Quit smoking leads to alcoholism?

Because so many ex-smokers she knows become heavy drinkers or alcoholics after quitting, Benet fears that if tobacco is banned then she will become dependent on alcohol, too, and that worries her because her body cannot tolerate alcohol.

"I can't help it if I can't tolerate alcohol," says Benet. "If I could, I'd be a lot better off in many, many ways than I am now. For starters, I had to give up the love of my life because he drank and kept on at me to take it up again, not believing how alcohol seriously affected my health.”

“I've spent most of my life being an ex-drinking smoker in a drinker's world, and while the sight and smell of alcohol certainly does trigger old desires I'm sane enough to handle it – as long as I can smoke,” explains Benet. “I remember how ill alcohol made me, and that does it for me."

"It seems that ex-smokers who gave up smoking for health reasons -- and then took up drinking -- are not only getting a better deal than I am but are also calling the shots, as alcoholics,” says Benet, “and this is so unfair because smoking calms my nerves – it’s my legal drug of choice.”

"Smoking never affected my health like alcohol did, so I never had reason to quit and still don't, but my nerves are getting so bad with all the non-smoking nonsense that if I did try to quit I'd need some pretty heavy tranquillizers to get there and stay there," sighs Benet. “It's definitely not something I care to try while I am still employed."

"Unlike smokers, drinkers just can't seem to enjoy their habit alone," sighs Benet. "They always want to force their habit upon you and get offended if you politely refuse. I get along fine with drinkers who also smoke, but if I have to socialize with non-smoking drinkers -- especially ex-smokers -- it doesn't take long for them to start abusing my smoking habit. Funny about that, isn't it?"

"Ex-drinking smokers don't abuse drinkers or preach to them," says Benet, "and I can't understand why ex-smokers can't bear being around us, whether we drink or not.”

"Maybe the abusive ex-smoking drinkers gave up cigarettes for the wrong reasons," muses Benet, "and that's why they go crazy when they see and smell cigarette smoke?"

"If I can't drink for health reasons, and I'm soon going to be prevented from smoking anywhere -- even in my own home -- then where does that leave me when I take early retirement (to avoid smoking hassles at work) and have umpteen years ahead of me to fill?"

"Do I go with the flow and become an alcoholic, or do I experiment with other drugs -- legal or otherwise?" asks Benet. "And don't give me any crap about not needing a drug.”

“I can't undo all those years and pretend I'm an innocent young girl again,” says Benet, “and besides which I don't know anybody who doesn't take something, legal or illegal, to make life less painful or more pleasant."

“Do you?”

Read more by Benet on this issue:

tobacco vs. alcohol
Toxic workplace drinking culture

We’re all gonna die!

When Sapphire, 19, proclaims that all of the current draconian health measures are ridiculous because “we’re all gonna die”, you get to appreciate that young people like her may be right in believing that far too many resources are being wasted on a lost cause at the detriment of our enjoyment of the days we do have.

"There's a real link between our aging population and the new draconian health measures," says Sapphire. "I don't think the government wants all of us to live forever, but the geriatrics in power behind the faces we see on television most definitely want to achieve that goal for themselves."

"Look at the sudden surge of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and surgeries designed specifically to extend the life or the youth of old people," confides Sapphire. "Viagra and all of that stuff coincided with anti-smoking propaganda. They are terrified of anything -- cigarettes, alcohol or even loud music -- that might jeopardize their ability to keep it up forever!"

"They hate us because we smoke, do drugs and live lives that they can only dream about now," says Sapphire. "They want to hang on to power forever. They hog jobs that should be going to young people. Because we have the youth that they don't have, they want to deny us what we enjoy."

"And the health nuts are just sooooo boring that I don't even want to talk about them," laughs Sapphire. "They are likely to be ex-smokers, ex-druggies and born-again Christians on a mission to make everyone as boring as they are."

"These are the people who are driving the government to put out all the anti-drug propaganda," says Sapphire. "Why? Do they want all of our jobs and all the fun of bars and clubs that we once had?"

"There are going to be an awful lot of unemployed people if all the jobs go to non-smokers and clean living people," laughs Sapphire, "and an awful lot more crime, too, if they keep raising the tax on tobacco."

"I can already get cigarettes on the street a lot cheaper than I can buy them legally, and when smokers stop paying tobacco tax who do you think is going to fund healthcare?"

“We’re all gonna die or one thing or another, guys, so why don’t we all just chill out and enjoy ourselves while we can.”

Read more by Sapphire:

health nuts, geriatrics and smokers

unruly teen alienated by stepfamily

street government

classifying drugs and criminalizing users

Looking at Noni you'd never suspect that she's a grandmother of six and a former speed addict. She believes that governments have done such a terrible job classifying drugs and criminalizing users that it might as well lift all bans and let people free to do as they like because they do it anyway.

"Like everyone starting out in life, I got into drugs when I left school, started work and fell in with a new crowd," says Noni. "Experimenting with drugs is a social thing to do and the illegal drugs were ALWAYS more tantalizing even though they cost more."

"When a drug is illegal there's an excitement about taking it that you don't get from a legal drug," explains Noni, "and it's this excitement, this risk-taking, that needs to go because it made me a speed addict."

"Speed or ice as they call it these days was my drug of choice simply because it wasn't main-stream," adds Noni. "I wanted to be different, and although a speed addiction is no worse than an addiction to alcohol or cigarettes it seemed worse because it was something I did in secret."

"I gave up on smoking and drinking very quickly when I discovered speed," says Noni. "Everyone thought I was a nice, wholesome girl for not smoking and drinking but they didn't know about my double life and where I got my incredible energy from."

"It's the same today with all the people who've been forced by social pressure to quit smoking," confides Noni. "You don't quit one drug without substituting it for something else, and that something may be far more dangerous in the long run if not in health costs then in leading a double life with the prospect of a criminal conviction down the line."

Read more by Noni on this subject:

legal v illegal drugs

stop crime, decriminalize drugs

two-faced health warnings

Shayne is 21 and makes the alarming observation that public health warnings against smoking have not only had the effect of actually hooking kids into buying a legally purchased substance from which two-faced governments makes a lot of money, but have also diverted attention away from health risks that are far more terrible than smoking.

"Don't believe me?” asks Shayne. “Well, look at the gory graphics on cigarette packs and ask yourself why it's okay to display pictures of the bloody and horrific so-called effects of smoking and not to depict the very real bloody and horrific effects of alcohol, drugs and everything else?"

"Why don't drinkers have to face pictures of cirrhotic livers or babies born with fetal alcohol syndrome when they open their liquor purchases? Why aren't there pictures of anorexic women on diet products? Why not pictures of blocked coronary arteries on fast-food wrappers? How about pictures of decayed teeth on candy wrappers?"

"Why stop there. What about gory pictures of mangled car crash bodies on every car sold? Gunshot wounded people on every gun sold?"

"Or how about gory pictures of aborted fetuses and the ravages of venereal diseases on the bodies of men and women in every doctor's surgery, public convenience and bar and club where young people hang out?"

"I mean, if people must be protected against every conceivable harm that might befall them then why stop with smoking?" asks Shayne. "And why isn't a simple written disclaimer enough?"

"Nobody has heard of nicotine fuelled attacks or accidents of any sort and yet every day innocent people are being attacked or killed by drunks or drug addicts," says Shayne, "so what la-la-land is our government creating for us?"

"Why is our government ignoring the terrible costs to the community of alcohol, illegal drugs, pollution and everything else and pouring more and more money on anti-smoking propaganda?"

“Basically, the government is being two-faced in pushing health warnings for tobacco and ignoring everything else."

Read more from Shayne on this subject:

stop government advertising!

gory tobacco ads

anti-smoking propaganda or hook?

education or propaganda?

tobacco vs. alcohol

Benet is approaching retirement age and, facing bans on smoking all over the place, she regrets how smoking is affecting her social life but makes the point that the tobacco war is not about health but the profits of the alcohol industry and that lawyers are behind it.

"What really angers me is that my smoking friends and I can no longer enjoy meals at our favorite restaurants -- they've all gone smoke free!" sobs Benet. "Sure, we can go there and sit among all the drinkers having a good time while eating their meals, but we can no longer light up before, during and after courses like we once could -- we have to go outside, and baby it's cold outside!"

"The restaurant owners refuse to open up a smoking area -- saying that they're operating an eating establishment not a smoking establishment," says Benet, "but what if alcohol were banned in eating establishments -- would they fob off the drinkers with a similar response?"

"I don't think so, they'd sooner make moonshine out the back than lose the patronage of drinkers," laughs Benet, "and this is the point I am trying to make. Restaurant owners make more money out of the liquor they sell than the food they serve and because of this they are perfectly willing to turn a blind eye to the occasional drunken behavior and vomit all over the place."

"They quite happily support the ban on smoking because smokers are not as lucrative as drinkers," explains Benet. "Why would they go to the expense of providing us with a properly ventilated smoking area when we just pay for food and buy our cigarettes elsewhere?"

"Sure, they can spout the health hazards of passive smoking on staff and patrons," says Benet, "but never once in my many years of smoking has any restaurant owner, waiter or fellow restaurant patron complained.”

“Most drinking patrons were too drunk to notice, and most waiters were too eager for a big fat tip -- which they always got -- to care."

"Bearing in mind that the sale and use of alcohol was prohibited for quite a number of years prior to WWII, it's amazing that it's such a mainstream drug today, having pushed out cigarettes, cannabis, cocaine and everything else that people once freely enjoyed."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure that tobacco is going to be prohibited," says Benet, "and having had personal experience of their enormous capacity to drink as well as their utter distain for the guys who smoked, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the non-smoking lawyers I once worked with, now in their late 50s to early 70s, are behind these changes."

"Perhaps a check of the liquor industry register would turn up some interesting names," laughs Benet, "and in the meantime my smoking friends and I are showing our contempt for liquor loving restaurants by boycotting them."

Read more by Benet on this issue:

Toxic workplace drinking culture
Quit smoking leads to alcoholism?

if smoking kills, why is it legal?

Tyla is 23, works in hospitality and she's thoroughly confused about all the anti-smoking hype. She enjoys a smoke socially -- so she's not yet a daily addict -- and it's at this stage in her life that she feels the government should stop flip-flopping on the issue and either ban the sale of cigarettes or get off smokers' backs.

"In my work I get to see plenty of off-duty health officials and they're off their face with one drug or another," laughs Tyla, "and while it's true that very few of them would be sneaking out back for a smoke the fact is that they don't practise what they preach."

"If smoking kills then the government would ban the sale of cigarettes outright, wouldn't it?" asks Tyla. "Either the government is deliberately killing us by not banning tobacco or it is deliberately lying to us in order to keep the money coming in. Which is it?"

"Maybe I'm naive, but when my government bans a substance I believe it's harmful and when it doesn't, I believe it's okay."

"Because the government is flip-flopping on the issue of smoking -- on one hand telling us how harmful it is and how we can't smoke in certain places any more and on the other hand it allows tobacco products to be sold in supermarkets and at the local store -- I don't know what to believe any more."

"If alcohol isn't allowed to be sold in supermarkets and local stores like cigarettes are," says Tyla, "then that means that cigarettes must be safer than alcohol, right? So why aren't there any warnings on liquor bottles and cans?"

"Can you see how confusing all this is to young people?"

"Like most of my friends I am left wondering about what the hell the government is really doing."

"Either it is deliberately lying about the harmful effects of smoking or it isn't -- which is it? -- and what part does money play in its flip-flopping behavior?"

"It seems to me that the government stands to gain both ways from its present position -- being supported by both the tobacco industry and the anti-smoking lobby --and a total ban on the sale of tobacco products would be detrimental to all three parties."

"If tobacco products are harmless and the government is just going along with the anti-smoking lobby in order to appease it and gain votes and money -- then that's understandable," says Tyla, "but if tobacco products are really as harmful as the anti-smoking lobby says they are, then by not banning the products the government is deliberately killing us -- and that's criminal behavior."

"I guess the government could squirm out of the inconsistency by saying that it cannot ban smoking because it doesn't want to infringe on our rights to choose our own poison," muses Tyla, "but that's a load of bull because we only have two legal choices -- alcohol and cigarettes -- everything else is banned!"

"It's only by making harmful substances illegal -- like heroin and cocaine -- that people understand the risk they're taking when they use it," sighs Tyla. "Just putting a warning label on a pack of cigarettes is not going to have the same effect because warning labels are everywhere these days -- even on plastic bags."

"Sure, cigarettes might kill you if you eat the damn things just like a plastic bag might kill you if you tied it around your head -- and idiots need to be warned about these dangers," laughs Tyla, "but if used for the purpose they are sold freely and legally on the market no product should be harmful."

"So, is our government sanctioning the sale of a harmful product or isn't it?"

"While I'm still young and not yet addicted to cigarettes I want to know if my government refuses to ban cigarettes -- and is deliberately killing me -- because it's in the pocket of the tobacco industry and wants to squeeze more taxes out of me for as long as it can," says Tyla, "or if it refuses to ban cigarettes because it does not consider tobacco products to be as harmful as other drugs and all the warning labels are just an appeasement for the anti-smoking lobby."

"Right now, I tend to believe the appeasement argument because if I died prematurely from lung cancer both the government and the tobacco industry would suffer financially -- they're not going to deliberately kill off a potential golden goose," admits Tyla, "but all the same I don't want to die prematurely from lung cancer and I certainly don't want to be a golden goose for the government, the tobacco industry or -- if it comes to that -- the anti-smoking lobby."

"I'm mindful that the anti-smoking lobby is making a lucrative living off smokers, too," says Tyla."If smoking was truly as harmful as they make it out to be then they would demand -- with everyone's approval, especially mine -- to have the sale of tobacco products banned outright."

"I don't see the anti-smoking lobby calling for an outright ban on tobacco and I can understand why -- if tobacco products were banned, their income and purpose in life would come to an abrupt end, right?"

"To be totally cynical, if smoking were truly as harmful as they make it out to be and the anti-smoking lobby does not call for a ban on the sale of tobacco products then they are deliberately killing me, too."

"To put a stop to all of this confusion I challenge the anti-smoking lobby to put its money where its mouth is -- cut the mealy mouth warnings, call for a total ban on the sale of tobacco products, and mean it -- or butt out of my life."

legal v illegal drugs

Noni wants to know what is so special about alcohol that makes it a more socially acceptable drug than tobacco products when it causes far more harm.

"Why do people go out of their way to lecture us when we light up in an outdoor area designated for smoking?" asks Noni. “The same people wouldn't bat an eyelid if they saw us drinking alcohol in the most inappropriate places, such as a children’s play area – which is something I’ve seen plenty of young women do – so why?"

"I like alcohol as much as most people do – it's a convivial drug, loosening tongues and everything else!" laughs Noni. "But I'd never make it my drug of choice to take on a daily basis because I need my wits about me when driving, going up and down steps and dealing with people who might take advantage of me."

"Smoking focuses my wits – and so do certain other drugs," explains Noni, "and that's why I'm very concerned about the current anti-smoking climate because if the government banned tobacco products people like me would need to become criminals in order to enjoy our drug of choice."

"I know enough about drug behavior to be able to spot someone who's not exactly as high on life as they make themselves out to be," confides Noni. "I'm not fooled by the exceptional energy and passion of some people in high positions, and I wish I could be on what they're on but I lack the money and influence that allows their duplicity to be maintained with impunity."

"It makes you wonder whether some drugs are illegal and hard to get because the big boys running the world don't want us to know the secrets of their success."

"I know that the more zealous of the anti-smoking crusaders want to add tobacco products to the list of illegal drugs," sighs Noni, "but that's only going to make tobacco attractive to people who may never have been attracted to it in the first place. A choice between two drugs – alcohol and tobacco – is bad enough; a choice of just one – alcohol – would be ridiculous."

"I'd give up smoking cigarettes immediately if cannabis were decriminalized," says Noni. "Cigarette smoke stinks and I can understand why the anti-smokers hate it, but what else can I take that's legal and smells good and doesn't make me witless like alcohol does?"

"At my age I need a drug that's mellow," explains Noni. "I don't want something to heighten my sexual experience, take me on psychedelic trips or keep me jumping all night. Ecstasy, LSD, GHB, ice, heroin and cocaine are totally unattractive to me."

Read more by Noni on this subject:

classifying drugs and criminalizing users

stop crime, decriminalize drugs

model quits smoking, gains weight

Like Gisele Bundchen -- the Brazilian supermodel -- Cherish earns her living on the catwalk and has also jeopardized her career by gaining 15 pounds in weight since giving up smoking.

"Most models smoke or take drugs to keep slim," confides Cherish, "and although I hated smoking I just fell into the habit because everyone else was doing it."

"I gave up smoking because my boyfriend didn't like it -- he said I stank -- but now he's complaining I'm putting on weight!"

"I never particularly had a weight problem before I took up smoking -- you know, needing to barf up my food or anything like that -- so I never expected to gain weight when I quit," sighs Cherish, "but look at me now!"

"It's not as if I am stuffing myself to compensate for not smoking --but I must admit that food does taste a lot better since I quit. I actually enjoy sitting down and having a meal rather than eating on the fly like I once did."

"Maybe I am eating more than I did before without realizing it?"

"Whatever, I'm in trouble because everyone is noticing my weight gain and I'm not getting as much work as I once did."

"I love being a non-smoker again, but piling on the pounds and losing my living is a terrible price to pay for it."

"I'm not going to take drugs to regain my figure," says Cherish, "that would be worse than smoking."

"I just have to accept that smoking must have suppressed my appetitite and now that I've quit I either have to eat less from now on or exercise twice as much."

"I refuse to accept this weight gain as normal -- I have never been fat -- and I hate what I look like now."

"It was really easy to give up smoking -- I don't think I was too addicted," says Cherish, "but cutting down or cutting out food is impossible. I've got to eat to live and my boyfriend is really horrible for teasing me about becoming a fatty."

"Do I hate being fat more than I hate smoking?"

"Well, they are both health hazards but in my case being fat is also a wealth hazard -- I earn my living by being thin -- so if it comes down to the crunch I have to opt for smoking being the lesser evil and I'm sorry, sort of, that I ever quit."

"I'll give it a few more weeks and if I can't shake the extra pounds then I'm in deep trouble."

"Sure, there are plenty of drugs -- legal and illegal -- that suppress the appetite," says Cherish, "but I don't want to go down that road and I certainly don't want to take up smoking again."

"Because I smoked for a year it may take me that long -- even longer -- to get back to a normal weight and in the meantime I may have to change my career."

"You hear lots of stories about people putting on weight after quitting smoking -- or losing a lot of weight just to put it all back on again -- and I never thought that I'd ever have this problem."

"It just goes to show that even skinny people have weight problems!"

doctors, drugs and hassled moms

When Germaine, 45, developed sharp pains in her chest a few days after a 'money' argument with her daughter she went into panic mode and thought she was having a heart attack.

"I suppose I should have called an ambulance straight away," muses Germaine, "but because my husband would have got here quicker I telephoned him instead. He carries his phone with him, but I guess he couldn't answer, so I left an urgent message and then decided to drag myself off to see the local doctor. If I got into trouble on the way I could call out for help. It was better than sitting home alone in panic mode waiting for my husband to respond to my urgent message."

"For normal health problems - coughs and colds and broken bones - we drive to the big medical center in town ," says Germaine. "It's quick - you get to see the first available doctor; it has all X-Ray and lab services on tap for quick results; and it's open 24/7. But I didn't dare drive that day. I didn't have far to walk and besides which I prefer our local doctor for important health problems - he gives more personal care than the big medical centers."

"It was about 1pm when I arrived and his surgery was packed," relates Germaine. "I was told I'd have to wait at least an hour to see the doctor - it was actually an hour and a half - but I didn't mind. I was, after all, in the right place for medical assistance."

"I made small talk with the other patients - flipped through old magazines - watched a bit of television - went outside for some fresh air - visited the bathroom - and generally observed my fellow patients as they came and went."

"Strangely - or not so strangely considering that men get cared for by their wives or girlfriends - not one man was a patient in the surgery waiting room. They were all women - young women with children, young women in suits probably taking the afternoon off to visit the doctor - and older women like myself with the saddest faces of all."

"At my examination, all the vital signs were okay," says Germaine. "The doctor asked me what had caused the 'panic attack' and when I told him about the argument with my daughter he commiserated with me and told me it was a common event."

"My doctor isn't married and as far as I know doesn't have children so I suppose he was talking about his patients," says Germaine. "I wondered how many women he sees each week, or even each day, whose only problem is a hassling adult kid. I wondered how many of the older women waiting outside in the surgery had the same problem. It was scary!"

"He decided I needed something to calm me down over the coming weeks," says Germaine, "and I suppose he was doing what any doctor could do under the circumstances but I wondered how many pills he hands out to women each week, or even each day, who have nothing physically wrong with them - who just need to be calmed down after a bad incident with a greedy adult son or daughter."

"I went home relieved to know I wasn't having a heart attack but I was very upset, nevertheless, to accept that I was going to need drugs to help me over this bad incident."

"I had raised my daughter never to take drugs - not to drink or smoke," sighs Germaine, "and as far as I know I'd been successful in keeping her clean. It would be ironic if I'm the one who becomes a drug addict! I can appreciate now those baleful jokes made by men about wives driving them to drink."

"I can now make a baleful joke about my kid driving me to drugs."