[trwired]

I used to be a heavy smoker, at the height of my habit I could smoke 2+ packs a day. It was bad. When I finally decided to quit, I went cold turkey. For a week or two I had strong but manageable cravings, however they started to fade away and eventually the smell of cigarette smoke started being really unpleasant. Years on and I feel no pull towards tobacco and the idea of smoking it is repulsive to me now.

This is of course anecdotal evidence, but you (you, a smoker reading this thinking about quitting) are not doomed to suffer cravings forever nor are predestined to fail, like the Mark Twain quote could make you believe. Perhaps there are people, who find it really difficult to quit, but it is also possible to completely move on. Just don't fixate on how hard it is and simply do it.

[owlninja]

I for sure appreciate your points, but my anecdotal experience is I smoked for ~15 years and I really didn't want to quit. Eventually I got a family going and realized I needed to consider it and, boom, I tried a Juul - it replaced them 1:1. I am in the same boat in that cigarettes are repulsive to me now but this ruling would be like taking away my ability to buy a pack of Marlboro lights, suddenly overnight, back when I smoked. It is just frustrating that they want to suddenly take this product down from a convenience store, but the wall of actual cigarettes next to it seems to be ok?

[easygenes]

Yeah, seems to be a sign that the old guard tobacco lobby has their talons sunk in a good deal deeper than the newcomer vaping lobby.

[easygenes]

I'm not/haven't been a smoker, but appreciate the anecdotal reassurance that the urge to smoke doesn't have to be something that lingers with people who quit.

I think you see similar things with alcohol addiction. As I understand, AlAnon has the philosophy that people are lifetime alcoholics, even if they haven't drank in years. Perhaps that is true for some, but the tendency to sensationalize that into a universal truism seems like it does more harm than good.

That said, negative habits and motivation are odd things. In support of those on the other end of the spectrum, where being told "You can just do it, use your grit and resolve and don't dwell," can lead to feelings of inadequacy and failure when it isn't so easy for them, well there's no one right path to growth and change. Just don't lose hope and keep looking for what works for you.

[RulerOf]

>I'm not/haven't been a smoker, but appreciate the anecdotal reassurance that the urge to smoke doesn't have to be something that lingers with people who quit.

Everyone is different. Some former smokers get to the point where they practically hate cigarette smoke.

For me, it's been five years since I quit. I still love it. If I'm in close proximity with the stuff, I get "satisfied" very quickly and the appeal wears off for hours or days. I'll have very weak cravings. None of those cravings are great enough that I have ever felt it's worth crossing that line. As much as I miss smoking — and I absolutely loved smoking — I prefer not being a smoker.

[wyre]

> AlAnon has the philosophy that people are lifetime alcoholics, even if they haven't drank in years

Yes, because addiction and addictive tendencies don't magically go away with sobriety.

It's easy to justify 'one time won't hurt' that becomes a slippery slope back to old habits. I've quit smoking several times now, but it wasn't until this last time that I realized that I absolutely cannot allow myself to smoke or vape because it will put me back on the path of addiction. My personal experience with porn and cannabis addiction behaves the same way.

I'm very fortunate I was able to quit drinking and now 3 years later I can have a healthy relationship with alcohol, but I've had multiple friends in the past where one drink during sobriety will turn into spending nights at the bar.