Are we being lied to about smokeless tobacco?

Quote: FrGamble

dissuading me from doing something you know is destructive.

It's stupid, and destructive. Pray about it,
then do something productive and perform
the due diligence. DD out performs praying
every day of the week..

Quote: Evenbob

It's stupid, and destructive. Pray about it,
then do something productive and perform
the due diligence. DD out performs praying
every day of the week..

Lay off the spiritual bashing. Tell it to your dogs.

As a long time smoker that never touches any tobacco product, this is a facinating discussion.
Especially Face's passionate post. Good read. You go Face

whats funny is I heard that pot smokers in Europe typically mix pot and tobacco together. Yuck.

Quote: terapined

As a long time smoker that never touches any tobacco product, this is a facinating discussion.

And as someone who's done just about everything, there is nothing like the hook of tobacco. Nothing.

My mom's been off for 20 years. She still get craving attacks. And I've written about my battles before, and every one of them was as simple as deciding "I don't do that anymore". With cigs, the longest I've ever "quit" was 10 hours. And that's because I sleep at night. Consciously, I can go 8 hours, and only because airplane. At home, that record is about 4 hours. Doesn't matter if it's -10* outside (I don't smoke indoors), doesn't matter if I've a 102* fever and bleeding sinuses. I watched my aunt die of brain cancer, watched my great grandpa die of colon cancer, and watched my gram fight and win against breast cancer twice. It doesn't matter. Someday there will be a bright spot on my own MRI, and my first thought will be "man, I need a smoke".

Quote: FrGamble

Face et al. Thank you so much for your candid and freighting words. I really had no idea and it is sinking in. I also want to say that I really appreciate you pouring so much of your heart into dissuading me from doing something you know is destructive. I can feel your genuine concern through your posts and it is greatly appreciated. I think the only thing you put in jeopardy is me falling even more in love with you ;)

You are proof that the phrase "misery loves company" is not always true. God Bless and thanks very much!

It's no problem, especially if it helped. You want to talk demons and possession, they sell them right behind the counter.

And I'm all for risk. You want to base jump off a radio tower, go ahead. Want to have a spiritual experience using woodland mushrooms, go ahead. You want to put a 300 shot on your Buick Century and take it to Bonneville, go ahead (and take video). Want to turn power lifting into an MMA career, go ahead. Think Nik Wallenda is a con man and you can cross the canyon yourself? Go ahead. I'm all for it. Live your life!

But not this. I know I'm often overly dramatic, but I meant it when I said "this way lies damnation". Because EB nailed it. You've already begun creating allowances - "It's the Feast of Guadalupe". Next it'll be all feasts. Then all big sermons. Then all little sermons. Then all sermons. Then all sermons, and the time you spend preparing the sermons. Then it'll be just in church. Then it'll be in church and on your way to church. Then it'll be in church, on your way to church, and anytime you think of church. And if you think this sounds absurd, just wait until you see all the reasons you will create to justify your habit. "Well, I saw the first flower of spring, and that's a gift from God, and God is church, so it's ok to chew!" And you'll believe it with the same vim and vigor you believe in God. Sound ridiculous? It is. And it's 100% true.

Watch it happen. The seed is already there. When it starts to push out, watch where your mind goes. Watch the struggles it will make as it tries to connive to get what it wants. Listen to the absurd arguments it will make, and observe how much they ring as truth. But resist, resist with all of your will. And when it passes, and it will, reflect on it and look at it again with clear mind. You will be shocked, maybe even horrified, that your mind can turn on you the way it will. The way it can speak truth that you feel in your very core, and realize it was all smoke and mirrors.

Matthew 6:13, Dear Father.

Quote: Face

Quote:

And as someone who's done just about everything, there is nothing like the hook of tobacco. Nothing.

Go to any AA or NA meeting in the country, inside you will find addicts who have quit their drug of choice and are forever in recovery so as not to take it up again. Outside on the bench you will find those very same clean and sober addicts taking a cigarette break.



No problem, smoke 'em if ya got "em.

My Dad worked much of his life for the formerly (Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association later becoming the American Lung Association)

When I was a kid he traveled with a "smoker's lung" which he would bring out at talks at schools and elsewhere. I don't think they carry around human tissue anymore, but I found it Kool at the time.

Even still, I started smoking at 25, and quit at 35. I couldn't Hack it. But was doing plenty of hacking later on.

In reality, I would say, I started at 25 and started trying to quit at around 32. It just took me 3 years to finally Snuff it.

Growing up, it seemed to me that if a friends parents smoked, my friend eventually took up smoking cigs.
If parents didn't smoke, such as mine, then the kids tended not to pick up the habit.
The funny thing of course is the parents that smoked had rules their kids couldn't smoke but of course most start by stealing cigs from parents.
As I got older, friends that smoked had there own kids, which were not allowed to smoke but picked it up anyway.
My older friends that didn't smoke, their kids tended not to smoke.

My parents smoked continuously but we
would have been beat if caught. So of
course we stole them from the old man
and did it anyway. Makes you feel grown up.

Quote: terapined

As a long time smoker that never touches any tobacco product, this is a facinating discussion.
Especially Face's passionate post. Good read. You go Face

whats funny is I heard that pot smokers in Europe typically mix pot and tobacco together. Yuck.

Yep, pretty much the pot I knew about growing up was all resin. Mixed in with rolling tobacco and smoked that way. Grass was relatively rare to see smoked. At least in my uni days, which is a while ago.

The padre has disappeared, I hope he didn't
OD on dip. That would be really embarrassing.