this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Well what's wrong with nicotine? In itself it's not worse than booze. It's all the other crap they add that makes it so terrible

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Hi from the depths of a nicotine addiction and struggling to quit. Its a worthless chemical that gets more expensive everyday and my brain SCREAMS at me for a fix if I try to go more than even a few hours. At least heroin gets you high.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

And even when you break free for the most part the chemical which is classified as a poison will make you crave it years later.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Every time I smell somebody smoking I need a pouch or I'll go ask for a bum

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Stay strong on your recovery friend 💪

Thank you for your comment, this is always my biggest beef with those defending nicotine (smoking/vaping).

It's like, WHAT DO YOU EVEN GAIN FROM IT?

[–] abraxas 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

WHAT DO YOU EVEN GAIN FROM IT

Smokers/vapers report a balanced pick-me-up with reduced stress and a sense of calm. If you ignore the massive health hazard and addictiveness and just pay attention to the effects, it seems like the best possible non-intoxicant. There's a reason why indigenous people used it regularly and it was almost immediately an export crop when discovered.

Positive Effects

Nicotine createsTrusted Source a temporary feeling of well-being and relaxation, and increases heart rate and the amount of oxygen the heart uses. As nicotine enters the body, it causes a surge of endorphins, which are chemicals that help to relieve stress and pain and improve mood... Nicotine may also temporarily improve concentration and memory

Honestly, a wonder-drug. Minus the whole "highly addictive and smokers die a horrible and painful death" part.

Honestly, if it weren't addictive, I'd probably consider vaping. But I have enough addiction with caffeine in my life.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I switched to CBD only vape juice and it helped!

[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I suspect your struggle comes mostly from the habits, rather than the chemicals involved? I've known a number of cigar addicts that managed to quit, they often said that the hardest part was avoiding it after an activity, like a cigar after a cup of coffe, a cigar after a meal, etc. Being allowed cigar breaks during work also encourages use, since it's a "free pause"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm sorry, but the chemically addictive and carcinogenic properties of nicotine aren't really up for debate. Unless you've made some outlandish scientific discovery you've failed to get peer reviewed...

I beg you to inform yourself: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/quit-smoking-tips#why-quit

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Nah fuck that guy

[–] abraxas 3 points 1 year ago

That's really not the case. Nicotine is highly physically addictive. "Habits" are involved in the way the mind links itself to the addictive substances and the effect of consuming them. My wife quit smoking 15 years ago, and walking in the woods still gives her near-uncontrollable urges to light a cigarette. Because she and I camped a couple time the first year of our relationship and she smoked a cigarette on a hiking trail. That's not habit-related. Having a cigarette was a more formative and powerful influencing memory to her than basically anything else in her life.

Being allowed cigar breaks during work also encourages use, since it’s a “free pause”

That's just anti-smoker bullshit. Honestly, if you work at a job where you need to smoke to get a break, you should be finding another job anyway. Let's just stick to hating the drug instead of the smokers.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

You don't have any fucking idea what your talking about. I stopped smoking cigarettes 2 months ago and switched to tobacco free pouches. I have been tapering down from 6 mg to 4 to now 2. And here's a good tip, especially when talking about addiction. You don't get a say in anyone else's experience amd diminishing another persons struggle makes you look like a real jackass, especially considering you have no experience of your own. I can tell because if you did you wouldn't be spouting this bullshit

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean I'm no expert but I do have some knowledge on the subject.

The difference is how you injest it. Our stomachs are much more resilient than our lungs. Your stomach is, for all intents and purposes, a sac of acid that dissolves mostly anything you put in it, your lungs on the other hand literally only do 1 thing all day and it's breathe air. There are different qualities of air of course, and microparticles in it that could cause harm, but on the whole it's more or less all the same.

Its like dumping garbage into a sink vs. a paper bag. The sink will get disgusting, and you may end up with a clogged drain, messed up pipes, or worse. But at the end of the day if you just clean the mess and don't do it too often it will probably be fine. The paper bag on the other hand is gonna get Soggy, gross, and start falling apart in your hands. You can dry it out but it will never quite be the same..

[–] abraxas 3 points 1 year ago

There are different qualities of air of course, and microparticles in it that could cause harm, but on the whole it’s more or less all the same.

Absolutely, and that's the problem. The same argument you just posed could also be used against intentionally smelling flowers, or sticking your nose over a pot of boiling broth to smell that chicken deliciousness.

We don't know that vaped nicotine is more harmful than most things we breathe. In fact, I'd say there are non-drug things people do that we already know to be worse than vaping. Ever go camping? The smoke from that fire is worse than vaping, worse than almost any substance you might want to smoke.

So the question is how bad vaping (the action, not the drug) is. Is it as bad as sniffing a rose, as bad as lighting a scented candle? As bad as incense? As bad as a campfire? If, as many suspect, it's near the beginning of that scale, then the only critique we can rightly have is towards the substance vaped. If it's near the end of the scale, we kinda need some research to support that claim.

Its like dumping garbage into a sink vs. a paper bag

As of yet, the medical and scientific community have not found solid evidence that it's "like...garbage" at all if you don't like it on fire.

Which is where things get complicated. Because it MIGHT be terrible for you. Or it might not be bad at all.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

not worse than booze.

is not doing your argument any favors.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are you kidding? Booze is incredibly harmful!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Yup, and it's allowed and easily accessible