The cost of bad habits

[Lowspeid]

I started when I was 16, and smoked until the day I almost died when I inhaled some toxic chemical fumes while on duty at my base (USCG isn’t as safe as it’s portrayed in the movies, even for the grunts). When I graduated basic training in 1998 I walked into the PX and bought a carton of Marlboro lights for $10.00. I walked into a Walmart last week and saw the price of a carton of Marlboro lights: $77.00!!! I’m kinda glad I developed long-lasting respiratory issues from that chemical exposure because it eliminated smoking as an option.

 

[Lowspeid]

A guy I used to play beer league hockey with used to chew during games. One time he and another dude accidently ran into each other on the ice and he swallowed his chew. I've never seen anybody puke that hard in my life.

Been there. My older brother made sure I never chewed again. Oddly enough he never quit even though he’s had to have two oral surgeries to remove pre-cancer growths.

 

[P Thought]

I must have failed in 25 or 30 attempts, but I finally put them down for good 25 years ago.

 

[ReverendRevolver]

I quit successfully in like 2010. At that time, a pack of Lucky Strikes cost like $7. (I'd smoke camel filters in a pinch, only 2 places in town sold Luckys).

I will say I miss smoking cigars, but no way do I miss the cigarettes. It'd be cost prohibitive to smoke ones that tasted good, and I blew through the camel filters twice as fast back then.

I've been about 3 weeks now without drinking soft drinks. I need to find a non-coffee caffeine source, and tea puts me to sleep. Changing nothing else, the lack of high fructose corn syrup has helped me feel less sluggish. Way less impactful than after I quit smoking, but anytime it's a noticeable difference it's a victory.

 

[RoscoeElegante]

I quit about 40 years ago. Smoked for only two years. But Lordy, what a hook. I went from Marlboro Lights to Marlboros to pulling the filters off Marlboros to unfiltered Lucky Strikes (back when you could still get the high-quality real dealios) and, sometimes, unfiltered Pall Malls. About a pack and a half a day.

Got down to two (miserably too few!) cigarettes a day, then caught a virus that put me into a several-days-long coma. When I came out of it, I knew that this was my chance to never smoke again.

It's been a struggle. About every 15 minutes ever since I quit, I CRAVE a cigarette. A real one--an unfiltered one. About 10 times a day, I'm watching my kids do something beautiful, or I'm talking with someone very interesting, or I'm listening to great music--and I can think about nothing but smoking.

Nicotine has a huge hook in my whole family. It killed my dad, it's killing my sister, it killed a cousin. Only my brother and maternal grandmother never smoked. Everyone else either smokes or has to work hard, daily, to keep from smoking again.

That dumb crap "Just say no"? It's good advice. You might find that just a few little tries of some type of forbidden fruit puts you on a hook that's also a noose.

Just sayin'.....

 

[Toto'sDad]

I chewed tobacco til I was 25. Never really smoked cigarettes. Habits are rough to break. good luck to those with those habits!

A friend of mine is extremely proud he quit smoking and now chews/dips whatever they call it now, Copenhagen. I can't tell you how pleased I am when he shows up with that bottle of foul-smelling brown spit, he carries around with him wherever he goes.

 

[getbent]

A guy I used to play beer league hockey with used to chew during games. One time he and another dude accidently ran into each other on the ice and he swallowed his chew. I've never seen anybody puke that hard in my life.

playing legion ball... guy on third. Guy hits a flair over my head at short... I go racing after it... at the last second... I dive and catch the ball. as I land.. awkwardly, my chaw goes down my throat, I know the guy is gonna tag and go at third... I wheel and throw the ball home.. I cough up my chaw and barf all in one motion... the ball takes a hop, our catch snags it and tags the guy...

I'm miserable and feel like I'm gonna pass out.... the coach and my teammates are wetting their pants laughing....

 

[WRHB]

My dad smoked 4 packs a day his entire adult life. He was always broke.

 

[effzee]

Well yeah, there's a lot of worry about what someone else spends on cigarettes.
The old joke about how much someone spends on cigarettes per day multiplied by months and years, etc. and it could have bought a Ferrari, except the questioner who doesn't have a Ferrari either.

I was just shocked by the raw numbers, that's all. I'm not judging or "worried" about anything.

Ok, I made the joke about his being a drummer but that was low hanging fruit.

 

[effzee]

Here are the latest cigarette prices in Australia:

• a packet of 20 cigarettes costs AUD$40.00
• a packet of 25 cigarettes costs AUD$43.48
• a packet of 30 cigarettes costs AUD$49.11
• a packet of 35 cigarettes costs AUD$55.95
• a packet of 40 cigarettes costs AUD$68.63
• a packet of 50 cigarettes costs AUD$77.95

many people can't afford to smoke down here.... big taxes on tobacco products to encourage people to quit...

You're going to make us google, aren't you.

I remember an interview with the German minister of health talking about phasing in high tax increases over a five year period. She said they were doing it that way because they didn't want to shock anyone. And I thought, shock them into doing what? Quitting smoking?

Ok I googled. Multiply by 0.62 for Euros.

40 x 0.62 = ya gotta be kidding me!

 

[effzee]

I started when I was 16, and smoked until the day I almost died when I inhaled some toxic chemical fumes in my base (USCG isn’t as safe as it’s portrayed in the movies, even for the grunts). When I graduated basic training in 1998 I walked into the PX and bought a carton of Marlboro lights for $10.00. I walked into a Walmart last and saw the price of a carton of Marlboro lights: $77.00!!! I’m kinda glad I developed long-lasting respiratory issues from that chemical exposure because it eliminated smoking as an option.

When I was in the Army a pack cost like 25c. Not because I was in WW2. It was the early 80s during Reagan. We had lots of benefits in those days including tax and duty free cigs and booze. We used to buy the gallon jug of Jim Beam for like 6 bucks.

Then Bush took over and killed all that nice stuff.

I stayed at a hotel in Germany over the weekends and paid with two cartons of Pall Malls. It was in my girlfriend's town (who is now my wife).

 

[effzee]

Seems like Germany has some catching up to do with the prices of these things. I'm gobsmacked by the numbers I'm seeing posted here, wow!

 

[Fretting out]

The problem with higher taxation on tobacco is sadly that people will prioritize their addiction over necessities

I’m a smoker and my father always used to tell me “if you didn’t smoke you’d have X amount of money”

Then one day it hit him, “I don’t smoke and I don’t have that money!”

It just goes other places, of course there’s other better things to spend on

 

[effzee]

The problem with higher taxation on tobacco is sadly that people will prioritize their addiction over necessities

It's almost like that's the plan. We can probably chuck state lotteries into the same pot.

 

[Tricone]

On 02/26/2023 a friend of mine since kindergarten passed away from lung and liver cancer. We hadnt kept in touch, just ran into each other every few years.He started smoking cigarettes and drinking beer in sixth grade and never quit.

He was diagnosed with lung and liver cancer.Didn't last six months. Deceased at 51 years old. God bless his soul. May he rest in peace. Left two daughters, a son, and two grandchildren too early. The price of bad habits often leads to a price far beyond money.

Take care of yourselves out there. Make healthy choices.

 

[Tarkus60]

I stopped and bought a Harley Davidson with my cigarette money. I had a very rough time stopping, but I made it.

 

[Solaris moon]

Had a neighbor friend growing up. We were your average suburban lower middle class kids. We tried things at the same time - first cigars, then cigarettes, then drinking - hanging out w Colt 45 “Q Balls” in the local park. Then came weed (we were about 14 at the time) again at the park w booze. We were “burnouts” that summer blasting tunes and getting high and just hanging out. School started that fall and didn’t see each other as much and I got back to work - maybe a beer or two on the weekends. My friend started hanging with the “dope” crowd and every time I saw him he was high at school - all day. Mescaline, acid, coke. He totally transformed. Telling his parents to f*** off right in front his friends and so forth. I ran into him about 5 years later all disheveled. It took him 30 seconds of looking at my face for him to recognize me. He wasn’t really drunk just spaced out. His parents died eventually and he is at that house to this day and is often seen walking along the road aimlessly. Bizarre how life unfolds sometimes.

Yeah I started smoking when I was 9 years old. We thought it was cool. Now everyone knows what a bad habit is - nothing else! Now they want to legalize pot in the USA which is no better with the horrible stench that it leaves behind and the chemical crap that's in it with tar - nine times more than tobacco and arsenic and nicotine and cyanide that simply poisons your body. And I won't go into all the side effects of it but that too will be another demon that people will have to fight! It's big tobacco all over again..........

I quit about 40 years ago. Smoked for only two years. But Lordy, what a hook. I went from Marlboro Lights to Marlboros to pulling the filters off Marlboros to unfiltered Lucky Strikes (back when you could still get the high-quality real dealios) and, sometimes, unfiltered Pall Malls. About a pack and a half a day.

Got down to two (miserably too few!) cigarettes a day, then caught a virus that put me into a several-days-long coma. When I came out of it, I knew that this was my chance to never smoke again.

It's been a struggle. About every 15 minutes ever since I quit, I CRAVE a cigarette. A real one--an unfiltered one. About 10 times a day, I'm watching my kids do something beautiful, or I'm talking with someone very interesting, or I'm listening to great music--and I can think about nothing but smoking.

Nicotine has a huge hook in my whole family. It killed my dad, it's killing my sister, it killed a cousin. Only my brother and maternal grandmother never smoked. Everyone else either smokes or has to work hard, daily, to keep from smoking again.

That dumb crap "Just say no"? It's good advice. You might find that just a few little tries of some type of forbidden fruit puts you on a hook that's also a noose.

Just sayin'.....

It also killed my grandfather, and grandmother and she never smoked a day in her life but died from second hand smoke any way. Then it killed my uncle - he died last month of esophageal cancer that spread into his throat and lungs. I smoked until about twenty years ago and started and quit several times. I'm glad that I did when I turned 42. I just found out late last month that it also killed one of my dearest friends and she had been dead for almost three months. And although I haven't talked to her in years I still thought of her from time to time. I was just recently thinking about dropping a line to her but I found out through fakcebook that she's dead. She was only 53 years old. She died right before Thanksgiving Day. That really crushes me and I just can't get over it.

When I was in the Army a pack cost like 25c. Not because I was in WW2. It was the early 80s during Reagan. We had lots of benefits in those days including tax and duty free cigs and booze. We used to buy the gallon jug of Jim Beam for like 6 bucks.

Then Bush took over and killed all that nice stuff.

I stayed at a hotel in Germany over the weekends and paid with two cartons of Pall Malls. It was in my girlfriend's town (who is now my wife).

"all that nice stuff"? Since when is tobacco "nice"?!?! You know all those "tax free perks" were compliments of the tax PAYERS like me - right?

 

[stormsedge]

I'll admit sometimes justifying GAS purchases with "well, that would have been a month's $$s were I still drinking...so okay." The end result is probably a hundred years of happy hours hanging on my walls and setting on my floors...but who wants to do the math?

 

[blue metalflake]

No idea of the cost of smoking now, but I remember well as a kid, hearing my parents complaining about being short of money.
At the same time, between them, they went through around a 100 a day. It was hard to equate the two things, but I didn’t have the nerve to speak out on the matter!
Little wonder they both died of smoking related diseases.

 

[brookdalebill]

No idea of the cost of smoking now, but I remember well as a kid, hearing my parents complaining about being short of money.
At the same time, between them, they went through around a 100 a day. It was hard to equate the two things, but I didn’t have the nerve to speak out on the matter!
Little wonder they both died of smoking related diseases.

The damn things (Marlboros) took the love of my life, 32 years ago, on Sept 14, 1991.
My wife, Cindy.
She died of lung cancer 8 days after her 44th birthday.