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JH63 Posted March 11, 2021 I've spent the last couple of days watching the Big Tobacco video's and the Marlboro video again and I've read the Alan Carr book tree times. Got me to thinking back to when I was young and first started smoking. My first memories of smoking were some friends and me riding our bicycles about a mile to a little country store for cigarettes. This was about 1970 or 71 cigarettes were 28 cents a pack. We often pooled our money and shared the pack or two as we rode our bikes the rest of the day. I also remember stealing cigarettes from my mother. She never missed one or two out of her packs from time to time. I say packs because for some reason she smoked both Belair's and Salem's. She died young of lung cancer! Even when I was in the Army, they put a little box of four cigarettes in each C-ration. That was twelve stale cigarettes a day. But plenty enough to keep me hooked. Well I'll get on with it! Did the tobacco companies put profits ahead of my health? Yes Did tobacco companies add chemicals to the cigarettes to make sure I would stay hooked? Yes Did the tobacco companies know that cigarettes were killing people long before I started smoking? Yes Does our government, still to this day, allow the sell of tobacco products because of the lobbyist money and the money they get from the ever increasing sales tax, claiming that the increases are to get people to quit smoking? Yes I never thought of myself as a victim. I can remember telling people that "nobody twisted my arm to smoke" and that "I'm responsible for the damage I've done to my health". Well I'm starting to think differently about that. Even If I do have to take some responsibility for my situation, I was surely deceived to say the least. This change in thinking may or may not help me as I continue to try and Quit. But it can't hurt! Sorry about the long winded Post! Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/15311-do-you-feel-like-a-victim/

johnny5 Quit Date: Nov. 16, 2014 Posted December 13, 2020 First off, I'm curious if these negative people you are talking about are smokers. I know that when I was a smoker, I often got defensive when one of my smoking friends attempted to quit. I didn't try to sabotage their quit but I definitely felt threatened. Looking back, I realize that I was envious of people who were trying to quit and might possibly be successful. If these people who are negative to you are smokers, fight past their negativity and realize that they might just feel threatened by you quitting smoking. If they aren't smokers and are just jerks, then try to use their negativity to prove them wrong. Don't let them bring you down. I know that is easier said than done but realize that smoking will not make anything better. The trap I always fell into when trying to quit smoking was feeling that smoking somehow calmed me or helped me cope. The reality is, the only thing it did was feed an addiction to nicotine. Introducing nicotine into your body actually makes you more stressed and doesn't make anything better. Nicotine really does nothing at all positive for you. It is all negative. Dealing with a--holes is tough but smoking will not make it any better. It is best to fight through these type of situations. Every time you fight through them, your quit gets stronger. Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/14839-how-do-you-stay-in-control-and-handle-your-anti-supporters/