should we ban smoking?

it is very hard to quit. I did it before, and what got me started back up? Getting drunk with my friends and having "just one".

 

It is a substance abuse problem, I know as I am a chain smoker that can not stop once I start.

You know how I quit

When I feel pain in my chest and nerves twitching in my legs, then I remember my favorite Uncles who both died when a small cancer spot in their lungs turned into full blown cancer and killed both of them Both of them died painful deaths and were great family men whose lives were cut short because of this smoking thing.

Then.......

I come to understand that I am next.

That is how I quit, over and over and hope never to ask a friend for another one to get started again.

 

Anthony ,,how old were you exactly then when you gave up?
40??...after smoking for ?? years?

 

Once a drug addict always a drug addict, once an alcoholic always an alcoholic, once a chain smoker always a chain smoker.

(I never quit, I smoke off and on as I mentioned before, last one I touched was about 48 hours ago when I got sick from chain smoking again)

Just a recovering chain smoker man

Hope that I never touch another one because I know that they destroy the body man

 

By the time I've finished with you Anthony Shuga, you will be like this;

 

Isn't it unfortunate that smoking is so harmful? And what benefits to people get from it? It simply feeds the cravings/addiction.

It's a damn shame!

 

Great Photo Mella, but it is a sickness, be sure to know it damages women much more than men quicker along with alcohol since women do not have the enzyme in them that dissolves it as men do.

 

I vote ban them both....

then in the words of the great Bob Marley: "Le-ga-lize It!"

 

Totally agree, I smoked heavily for 10 years, quit smoking about 2 years ago but I still like the smell and sometimes I smoke one! Never giving up drinking!

 

Are you saying that alcohol and smoking discriminate Anthony?

 

Yes, figures show that women who smoke have very high rates of lung cancer, also alcohol is soluble in fat cells and women have a higher percentage of fat cells in their bodies than men, thus alcohol has a greater effect on them quicker as it gets into their blood stream much quicker and has a magnifying effect.

Women also miss an enzyme that destroys alcohol in the body so it does more damage to their bodies much quicker than a man.

Do a search on these keywords

Cancer rates women smokers

Alcohol women damage bodies

http://vivisimo.com/search?v%3Asources=Web&query=Alcohol+women+damage+bodies&x=50&y=16

 

AC is mostly right in regards to the enzyme. Men produce more of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme then women do, but we aren't lacking the enzyme. Because we have less of it, it takes longer to break down the alcohol, putting more stress on the liver.

The other issue is that women generally have a lower percentage of body water then men, which also influences metabolism of alcohol. There are certain ethnic groups as well that do not have as much of the deyhyrodgenase enzyme.

It has nothing to do with discrimination, but how our bodies metabolize and break down chemicals we put into it.

 

I've seen the effect with alcohol with a friend of mine. When I first met her; she had just started drinking. I was flabbergasted to find out that she was like 58 years old: she didn't look a day over 30.

I left this area for six months; came back and ran into her. She looked like an old woman; way beyond her years. She died a couple of years after that.

I'm a recovering alkie and drug user for that matter, since 1989-

Noone has mentioned the most important effects of alcohol. When a family member
drinks; it makes the whole family sick. Not just the drinker. The whole family.
My dad was an alcoholic - he died at 56 years old - technically he was what you
would call a wetbrain. (If you don't know what that is; go to your local mental
hospital and ask to visit the drug/alcohol ward). Basically; the alcohol eats
away your brain. My mother; already an a type perfectionist; became somewhat
abusive, because of the stress she was under. In those days; you didn't talk
about this kind of issue like you do now; so she did the best she could in
silence. She didn't even talk to her own mother about it. We all have
dysfunctional issues. While I'm the only one in recovery; my mother is still
sick; she never tried to go to therapy or anything even after leaving my dad
(they were married for 36 years). She is still stuck in that thinking; and at 80
hasn't mellowed. I started drinking when I was twelve and am lucky I'm alive to
tell the tale. My brother is a self righteous, controlling, alcoholic non
smoker.

Bottom line is: both smoking and drinking are addictions. It is not easy to quit either one.
(personally; I found it rather easy to quit drinking once I got the hang of it - even though I
had the dts for a year) Smoking is another thing altogether for me.

 

They also have less blood, a 100 pound women that takes 2 beers can get drunk as hell quick, where as a 190 pound man can drink six and still stand.

I can drink half a bottle of Whiskey and still live, it might kill a woman

 

Ha! I was reknowned for drinking men under the table. And I could cause riots in any bar I walked into.

 

AC - You can only make the comparisions if the indiviuals are the same weight. of course a 100 pound person is going to react different then a 190 pound person That would be the case regardless of gender.

There were times when I could drink a half bottle of tequila and not even end up with a hangover. Generalizations can be made, not always certanity.

Flawebworks - You are right. Alcoholism (as with any drug addiction/dependence) affects more then just the individual, it is an issue family (and friends to a certain extent) deal with as well. Congrats on your ongoing abstinence, it's not easy.

Nicotine is actually one of the most addicting narcotics out there, makes sense that it is so hard to quit.

 

Yeah, I knew that was coming, but as you mention it runs in your family and you are an exception to the rule FWW

I keep telling these young girls for their own good to simply be aware of the reports out there and act upon the available information.

What Wendy mentioned about the enzymes is very newly discovered information that a Doctor was on TV discussing the other day on the National News, there is a lot that they do not understand yet.

 

Did I mention I just took a class in addictive and compulsive behaviors? Doesn't make me an expert my ANY means, just that I have a spiffy textbook I can look stuff up in, plus a million articles that i'm using for my paper. No one agrees 100% on any of this, but they are slowly coming to a consensus on the issues. (They being the scientific community)

 

Well Wendy, if you can become a researcher/expert in this area that is hard to understand, you can build a network of health related websites and do quite well.

It is a matter of providing the right mix of information and news, no doubt a giant market since most everyone suffers from these problems

 

Well; biologically I don't know. I was adopted when I was but a few days old. Though I've heard stories about my biologicals; I don't really know.