Posted on 10/01/2015 5:50:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
I quit. Or, more exactly, I’m quitting. Not a job or writing, I’m quitting smoking. And does it ever suck.
I haven’t had a cigarette since the day I got married, Sept. 5th. It hasn’t been easy. It’s not “pass a stone” or “give birth” hard, but I have had moments of “I’d kill everyone in this room for a drag.”
Less now, and less thanks to something politicians across the country are moving to ban – a vaporizer.
Vaping, as it is called, is the ingestion of water vapor infused with nicotine and some sort of flavor – tobacco, sticky buns, cotton candy, pretty much anything you can imagine. The “juice” is heated quickly by an ion battery, and you inhale and exhale a cloud of “smoke.” It simulates smoking without the smoking part.
But vaping looks a lot like smoking, so a lot of busybody liberals want to treat it the same way.
There are two simple reasons for this: 1.) they’re idiots, and 2.) they need a hobby.
Speaking of idiots, enter Washington, D.C.
What would the city be without progressives who want to intrude on every aspect of your life? A literal swamp, which it was, rather than the figurative swamp it has become.
But this intrusion isn’t by the federal busybodies; this one comes locally. All stupidity starts somewhere, and this is starting in the nation’s capital.
In the name of “health,” the DC city council decided to treat vaping exactly like smoking. In addition to banning it in public places and forcing people who have quit smoking through vaping to go stand with smokers on the street (which is like making people on methadone use the drug in a heroin den), the city now taxes it like smoking.
DC has imposed a 67 percent tax on e-cigarettes, as they’re called. Yes, 67 percent.
For all the talk of wanting people to quit smoking, the city fears the loss of revenue from tobacco taxes more, so it’s taxing the hell out of an extremely effective smoking cessation tool. Because “the children,” or something.
The tax is so high that two of the four existing vape shops in the district have said they’ll be forced to close. The other two won’t be far behind.
DC expects the tax to bring in an additional $380,000 next year, which means it will budget as if that revenue is real. But with the tax driving the shops out of the city, well, we all know how this game works.
District residents still will be able to get their supplies from Virginia and Maryland, but many won’t and will return to cigarettes. Governments get so much revenue from cigarettes that one can’t help but think this was the plan all along.
As addicted to smoking as most smokers are, it pales in comparison to how addicted politicians are to the tax revenue tobacco taxes generates. Anything that offers an exit strategy for smokers is a threat.
Tobacco tax hikes are always couched as a way to discourage smoking, but if politicians really wanted to discourage smokers, they would impose a shockingly high tax in shocking fashion – not 50 cents or $1 at a time but all at once. The shock to the system would force many smokers’ hands. That’s why you’ll never see it happen.
Politicians see smokers the same way drug dealer view their customers – as suckers. That’s because, well, we are.
Like a junkie, I’d hide my cigarettes from my fiancé, now wife, thinking I was fooling her. A breath mint or gun covered up the perfect crime. Or so I thought.
I wasn’t fooling anyone but myself, and not even really that. Well, on the day I got married, I was done. I smoked my last cigarette and said goodbye to the taxes the government has been getting from me.
I used vaping to quit, and it has worked beautifully. Now governments are starting to go after me again. Not gonna happen.
Living in Maryland has spared me from the attack from leftists seeking to “help,” but only because we had the good sense to elect Republican Larry Hogan our governor. DC isn’t so lucky. And other quitters across the country won’t be so lucky either.
My advice to those of you still smoking: Join me in quitting. I understand the appeal of those infernal sticks, but there’s a pretty good crutch out there to help you step away. Give them a try and stick to it.
Do it now, before those so concerned with public health they have to constantly dip into your wallet make their move on e-cigarettes too. Use spite as a motivator – don’t smoke yourself to death, and don’t let government tax you to death either.
My mother quit too only after she lost a lung. She died at the age of 59 from smoking related cancer.
I quit cold turkey, no crutches. Thanksgiving weekend 2011. 3 days before the birth if my first grandchild.
My doctor says, ‘If you smoke, you’ll be at the bottom of the list for health care resources.’
It’s a twofer for liberals. They get to control other people’s behavior and steal money at the same time.
I quit 40 years ago. Pack a day for 20 years. Decided my desire could not be controlled but my actions could.
When I first read, ‘I quit..’ you scared me. I thought you had gotten mad about something and was quitting FR!
You’re one of our best.
I would expect that by using ‘vaping’ to quit is a bit difficult as one retains the ‘get an urge, feed the urge’ cycle whereas something like the ‘patch’ delivers a constant stream of nicotine.
Look I have been rolling my tobacco cigarettes for over 10 years....one pound of tobacco (not treated in any way just good ol’ tobacco) costs 12.99 plus a 5.5% sales tax...it lasts 3 months or more......I purchased a gross of papers online a year ago....The tobacco I buy is tax class K which is deemed pipe tobacco so the fed and state can’t tax it like the chemically treated garbage in every prepackaged multi carcinogen laced death stick’s your government forces manufacturers to create (for your own good) Idiots wake up and do what you want....these same swinging dicks and arrogant broads will scream to high heaven when cash stops flowing into their pathetic agencies because they piss and moan about tobacco. Our country was funded by this plant to supply the world...how stupid are you ...... everyone dies and boo hoo...who would want to live forever with crying little faggots constantly whining about what offends them? Grow a pair and and act like you are actually FREE ...screw the fed/state and anyone else who gets in your way pursuit of liberty and happiness. No one likes a quitter.
My 20 yr old daughter recently quit cigarettes. She used a vap for a month and then quit that too. Jesus took away all cravings, one day she woke up and had no cravings anymore.
You make the decision, that's it.
It helps to keep away from smokers for about two weeks, though.
Then you're in the clear. "Not to decide, is to decide." Shakespeare
My vaporizer changed my life as well as my finances. I’m so much healthier and look and feel great. It’s motivated me to correct my diet and get back in the gym 3 times a week. My depression also went away. Certainly, it must be banned.
So did I. Jan. 24th 1975.
Quitting smoking is like planting a tree: the best time to do it was 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now.
I quit about 6 years ago using laser therapy.
I tried so many other things. It sounded crazy enough that it might work. I never craved a cigarette again. The week after my 20 or so minutes of non-invasive laser therapy, I could set in a room full of smokers and not want one. It may be the best $200 I ever spent.
Post of the day!
I miss dip more than smokes.
For me it was just time to stop.
Plenty of other vices...
My BIL now mixes his own flavors in bulk to save $$$.
He uses vanilla as a base I think, but the end resulting flavor is “Cinnamon Toast Crunch”.
AND IT’S AWESOME.
I don’t really use nicotine, but vaping helped me to stop smoking pot. I feel a lot healthier.
Liquor has caused more death and destruction than tobacco ever has or ever will.
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