Anyone addicted?
How can I tell if I'm addicted to cigars? All these health websites warn that cigars have 100-400mg of nicotine and that they are super addicting, but then I read posts on ask.com and people say they are not addicting from personal experience.
Anyone here addicted yet? I dont smoke cigarettes, and I've only started cigars a few weeks ago, yet I can't stop thinking about my next cigar break and what I'm going to smoke. Is it just the excitement of a new hobby or what? I started at one cigar a day, now I'm at two cigars a day (I only have time to smoke half in each sitting so I guess it really counts as one cigar a day - or does it?)
Comments
I would chalk it up to excitement. I always look forward to a cigar, but I have never felt like I need need gotta have a smoke. I have been enjoying cigars for going on 6 years.
I am at about one a day in the summer... I do pipes more in the colder months. Here's a way to test... If it's too damn hot or cold outside, do you still want to go suffer through it and smoke? I'm not talking about "Man, I wish I could go smoke right now." More like, "I might go crazy if I don't have a cigar now, and maybe another later" in sub zero temps or sweltering heat. Lol!
Everything is bad for you, don't ya know?
A lot of people who first jump into cigar smoking go through a bout of over indulging.
It might be the addiction to the collecting.
And yes, collecting can be addictive.
Years ago, when I discovered that there were cigar websites, I was constantly looking for that next cigar.
I was smoking 1-3 cigars a day.
It was the thrill of the hunt.
Now days, I am lucky to smoke 2 per week.
As for being addicted to cigars, I go through times where I might go a month without having a cigar.
With pipes and cigars the non-smokers like to look down on us but for the vast majority this is just a hobby that of course is about the cigars and pipes but when it comes down to it the hobby is a very social one. It's always more enjoyable to share the hobby with others and spend time enjoying a fine cigar or pipe with a good friend or multiple friends.
As far as the health aspect goes, when I was growing up I had an Uncle who was always smoking a stogie and I also had a Grandfather who was always smoking a pipe. They have both passed now but my Uncle was in a car accident and my Grandfather passed away of natural causes. The way I look at it is just enjoy life and don't worry about every little thing because if I'm going to go I would rather enjoy myself and not deprive myself of something as great as this hobby.
If you ever really want to know if you are addicted just send me all your cigars and see what happens. I'm here for you, lol.
This sounds about right. When I was a cigarette smoker, I wasn't addicted for many years, until I ended up with a certain job, and found myself smoking 2 or more packs a day. After a couple years of that, got out of that job, carried the addiction with me. If I couldn't go out and smoke a cigarette I'd get more and more anxious, surly, cantankerous, mean to the point of my co-workers saying "GO OUT & SMOKE for goodness sakes"
Now, I work a high stress job, 12 hr shifts (that often become 14 hr shifts), and no worries. When I get home, if I want one, I can have a cigar. If it's too late, well, there's tomorrow.
That's not addiction.
Sadly, most of the "Health Information" outlets are as much into propaganda and political correctness as they are into genuine health information. Believe me, I know.
I've survived 30 years of police work and prostate cancer. I'm going to smoke cigars!
I do think if you smoke many cigars a day your chances for these non-lung-cancers are probably much higher than if you don't smoke them. I mean, if you're genetically pre-disposed to caner, it's something you need to think about, but it's your choice.
As far as being addictive, I do believe cigars can cause addiction since, again, nicotine is an addictive substance and you are absorbing it. However, it does seem among most cigar smokers that it's not a "gripping" addiction like cigarette smoking or alcoholism. Seems that most people here don't smoke a box of cigars a day, and that many don't smoke more than a few every week.
Since cancer does run in my family, I'm very careful about limiting my cigars. I try to smoke no more than two a week, and rarely have the time to finish them. And, honestly, since my cigar tolerance bandwidth is very narrow, I find myself disliking the vast majority of brands I smoke, to the point that after finishing one I don't like I feel ready to quit the whole thing together. That's when I need to go back to one of my preferred brands to assure me that that it's worth pursuing.
in a cigarette the nicotine is delivered in high doses to the blood and brain via the lungs. this high dose is a big reason for the addiction.
in a cigar, a large portion of the nicotine does not make it to the blood because it is only being absorbed through the gums and cheeks. those membranes are nowhere near as effective as the lungs for getting nicotine in the system. so yes cigars have more nicotine because they are larger but they dont deliver in a high concentrated dose and they dont deliver the same amount of nicotine per puff.
This is known as CAS (cigar acquisition syndrome). Not to be confused with GAS (gear or guitar acquisition syndrome), VAS (vehicle acquisition syndrome), WAS (weapon acquisition syndrome), TAS (timepiece acquisition syndrome) or any of the hundreds of other ASs that are unique afflictions affecting men.
Cigarettes are what I would imagine a drug addiction is like in that once I got it in my head to smoke I would have to smoke and would go to nearly any lengths to get that fix. Cigars are more like a food craving.
Oh great.....you had to list your web site in your bio......I am addicted to journals.
I too, enjoy the ceremony and ritual of smoking a cigar. It also allows me to enjoy special moments like when my son came home from his deployments safe and sound.
That would be a great t-shirt right there