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by Perique07 on Sat Jul 05, 2008 7:45 pm

Hey all,

New here, figured I would make this post.

I could be called a smoker but I don't smoke that much. I usually smoke American Spirit Perique (Hence my name Wink

). I usually smoke maybe once a day but it's definitely something I enjoy.

However, I find myself running into a wall. I enjoy smoking, it's relaxing, entertaining, and culturally important to the USA. However, I find myself wanting to stop. Not because I'm tired of it or it's too expensive but because I'm fatigued. I'm fatigued from so many of these anti-smoking commercials, signs, health warnings, bad looks, and stereotypes. Every time I light up I find myself immediately thinking of how bad smoking is portrayed. I enjoyed it at first but I don't any more. I'm always reminded, with each puff, every warning I've been told. Now, I'm 19, been smoking since for about 6 months (Only recently moving to smoking daily). I've only been smoking a short period of time and I'm already demoralized by media.

How do you guys do it? A lot of you have been smoking for 10+ years and you're still going strong. How? What do you do that makes you forget about all that? I've read on these forums how you call the health warnings "government-spun" lies but what makes you think they are? Do you guys know something I don't? I can appreciate conspiracy theories as much as the next guy but I just can't figure out what research you guys have seen that I haven't. Or are you guys just going off of your gut?

I, personally, believe that sure smoking is dangerous. Sure it could kill me but a lot things could kill me. Every time I eat I'm at risk of choking, every time I drive on the highway I'm at risk of getting killed. Hell, I've lost more people to cars/accidents than cancer...and even the people I've known who've been hit by cancer, NONE of them were smokers. All of them were "Never smoked a day in their life" people. Even though I know that's how I feel, I still can't enjoy my occasional cigarette. I'm confused!!

Please don't take this as an attempt to bash anybody here. I am just curious how you guys deal with it.

-Perique.

P.S. Completely agree smokers are treated badly in this country. There is no reason for them to be treated as badly as they are.

Perique07

Newbie Joined: Jul 05, 2008 Posts: 16

by cricket on Sun Jul 06, 2008 12:45 am

Get mad Perique. That's what we all do. It's not easy, because the politically correct world we live in has turned people into sheep, they've almost completely lost the ability to get mad - when it counts.

The media: at the moment the media is just backing the current horse in the lead, and that's the antis. Plus the media does lots of advertising for BigPharma - you know, all those commercials for diahhroemic paradusalstidalisis??

Big Pharma doesn't want you to enjoy your cigarette, they want you to give your money to them instead - for smoke cessation products.

It's all about "health" - er, no wait - it's all about money, sorry. Actually, the media really only cares about one kind of health: its own. It's like what the media does to famous celebrities and movie stars: they first build them up, just so they can eventually knock them down again - that way, they can milk a subject for all it's worth, as long as they can get some good copy out of it.

The media will one day turn against health fascists and all their organizations - they can alway find other products and companies to advertise for.

There are more dirty politics and lies swimming around than you can shake a stick at! Get a load of what the lead ASHole John Banzah is now saying: even a smoker's breath is a high health risk! If a smoker walks into a room his breathing spreads a multitude of dangerous germs that could make people gravely sick! GET REAL! Conspiracy theory? You bet your cotton socks it is! Smokers' breath the reason why so many children die each year, huh? Smoker's breath responsible for sudden-infant-death-syndrome - huh? Smokers' breath now responsible for skyrocketing medical insurance costs - HUH? If a child gets bad grades in school it's because his mom walked into his room and exhaled - HUH? HUH?

Are you starting to get the picture?

Welcome to the United States of Insanity girl.

Time to get angry.

Seriously, we welcome you here though. Try also looking at the FORCES home page: www.forces.org - for more information Cool

cricket

Toker Joined: Apr 29, 2006 Posts: 109

by gilster on Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:46 am

To follow up on Crickets great recommendation to visit the Forces site, especially the scientific portal, check out these books on-line:

http://www.antibrains.com/

http://www.velvetgloveironfist.com/

If you are into the YouTube generation:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HairyChestnuts

Welcome to the Forum

gilster

Smoking Lobby Sponsor Joined: Apr 19, 2006 Posts: 1207

by Perique07 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:28 am

Thanks for those links! I spent a couple of hours last night looking stuff up and trying to find some stuff out on my own--boring Saturday night. haha

I looked at a lot of those Hairy videos (They're great! "Smokers die younger? Than Who?" is my favorite!) and I've been to the velvetgloveironfist website already. The forces thing is new, I'll spend some time looking at it.

As far as the Bigpharma is concerned, you bring up a good point. Personally, I hate those damn companies. Not because of the smoking thing but because of how much money they charge people for medicine. This is stuff they're told they "need" and these companies don't think twice before quadrupling the cost of these products just to turn a bigger profit.

You know, it's funny, I don't think twice about speeding down the highway and a cigarette makes me think twice. What does that tell you? This isn't a biased media...not at all. Razz

I've always thought it was unfair that anti-smoking can advertise until they run out of money but cigarette companies aren't even allowed to think about advertising. Doesn't really seem fair. It has to be the only business in the USA that's completely lopsided thanks to the government. I mean, it's like banning Dawn dishwashing soap from making commercials and throwing money at Palmolive. Why do these tobacco companies just sit back and take it? Don't these anti's realize that tobacco is one of the greatest things we grow in the united states. Perique shade tobacco is only grown here! Connecticut shade cigar wrapper, anybody? But nicorette is quick to forget that to turn a profit.

It's funny. As soon as you start trusting things, when you grow up, you realize that it's all fucked. People are cattle and what separates a person from the cattle is deciding for themselves--not taking everything they throw down the feeding tube, but questioning who the fuck threw it down!

I'm beginning to understand this more. Maybe this will help me enjoy my occasional smoke even more! Thanks guys. I'm beginning to think about this a lot more and in a different light.

Fuck these companies. Why do they care so much about me? The only company I trust to do the right thing is The Red Cross. It's important to realize that the only reason these companies exist is to make money--probably so the owners can buy some fucking nice cigars! HA!

Anyway, thanks guys.

-Perique

P.S. Think I'm gonna go get a fresh pack of American spirit and have the first cigarette in over a week!

Perique07

Newbie Joined: Jul 05, 2008 Posts: 16

by Lynda F on Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:40 am

I've been smoking for over 40 years now. How do we do it? That's easy. First, we don't give a flying fart in space what other people think, we know what we like and we exercise our constitutionally guaranteed right to live our lives as WE CHOOSE (while we still can anyway).

Should the day come when smoking is outlawed, many of us will then be criminals for we still won't submit to nanny-nazis.

We are the modern day resistance fighters. We believe in liberty and personal responsibility because we are older and parents and schools alike used to instill that in children. These days kids seem to be taught that the world owes them something instead of the other way around. We were taught that we were ultimately responsible for the choices we made and that all choices have consequences. We were taught that if you screwed up you had a price to pay and that the higher ground was to admit you were wrong and correct it. Unfortunately you are young enough to have been properly brainwashed into believing that nothing you do is your fault and that nanny-government is here to protect you from all perceived harm, and that's why you don't understand the whole concept guilt-free living.

You feel guilty about your one or two cigarettes a day because you have been spoon fed the supposed dangers in your most formulative and impressionable years. Meanwhile we happily and without guilt go right on smoking our 1 pack + per day. And don't take this personally, but your couple of cigarettes a day doesn't make you a smoker in my mind either (it does to the nannies). There's nothing wrong with your couple of cigarettes a day, so you should just enjoy them as much as I enjoy my 1 pack+ per day.

I'm just grateful that my son is older and that I was more attentive to instilling my values in him than allowing his school to instill the government approved values.

I was just commenting to friend the other day that if I were the parent of a young child these days, I'd probably be arrested and charged with child abuse because I don't believe in over-protecting a child. I believe we learn from our mistakes. While I wouldn't allow my child to do anything that would seriously cause him harm, I saw nothing wrong with letting him fall down and bump himself to learn how to avoid doing just that. My son is now a happy, healthy adult with a good sense of personal responsibility............thanks in part to my also showing him my own errors and the consequences and in my correcting them myself.

If you choose to smoke, go right ahead and do so....but do it without guilt for the so-called "facts" about smoking and second-hand smoke are all bogus bull feces. If you choose not to smoke, then don't; but make the decision for yourself and for your own reasons not out of fear or guilt.

Lynda F

Enthusiastic Smoker Joined: May 02, 2007 Posts: 501 Location: Phoenix, AZ

by Perique07 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 12:24 pm

I like you, Linda! hehe

It's true. My generation grew up in a very different time than any other generation. We all had to sit through hour long anti-smoking presentations, anti-drug presentations, and anti-everything that could possibly be bad presentations in school. It's crazy! I've always thought of myself as separate from all of that. I grew up in a very liberal home (2-mom household even! haha) and could never be called "sheltered". I guess because of that, I always thought that all of those presentations wouldn't get to me but I guess I was wrong.

However, today I did buy that pack at my favorite shop this morning and it was one of the best smokes I've had! While I was smoking it, I just couldn't be bothered anymore. I guess some of that research I did last night really helped.

I do agree with you on my generation--to a point--I know a lot of people that do expect something from the world but I don't really understand that. Maybe it was all that "Let's give trophies for just competing" little-league crap that I abstained from. However, we're not all like that. In fact, none of my friends are. We realize that we have to work for anything we want and if we just sit on our ass, nothing will get done. I guess we're oddballs. Although...I always have been. Ha!

I'm kind of rambling here. Anyway, thanks for your input. You never hear from anybody who's happy about smoking--good to know there are happy smokers out there. And if they outlaw smoking...I don't know what I'll do.

-Perique

P.S. That smoker's breath thing is the most ridiculous "fact" I've ever read. Human breath in general has a lot of germs and unless you're analyzing a smoking dog, it's bound to have a lot of germs in it! And who goes around breathing on people?! If you walk into a room and start breathing on the first person you see, you'd be put in an insane asylum. Then they would claim that smoking causes insanity! Is there anything they won't try?

Perique07

Newbie Joined: Jul 05, 2008 Posts: 16

by Phil Williams on Sun Jul 06, 2008 12:44 pm

Hi Perique (aka Groga07) I'm Phil (aka HairyChestnuts).
For years I never bothered questioning the so called evidence against smoking, until the UK government used the obvious lie about passive smoke to introduce our evil ban. This sudden attack on my social life prompted me to look deeper at the scare stories we've been fed over the years. Thanks to the forces scientific section, I rapidly discovered just how much of the evidence either doesn't exist, or in many cases show the complete opposite of what the antis have been saying.
The fact of the matter is, tobacco is one of the worlds oldest natural medicinal herbs. The pharmacutical companies hate it for that very reason. They cannot peddle their junk potions to healthy people, so they have to stamp out the competition. Tobacco must go, and they are using the deranged anti smoking zealots to do their dirty work.
But for every attack they make on my smoking pleasure, only inspires me to resist harder. Resistance against tyrany is noble, so everytime you light up one of your American Spirits, do so with pride. They are the dirty people, not us, and they will pay for their crimes. The truth is slowly spreading, the more they lie, the more people wake up to their lies. Their sad little empire of hate is starting to show cracks, and we smokers will pound their defences into oblivion. It is time to take back our freedom and dignity.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh188/Phil-Williams/Smoker.jpg

Phil Williams Newbie

Newbie Joined: Jun 16, 2008 Posts: 21 Location: Norfolk, England

by Perique07 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 1:54 pm

It's true! I've been doing even more reading up on this and it's amazing the stuff one can find out! Hell, even one guy on your video replied about the average life expectancies for heavy smoking countries. It really makes one think! These companies are constantly trying to sell us these snake oil cures! In fact, as I'm typing this, my TV is on. Can you guess how many medicine commercials I've seen over two commercial breaks? 5! That might not sound like much but there have only been about 6-7 commercials on! It's crazy. If they're not selling us fast food to clog our arteries (Huzzah Baconater!), they're selling us pills to unclog them but only until you need surgery!

Is it me, or is this a mixed message? I've always wondered, do we really need 30+ pills to cure ED (Erectile Dysfunction)? Shouldn't we take some of those resources and devote them to a better cause like...oh, I don't know...curing cancer? Seems like a simple thought to me. But what do I know, right?

I never bothered to question those presentations until now. We've always been told to just accept it for what it is: Smoking is so bad that if you or your friends smoke, you will die NOW!. We were never taught to question, just to accept. That's what you do to a cow. You teach it to eat, crap, sleep and then you kill it. The cow never questions. It lacks the capacity. However, we, human beings, have the capacity. Knowing that, these people try to brainwash us at an early age. They did it to me, my friends, and my family!

This is a classic tyranny. Every tyrant knows that in order to rule, you must make them happy; and if you can't make them happy, you must scare them into acceptance. But tyrants always fall. Every empire has it's falling (except for the British empire...which is odd haha). I feel like I've broken some sort of wall here (clichéd I know but oh well). This is how I felt after I watched the Zeitgeist movie.

Just fascinating. Irritating, maddening, and depressing...but fascinating.

-Perique

Perique07

Newbie Joined: Jul 05, 2008 Posts: 16

by Lynda F on Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:17 pm

Perique07 wrote:

I like you, Linda! hehe

Glad to hear that, but if you really liked me you would have noticed how I spell my name.............hehehehehe Laughing