953 nut 59,737 #1 Posted May 31 Each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) holds World No Tobacco Day on May 31. Their goal is to spread awareness about the risks of tobacco use and how we can make the world tobacco free. Roughly 6 million people die from tobacco-related ailments every year. And that number is projected to rise to over 8 million by 2030. But this is by no means a guarantee. The Sustainable Development Agenda aims to reduce deaths from noninfectious diseases by a third. Diseases linked to tobacco are on the list, so if we hit the target, 2030 will be a year to celebrate (oh yea!)—not only for our health, but the size of our wallets. Your average smoker drops around $4,000 on cigarettes annually. Imagine all of the other cool holidays you could enjoy with that money (we have a few suggestions, just saying). So let’s use World No Tobacco Day as a launching pad to a brighter and less smoky future! 7 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
c-series don 9,966 #2 Posted May 31 I smoked from an age so young that I don’t want to admit. After several attempts I finally quit for good around 20 years ago. One of the best things I’ve done! I started to feel better within a month or two. Plus now I can’t fathom spending that kind of money on cigarettes. Most of the time when I smell cigarette smoke it’s repulsive, however maybe once or twice a year I’ll smell it and think “Damn, that smells good!” Makes me want a cigarette with a fresh cup of coffee or an ice cold Budweiser! That urge quickly goes away when I think about how much better I feel not smoking. 8 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 41,775 #3 Posted May 31 41 minutes ago, c-series don said: I smoked from an age so young Same here, but I quit around 50 years ago. 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 7,236 #4 Posted May 31 I quit around 40 years ago after smoking for around 8 years. I felt better soon after as well. I can't stand the smell any more, I can even tell if someone is smoking in a car ahead of me driving down the road. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeM 8,280 #5 Posted May 31 I quit chew and snuff 23 ago. It was real hard, I would go past a store and start checking my pockets to make sure I was not out. It had me. Went to the Dr a couple months later, they checked my BP and it was much lower. The Dr. ask me what changed.....only thing I said was not chewing. In all honesty, I never touched the stuff again but I could start right back up if I did. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 51,690 #6 Posted May 31 1 hour ago, 953 nut said: all of the other cool tractors you could enjoy with that money... There fixed that ... If it wasn't for cigarettes during WW II you could be speaking German or Japanese. I do need to quit but since the doctor took away my alcohol, sex & fried foods not to mention the missus curbing my tractor buying habit it's the only vice I have left. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 28,311 #7 Posted May 31 16 minutes ago, WHX?? said: only vice I have left. Well... other than your choice of friends and acquaintances... 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wayne0 1,163 #8 Posted May 31 58 minutes ago, cleat said: I quit around 40 years ago after smoking for around 8 years. I felt better soon after as well. I can't stand the smell any more, I can even tell if someone is smoking in a car ahead of me driving down the road. Me too. 3 packs a day, however most would burn up hanging from my lips while I worked. Still not good. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan 312-8 93 #9 Posted May 31 This coming Monday, June 2nd, it will be 35 years since I quit smoking. 2 packs a day to nothing. It wasn't easy. Was definitely an addiction. Only one (addiction) left is Wheel Horses... 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 41,775 #10 Posted May 31 1 hour ago, WHX?? said: If it wasn't for cigarettes during WW II you could be speaking German or Japanese. I hear that Jim. Thank you for all you did. Man I hope my Great Grandkids aren't speaking Mandarin or Farsi because they don't smoke. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lane Ranger 11,390 #11 Posted May 31 When you see a family member with COPD on oxygen 24 hours a day, who can really get out in the world for five years you begin to see the damage smoking does to some bodies! Irreversible damage. My dad smoked three packs of Pall masks a day for 70 years - never had a problem. My brother smoked for forty and now has been on oxygen for 5 years . my relatives raised tobacco , made good $$ on their tobacco allotment . It helped them to live in the 1940s and 50s but they never smoked! It was never a thing i thought about doing even though i tried cigarettes several times. More power to those with the genes that can survive with it but i pity those that can’t! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wayne0 1,163 #12 Posted May 31 There was an old guy that lived across the street from me when I was growing up. He would sit in a lawn chair in his driveway all day chain smoking Camel straights. Told me he started at age 12. Lived to be over 90. Died of old age, not the cigs. ?????????????????? 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wallfish 18,053 #13 Posted May 31 Unfortunately never quit. I've been smoking about a pack a day since 12 years old and for almost 50 years now. We would go hide outside choking on Lucky Strikes we stole from the grand parents. I was about 7 and had 2 older brothers so I had to be "cool" too. Back then, more people smoked that didn't so to a young kid's mind it didn't seem like that big of a deal. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 23,120 #14 Posted May 31 59 minutes ago, wallfish said: Unfortunately never quit. I've been smoking about a pack a day since 12 years old and for almost 50 years now. We would go hide outside choking on Lucky Strikes we stole from the grand parents. I was about 7 and had 2 older brothers so I had to be "cool" too. Back then, more people smoked that didn't so to a young kid's mind it didn't seem like that big of a deal. Never too late to quit John! Do it….. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 41,775 #15 Posted May 31 2 hours ago, Wayne0 said: There was an old guy that lived across the street from me when I was growing up. He would sit in a lawn chair in his driveway all day chain smoking Camel straights. Told me he started at age 12. Lived to be over 90. Died of old age, not the cigs. ?????????????????? Sit in a lawn chair all day...probably died of boredom. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ranger 1,798 #16 Posted May 31 11 hours ago, Ed Kennell said: Same here, but I quit around 50 years ago. Me too, just thought one day, “I’m not getting anything out of this”. So I stopped. A couple of weeks after quitting I couldn’t believe how much better I felt, and found it so easy to decline the offers of cigarettes from friends, it seems that when someone wants to quit, everyone around you seems to want to sabotage your plans? It didn’t take long before the smell of cigarette smoke, etc, became repulsive!!! It still is. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 59,737 #17 Posted May 31 I quit for the first time in 1970, shortly after quitting I went to the farm equipment dealer and ordered a new truck. The salesman was going over the list of options and I proudly declined the cigarette lighter, before the truck was delivered I had started back smoking. About 1974 I took up Scuba diving, the air tank that most people got an hour of diving with only gave me about 30 minutes That got my attention and I quit for good. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horsin'round 232 #18 Posted May 31 1989. When they hit $1/pack, I decided they were too expensive... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marv 979 #19 Posted June 1 12 hours ago, Ed Kennell said: Same here, but I quit around 50 years ago. Ditto. 40 years for me. Marv 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beap52 1,390 #20 Posted June 1 Never smoked and glad I didn't. Both brothers smoked. Roger died 5 years ago with ALS. Two days before he died, I hefted him out of his hospital bed in the little apartment he was dying in. He wanted me to wheel chair him outside for a cigarette. He finally got it lit, attempted to take a couple of draws and threw it away. "Mom will be happy, I've smoked my last cigarette." he said. Mike, on then other hand, is a chain smoker. He really puts them away when he is at the drag strip with his car. (His daughter is the driver.) When we work at the farm, I try to do the most physical work because Mike just isn't able to. Our son came home from Iraq smoking. Unfortunately, he died 17 years ago when his finance lost control of the pickup he saved for while overseas. He never smoked in front of me. Although tobacco is a bad addiction, I'm kindly worried about drugs. Marijuana was legalized in Missouri about three years ago. One web site I looked at proclaimed 84,000,000 million dollars a tax revenue from the 6% state tax is being returned to Missourians. My wife said she was talking to a young lady who indicated the many more young collage age folks were taking to using marijuana than we would ever guess. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 51,690 #21 Posted June 1 On board ship they were 50 cents a pack in the ship's store. The second the last line was cast off and we were under way they dropped to 25 cents a pack. Something about no taxes when underway. Submarines had no ship's store so when you went out on patrol you went up on the sub tender and bought 20 cartons. Enough for a 100 day patrol if you gagged 2 packs a day. The average patrol was 70 days and you didn't want to run out. Shipmates with enough were not so kind with their pricing. One patrol we got extended and every one ran out. The butt kits (sailor slang for ashtrays) were picked clean. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sergeant 323 #22 Posted June 1 13 hours ago, JoeM said: I quit chew and snuff 23 ago. It was real hard, I would go past a store and start checking my pockets to make sure I was not out. It had me. Went to the Dr a couple months later, they checked my BP and it was much lower. The Dr. ask me what changed.....only thing I said was not chewing. In all honesty, I never touched the stuff again but I could start right back up if I did. I gave up chew and snuff 16 years ago. But I am still addicted to nicotine. I use nicotine salts, which have no tobacco in them, but they're like those old dip pouches. I was never a cigarette smoker. Furthermore, I still smoke the occasional cigar in the summer, only maybe 3 or 4 good cigars a year. Back when I was younger, it was maybe a cigar a week. I made sure they were expensive, so I would not buy a lot of cigars. But dip and chew got me off that cigar habit. But I find dip and chew, to me, are more addictive than any tobacco products. When I go to a certain JD dealer, I still bum a dip, but the good thing is my friend there gave it up 3 years ago, and now it's just ground tea leaves made to look like tobacco. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wayne0 1,163 #23 Posted June 1 15 hours ago, Ed Kennell said: Sit in a lawn chair all day...probably died of boredom. He would shoot the breeze with anyone walking by. Boy, did he have some stories! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites