Smoking mentioned in the DSM5

This is Australia. New South Wales to be specific. Cigarettes down here have always been an expensive asset and they implemented the plain packaging laws a few years back which in my opinion is ineffective and makes me miss the eloquent designs some brands had. Holiday, Winfield and JPS are extremely popular here. Only smoked Camel once.

Australia is aiming to keep raising tobacco products until it is 2016. Many packs, it's a dollar a dart... same with shags.. a dollar for one gram. Very stupid.. people need a job to support the habit, it's not finding spare change under the couch anymore.

If I want 25 grams of White Ox tobacco, it's $31.00. More than a dollar a gram.
If I want a cheaper brand, say Bond Street.. it's $20.90 for 26 when they use to be $13.45 sometime last year. Weird. Feel sorry for tourists that smoke.

You can barely read the cigarette packs from Ireland because they say warning will kill all over them.

At one point — possibly 12 years ago, now — I was visiting NYC and packs were over $7. Comparatively I was spending around $4 per pack here in PA.
I've never said this out loud, and I'm not sure I'm going to do it, but right then and there I told myself I'd quit if cigarettes got that expensive here. So over $7 is possibly my limit. Right now my ciggies cost $6.11 before tax. Getting close...

I don't know how to quit. I can't be active because of my back.

Me too on the back! And it hurts more if I sit or stay in bed. Every Dr I've seen knows my mri is awful, but they would rather me be in pain than lose their license prescribing pain pills. I'm having to go through a neurosurgeon to even get to a pain specialist.

I'm feeling very hopeless about it all right now. I can't get good medical care and I can't get to the bad medical care. Everything is too hard to do.

I'm sorry, and obviously that doesn't add any incentive to quit smoking. Stupid health care acts like people can just take preventative care into their own hands.

Yeah... I guess I'm depressed. I just can't do anything. Scared to take the Cymbalta because of the anxiety worse on it.

Neurotin or gabapentin is good for back pain and I'm think it helps with depression & anxiety. It's really cheap, but I had bad side effects. Prozac didn't give me any problems with anxiety.

I'm on gabapentin, no problems with it but it doesn't help my back. I use it for nerve pain (like shingles, but I don't know the cause). Maybe I should try a different AD, I don't know...

I smoked 2+ packs a day for 20+ years, until I woke up one day and decided that I was tired of smelling like an ashtray, tired of burning little holes in my expensive Garcia ties, and tired of having my life controlled by a vegetable. I had 1/2 pack stashed in my briefcase, and threw them away. When I got to the office, I threw away the 1/2 pack stashed in my desk drawer. (This was back in the days when people could still smoke in the office) I also threw away the ashtray. That was 23 or 24 years ago, and I haven't lit up since.

I think if you wanna quit, QUIT. Don't fret about it, QUIT. Don't try to "cut down", use patches or gum, QUIT. If you have a stash, THROW IT OUT. Don't try to tell yourself you'll quit when the pack or carton is empty. That's BS....if you can't bring yourself to QUIT NOW, it sure won't happen later.

I'm serious about throwing away whatever smokes you may have laying around. It's very difficult to have the discipline to NOT smoke if there is a pack lying in front of you. It's much easier to overcome the moment if you would have to get in your car and drive someplace to buy some. I'm also assuming that you would have enough pride to NOT BUM any from your friends.

Smoking is purely a mental thing, IMHO.....a "displacement" activity to offset stress. You body will do pretty much what you want it to, once you stop putting nicotine into your system.

I know it may not be easy, but you CAN be stronger than a vegetable.

QUIT....and live longer.

Good luck to all who struggle with this issue��
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^I'd waste a lot of money if I attempted throwing cigarettes out, as I would end up buying more when I want one. For now limiting my intake of cigarettes seems to work best, if I try to just quit like I have in the past it will increase urges...then again I still enjoy smoking them so maybe that is part of why it likely would not work.

Also though don't really see cigarettes as vegetables, they are plant matter(tobacco) rolled up in paper with a filter on it...coffin nail, death stick seem to be more fitting alternate names for them as vegetables tend towards being healthy. I think for the the 'just quitting' route to work you have to really want to and be in a position you won't look back.

I like to refer to cigarettes as vegetables because they are mindless and numb...yet we, who have functioning brains and free will allow ourselves to be controlled by them. I like my freedom too much to allow this ball and chain to remain around my leg.

As for quitting "cold turkey" if you want to....of course you must WANT to. It's all mental. If you really want to quit, any side effects will be minimal and easy to overcome. After a few days they disappear completely.

It's like jumping into a pool that's a little chilly. JUST DO IT.

It's complicated. My whole, um, "morning routine" depends on smoking. I look forward to smoking. I don't want to quit. I have to quit.

>>It's complicated. My whole, um, "morning routine" depends on smoking. I look forward to smoking. I don't want to quit. I have to quit. <<

I understand, but who is in charge of your life...you or the vegetable? You are smarter and stronger than any vegetable. It's like pounding your head against a brick wall. To stop the damage just away from it. Don't do it any more.

Test yourself. Throw away your stash and don't buy anymore. Start your morning routine without the cigarettes. Don't use crutches, like tapering off, gum, patches or those ridiculous vapor things. Stand on your own two feet, look in the mirror and say "I'm DONE".

You can do it if you want to. It's all in your head.

Good luck and let us know how you do :-)

I'm not ready yet Slamjammer.

I understand.