taint.org: Justin Mason’s Weblog

I gave up smoking last year on May 26 — that anniversary isn’t too far away. Here’s how much money I’ve saved, courtesy of QuitMeter.com:

QuitMeter Counter courtesy of www.quitmeter.com.

Wow — I could buy myself another iPod! ;)

Tags: addiction, health, life, quitting, smoking

Meta: My apologies if you wound up running into me online at some stage this week — I’ve been in a lousy mood.

I gave up smoking cigarettes at the end of May, and switched to patches. That went pretty well, dropping from 21mg patches, to 14mg, to 7mg. But this week I finally hit the end of the line, stopped applying a patch every morning, and became fully nicotine-free. Only, ouch — it’s not quite as easy as I thought!

Cigarette addiction is (apparently) composed of two conceptual lumps – the physical addiction to nicotine, and the mental addiction to the ‘idea’ of smoking. Through the patches, I’ve successfully nailed the mental addiction, but I’m now facing the physical withdrawal. I’m sweating, dizzy, can’t focus my eyes, can’t concentrate, my skin is going crazy, and I’m INCREDIBLY grouchy. It’s amazing how much havoc the act of withholding nicotine can cause, especially when you consider that it’s not a required nutrient for the human body — it’s an ‘optional extra’ that I never should have gone near in the first place.

Wierdly, though, I don’t want a cigarette. Instead, I want a patch ;)

Tags: addiction, cigarettes, meta, smoking

Life: seeing as yesterday was World No Tobacco Day, it’s worth noting that I gave up smoking last Thursday.

This is the first time I’ve taken the step of quitting with any seriousness. I’ve been smoking since I was 18 or 19, without any real attempts to quit before now. It was a gradual process, but imagining a smoker’s future, with the diseases and reduced life expectancy it involves, makes it quite sensible in the end. So far, it’s going pretty well — lots of occasional pangs, but nothing I can’t say no to… especially with the aid of Liquorice Altoids. wish me luck!

Tags: day, life, process, seriousness, smoking, step, thursday, time, tobacco, world, yesterday

Funny: Getting Even With Nicorettes (NYTimes): a very funny article about giving up smoking by taking up a full-time nicotine gum habit.

‘I’ll be at a party,’ he said, ‘and someone will say, `Oh, is that Nicorette?’ and I’ll say, `Yes, do you want some?’ They’ll say, `Oh, I don’t smoke,’ and I’ll say, `Try it anyway.’ There’s this excitement and curiosity, and then on about the fourth chew, this look comes over their face that says, `Oh God, why are you giving me lead?’

‘It’s like prank gum. It’s like going to kiss your grandmother and finding her tongue in your mouth.’

Tags: article, funny, gum, habit, nicorette, nicorettes, nicotine, nytimes, party, smoking, someone

and now, on a lighter note, The Observer reports that the ‘cannabis economy’ in the UK is worth 11 billion UKP a year:

A major new study is being used to advise well known household and high-street companies about the gains and losses they face as cannabis smoking becomes commonplace. Research has revealed that Britain’s ‘cannabis economy’ is worth 5 billion a year in sales alone. Now it has been discovered that a further 6bn of consumer expenditure each year is closely linked to the growing cannabis-users’ market.

‘Young people between 15 and 30 are very trend-conscious and aspirational,’ said Andy Davidson, who commissioned the study for The Research Business International, trend analysts who tracked the spending habits of young people for six months.The study found that cannabis users spend an average of UKP 20 on products that accompany their drug use each time they smoke.

Because smoking cannabis heightens appetite, users are providing a UKP 120 million weekly windfall to a string of takeaway food suppliers, such as Domino and Pizza Hut, and manufacturers of ‘munchie’ products such as Mars bars and Haribo jellies.

Tags: economy, household, note, observer, research, smoking, study, the, ukp, year