Andrew Barss wrote:
wrote:

: You have fallen for the nicotine cartel propoganda. Smokers
: find smoking 'pleasurable' the same way that migraine sufferers
: find imitrex 'pleasurable'. Smoking temporarily relieves
: suffering that is brought on by the addiction itself. Perhaps
: the biggest lie about smoking is that people want to smoke.
: Very few people do, most smoke exclusively to relieve the
: symptoms of withdrawal sickness.


While I agree with most everything you've said in this thread, I beg to
differ. I'm a former smoker, and know a lot of other former smokers. I
can't think of a one who misses the positive aspects of smoking: the
ability to concentrate profoundly on one thing, the nicety of lighting up
in a cafe with a friend, the sense of energy and focus nicotine brings.
The withdrawal symptoms are awful, and that's ONE reason to light up, but
the other aspects need to be recognized. Nictine is a wonderful
stimulant, and a decade plus after quitting smoking, I still remember it
fondly. While being really, really happy I no longer smoke.

Every ex-smoker I know feels the same way.


There was a very insightful scene in a recent movie about the
early carreer of Robin Williams, dealing largely with his
struggle with drug addiction. At the end of the movie, someone
back stage asks Williams if he wants to so some 'good Peruvian'.
He says "yes", and walks away.

I think that someone who has been addicted will always miss
the drug, always want to do it again. This is recognized
by use of the term 'recovering addict' in lieu of 'recovered
addict'. You refer, in part, to the social context of drug
abuse, rituals shared with friends (and sometimes strangers)
and so on. That I think is common to all drug abuse, whether
it is heroin addicts sharing needles or cow-orkers gathering
at the coffee pot in the morning.

Now what you say about nicotine goes beyond that, and I do not
have the experience to comment on it personally. My experience
with other stimulants is that they help keep me awake, but
contribute nothing to concentration. Maybe nicotine is different,
or maybe people react differently to stimulants, or maybe both.

I think anyone who has ever been addicted to anything will
agree with most of what you say, especially that they felt better,
in somke way, when they were doing the drug the drug than they
do now.

--

FF