Christian99

By the way, the very best book I've read on the subject and the one that has most influenced my thinking on the issue is Robert Proctor's Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition (U of CA P, 2010). I wouldn't call it a beach read (I'd characterize the genre as academic cultural history), but it's definitely worth one's time and attention. C99

No, I definitely don't hold this position with regard to alcohol (and, for that matter, cannibas, though that's a different issue entirely). I haven't thought much about the alcohol issue, but I'd say that a guiding principle for me is whether there's a reasonable chance that moderate use of a product won't lead to significant harm. Commerical tobacco fails that test for me in a couple of ways: given its toxicity there's really no safe or least health-neutral consumption of cigarettes; more importantly, the product is absolutely designed to render moderate use impossible. I wouldn't say that's the case with alcohol (which isn't to say that many lives haven't been ruined by it). Cigarettes and their industry just strike me as uniquely offensive and deadly and warrant a special remedy, and we should be smart and courageous enough to figure out a way to eliminate them. I know my position is pretty aggressive and strident (maybe others would use a different adjective than "pretty!"), and people who read/hear it (especially those who don't know me in person) sometimes infer that I'm on some sort of nanny-state crusader. I don't think I'm deluding myself when I say that I actually tend toward libertarianism when it comes to drugs and alcohol. But given the history, carnage, and (industry) immorality of global tobacco, I can't in good conscience situate the mass produced cigarette in the category of other substances whose restrictions should be modest at best. By the way, I'm really intrigued by your idea to require a license to purchase tobacco; if done well, the "continuing education" piece could be a crucial moment to get quitting resources in the hands of smokers and showing that quitting is, in fact, possible. I'm not at all opposed to an incremental approach like this that leads to my ultimate goal. C99

I am a proud and unapologetic tobacco abolitionist, particularly when we're talking about commercially produced tobacco products (I'm a bit more flexible/noncommittal when it comes to folks growing their own for their own use, primarily because it's through the processing that companies have been able to manipulate the chemistry of the product for maximum addictiveness), and I support an agenda that ultimately makes commercially produced products completely illegal (and ultimately irrelevant and anachronistic). The approach would need to phased in allow for the continued practice of adult smokers who, at the time of enactment, "choose" to continue, though substantial resources would be directed to provide cessation support to them. Individuals who are not of age at the time of the "structured elimination" would not be permitted to purchase or consume the products. The easy and tired and hysterical references to "PROHIBITION" (that is, "We can't possibly eliminate tobacco because look what happened when we tried with alcohol!") simply doesn't apply to this situation, in large part because the global tobacco industry literally has no precedent for the deception, manipulation, and immorality of which it has shown itself capable in its advocacy for a product that killed at least 100 million people in the 20th Century. And every time someone pauses to consider the (completely fictitious) threat on personal freedom that restriction or prohibition of tobacco seems to imply, it's another example of the extraordinary success of the decades-long rhetorical strategy of the industry of linking smoking with powerful ideals like "freedom" and "liberty." We regulate and prohibit things all the time in the name of public health, and I don't hear too many clamoring for the "freedom" to eat food with lysteria or botulism, or--perhaps slightly more relevantly--to have unfettered access to cocaine or bath salts. The difference, of course, is the bewildering amount of money and rhetorical energy spent in legitimizing and normalizing the cigarette. I'm pretty convinced that the world's position on and use of commercial tobacco will be among a small number of crucial issues (and ultimately disgraces) by which future generations will characterize the previous century. I'm hopeful that its eradication in our current century will be one of the things by which the 21st is remembered. Christian99 16 1/2 Years Quit

I agree that it's a really good sign that you're trying to think through some of the dimensions of this in advance and develop some strategies in case things get dicey. I guess I just want to strike a slightly different note/tone, though (to complement not to undermine others' remarks): that is, given the circumstances you describe, it's possible you WILL have some very unsettling stretches during and even after his visit, despite the terrific advice you've gotten and your best of intentions going in. This is an enormously powerful addiction with deep affective registers, which, at one (glorious!) month quit, you're still unraveling. His presence and all it conjurs may twist and obscure its meanings and your commitment. I say all this in large part to remind you to be vigilant, humble, and absolutely ruthless in your abstinence. Regardless of how the visit goes (and I hope it's awesome), nothing is more important than the quit. Christian99 About 16 1/2 Years Quit

nice!!

What kind of bike do you have? Christian99

My brother died from lung cancer at age 41. It was a terrible death, made even worse by his inability to quit and, hence, his profound sense of guilt and shame, which we were unable to ameliorate. His 39 year-old wife (also a smoker, though not ill from it) took her own life two hours after he died. My mother quit smoking when she was 61; she developed esophageal cancer at 69 and died at 70. Christian99 16 1/2 Years Quit

I'm a teacher at a community college, and we have a fair amount of attrition in our classes. It's very sad when students disappear; however many of their lives are extremely complicated, and I like to think that some of the things they've experienced (even if they're non-academic in nature) will stick with them. And, as I've learned in my own life, it's certainly true that we're not always ready for the very valid information/lessons we hear. Christian99 15 1/2 Years Quit