Ankush

@Sazerac Until very recently, I was ignorant that Portugal had decriminalized drugs. My brother had brought this to my attention. My initial reaction was, then all citizens will become drug addicts. However, while this was true to a large extent during the initial years of decriminalization in Portugal, the numbers of drug abuse eventually dropped, which is shown in the article as well. Since I was a pot user for different periods in my life (2006-sometime in the beginning of 2007, sometime in 2010-sometime in 2013, sometime in 2014-July 2017), so a long time (approx 8 years), my stance for pot was that it should be legalized. However, my stance on hard drugs was that they should continue to be illegal. Maybe I was a bit partial towards pot (since I was its user), I don't know. I gave some thought about what Portugal had done with decriminalization and eventually reached the conclusion I mentioned earlier in the thread.

Some may argue that all drugs should be legal (as they are in Portugal). You can't control what people want to consume and what they don't. The government should rather educate and give the power to the people to choose what they want to consume, using unbiased knowledge as a tool. Also, knowledge shouldn't be used deceptively to advance some harmful propaganda, if at all. Then again, Nicotine is one such drug, that shouldn't even exist as a drug for consumption, but that's just my opinion. So, like you, I'm divided on whether Bhutan did the right thing or not.

Congratulations on achieving the 6 month milestone

Nope

Welcome aboard @hesteralumni23. Looking at the positive side of things, you want to quit at a very young age and that's good. The other thing is that you are successfully able to overcome initial withdrawal and stay away from cigarettes (if at all for a few months, but you have been able to stay away from them). Also, you have successfully fended off drug addiction. The nicotine in cigarettes is also a drug (its a legal drug). Talk to as many people as you can here on the board. You already have a good list of reasons for quitting smoking permanently, so write them down (remember to quit for yourself though). I would also recommend that you watch Joel's videos on relapsing. Take the Nope pledge and take things a day at a time. While different people have different reasons to take up a drug (legal or illegal), taking them to look cool is definitely not the right one. Also, feel free to post an S.O.S when you need to. All the best!!!

I wouldn't recommend NRT, but it's not about me here. If your doctor thinks NRT will help you quit, and NRT will make you more confident in being able to secure a successful quit, then go for it.

Congratulations on achieving the 2 month milestone!!!

To each his/her own

Nope

Thank you @johnny5

Nope

@Doreensfree Thank you

Still keeping the quit going

Nope

I was already fed up of being a smoker but never managed to quit, Joel's videos encouraged me to take the step of going cold turkey and so I made a plan. Big part of my plan was to join a forum for people who wanted to or had quit smoking. The other part of my plan was to keep make myself mentally prepared for the withdrawal of the first 3 days. I had come to know to have a lot of juice and water (during the first 3 days) and to do deep breathing. Once I joined the Train, I just stuck to the NOPE pledge and stayed quit a day at a time (and am still staying quit). The support I received during the initial days of joining the Train was also very helpful. Bottom line - every person will have their own way of quitting smoking.

Nope

Nope

Nope, for tomorrow as well. Btw, what if we had a feature on the Train called the "NOPE Pledge Calendar"? Members of the Train could get a daily notification to go and mark a checkbox on the calendar (visible only to members of the Train) and the notification will go away once the pledge is made. Supposing a member forgets to make their daily pledge or can't for some reason, the notification for that day will go away the following day...no one would want an accumulation of notifications of pledges not taken, that would be annoying. Also, some may want to enable the NOPE pledge calendar while some may not. So members can be asked if they want to sign up to the calendar for the daily NOPE Pledge as well. This calendar will be individually customized to the time zone each member lives in. It will remove the confusion of mixed up dates and will be a more organized way of having the Nope Pledge feature on the Train. Just a thought. As such, I am OK with the NOPE pledge feature as it is now.

Sticking to my quit

Nope

Its going OK, still adjusting mentally to being an ex-smoker...i make a daily pledge to not smoking and i stick to it, taking life as an ex-smoker a day at a time.

Welcome aboard. I, like all here, appreciate your selfless action to support fellow ex-smokers, new and old alike. Also, congratulations on staying quit for 7 years!!!

Nope

Nope

Congratulations on a 10 month quit!!! Btw, if you feel tired a lot, please see a doctor.