The best thing I ever did for myself

dreadnut

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Almost 22 years ago I quit smoking. Here's some perspective:

1.5 packs a day X 22 years = 12,450 packs of cigarettes I HAVENT smoked.

That equals 240,900 cigarettes I HAVEN"T smoked.

12,450 packs of butts at an average of $4.50/pack = over $54,000 I HAVEN'T spent on cigarettes.

I think I have sufficient evidence to convince Mrs. Dread that I need to reward myself with a deluxe new guitar!

Actually, my reward is that I am still alive and playing and singing.
 

Rayk

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Amen brother .😊😁
Now what is this deluxe new guitar going to be Hmmm ?
 

dreadnut

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Let's see...my bucket list includes a DV-73, an F-312, and a vintage SFII.
 

richardp69

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Yup, when they got over $3 a pack and being the cheap guy I am I quit. Sadly, it wasn't so much about my health at the time (it is now though) it was all about the cash.
 

dreadnut

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Yeah, Richard, they were about $2/pack when I quit.

I was a busboy in a restaurant back in high school, I would run next door to the gas station and buy 4 packs of 'Boros and get change back from a buck.

Then when I was on the USS Ranger, they were $1.10 per carton. (No US taxes at sea.)
 

HeyMikey

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.... Actually, my reward is that I am still alive and playing and singing.

As someone who lost both parents in their 60’s to cigarettes I can tell you that in the end this is all that matters. Bravo to you for having the strength to overcome the addiction!!! Looking forward the NGD. You deserve it.
 

Minnesota Flats

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35¢/pack when I quit.

Don't miss it.

Aren't too many other things I'd be less likely to do now than light one up.
 

Rich Cohen

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I smoked from my undergrad days (1965) until 1984 when I came down with a really bad dose of pneumonia. I coughed every 30 seconds for ten days. Couldn't have smoked even if I wanted to, and I didn't crave it. So, after ten days of coughing, fevers and almost no sleep, I "woke up" and realized I had basically overcome the craving for nicotene, so I never went back. Thank God!
 

Nuuska

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I quit smoking about 55 years ago - almost right after I started - I still send big thanks to that elementary school doctor, who did not tell my parents or teachers - those days there were consequences - none of them thrilling. He managed to pull right string and I quit immediately. Best part was, that all my friends who had started about same time and still kept smoking were utmost supportive and defending me when others were pushing cigarettes.

Now to calculation - 55x365x7,6€ = over 150 grand € - money well spent on other things.

EDIT - 7,6€ is what a pack costs today - but it has allways been about that expensive when you consider inflation.
 
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walrus

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Congratulations, dread! Although I may have puffed some illegal stuff (at the time!) in college, I never once smoked a cigarette...

walrus
 

dapmdave

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I gave 'em up at $1.00 a pack. That was about 33 years ago. It wasn't easy but it was much harder to quit biting my fingernails. With fingernails there's always a pack on hand.
 

Guildedagain

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Smoked the last one the day I turned 30, I quit everything to be around for my kids and I just turned 59 yesterday, 5 grandkids from 14 to 2 so it's working so far.

Blows my mind when I go into the convenience stores to pay for gas if there's a cash discount, I go in and apply it. The smokes, generic even, $9.99 a pack or some similar insanity.

So damn expensive that the average joe can only afford a sixer and a pack of smokes at a time and has to go back to the store often to resupply, therefore contributing to climate change, unless they're walking ;)
 

Stuball48

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Congratulations to all. Grapevines was my introduction and ending as far as smoking
 

mavuser

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Congratulations, dread! Although I may have puffed some illegal stuff (at the time!) in college, I never once smoked a cigarette...

walrus

heres a little clue for u all...that stuff is legal now in Mass. where u live...time for a college reunion??

unless u meant crack or PCP. those are still illegal in Mass!
 

Quantum Strummer

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I can proudly say I've smoked (a lot) more weed than tobacco. ;) Been ages since I've touched either one, though I'll probably partake in some celebratory edibles once they become more easily available in my home state.

-Dave-
 

Guildedagain

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Tobacco is legal yet horrible stuff unless you want to kill bugs.

Cannabis has been used for millennia, the Schythians delighted in throwing it on hit rocks, it was part of the U.S. Apothecary until the Reefer Madness of the 1930's, something to do with Dupont wanting to ban hemp so his new nylon rope would sell, Hearst, La Cucaracha, "Marijuana" prohibition, that may soon be lifting?

Cannabis is analgesic - kills pain, anti emetic - relieves nausea/vomiting (chemo patients), sedative, laxative, hypotensive - lowers BP, reduces ocular pressure - Glaucoma, lessens stiffness and tremors- MS, Indica is good for weight gain in cancer patients. Externally it's good on corns, sores, varicose ulcers.

It actually tastes pretty good, peppery, used in Jamaican cooking.

And that's Cannabis Sativa folks, not the CBD stuff which is a realm unto it's own, with the terpene market hitting the roof, $300 for a 1oz bottle? Yes, it's called Trinity Pineapple Express.

Here in WA, the really really greedy state skimmed $200 billion in tax revenue the first year it was legalized, if that's what you want to call it. You're free to buy it. It's a plant that's part of the creation, been around for millions of years, but you can't actually grow it, not without paperwork, a permit, a note from the doctor, again someone needs to be paid and there are limitations and possible inspections.

Federally, it's a Class 1 substance without any redeemable medicinal value. Fentanyl only rates a Class 2.

Just a WAG, but they are about to repeal prohibition and introduce their own tax.
 
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twocorgis

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June 28, 2002 for me, after many failed attempts. I was watching a friend who was a much heavier smoker than I was dying of lung cancer, and was determined that the same thing wasn't going to happen to me. It wasn't enough to save Scotty, but it sure was the smartest thing I ever did for myself.
 

fronobulax

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To the extent that the legal status of cannabis tends to be a political issue let us remember to self-moderate.

Never smoked. Have a few friends who still do and I don't understand why. One of them has chosen to roll his own - tobacco is "purer" and his costs are seriously lower. He has several funny stories about people who assume if you are rolling your own then it is not tobacco and confronted him under that assumption.
 

dreadnut

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I can understand the knee-jerk government reactions on THC vaping products, but it is largely due to unscrupulous people buying mass quantities of counterfeit cartridges from China, then filling them with any old thing they want. Certified, tested clean vaping cartridges from legit labs are available at licensed medical marijuana dispensaries here throughout Michigan. If you don't want to get sick, don't buy cheap cartridges on the black market.

So nationally, counterfeit vape carts have been responsible for less than 50 deaths, which is 50 too many. Another argument for legalization and regulation.

But where is the outrage on cigarettes, which kill 500,000 Americans every year? That's 1,370 people every day. Why don't they make cigarettes illegal? What would happen if we lost 1,370 people each day in airline crashes?
 

twocorgis

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I can understand the knee-jerk government reactions on THC vaping products, but it is largely due to unscrupulous people buying mass quantities of counterfeit cartridges from China, then filling them with any old thing they want. Certified, tested clean vaping cartridges from legit labs are available at licensed medical marijuana dispensaries here throughout Michigan. If you don't want to get sick, don't buy cheap cartridges on the black market.

So nationally, counterfeit vape carts have been responsible for less than 50 deaths, which is 50 too many. Another argument for legalization and regulation.

But where is the outrage on cigarettes, which kill 500,000 Americans every year? That's 1,370 people every day. Why don't they make cigarettes illegal? What would happen if we lost 1,370 people each day in airline crashes?

I've been saying this ever since the vaping hysteria started. 100% agree, Marc!
 
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