINA_??!?!?? mandated smoke free restaurants? I’ve been away from NC too long. How long can tobacco farmers last in the US? ---
**Author:** ![catflea12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@catflea12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catflea12)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/19 "2011-01-14T11:41:58Z")
December 27th was my 5 year anniversary for quitting smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438/20 "2011-01-14T14:03:58Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > _NORTH CAROLINA_??!?!?? mandated smoke free restaurants? I’ve been away from NC too long. How long can tobacco farmers last in the US? Wow from me too! I remember one restaurant near RTP (a Golden Corral near the intersection of 54 and 55) that had a nonsmoking section for a while… and GOT RID OF IT. This would have been the mid-80s. The times, they’ve a-changed for sure! Oh, and for all of you who’ve kicked the habit: big-time congrats!!! That’s a tough one to kick. My mother only managed it by having one lung removed (which turned out to be too late, as the other one turned bad within a year). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-years-ago-today-i-gave-up-smoking/567438.md?page=2)