Be Excellent To Each Other

I quite like American Spirits. They used to come with little collect n' keep cards, until at least a few years ago. I was given a couple of packs by a friend, and received the same ''No. 57 - the Lemur" card in each

I used to really like Woodbines - not easy to get hold of, but they made you feel like a WW2 fighter pilot, which can't be a bad thing. The filterless, baccy in the mouth effort was very definitely a bad thing, though.

I have given up smoking...I am miserable.

I keep hearing about these electronic cigarette simulators. Has anyone got one? I don't smoke but the concept and the technology interests me

I was tempted to try a punt on one. I worry that one from dealextreme might make my knees explode though.

Things get better dude. Hang in there.

Not one of the white ones with crystals in, these actually have some sort of gel that actually provides you with smoke to inhale, just without the tar, apparently.

Has she tried the rabbit? Much more versatile.

0_0;

Sort of the fag equivalent of Hovis Best of Both, then. Pleasing nobody, all of the time.

I'm assuming it's a vaporiser type thing, so there must be a battery in there too to run it.

Yep, it's got a little heating element.

I don't really smoke anymore apart from the occasional fag. Best cigarettes I ever tried were an American blend called Winston's - I think it was the Ultra Light variety which is, IIRC slightly stronger than Marlboro Light. They had a really good taste and weren't harsh - they were also free from a lot of the shitty chemicals that most cigarettes have. Also, it's a bit of an urban myth that rolling tobacco is cleaner than manufactured cigarettes.

I love a decent cigar and used to have a semi regular supply of cheap Cohiba's coming in from a friend who went to Cuba twice a year - I mean, even Grim... would balk at shelling out £30 a cigar, but when they're costing about £2 each it seemed perfectly acceptable to smoke a couple a day However, I did come to the conclusion that smoking cigars makes your breath smell of shit the following morning. Literally.

I also have a Hookah, though I haven't used it for a few years. It's a very pleasant way to smoke.

Other brands I've tried include.
B&H - always found them very dry
Disque Bleu - very dark flavoured and very strong
Gaulloise - various iterations, but the filtered Bleus were very similar to Camel lights to me
Camel, Camel Lights - preferred the regular Camel to the lights for some reason
Marlboro Red/Lights. Smoked the reds for quite a few years when I was in my late teens early 20s. Switched to Media Fags (Lights) and was pretty much what I smoked most of the time. Bizarrely, American Marlboro lights are horrible - they always taste of boiled veg to me.
Also smoked rollies for years - be it Golden Virginia, Drum light or Samsom light.

I smoke Winston's when I can too. Last time I had a visitor from the US, they had instructions to bring me over a few boxes, because they're just so much nicer (and of course cheaper).

Plus, The Flintstones smoked Winston's too, I've seen some old black & white TV ads up on YouTube.

Yabba... ahem

Yes, I was initially attracted to the very stylish packaging for Winstons, but they were a very nice puff. They're part of the Philip Morris group anyway aren't they. I suppose they have such a bloody strangle hold with Marlboro Lights...

When I used to smoke I smoked B&H, but when we went racing with the McLaren Davidoff and West used to hand out cartons of their cigarettes to us. West were alright, but Davidoff were niiiiiiiice.
I gave up smoking nearly three years ago. I miss it

How come we've gone 4 pages without someone posting a picture of Alan Carr?

Camel Lights are absolute besty best. Or Camel Subtle as they are called now. I don't think they're allowed to be called lights any more.

Golden Virginia rollys are bestest. Drum is terrible, mouldy smelling stuff.

I regularly partake of a shisha with friends, often after a BBQ. Mixing mint and coffee tobacco tastes lovely and cool, but rich at the same time.

Smoking is brilliant. I'm planning on giving up at 30. By planning on giving up I really mean that I'm going to stop buying packets of smokes. I'll never stop entirely, why would you? Cheeky wedding cigars, and outside party smoking circle are the way forward.

Yeah, this. I made a promise.

I'm gonna fuck my lungs hard between now and then, mind. Gonna smoke the shit out of those bitches.

I heard that if you give up before you're thirty you can get back to pretty much the health you'd have if you never smoked. You boys better give up on the day before your Birthday.

yeah my friend told me that and that he was going to do the same thing except hes now 30 and still tempted by the smokes, theres a flaw in the plan.

I've got one solid year left of 24/7 puffing, then. Here's a different perspective, not trying to change tack wildly, just think it's got some relevance.

My missus will not live to be very old, her health is fucked. She continues to smoke because she's going to die young anyway from one thing or other. It's a grim fact. When this happens, I will not have much left to live for, and will be somewhat glum. So. As much as I know that smoking is bad, I find that it is of at least some small satisfaction and comfort to do so. Not because 'ah, the future is forever away! I'll live forever!', but because the end is a certainty, and I am assured to spend the final majorative years of my life in lonely misery.

So. I continue to smoke, because I am determined to enjoy life as much as possible (from recently here-on, particularly). Because there are a billion ways to die. Because there are worse things than you yourself being ill/dying. I've had to accept this fact for the last five years or so, and will continue to have to accept it for the rest of the time that my girlfriend and I have together.

AND SO THEREFORE MY POINT IS that I think cigarettes are relaxing and pleasurable, and worth at least trying on the trip to certain death that we all must take. They might help you get there quicker, but then you could get hit by a bus tomorrow. Possibly by a drink-driver. Now THERE is an evil to carefully moderate your use of.

A good point, CUS.

People are determined to live for as long as possible, despite the fact those last few decades you'll be getting blinder, deafer, less mobile and smelling more and more of piss. Unless you're one of those sprightly old folks, of course.

Thing is, I'd have to ask myself if I wanted to be old and die in my sleep having had a healthy life, or be like my poor grandmother who smoked like a chimney when she was younger and died slowly and horribly from lung cancer in a hospital.

I'm not saying this will necessarily happen (nor am I averse to a cigar or something on rare occasions) but there's a lot to think about.

Whatever makes you happy, man. Though I don't smoke, I don't really object to other people doing it. The missus, on the other hand, despises all substances except alkie-hol. And homerhol.

The only letter not appearing on the Periodic Table is the letter "J".

BA DUM TISH!

Good to see your blurry face the other night, by the way.

Man, this thread needs a health warning....it's making me want to light up.

I started on silk cut ultra at 13, almost no point bothering with them! I dabbled with mentols but they made me feel ill, then I went to B&H at 14 and smoked them until I was 16 when I quit completely for 4 years or so. At that point, when I had a life, I was a social smoker and could easily get through 20 a night. I started again at uni and I was on evil L&B because I was poor....I could happily smoke 15 a day then stop completely when I was home for holidays or weekends.

I haven't touched a fag for over a year now but occasionally I crave it, especially the nicotine rush that comes with the 1st smoke in a while, the slightly woozy giddyness.....mmmm....smokey goodness.

Anyone got a light?

Heh. Being a social smoker is very easy when you're young, especially when you have friends who introduce you to drunk acquaintances who, to be polite, offer you one.

I generally don't object either, especially since the smoking bans in public places. However, there's a woman here who is heavily pregnant and still goes out for her regular fag breaks... that bugs me. I heard there were going to be gory pictures of diseased lungs on fag packets soon, but if the fact you're going to have a baby isn't going to stop you smoking, then I don't imagine much will.

I used to like sitting outside pubs, now it's not so nice. It would be nice if they had smoking and non smoking areas OUTSIDE too.

Malc

Yeah. We all die.

Dying of cancer is a horrible, drawn out and painful way to go though and smoking hampers your quality of life until you get it.

That's a couple of the reasons why I stopped.

Oh yeah and money. Fuck me they're expensive now.

Cars? Yes.

Also alcohol. Alcoholism in the young is a particular danger in Britain today, but there's fuck all done beyond 'alcopops' advertising getting the occasional smack down, and the occasional 'BINGE BRITAIN' headline. Societally, we are a nation that encourages drug abuse, so long as it's through legal channels.

This wouldn't bother me except, well, if I cane down a few ciggies and then go for a drive*, there's no risk of my falling asleep at the wheel or having a road-rage incident, or...

Cigarettes cause cancer. But at least it's your cancer, and not someone else's. Because kidney failure only happens to 80 year old men who drink a gallon of whisky every day, that's how that works, everyone knows that.

Personally, I have no problem with what people do, I just wish there was a bit more realization that all of this stuff is slowly killing you in some way, and a bit less hysteria about cigarettes. I bet if they smelled like fucking roses, it'd be a hugely different story.

Tip: if a drunk twat gets in your face in a pub, ask him to kindly not surround you with 'second hand drink'.

Sorry. I've had members of my family die from, and others continually struggle with alcohol abuse, since I was a baby (although, obv. I wasn't told as much at the time ). It does bother me immensely that glugging down a gallon of Port is considered a bit OTT but impressive, whereas me having cigarette break gets me sharp looks like I'm Hitler. It's an insane perspective, and one which is interestingly mostly limited to Britain. I would love to really know why that is.

* I have no car

And so with that said, I'm going to go and grab a nice class of ultra-delicious Del Rivo pineapple juice (it's literally just pineapple juice, and fucking gorgeous), and enjoy a relaxing cig.

Which would work about as well as no smoking areas inside did.

Jesus, maybe people shouldn't smoke inside their own homes in case you walk past an open window?

That's a good idea, Grim. I approve.

Aren't they about to ban smoking in cars, and stuff?

Just in case Malc is sitting in the back?

Apparently in Holland, where they aren't all hysterical fucking morons, if the layout of the premises permits it they are allowed ventilated smoking rooms in pubs and clubs. I can't see a single reasonable objection to this, unless of course the ban on smoking in public places was mostly the government pushing a much further-reaching public health agenda, the sole justification for which they didn't want to see undermined.

There was a bit of ridiculous comment recently about banning it "to ensure children are protected". They may wish to check the back of my car. If there are any kids in there, second hand smoke is the least of their worries.

Before the ban, the Virgin upper class lounge in Heathrow had a smoking section in one corner. The air-con was so powerful and well-directed that you could stand 2' away from someone with a cigarette and not smell a thing (if they were in the smoking bit and you weren't).

You can only 'puff the magic dragon' pure in coffee shops now, no baccy, apart from a few with special air-conditioned separate rooms.

Mm... puff... although, I've given that up incidentally. I've been smoking cannabis regularly for the best part of the last year, so now I'm going to not, for at least a year (probably forever). It's not good to continually imbibe any one substance like that (or booze, or fags or sugar, or...) so I'm going to 'detox' now.

But still. In Holland, weed can be freely smoked in those cafes, unlike tobacco. Here, weed is a class one substance because all those hoodie-wearing Arab illegal-immigrants do knife crime on it, or something; and similarly, it suited the government's agenda, despite flying in the face of public opinion and a government-requested independent examination.

Ever crossed the road because you could see a dodgy youth publically brandish an open cigarette container?

I've seen something like that somewhere - they had sort of "walls" of air that sucked everything away. Darn good stuff. I think I remember a cigar shop wanting to allow customer smoking if the customers sat inside one of those and staff did not have to enter it. Still wasn't allowed.

Class C isn't it?

That's utter massive bollocks, though.

No, it's class B. Sorry, not class A (or 'one' as I stupidly said above) - but this was the Government's intention. It's proving bloody hard to find the pages I wanted though, and I'm beginning to sorely regret not making a copy of every webpage I visit, when I do, when it has news like that. Bookmarks don't cut it.

this is the best I can re-find. In short: nobody but the government feels it needs to be any higher than Class C, and they wish it could it be Class A, so they've settled on B.

Amusingly, I know there are a number of liberty-related groups in Britain who have it as part of a 'portfolio' of civil liberty abuses that have been recently or are still on-going. But because it's about weed, it sadly gets marked down as 'potheads complaining they can't take their illegal evil drugs anymore', because y'know, poor education in this country.