NZFF

I am so sick of hearing about the price increase of cigarettes .... and a smoke free NZ by 20 whatever.

I smoke , I enjoy smoking ... i dont smoke inside , or in my car , and I respect the feelings of those who dont smoke .... but , PLEASE DONT push your nanny state politics on me.

Dont tell me where I can, and where i cant smoke , when there is little or no restriction on alcohol consumption .

Dont tell me about the burden i place on the health system .... the tax i pay on each packet has covered my ( if any) health care needs 3 times over ... more than likely Ive paid for yours as well.
This is a huge double standard ... why dont we see pictures of road crash victims , beaten and dead children , broken marriages , on all booze bottles ?

This is PC BS at its best ... but it gets better ... the things that could help smokers quit (should they so choose) ...the "e" ciggis , have been made illegal , but someone addicted to heroin can get their legal fix at the local chemist for free (but we have all paid for it)

As Im sure I have said before , on this subject .... i would far rather see a person having a smoke (in right place of course ) than some 3/4 pissed waster throwing up and being a complete pratt... and maybe even ending up killing someone..... but anyway , just my nicotine fueled ramblings .

You are right in that alcohol abuse is in a different league -- when I was a teenager I was acutely aware that people -- mainly guys -- lost any sense of right and wrong after a few drinks, and did some pretty stupid things which put others at risk. These guys grew up to hurt their wives and kids, and things haven't really improved much, talking to my own kids. At least smoking doesn't make people abuse their friends and family. But whenever I have any medical checkup, I'm always very much aware of my 'ex-smoker' status -- it's always there on the form -- and I do wonder how much damage I actually did to myself 30 years ago, when I smoked a pack a day.

When I was diagnosed with my heart, I was having real trouble breathing, so I'd hate to wake up one day with some incurable lung disease caused by something which I've done despite knowing how stupid it is.

Plus, of course, I couldn't afford it these days -- at $25 a packet x 7 days = $175, x 52 weeks = $9,100, x 30 years = $273,000. Wow, there goes my retirement yacht!

Don't worry Marty .. back in my day , pack of fags was a $1.54 ... I quit back then .

toprob wrote:You are right in that alcohol abuse is in a different league -- when I was a teenager I was acutely aware that people -- mainly guys -- lost any sense of right and wrong after a few drinks,

Nothing wrong with a few drinks, its when get the idiot kiddies with the plan simply to go out and in their own words go out .. "Get Waisted"

My ex father in law was quite partial to the ciggies. It was all part of the dutch culture that he brought with him to NZ when he emigrated.
We watched him die slowly from emphysema. It was horrific. For the last 2 years he lived with an oxygen bottle.
He dreaded going to bed at night as he would awake fighting for breath. Terrified, he would end up bathed in sweat and occasionally the bed sheets were torn as he thrashed around fighting for the smallest breath.
He was literally like a fish out of water.
Amazingly my ex wife still smokes heavily having witnessed all this.....and the rattly cough has started.

Give me drink any day......in moderation.

Yesterday I had my annual 'warrant of fitness' -- an echocardiogram. I must admit that I'm always greatly relieved when I get the all-clear for another year, so I celebrated with a beer... Very nice it was, too.

I'm fully aware that my heart is always at risk, and that whereas it would be nice to go quietly, in my sleep, I suspect that it's a lot more likely that I'll suffocate. So having gone through that when my valve failed, I'd do what I can to minimise that risk.

On the other hand, giving up smoking was a real trial. I gave up when my first kid was born, winter was approaching, and I was standing outside on the verandah trying to light up. A snowflake came down and landed on the glowing tip, putting it out. I took that as a sign that it was time to give up:) But these days, without the joy of kids in the house, and post-divorce, I don't think I'd have the willpower. Giving up is a young man's game.

I have a perfectly good " Warren to Fitness" ... ever since some bar-stool took me out on me single pax two wheeled sweat wheel ... good thing tho is my real creative side has popped out ... Marty in a way ... 'Excuse while i light up' think that is what has happened, going to serve the lessor Wright , when the weather is S.H.I.T i'm nice and cozy in my custom office working on my next project in my cozy little art studio

Well, I started smoking when I was 8, and stopped when I was 48, by which time I was smoking Camel Plain. In 1957 cigarette vending machines had just started to appear; they were mounted high on the wall, and the coin slot was at the the top RH corner, so that only adults could buy fags. They never reckoned on a boy on a pushbike, who could easily reach the slot, and also make a quick getaway if the shopman realised what was going on.
My Dad used to give me a 2 shilling piece for getting a good school report, and a packet of 10 Senior Service cost one-and-tenpence-ha'penny
These days I do not run for buses or trains, because at my age that is very undignified. It also hides the fact that I am very short of puff...

The old boy on the bike trick aye .... hey Marty, do what one lady said couple days back on the news , she will start growing her own tabacco , grow enough so she will also start selling it

Fags....

...and my story.... ....!

When I was going to village school in Herefordshire, (after evacuating there during the Blitz of London), in the early 1940's, I used to collect my Dad's half smoked Player's Weights and Woodbine cigarettes, place them on a tin ready to smoke together with my young school mates, 'cos we thought it was the "grown-up" thing to do!
As I grew older it was "normal" to buy and smoke cigarettes....'cos everyone else did it!

The main difference with me, was that I never got addicted to cigarettes.

I just got into the ritual of getting one out of the packet, lighting it up, having a puff on it without breathing the smoke in, and then let in burn out on the ash tray!
It really was just a ritual, and a total waste of money!

By 1990 I got so fed-up with the stench of cigarette smoke in my motor car, and my house, and it affecting my children, and the yellow stains on my curtains, walls, ceiling, lamp shades, etc, and the gasps from visitors entering my house, that in an instant, in 1990, I made the decision NEVER to smoke again...
..which I never ever did again!

So, after re-decorating my house with nice new paint, and washing all the walls and furnishings, my whole house smells nice now, so visitors and my family no longer have to hold their noses when entering my house!
They are just greeted with the smell of my lovely meals!
...and every thing now tastes so much better!

So, there you go chums, after many years of "smoking" cigarettes, I never got addicted to it, so I was able to give it up in an instant, overnight...
..I am also quite good at; "giving things up" which I think/know are no good for me!

"Sex" was particularly easy to give up...following the release from my two previous wives, some 40-odd years ago!.... ...!

My yearly check-up with the Practice Nurse always shows everything as being perfect..weight, blood pressure, etc...
...even the Nurse's white smock and fishnet tights no longer instil lust in my breast, ....(and other places)... ...!

Paul....now in a permanent Smoke-free Zone...and its nice!.... ...!

The Rothmans Pitts special aerobatic ... Smoke on ... Smoke off ... I wonder what killed the Malboro men

Thanks for the comments gents (all valid) .... had a bad day yesterday , so i lashed out at the first thing that pissed me off.
I should know better , with my health record , and i am trying.

As you already knew, there are a lot of people with strong opinions on the subject -- one of the busiest discussions here for a few days. Amazing yarn from Fozzer, as well, it's great we can still laugh at it all... He reminds me of me, in twenty years! Only funnier...

I do like Rob's story of the snowflake being a sign.
I had a similar one at about 13 or 14. I had my first puff with a mate who had nicked a couple of smokes off his folks. We were resting on our pushbikes on one of those very chilly mornings.
After only drawing in a couple of puffs (well sort of) a large droplet of water fell from an overhead power line and hit the tip extinguishing it. I was actually quite relieved as I did not enjoy those few puffs and have never had another cigarette to this day. I did have a period of smoking the odd cigar when out for dinner but that phase did not last long...my throat was always a mess the next morning.