Proud To Be A Smoker

I am absolutely proud to be a smoker. At least that is how I felt up until May 6, 2010. It was some glorious, something that so many people were doing, hell even in many cases it seemed like a smart thing to do. Only a few years ago I was part of the majority. There were more smokers then there were non-smokers. However, times have changed drastically. Today if you are a smoker you may as well have a contagious disease. Smoking has gone from the in thing to do to being one of the most unacceptable habits in North America.

Many of us do have to understand that smoking isn't just a habit, smoking is actually a very bad addiction. There is no doubt in my mind that a smoker can be compared to a person who is addicted to drugs. The problem comes into play that a smoker does not smoke by choice but rather because they have to. If a smoker does not smoke a certain amount of cigarettes in a certain amount of time they will start to suffer from withdrawals. Many years ago this was very easy, you could smoke practically everywhere even in hospitals, doctors offices, and the middle of the supermarket. Because it was so widely accepted smoking was the perfect drug of choice. The only time you would ever suffer a withdrawal would be because of your own silliness by forgetting to get a pack before you ran out. We all know this didn't happen very often though.

As years went on more and more rules fell into place as to where a smoker could smoke or as they say in the drug world get their fix. At first restricting smokers was something that was considered a bad thing to do. The first people who tried it were criticized very publicly and in many cases they were made to look like they were the bad ones.

Then we were introduced to secondhand smoke, and in a hurry it became something to worry about. Now it was apparent that the smokers were starting to hurt the health of people who chose not to smoke. Now the people against smoking had some real powerful information in their corner. People were starting to listen, people were starting to understand and people were starting to eliminate smoking from their lives. Slowly but surely the smokers became the minority. So many restrictions have been put in place that finding a place to smoke has become more and more difficult.

Day by day smoking is becoming more and more difficult. There was a time when you could smoke at work including anywhere at work, then there was designated smoking areas and designated smoking times. Now many companies have put a total ban on smoking anywhere on their property. This means for many smokers they have to end up going eight hours without a cigarette. To show you how strong smoking is people are actually willing to look for different jobs where they are at least allowed to still have cigarette breaks. This however does not mean that their next employer will not put in the same rules as the previous.

The question we need to ask is not even about health at the moment. Just look around and see that if you are a smoker the hassles are becoming greater and greater each day. It seems that almost anywhere you go nowadays smoking is absolutely unacceptable. So the question you do need to be asking yourself is smoking really worth the hassle? In my opinion now is the time to say I will never take another drag of a cigarette.

In this day and age its all about quitting smoking.  It really isnt your choice anymore. 

I know smoking is a nasty addiction and habit.  However as a 2 pack a day smoker, and a 30 year smoker who has quit I think I have room to put in my two bits.

I say that you need to quit and you need to do it now.  Go ahead and use anything that will help.  Feel free to use the gum, patch or even a book such as The Quit Smoking Book

Also head over to my blog to follow my path of being a non smoker.  See the Blog Here