Baskadia

The way I’ve thought about smoking for a long time is that it kills people. It causes many of the diseases we see in health care facilities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer, and it makes its victims weaker and less able to recover. For example, smoking increases the risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and dementia. By not getting treatment for it, these conditions can progress into more serious forms of illness.

We are often told that the only thing better than smoking is never having to smoke at all. How can you believe that? People who have quit have their lives turned around: they feel better and healthier, have fewer illnesses, and generally enjoy a better quality of life. This is true even if their cigarettes, cigars, and pipes are replaced with e-cigarettes. When I was addicted to cigarette butts, ashtrays, gum, or lighters that were disposable, I would sometimes ask myself why I had so much trouble quitting. I was also guilty of thinking there was no other way.

Although research has been done on how many deaths could be prevented by stopping smoking, I didn’t want to think about whether my death or those of others could have been avoided by quitting, because it just meant I would go back to taking that poison. Instead, I focused on finding ways to stop me from doing this ever again. And this led toward another, perhaps more interesting, question: what if we all stopped doing this terrible habit, even if it killed us first? If we did everything right, then it would be possible to save so many lives. Of course, that doesn’t mean we would do anything wrong. Still, in trying to figure out how to give ourselves the best chance possible to cut our addiction, all I found are more people who thought about quitting. But they did so for one reason: They wanted to live well.

I recently came across an article by Dr. Michael Greger, former dean of public health at UCLA, which says, “The majority of American smokers don’t quit because they are unhappy with what the situation is. There are other circumstances that force them to quit including fear of death and wanting to spend their last money on something enjoyable. Also, there are studies that show a decrease in mortality after people stop smoking.” In fact, there is clear evidence that smoking cessation reduces the risk of dying. It may even lower the likelihood of later hospitalization. Yet when most people talk about quitting smoking, they often include death as well as the loss of freedom. In short, they say there are two reasons not to smoke: one because one is unhappy with the current situation and the second is because they want to die, but we know these are just excuses. As I’ve discussed in several past posts, there is no easy way to get rid of the problem that smoking causes. We’re stuck in the same vicious circle, as George Orwell said, which is actually quite funny when you consider it. One day, something will go wrong, and there won’t be anyone to blame, but we as a society will never find the solution to fix it. That’s why we need to start focusing on changing our perspective, rather than pretending that we can solve the problem without working hard at it.

Many people say that the cure for smoking is simple: smoke-free. Well, let’s try to find out how that works. Many Americans smoke because nicotine is just too good to ignore. What should replace the chemical in the tobacco? Nicotine salts. These salt products are designed to deliver the addictive effects we all love while keeping the tar and carbon monoxide out of the air. You can read all about them here. Another popular theory is that we smoke because it gives us instant gratification. Maybe you know someone who smokes every morning; maybe she or he is still recovering from surgery, or chemotherapy, or stress, and smoking helps him or her stay awake and help get through the painful process. Why not? Then why isn’t everybody using electronic cigarettes instead? Not everyone wants to kill themselves, so they keep it away from view. And now to the next thing: some like e-cigarettes are safe, cheap, convenient, and a step forward from the pipe. Now we may be looking at a cure. Unfortunately, people who think about quitting smoking are rarely willing to put the effort required. Their excuse for not starting is that they can’t afford to quit, and they might even come up with a clever way to convince themselves otherwise: if I don’t get rid of cigarettes right away, eventually someone else will buy a packet, and I can just take out the other ingredients. Or they might insist on continuing to use them even though there is no science showing they might cause harm. Finally, many people claim that they just “can’t seem to quit,” despite knowing of research showing that the earlier you quit, the better off you will be. However, when people try to stick it out and work harder on it, they find their efforts do not lead to any positive results, so they get discouraged and decide they need something else. While most people think that quitting is difficult, very few people realize how difficult it really is. I hope that this post has inspired you to change your attitudes and start realizing that maybe we are all going to have to kill each other someday if we continue to do what we’ve always done. Whatever you do, do not fall victim to the temptation to quit. Quit smoking, and make sure you enjoy life!