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comedian Chris Rock says he has to sell weed just to afford cigarettes

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Green Lantern

In Reply to: RE: about $250 posted by bullethead on May 21, 2016 at 05:57:24

I started smoking cigarettes in 1972 at age 12. Hell in 8th grade our teachers smoked in the classrooms and we'd (students) would go in the back cloak rooms to smoke in-between class breaks.
By age 17; I was a seriously addicted, smoking up to a pack a day. Back then they were about $0.50 a pack. My mom caught me smoking and cut my lunch money from $1 to $0.50 a day. When I heard they were $1 a pack at the airport vending machines (comparable to $10 in todays economy I guess) I knew it was time to bail.
June '77; I remember the Summer well, I flicked the last cigarette away from my grand-dad's rooftop for the last time. Wasn't easy but I never looked back.
For twenty years/off and on I'd dream of 'firing up' a cigarette awaking in the middle of the night relieved that it was just a dream...now thats a powerful drug.
I recently ran into a childhood classmate on facebook who actually taught me 'how' to smoke (as far as inhaling) well he still smokes -and believe it or not he looks reasonably good (despite a couple stints in rehab). Go figure.

Edits: 05/21/16 05/21/16 05/21/16

Follow Ups:

You may not believe this but... - AbeCollins 22:53:01 05/21/16 (1)
...my father struggled with his cigarette addiction most of his adult life until he was about 55. One day I saw him laying down on the sofa with headphones on listening to a cassette tape while staring at the wall. It was some sort of hypnosis tape. About a week into and he kicked the habit.

Funny thing is my mother never stopped smoking until she was in advanced stages of Alzheimers. There were times when she "forgot" that she smoked. Strange how the mind works.
- RE: You may not believe this but... - Green Lantern 08:02:59 05/22/16 (0)
  The human body is tricky; some folks can breakdown the tar (a natural by-product which collects in the lungs), some folks can't. "Tar" was one of the earliest targets in which proponents could tag the tobacco industry with since it appeared conclusively in post modem autopsies. The industry responded in kind with the 'low tar' brands in the early 70s. This amounted to simply 'thicker' filters which most folks simply 'doubled up' their intake to get more of that sweet nicotine.
  Once it was later found they were adding chemicals in tobacco designed to strengthen the effect of addiction, their house of cards collapsed. The 1999 film 'The Insider' starring Russell Crowe is one of my favorites and captured this brilliantly IMO.
  This 'sweetening' of tobacco products peaked around the early 70s, right around the time I (and countless other kids) started smoking.
  But again-the human body is weird in it's own kind of way, some of my friends who started around the same time as me could get by with smoking one or two cigarettes a day whereas others (including me) had to have them more frequently. I'm guessing this is one of those 'addictive' vs 'habitual' aspects that got industry off the hook for so long.
  In any event no one put a gun to my head and forced me to smoke.
  I'm happy to hear of your dad's outcome and condolences to your mom.
  
  Edits: 05/22/16 05/22/16

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