I Do Not Smoke
I do not smoke and haven't done since January 1999 when I decided to quit as a New Years resolution. I had tried to quit a few times before that, unsuccessfully. On those occasions I had stopped smoking for a week or two, convinced myself that I could quit if I [i]really[/i] wanted to, then started again. The real problem, of course, was that my addiction was too strong.
Smoking grabbed my attention at a fairly young age, mainly due to the fact many of my friends at the time smoked, and it seemed like a social thing to do so I was gradually drawn into the habit. You could still smoke in many offices and workplaces in the UK back then, and cigarettes and tobacco were still widely advertised in the media. Apart from the compulsory government health warnings that appeared on all tobacco products, there was relatively little discouragement.
As time went on, smoking received more and more negative media attention. Various forms of advertising were gradually outlawed, the health risks were emphasised to a greater extent in the media, the government placed high escalating taxes on tobacco products, and smoking became banned in an ever increasing number of places. Nowadays smoking is banned in all public indoor places (in the UK) and is considered taboo by many. I'm very glad I managed to give up when I did, not only for health reasons, which was my original prime motivator, but because it is now a ridiculously expensive habit and a difficult time to be a smoker. It is just no longer acceptable in the majority of UK society.
Giving up smoking was, for me, an extremely difficult thing to do. I think the only reason I managed to quit the last time I tried was that I used nicotine patches to help curb the cravings. The cravings gradually reduced but I remember still having occasional cravings for a few years afterwards. I also remember feeling annoyed at the time that using the nicotine patches to help me quit cost more money than the potential cost of the cigarettes I would otherwise have smoked. For some time now, aids to quit smoking, such as these patches, have been available free through our National Health Service.
My advice to anyone wanting to quit smoking is to do it sooner rather than later as the addiction seems to grow stronger over time making it ever harder to quit.
Smoking grabbed my attention at a fairly young age, mainly due to the fact many of my friends at the time smoked, and it seemed like a social thing to do so I was gradually drawn into the habit. You could still smoke in many offices and workplaces in the UK back then, and cigarettes and tobacco were still widely advertised in the media. Apart from the compulsory government health warnings that appeared on all tobacco products, there was relatively little discouragement.
As time went on, smoking received more and more negative media attention. Various forms of advertising were gradually outlawed, the health risks were emphasised to a greater extent in the media, the government placed high escalating taxes on tobacco products, and smoking became banned in an ever increasing number of places. Nowadays smoking is banned in all public indoor places (in the UK) and is considered taboo by many. I'm very glad I managed to give up when I did, not only for health reasons, which was my original prime motivator, but because it is now a ridiculously expensive habit and a difficult time to be a smoker. It is just no longer acceptable in the majority of UK society.
Giving up smoking was, for me, an extremely difficult thing to do. I think the only reason I managed to quit the last time I tried was that I used nicotine patches to help curb the cravings. The cravings gradually reduced but I remember still having occasional cravings for a few years afterwards. I also remember feeling annoyed at the time that using the nicotine patches to help me quit cost more money than the potential cost of the cigarettes I would otherwise have smoked. For some time now, aids to quit smoking, such as these patches, have been available free through our National Health Service.
My advice to anyone wanting to quit smoking is to do it sooner rather than later as the addiction seems to grow stronger over time making it ever harder to quit.
