A frind of mine, ahem, is having trouble giving up smoking, especially green cigarettes. Do you good people have any advice to pass on?
Simple: Don’t smoke another cigarette! Works for me every time.
Old remedy. Carry around a ziploc full of nasty, smelly, rancid cigarette butts wherever you go. When you get the urge to light-up, open the bag and take a big whiff through your nose. It’s not pretty, but it’s sure to turn you off from having that cigarette 
CK
Green cigs, eh? That’ll be tough. When I quit regular smokes I used the patch. It worked like a charm. But the thing is that I really wanted to quit. Health concerns and all. In the process I kind of stopped smoking everything though.
At home I smoked a lot of green cigarettes because when ever I would visit friends they would always want to smoke, so of course, being a good friend, I obliged them. When I came to Taiwan, I used the patch to quit smoking and because I was living in a house of Brits and they always rolled their green cigarettes with Satan’s weed so I never partook. After a while I didn’t miss it.
So what’s my point? I’m not sure, though i think maybe hanging out with different people is a good place to start and get away from activities that you associate with green cigarettes for a while.
Sorry if this sounds too moralistic. That’s not my point at all.
Hans
Same here, I gave up smoking 3 years ago…
when I went to Bali, I just picked up a pack of Djisamsoe and started smoking the entire vacation. Once I got back to Taipei. It’s no smoking again.
I guess there’s a will there’s away. My smoking is recreational 
ax
If you can find it, tell you friend to get his or her hands on a copy of “The Only Way to Quit Smoking” by Alan Carr. This book works really well. Basically, it counter-brainwashes you so you quickly realize that smoking (whatever it is you smoke) sucks! This book has worked for friends of mine who tried everything else.
That;s what I was trying to remember. When I visited my friend in Melbourne recently, he’d finally given up. He’d been a hard-core smoker for about 10 years and had tried all sorts of things to give up - patches, gum, even that restricted drug (forget the name). In the end it was that book that did it for him, and he swears by it. He’s not a naive sap of the kind that reads ‘self-help’ books all the time or anything either. He’s a smart guy. Try it.
Brian
Allen Carr’s The Only Way to Quit Smoking" was a nice slim read it in a couple of busy days stop smoking guide . . then he decided to ramp it up. Out comes “The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permanently” at 400 and something pages its about as readable as the bible.
http://www.allencarrseasyway.com/
HG
Just cut your cigarettes in half. You don’t need to smoke the whole thing. The cigarette companies calculated how long to make a cigarette to make it addictive. You can even smoke half of one, then come back for it on your next smoke break.
Eventually you need to quit, but if you cut down your nicotine intake in some slow fashion, your withdrawal will be much more gradual.
Like most non-smokers, I’ve never understood cigarette addiction. Unlike booze and harder substances, it doesn’t get you high. You just get mild, very mild little buzz for about 15 seconds after you huff.
It must be a very strong addiction once you start, though. I mean, smokers smoke every day! They even start up first thing in the morning, right with their morning coffee! I mean, I may imbibe a bit too much alcohol, but at least I only limit myself to once a week or so! Can you imagine what I’d be if I drank Jim Beam 24/7, having to take that first shot in the morning before breakfast to “calm my nerves”?!
Man, you smokers are addicts. Hard fuckin’ core!
I was a two pack a day smoker for about 10 years. Started when I was 15. I’ve been cig-free for about 5 years now. The key is to change your routine. The addiction part is easy. Get the patch and use it exactly as the instructions say.
The next step is that you have to change your life. The key to my success was Triathlon. When I quit I wanted to improve my health, so I started a very strict exercise training program. http://www.trinewbies.com/1TPbegSp.htm Get a few training buddies so they will keep you in check and set your schedule weeks in advance. I cheated twice and let me tell you, when you’re on a bike and your pumping hard to go up a hill, your lungs will give you the best reason in the world to stay quit. Exercise = Success!!! Pick a race to run and stick to a training program. Try to avoid pubs at all costs… your will is fragile, so respect that and don’t tempt it.
Lastly, choose a mantra… I had a few and these really help when you’re really craving a cig or tired of working out or whatever excuse you have.
Good luck. If you need more tips or motivators… Lemme know.
I agree with change your routine. When I quit, after about 20 odd years, I found that I stopped doing all the things I did as a smoker. (Well, most of the things I did).
The most important thing I did was stay away from other smokers and go places where smoking was not allowed. If the person trying to quit has to come into contact with smokers, say if the smoker is a spouse, then I would ask the other smokers to be somewhat considerate to the one who is trying to quit smoking and not smoke much around that person.
Also, exercise is great. When you quit smoking, you really notice how much energy you have, and since you need to do something active so you are not just sitting around, which is a sure way to light up again, such things as running, riding a bike or even going for a walk are great.
The one drawback to quitting smoking is that many folks put on weight. Of course, this is a minor drawback since the weight will be relatively little.
All in all, giving up the cancer sticks is great thing to do. Best of luck to all who are trying. 
BTW, if the person trying to quit fails, give them lots of encouragement. Often it takes several tries before the person is able to finally walk away from cigs.
The lung cancer that you get is actually from poisonous radiation emitted when you burn tobacco.
[quote]The Surgeon General C. Everett Koop stated that radioactivity, rather than tar, accounts for at least 90% of all smoking-related lung cancers. The Center for Disease Control concluded “Americans are exposed to far more radiation from tobacco smoke than from any other source.”
Cigarette smoking accounts for 30% of all cancer deaths. Only poor diet rivals tobacco smoke as a cause of cancer in the U.S., causing a comparable number of fatalities each year. However, the National Cancer Institute, with an annual budget of $500 million, has no active funding for research of radiation from smoking or residential radon as a cause of lung cancer, presumably, to protect the public from undue fears of radiation.[/quote]
http://www.webspawner.com/users/radioactivethreat/index.html
It sounds ridiculous but the darn thing works. My roomate was reading it a couple of years agao and I was VERY sceptical. i picked it up one day as I was going outside to smoke and two weeks later quit! It’ll be two years this May and i thought I would never be able to stop.
I quit smoking tobacco by going green.
I have had some addictions to alot of other stuff in my early days in Miami if you catch my drift and nothing compares to quitting the cigs… I am trying once again right now and I feel like I need to go punch everything I see… I tried the book before, didnt work… Nothing works for me, just quitting…
ONly time was successful I did what I am doing now, just quitting and it lasted for 2 years, but my dumbass started back… saying fuck it I am not ggoing to spend another second of my life, and it has worked so far for a week…
Now as for the green cigs??? I quit when I moved to Taiwan, not cause I wanted to or could, just cause I dont know where the hell to get it and I am not one to ask around… So I quit the green much to my unliking, but oh how I wish to be there again… Cannot wait until my trip back to the states in a month or so… Got a friend from Humboldt saving one of my favorites for me…
I quit using Zyban (A.K.A. Wellbutrin). I was a smoker for 11 years and tried to quit using all the familiar methods: gum, patch, counseling, and even hypnosis. Zyban was the only thing that worked for me because it was the only thing that took away the cravings. Actually, it didn’t take away the cravings completely. It just reduced them to such a low level, my feeble will power was able to do the rest.
For years, I tried to get both of my brothers to try it. At first they just said, “yeah, yeah… but it won’t work for me.” But after bugging them to no end, they finally gave it a try and both have been smoke-free for over a year. If you’re serious about quitting, you should give it a try, too.
Hello my name is Hobart. I have been an ex-smoker now for 7 days. I smoked for about 15 years between 1/2 a pack and pack a day. This is my first attempt at quitting. I quit just by not smoking any longer. It is very painful. It sucks, but it is getting easier. Just don’t piss me off you mutha f()( Hahahahaa… Actually, surpisingly I have not been that grumpy.
Whenever I get the urge, I go and drink a glass of water to kind of wash away the craving. If that doesn’t work, I eat some chocolate or other snack or have a Diet Coke. I would rather be fat than die young from cancer. I want to live to be a grumpy old man and a grandfather.
I haven’t had to cut anything out so far, like coffee. However, I am afraid to drink alcohol, but maybe I will try that tonight, although not in a pub. I think I will start smoking cigars soon. Rather have gum cancer than lung cancer. I don’t need my gums. I am afraid to start on the cigars though for anohter couple of weeks after I know all of the nicotine is out of my body.
Remember one day at a time. The craving lasts no longer than 3 minutes and after the first 3 days you are over the hump.
Thanks for the Allen Carr information. Will rush out and buy it today.
By the way, this website is pretty good. http://www.whyquit.com/
I found cigars ot be a bad move. They’ll get you thinking ‘no I need more out of this - I need the nicotine rush’ and make the cravings worse.
Congratualtions on passing the 3 dayer - that’s the worst. Just beware fo the 3 weeker, which is a ‘I’ve done well - I could reward myself with just one smoke’ and the 3 monther which is ‘I’ve really given up now, I could smoke a few for fun on this one special occassion and easily stop again’. They come in threes.
Brian
I found quitting smoking easy after I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes mellitus.