Is there such thing?

davet82

I've quit smoking just over a week ago and i'm wondering if it is possible to be a 'social smoker'? It is the only time i think i would want to smoke again is with a drink in the pub (which is usually once a month) but am i kidding myself and on a slippery slope to being a 'full-time smoker' again?

yuppies

I think it might be possible for people who literally only have say 2 or 3 maybe twice a month or less but I don't think it would be possible for somebody to go from being a full-time smoker (for want of a better description) to just a "social smoker" without eventually upping their intake of cigarettes. You said that you quit smoking a week ago; did you smoke many cigarettes every day?

davet82

i smoked at least 20 a day. i find myself not wanting to go out in case i smoke, i dont go out that often but when i do if i could 'social smoke' it would solve the problem plus i do like the social aspect of the beer garden. On the other hand i dont want to wake up in the morning with 20 cigs in my pocket and then continue where i left off...

SlimCi

NO forget it. Keep at it, its well worth the health benefits for you and your family. I said that to myself too and bought one packet then it was a packet every day. If you are as heavy a smoker as 20 a day then I don't think you could ever be a social smoker! I'm off them nearly two years now and love my life without them....and my health. Best of luck, keep up the hard work, its really really worth it.:)

the_syco

I'm a weekend smoker. I've cut down the the weekend, anyhoos. But if you only smoke on the one night, you're still smoking. Sure, it may only be one ot two, but you're still smoking.

You can tell people you quit. That you're only a "social smoker", but you'll be still seen as a smoker, back on the smokes, etc.

You either give them up, or you don't. You can cut down, but don't fool yourself into thinking you can "only" have one or two, as after a few beers you'll forget if you had 2, or 19...

omen80

I used to be a 20-a-day person but then just kind of went off them......without actually trying. I now just smoke when I'm drinking. I could smoke 10-15 during a night out and then not touch them all week. I don't even think about it. I wouldn't actually want one the next day. I think I just associate alcohol with cigarettes.

davet82

i tried the smoking with drinking and now i find myself having 'one' after my dinner... i think i'm on a slippery slope, i guess its down to the individual if they can be a social smoker but i dont think i'm one of them

stargazer 68

Is there such a thing as a 'social' smoker. You have to stand outside - hardly social is it?

barone

davet82 wrote: »

I've quit smoking just over a week ago and i'm wondering if it is possible to be a 'social smoker'? It is the only time i think i would want to smoke again is with a drink in the pub (which is usually once a month) but am i kidding myself and on a slippery slope to being a 'full-time smoker' again?

15 months ago i stopped smoking, i did before and tried only smoking when i was out drinking, i couldnt resist a smoke when drinking,tried, anyway and ended up back on the fags.


this time i stayed away from drinking also, havent smoked one since..best thing i ever did for my body as in the year before quitting id got bronchitas and flu every time it was around . i.e my immune system was a weak a a wet page.

have had the flu since but didnt suffer as much as usual,but have had the best healthy year of my grown up life.. put on some weight but i knew i would and prepared for it,two year plan,quit fags,loose the resulting weight..

im on track.

DubGuyxx

No - it is not possible to be a social smoker once you have been a full-time smoker, any more than it is possible for an alcoholic to be a 'social drinker'. (I'll just have the one........yeah right!!)

Smokers are nicotine addicts - Nicotine is considered by many to be the most addictive substance known to man (and incidentally, one of the most poisonous).

When you quit, the receptors for nicotine in your brain down-regulate but they don't go away completely. If you smoke, you fire them up again and the cravings come right back. Pretty soon you're fecked. Been there done that. I now no one who has successfully 'partially' quit.

Sorry - theres no other way. If you really want to quit, you need to accept that you will never have another smoke (which is much harder than breaking the initial nicotine addiction, actually).

I went though multiple quits where I thought - "well after a month or two or three, I'll be 'off them' - then I'll be able to have the odd smoke..."

Makes zero sense - Quitting cigarettes so I could smoke again....just shows how addiction ****s up your thought processes......

Anyway, take a look at http://whyquit.com/ - very american and naff in places, but some really good stuff on the psychology of addiction. I found it quite helpful when i got off them finally (a year and counting).

Sorry for the lecture - i think Im turning into an anti-smoking fascist...oh nooooooo.....

peace.

Spiritofthekop

Why is it that a cigarette tastes so good with a pint at the weekend

but if anyone came near me or I tried to smoke a cigarette during the week morning, night or day I would feel sick.

In other words I'm a complete hypocrite!

I could easily smoke 5 smokes with a pint or 2 on a Friday night but I would not look at one at any other point and walk away from people who smoke them in pure disgust at the stink!

How can I hate & like something so much?...when I have a drink I need a cigarette??

How do I stop social smoking?

I think for an ex smoker, social smoking is too much temptation, maybe like telling a dry alcoholic that he can have a drink at weekends now. For those who never fully developed a habit, though, they seem able to have one or two on a night out then leave it - I wonder why? What do they get from it? I don't understand! We like to smoke because our bodies have become addicted and like to have their fix. What does a social smoker get from smoking?! I'm sure there's something, I will never understand it!

Spiritofthekop

Spiritofthekop wrote: »

Why is it that a cigarette tastes so good with a pint at the weekend

but if anyone came near me or I tried to smoke a cigarette during the week morning, night or day I would feel sick.

In other words I'm a complete hypocrite!

I could easily smoke 5 smokes with a pint or 2 on a Friday night but I would not look at one at any other point and walk away from people who smoke them in pure disgust at the stink!

How can I hate & like something so much?...when I have a drink I need a cigarette??

How do I stop social smoking?

Personally (and I'm a smoker, not just social smoker) I'm attempting to battle through the drinks and enjoy it, distract myself with conversation and what not and stay out of the smoking area. Then I have a fag before bed when I get home. Up to three drinks without a smoke now! They're nice, but you don't NEED to have them. Think of it that way, quit the social side before it does become a need rather than a want.

davet82

just an update i was smoke free for 2 full weeks and was doing fine til i 'socially' started smoking when i had a drink and i'm back on them full time now so for me it wont work just a word of warning to those who consider 'socially' smoking when drinking

I'll be quitting again soon this time with out social cigarettes

Andy-Pandy

Its smoking joints that always been my downfall, id give up smoking but just ens up being stoned all the time. This time i gave up smoking joints first and now cigs. Shame really as i dont smoke many joints anymore (once a week at most), and i'll miss it more than smokes. ANyway, what im saying is that from experience, if you are a heavy smoker, there is no half way point, its all are nothing.

wylo

Heroin, safely taken, in tiny doses isnt actually bad the body, its the addiction, the extra crap, and everything that surrounds it that makes it so evil and can destroy lives.

Would you reckon an addict who has given up heroin fully, could after a while go back to being a social user, just once a month, or even less.

Sorry, extreme analogy, but same thing, you know exactly where that heroin user would end up again.

Rabid50

Ti Davet82 from rabid50.

I gave up for the first time a few weeks ago and it lasted a fortnight, until I had a couple of wines, then I had a couple of smokes and started up again.

I have quit again now and know I cannot risk even half a cigarette or I will start again.

Rabid50

Rabid 50. Cravings drive you crazy. I am hoping they will lessen, but I am only on day 5. That just have one last cigarette is a doozy. I can drink coffee, eat and even sit next to someone who is smoking without a problem. It is when I haven't enough to do I have decided so I must find something to keep busy with. Such a long time to go with these cravings if they last forever and in comes the depression, for the rest of my life. I will not give up. I will succeed.