The is a really great device that current smokers can use to reduce the risk of contracting cancer, emphysema and other diseases caused by smoking tobacco. However, is the electronic cigarette a device that will ultimately replace traditional cigarettes in the future?
Current trends show that many smokers are beginning to try out electronic cigarettes. Many people find the same satisfaction in an electronic cigarette than they found in a regular tobacco filled cigarette. When ecigs originally came out, they tasted horrible and were hard to manage. However technology has advanced enough to the point where ecigs taste exactly the same as a traditional cigarette, emit a vapor that simulates cigarette smoke and it gives you the nicotine fix that a traditional cigarette gave you.
However, the benefits of the electronic cigarette are many. First thing you will notice is that it is flameless. Therefore you don’t run the risk of burning yourself or the house if you drop it. Also, since there is no ash involve, you can’t burn holes in your shirt like the ashes does. The eCig is flameless, therefore you don’t have to worry about ash or fire. However, at the tip of the electronic cigarette there is a small LED light that when you inhale, it lights up to simulate the tip of a real cigarette.
Another benefit of the electronic cigarette is that you get the exact same taste as a traditional cigarette. The replacement cartridges come in various flavors from regular tobacco taste to chocolate, strawberry and more flavors. So if you enjoy smoking flavored cigarettes or regular cigarettes, the electronic cigarette can accommodate your tastes. Since the cartridges are interchangeable, you can try out different flavors from the same eCig.
Another advantage of the is that it can simulate smoke. The smoke you exhale from a traditional cigarette is toxic. The smoke from the electronic cigarette is not toxic. It is a vapor that looks just like smoke, but it dissipates almost immediately and it doesn’t have a smell. Because it doesn’t have a smell, your clothing wont smell like cigarettes, your nails wont smell like cigarettes, your teeth wont turn yellow, your breath wont stink.
As you can see, the electronic cigarette is a really cool tobacco cigarette replacement. Companies are offering electronic cigarettes free to try. They just want you to pay for shipping and you can typically try the electronic cigarette for 2 weeks. In those 2 weeks, you will have more than enough time to see if you enjoy the electronic cigarette o if you hate it.
If you would like to try an electronic cigarette for yourself, visit right now. There you will learn a bit more of the electronic cigarette and you will also be given a website link where you can place an order to try an electronic cigarette for free. Don’t delay, free trial offer supplies are limited.
Smoking is absolutely awful for the health. There is not anything lovely that can be brought all but by inhaling dreadful air into the practice. Today, thousands are anguish from respiratory conditions due to the dreadful custom. Thus, if you discover yourself in the same corner, be guaranteed to know how to cease smoking efficiently. Stop the vice and Initiate living a healthier lifestyle.
Smoking is a dreadful fondness. Being a routine, it is not something that can be straightforwardly set aside. It takes time and significant effort to successfully realize the aim. There may be stuffs you can prepare to cease, but it is crucial for you to know the successful ways to realize the goal. It is valuable to equip yourself with the crucial details and information.
How to stop up Smoking Efficiently
Quitting smoking may have to do with various withdrawal symptoms. This can include cravings, anxiety and petulance. These are challenging circumstances. Still, does not matter how trying it may be, you can be trained how to end smoking effectively. There are ways by which you can realize this goal. Here are a number of tips that you can work to quit the dreadful problem.
1. Have the Willpower. One valuable business that you must have is the willpower. This is your scope to fully decide that you will end smoking. Thus, you have to ensure that you are in the appropriate state of brain to abandon on the fondness. This can get on to your brain influence your body to end smoking effectively and accomplish your goal. This is looked-for as you look the workable consequences that may get nearer when you bring to a standstill smoking.
2. Stop Smoking Aids. There are stuffs that you can obtain in the bazaar that will aid you ascertain how to stop smoking effectively. You enjoy gums, nasal sprays and inhalers. These can aid in minimizing your craving for nicotine as you ultimately decide to abandon the problem. Nicotine patches can introduce small amounts of nicotine into your logic to elude the withdrawal symptoms as you increasingly stop smoking.
3. Another Therapy. An extra option to stop smoking effectively and overcome the workable withdrawals when you stop smoking is to resort to other therapies. The likes of acupuncture and aromatherapy can aid in minimizing the symptoms. Alternative options are beneficial in relieving the stress in your brain and body throughout the stop smoking period. This could diminish the burden you will move through.
4. Undergo Hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is lone option to cease smoking effectively. This is lone option that can aid you successfully complete your goal. This addresses the trouble right at its very root, the intuitive area of the brain. Seeking the aid of an expert is wanted.
5. Counseling Sessions. You may also like to consider going away to counseling sessions to be over smoking effectively. This can provide you the support that you can depend on especially when stuffs grow to be too hard. There are one-to-one sessions that will allow you depend on a superior for assistance. You can also join support groups. Choose the type that you feel mainly comfortable with. There are not public organizations that can produce the service. Local well being clinics can also be asked for roughly referrals and recommendations.
Many smokers concede to the detail that their dreadful fondness is harmful to the physical condition. Thus, it is very crucial to ascertain how to be over smoking effectively. This option a healthy lifestyle can be regained for a better prospect.
quit smoking could be an easy task for you if you really know how to do it, you can find stop smoking tip right away at
It has long been suspected that smoking and gum disease are interrelated. Thanks to recent studies, that link has finally been proven. We have all long known that smoking is dangerous to your health. It can cause heart disease, including heart attacks. It can lead to strokes and aneurysm. Naturally it can lead to lung and throat cancer, not to mention many others. Your breath smells, your teeth get stained, and respiratory problems and infections are practically a given. As it turns out, smoking can negatively affect your as well.
Smoking is one of the main risk factors associated with gum disease. This is because smoking practically opens wide the door for bacteria to flock into your mouth. Bacteria is what ultimately causes gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontitis. However, that is not the only reason smoking can lead to gum disease.
Both the smoke which comes from the tobacco and the nicotine in cigarettes can make your blood vessels constrict. That makes it harder and harder for nutrients and oxygen to get to parts of your body – including your gums and gum tissue.
Smoking is not the only thing which causes this to happen. Chewing tobacco can as well. Further, they can both make it more difficult for your body to adequately fight off infections. Meaning, it cannot fight off the infection which causes gingivitis. If you are a smoker, it can even be more difficult for your body to respond to the proper treatment methods for gm disease.
How can you, as a smoker, decrease your risk for gum disease? Well, naturally, you have got to stop smoking. Think of all the aspects of your health smoking will negatively affect? You also have to do your part by rigorously taking care of your teeth. Brushing, flossing, and regular checkups are absolutely mandatory. Next, read more about stopping periodontal disease:
Grab your free report: at
Scott Wells recommends the book: What You Should Know about Gum Disease for those seeking more information on this topic. ISBN: 978-0981485508
Disclaimer: If you have or think you might have gum disease or any other health problem, please visit your doctor or periodontist for advice, diagnosis and treatment. This article is for information purposes only and does not intend to provide advice, diagnosis or treatment for any health condition.
Many available products in the market contain nicotine substitutes in the form of gums, patches or sprays. It may seems effective in satisfying the cravings in the short term, however it can also lead to relapse in the long term and some people might even smoke heavier than before. Due to the fact that nicotine is the substance that creates the addiction in the first place, we should be pointing out on how we can stop the nicotine and be nicotine free all the way.
Some programs emphasized on utilizing anti depressant drugs or tranquillizers to minimize the nicotine withdrawal symptoms, it may help to assist the withdrawal symptoms but be very cautious on the drugs content as some may be also addictive to the user.
As we are fighting the first addiction, we don’t want it to be in a more serious complication. While this approach may has it benefits, there are quite a number of anti depressant that use natural contents which has the equal benefits without having the side effects or potential of addictions.
So, what are the quit smoking product characteristics that we are looking for to get the ultimate solution? First of all, look for a well known formula that has a natural unique content to suppress the depression, mood swings and cravings for nicotine and sugar to prevent weight gain during nicotine withdrawal.
It need to have properties that can effectively stop the nicotine cravings and provides a calm and soothing effect to the brain balancing which normally links to the chemicals known to be associated with addiction. Lastly, look for properties that helps prevent the side effects experienced like irritability, temper outbursts, restlessness to ensure a more successful path to a cigarette free life.
Kuzek Soulive is a researcher on natural nutrition and healthcare products, and maintains a website on during smoking withdrawal sessions.
Paul was aware of all the conventional reasons to stop smoking.
I mean, how could you not be, even in the late 1970s, when he and I first met in a midsized city in southern Oregon. By that time, science had already established the dangers of smoking, and information on how to quit cigarettes was everywhere.
I was a working journalist back then, and Paul (not his real name) drove cab. We quickly became good friends. Over the years, Paul and his partner, Sarah, and my then-partner, now-wife, Mary, and I spent a lot of good times together.
The explanation for this writer/cabbie pairing can be found in the folds of community theater. If you have ever been a member of an amateur theater group in a small town, you know what I mean. Cultural lines are blurred there, if not eliminated altogether. Lifelong friendships are formed.
And sometimes love affairs bloom while the seeds of divorce are sown, and marriages are made or broken.
Paul, in fact, had been married and divorced four times when I met him. In a way that I can’t fully explain, it was part of his charm. He would joke in his low-key way about each of his three grown daughters, and in time we in the group came to use the nicknames he had for each of them, names that had a certain fondness attached to them, even though they can’t be repeated here (they had to do with how the girls were conceived).
It’s not that Paul kept the names a secret from his daughters – that would have required a duplicity he was not capable of. The daughters knew full well what those nicknames were, and they were able to laugh with him. How could you ever become angry with Paul? It was almost impossible.
But if Paul was a loser in the game of love, he was brilliant onstage. This son of a Protestant minister had a lean figure, a deep voice, an aquiline nose and a profile to die for. He could not be called handsome in the Hollywood sense, but when he walked onstage, the effect was striking.
Onstage he was able to draw on the power of whatever demons and angels were residing in his soul. He acted from the inside out.
Paul and I were in several shows together. He was always the star, whether he had a leading role (Henry Drummond in “Inherit the Wind”) or a minor one (Leo Herman, aka Chuckles the Chipmunk, in “A Thousand Clowns”).
Had circumstances been different, had not one of his devils controlled and ultimately destroyed him, he might have been a professional.
As it was, he simply succeeded in being the most gentle person I have ever known.
I think, if Paul had stated his philosophy of life, it would have gone something like this:
“I will judge no one or no one thing. I will accept the flow of life as it comes and not try to change any of it. I will let it take me where it will, neither accepting nor rejecting it. Nothing is good or bad, it simply is. I am merely a passenger, and I will enjoy the ride.”
Cigarettes entered Paul’s life because he allowed them in, probably with no questions asked. How many decades did he end his day with a cigarette, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly? How many times did he light up first thing in the morning almost before his feet touched the floor? I don’t know.
Yes, he knew all the reasons to stop smoking. He knew all about the information on how to quit cigarettes. He had seen the statistics; he had known people who died of lung cancer, or emphysema. He had seen the x-rays of blackened, rotting lungs oozing slime.
He had even tried a time or two to quit. He tried will power, he tried the gum, he tried the patch, but nothing ever came of any of it.
In the final analysis, he embraced this particular devil. The fact was, he enjoyed smoking, he loved to smoke. Cigarettes took him to a place he could not get to any other way. A place where he felt safe, free from all the gathered turmoil of the world. It was a place he could not, and would not, trade for anything, even for his life.
Paul’s unspoken message to his friends, his family, to the world, and to himself was, “This is where life has taken me. I accept it. One way or another I am going to die. We all are. So, given the choice, why shouldn’t I die on my terms? No reason. So that is what I’m going to do.”
And that is what he did.
Not long before Paul died, when everyone in the theatre group, including Paul, knew his days were numbered, we staged a roast in his honor.
When Paul, emaciated and stooped, walked into the theatre the evening of the roast wearing a bright blue cowboy outfit, the house came down. It was one of his grandest entrances, and it was a perfect Act 1, Scene 1, for what was to follow. Despite the sobering subtext, it was an evening of rollicking good humor.
But at the very end of the evening, I, as emcee, injected the only serious note:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have known Paul for 20 years, and in that time he has become my brother. He is family.
“And in all that time I have never known him to be anything other than who he is.
“There is a beauty in that. There is an innocence in that. But most of all, there is a purity in that.
“And so I’m glad that you’re all here tonight. Because it gives me the chance to say publicly what I’ve always said in my heart:
“Paul, I love you madly.”
A few months later we scattered Paul’s ashes on a nearby mountaintop.
That was almost 20 years ago. Now, from the vantage point afforded by time, I look back and I think I can understand why Paul thought the way he did about the reasons to stop smoking. And despite everything, I can even admire it somehow, however grudgingly. I mean, he had the courage to live the way he wanted to. How many of us can say the same?
At the same time, I am filled with anger.
I said earlier that it was almost impossible to become angry with Paul. But I am angry with him now, and I have been angry for 20 years.
I am angry at his outrageous selfishness. I am angry because he felt that his personal pleasure was more important than anything else. I am angry that he left us because he thought his obligation to a weed was greater than his obligation to the people who loved him.
What kind of person would do that?
If Paul could send a message today, I hope he would have the wisdom say to all the smokers of the world:
“Here is one of the main reasons to stop smoking; here is how to quit cigarettes:
“Remember that you are not in this alone. This is not just about you. Nothing you do is just about you. This is also about the people who count on you, who need you for a million reasons that neither you nor they may even understand. This is about the people who love you.
“If for no other reason, do it for them.”
I’m still angry with Paul.
And I miss him. Every day.
Dave Tishendorf is an ex-smoker. He invites you to find out more about how to quit cigarettes by clicking .
Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis Sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol; THC for short.
Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana. Since the blunt retains the tobacco leaf used to wrap the cigar, this mode of delivery combines marijuana’s active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form it is called hashish, and as a sticky black liquid, hash oil. Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.
Marijuana and Addiction
Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite its known harmful effects upon social functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. Long-term marijuana abusers trying to quit report marijuana addiction is the #1 drug problem in the US, its effects are very powerful. Also known as pot and weed it can be very addictiveirritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which make it difficult to quit. These withdrawal symptoms begin within about 1 day following abstinence, peak at 2-3 days, and subside within 1 or 2 weeks following drug cessation.
Is Marijuana Addictive or isn’t It?
Based on all the information available, the answer is yes and no.
For people with dependency tendencies, the answer is YES. There are too many people in the world who smoke marijuana almost every day to say otherwise. Other people argue that they can take or leave it and have quit for long periods of time. And for those people the answer would probably be NO.
The thing about marijuana is it so subtle. There are places in California where it is legal to possess small quantities for private use. So what’s the problem?
The problem with marijuana is, like any other drug, can become the focal point of a person’s life. All of a sudden you want to get high before or during anything and everything. Your life begins to revolve around smoking marijuana. Like alcohol, it can be used responsibly and occasionally, or it can get out of control and cause serious problems.
Some people are “addicted” to marijuana and try to rationalize or justify using it. Like any other drug, marijuana can become the focal point of your life.
Marijuana Use in the U.S.
* In 2007, there were 2.1 million persons who had used marijuana for the first time within the past 12 months; this averages to approximately 6,000 initiates per day. This estimate of past year initiates in 2007 was about the same as the number in 2006 (2.1 million), 2005 (2.1 million), 2004 (2.1 million), 2003 (2.0 million), and 2002 (2.2 million).
More Statisitics About Marijuana Use
Past month marijuana use among male youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 9.1 percent in 2002 to 6.8 percent in 2006. In 2007, the rate was 7.5 percent, which was not significantly different from the rate in 2006, but was lower than the rate in 2002. Among female youths, little change occurred from 2002 to 2004, but the rate in 2007 (5.8 percent) was lower than the rate in 2002 (7.2 percent).
The Effects of Marijuana Use
THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabis receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabis receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thoughts, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.
Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.
Research into Marijuana Use
Research on the long-term effects of marijuana abuse indicates some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system3 and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine. Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.
Marijuana Use and Mental Health
A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be a factor, where early use is a marker of vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or is used in attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence. Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses, including addiction, stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. At the present time, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders. High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction, and research suggests that in vulnerable individuals, marijuana use may be a factor that increases risk for the disease.
Should Marijuana Be Legalized
Much has been written and several states have considerd changing their laws to decrimiize marijuana. California has the most progressive laws. Some counties allow people to possess small amounts.
Trying to remove cigarette odor from your home or car? It can be hard! The hardest thing in permanently getting rid of smoke smell is, obviously, the fact that the source of cigarette odor is still there – you still smoke. Read this article to learn how you can remove cigarette odor without having ot quit smoking.
If you smoke then an attempt to remove cigarette odor might be quite futile. Even if you manage to do it, all it takes is a few days of you smoking and the smoke smell will come back. Until now that is, let me ask you – Have you herd about electronic cigarettes? You might’ve as they’ve been rising in popularity for a bit now. But in case you haven’t here’s an explanation of what is electronic cigarette and how it works.
E cigarette looks like a normal cigarette and consists of a few part: Nicotine cartridge is located where the filter is in a normal cigarette. Next is an atomization chamber – a device that when puffed on crates vapor like smoke that looks like a real smoke. A lithium battery rounds up this micro device. It even has a light at the tip of the cigarette that will light up when you use it, making it seem like the real thing!
Not only is there no smoke smell with electronic cigarettes but they are also much better for your health than normal ones. There is no smoke, tar or ash so your lungs won’t end up looking like a dirty vacuum filter after a few years of smoking.
If you smoke then electronic cigarette is the ultimate, if unconventional method to and get rid of cigarette smell. No smoke = no smell = no odor! All the while you still satisfy your body’s nicotine craving, it even looks like smoking a normal cigarette.
To learn more about e cigarette and to watch a video demonstration click here:
With all the negative effects that smoking has is amazing how many people still smoke. In addition to physical effects, there are many other reasons why smoking is not a good idea, but it is very important to be able to fully exploit these reasons, when you stop to look for reasons to smoke. Stop on a whim, it sounds nice, but it will be difficult to succeed, and often angers and sadness that have not achieved the desired results.
As for your health, there are no immediate reasons smoking is bad. At the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, cancer of the larynx and also a significantly increased risk of heart attack or stroke. Just listen to all types of health problems just as bad for people who have never again on fears of another package of cigarettes. Those who still smoke, or feel that he can not stop or are not easy to stop because they are so bad, the idea of smoking depends.
Breaking Free of cigarettes is never easy. With regard themselves as smokers, this is the kind of image you want to convey to your children? Most people who smoke to admit I was incredibly upset, or at least disappointed if their children have chosen to smoke, too. If you still smoke in front of them, what kind of example, pushes really mean? The sad reality is that parents who smoke are much more likely for children who smoke. It ‘important that you work hard to keep your children to .
Many smokers find they have a problem with their health, a serious desire to have created. Is often too late, that ultimately decide. The damage is already done for their health, the consequences are often the object of his life, not just a pack of cigarettes. Make that sacrifice is something that most people are not willing to be honest, but it happens almost every day.
The end the decision was willing to be a personal decision that comes from the heart. We can not allow someone to force the decision to stop, but at the same time, if not listen to the warnings from your doctor, you know very well that it does serious damage to your body. Failure to take account of these risks can be a devastating effect on the whole body and your family. This can be very heart of many families that are extremely stressful for your family can do themselves, which in turn makes it more difficult to escape.
When you arrive at your lifestyle and your family and try and the only thing you can do, decide to seriously improve the quality of life, the answer is simple. When you for good can make a huge improvement to your health, and you can prove that his family has worked tirelessly for all at once. Your family relies on you for advice, psychological support and even love. Take time to really decide because it is very important to go beyond oneself for success.
Resource :
Now YOU can Kick The Habit For Good In Just 38 Minutes & 13 Seconds …Guaranteed! Click Here
In part 1 of this article, we discussed real chemical addiction and how stopping cold-turkey can be life threatening. We also pointed out that although a smoker claims, “I’m dying for a cigarette,” no one has actually died because they didn’t get a smoke.
The reason it is important to understand that cigarette smoking is a psychological addiction rather than a physical one, is to facilitate effective protocols to remove cigarettes from a smoker’s life. In this article, we are going to discuss examples that demonstrate that nicotine is not physically addictive but that cigarette smoking is psychologically addictive.
What is Nicotine
Talk about a substance that has gotten a bad reputation. Nicotine is presented as the ultimate evil and the culprit that makes quitting cigarettes difficult or for some, impossible. However, just what is nicotine?
According to medical researcher Dr. David G. Williams, nicotine is a chemical substance found in cigarette smoke that stimulates the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is needed to facilitate the transmission of nerve impulses.
There’s one thing though, there is another chemical called nicotinic acid that is a close cousin of nicotine that also stimulates the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. What is this almost identical substance? It is called Vitamin B3!
Could smokers be getting Vitamin B3 from their cigarettes? If so, it’s not a healthy way to do it but look at the symptoms of Vitamin B3 deficiency:
These are many of the reasons that people give for smoking! It improves their memory, lifts their spirits, calms them down, etc. Since many people don’t have good nutrition, perhaps one of the things that fuels the Psychological Smoking Mechanism is a B3 deficiency. After all, these are water soluble vitamins or chemicals, if you will. They are not stored in the body and must be replaced constantly.
The bottom line here is that people don’t get addicted to vitamins! This is just another indicator that the thing that keeps people smoking is not an addiction to nicotine. Let’s look at some of the other things associated with smoking that do not follow the physical addiction mechanism.
If Cigarettes were Addictive
In the previous article in this series, we discussed a case of accidental addiction to pain medicine. As you recall, when the patient discovered they weren’t getting the same results from the standard dose of medicine, they increased the dose which did, for a time give them relief. It wasn’t long before they had to increase the dose again, and again.
This is what happens with chemical addiction, the body views the chemical as throwing it out of balance (homeostasis) and it creates a counter force. It matches each increase with an increase in counter force.
If nicotine was a truly addictive chemical, the smoker would have to keep increasing intake to achieve the same effects that are claimed for cigarettes just as in our drug example. The consumption of cigarettes would increase over time. However, this doesn’t happen.
Let me give you a real life example. My grandfather was a cigarette smoker. He smoked his entire life starting in his early childhood years. He smoked less than a pack of cigarettes per day. The amount smoked never varied. He had a set amount that he unconsciously metered and for over 70 years maintained this level. The fact that he smoked less than a pack per day was to his benefit and delayed the health issues associated with cigarette smoke. But you can’t avoid it forever and he did eventually develop health problems that years of cigarette smoking produced.
A clear indicator that cigarettes are psychologically addictive and not physically addictive is that the smoker settles into a pattern and stays there for years. You have your half a pack a day person, your pack a day person, your 1.5 pack a day person, your 2 pack a day person and in extreme cases, the three pack a day person. This volume is established pretty early and stays that way. There may be daily fluctuations but they all average out. There is a mental meter that regulates the amount of cigarettes smoked! That’s the Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
If cigarettes were physically addictive, the smoker would be adding more and more cigarettes to achieve whatever claimed benefit they provided. This doesn’t happen. This is a clear indicator that that cigarette consumption is regulated by the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and not the chemicals in the cigarette.
If Nicotine was a Chemical Addiction
There is a whole category of smoking cessation treatment protocols that operate under the idea that providing nicotine will take the place of smoking. The thinking behind this category is that supplying nicotine through vehicles such as patches or gum will eliminate the desire to smoke because the hypothetical nicotine demand is being met. Then by reducing the nicotine over time, just like drug rehab, the compulsion to smoke will be eliminated. Sounds great doesn’t it? If nicotine were the culprit, nicotine patches, gum and lozenges would be 100% successful. After all, they are giving the body the chemical that it theoretically craves which is the supposed mechanism behind the compulsion to smoke.
Nicotine patches are powerful products that give the body a steady supply of nicotine. Let’s look at their effectiveness. Since the smoker is getting generous amounts of nicotine which they are supposedly craving, the patches should be incredibly effective. However, some research shows, (Davidson, M., Epstein, M., Burt, R., Schaefer, C., Whitworth, G. & McDonald, A. (1998)), that only 19% of people on patches had stopped smoking at six weeks and that it was reduced to 9.2% at six months. Looking at it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of the people using nicotine patches were still smoking and at 6 months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of those that had stopped were back at it again.
The results for the gum is about the same. Even though the gum was providing the smoker with plenty of nicotine, at 6 weeks, 84% of the people were still smoking and at 6 months, 92% were smoking.
These smokers were getting all the nicotine they supposedly needed. In reality, they were probably getting a great deal more nicotine than the cigarettes they smoked provided. Yet, most of them continued to smoke along WITH the patches or gum. If nicotine doesn’t compel the smoker to smoke, what does? It’s the Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
Another Indicator that It Isn’t Nicotine
With a chemical addiction, more is better for the addict. With nicotine patches, the smoker is getting a great deal of nicotine. They should be satisfied right? Well as mentioned in the last section, only 9% actually stop smoking with the patch. However, putting all that nicotine in a smokers system with patches does have an effect on the smoker. According to the American Lung Association, side effects with the nicotine patch are:
Headache Dizziness Upset stomach Weakness Blurred vision Vivid dreams Mild itching and burning on the skin Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine does have an effect on the smokers body. However, with all the things that smoking does to the smoker, it doesn’t produce these effects. This is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.
Smokers Resume Smoking after Extended Periods
Another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke is the tendency for ex-smokers to resume smoking after a long period of time. Obviously, after an extended period of time, all the nicotine would be out of their system. As has been stated, nicotine is the cousin of Vitamin B3, a water soluble vitamin. These substances are either rapidly used or excess flushed from the body daily. No matter how heavy a smoker, it won’t take very long for all nicotine to be out of their system.
Also, from a strictly habit perspective, a few weeks or months without smoking should have put an end to the habit; the habit of reaching for a cigarette is broken. However, an ex-smoker can pick up a cigarette and resume smoking like they never stopped whether it is weeks, months or even years.
This is because the Psychological Smoking Mechanism is still operating. There is no nicotine in the system, the habit has been abandoned for weeks, months or some time years, yet, cigarette smoking can resume.
Conclusion
The effects of nicotine do not follow the chemical addiction mechanism. Nicotine is similar to Vitamin B3, a water soluble vitamin. It must be replenished daily. It is possible that the smoker has a deficiency of Vitamin B3. Each cigarette provides a small amount of nicotine which is similar to Vitamin B3.
A smoker falls into a pattern of cigarette consumption which doesn’t vary over decades. Whether it is the half pack a day, one pack a day, one and a half pack per day or the extreme of three packs per day, this amount doesn’t vary. Although there may be daily fluctuations, it averages out over time to whatever pattern the smoker follows.
Cigarette consumption is regulated by the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. The only way to remove cigarettes from your life is to remove this mechanism. If the Psychological Smoking Mechanism is not removed, the person quitting cigarettes will continue to be a smoker who doesn’t happen to be smoking right now. When the Psychological Smoking Mechanism is gone, so is smoking because the person has become a NONsmoker!
(c) Copyright 2009, R. Michael Stone
R. Michael Stone, M.S. – Counselor Creator of The Unlearn Smoking Success System tm The easy 28 day program that helps you become, not an ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker FREE Reports: ==> for self-improvement. Contributed Creativity CD Program to: Thinking Write: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind
A comprehensive easy to read guide to growing, harvesting and preserving herbs, with detailed information about both indoor and outdoor growing. Three bonus e-books add extra value, including ideas on ways to profit from your produce. The Ultimate Guide to Growing Herbs for Fun or Profit