Martin,

I agree your comments but as an ex smoker, believe me, it's hell trying to kick a powerful addiction and that was ordinary baccy. Apparently, wacky baccy and all the other so called recreational drugs are much, much harder to give up. That interviewee should be offered assistance to give up.

John

The fault of the interviewer was failing to bring up that point. Same with the people who shout 'you've got to give up xyz to save the planet for my 5 children'. There was someone on the R4 news on my way to work talking about having been homeless with his huge number of children. All I could think was how irresponsible it is to have children when you cannot guarantee to provide for them.

When you are as bad a nicotine addict as i was where you would forgo food to buy smokes because the withdrawal symptoms were worse than hunger pangs ,it is very easy to fall into that rut and you begin to live a life that is totally controlled by that addiction .

I tried 4 times to quit the longest time lasted 12 months and it wasn't until my doctor prescribed some medication that i finally broke free from the damned things , i now cannot stand to be near someone that is smoking as i get headaches from it and have to leave the area . What irritates me the most is the government ( yours , mine and everyone else's) prey on these addicts for revenue , they should just ban it like all other addictive drugs and stop making money from others misery . Yes i know about the black market supply of tobacco and another strange thing is how is it legal to buy cigarettes but you can't grow your own tobacco – well not here in OZ as far as i know – only one thing can explian it – it can't be taxed .

Here in OZ we were trialling a benefits card where those on the dole could only buy food and pay rent etc on this card – they didn't get money deposited to their bank account just to this card but they circumnavigated that by buying food and re selling to pensioners cheaply for alcohol , drugs and smokes – true you just can't help some people no matter how hard you try !

Gave up the weed 40 years ago, just stopped no alternatives just will power. For the people shouting poverty it is not just smoking, there’s the must have 50 inch tv, the car to get Jimmy to school, the mobile to keep everybody uptodate on Facebook etc. Worked with a guy a few years ago, trying to save for a house deposit, mentioned in passing his 40 quid a month phone contract x2, how could he do without it!! Come on brexit, let’s live on the seasons produce instead of the latest must eat from the other side of the world.

Friend of mine is a self-employed builder, he was complaining the other day about how difficult it is to get young lads for labour at the moment – not because there aren’t any of them but because they all seem to think they should be on £15 an hour.

He said most of them spend half their pay before they even get home every day; 2x packs of smokes per day, then lunch and drinks/snacks/magazines etc

That is why I put it in parentheses – and that, for cars of that vintage and older, it was still referred to as that, even though the revenue was not all used for roads for decades before they changed its name.

For many years, revenue from cigarettes was deemed to exceed the cost of NHS care, so the government could not care two hoots as long as they were voted in. Perhaps priorites have changed in that area, too.

The irony being that if cigarettes were a brand new product being brought to the market today, they wouldn't be allowed to be sold. They're a known cause of cancer and addictive.

Gave up smoking 40 years ago. Got up one morning and said that's it. Never had or wanted another. It is not an easy thing for many people to do I know. I had an incentive as my mother had just been diagnosed with lung cancer. She had smoked since the age of 14.

I never used chewing gum or sweets to help as many do. Also I am very stubborn so I suppose that helped as well. Many ppl use it as a crutch because of their unfortunate circumstances. More help is needed for ppl who want to give up.

I cannot understand this vape thing. People using them are not really giving up dragging chemicals into their lungs. As far as I can see its a lame excuse to say I don't smoke.

The annoying thing about it is most vapers think they are entitled top stand near some one else and envelope them in an evil smelling cloud far in excess of what a cigarette puts out. Have you seen the huge clouds of smoke coming out of a vapers car ?

Probably going to upset a few ppl with those comments but that's my opinion.

regards

From forty a day to zero, 6.15pm 20th August 2002. Despite being a heavy smoker for forty odd years only inducement I had was the statement from the Sarf African lady doctor "Stop smoking and you will have a 50% less chance of having another heart attack, carry on smoking and you will DIE"

To all those who think they need tabs pills etc. You need to WANT to stop, pills and potions are just a crutch. Anyone telling me I would go cold turkey, I would have laughed at them, used to say I would stop when I wanted to and hoped nobody would challenge that.

I have never and never would criticize anyone smoking, cos I used to enjoy my fags, and don't forget, there's a surcharge added to each packet that is SUPPOSED to go directly to the NHS.

Regards Ian.

Congratulations to all who have given up smoking, however I am not impressed about the comments made about old people can't work out if they are some sort joke or serious comment, I am 74 like my pipe and use a e cig now and then, I managed to get off fags 3 years ago but on the rare event I have a tipple I like a fag, mind you I do agree about the benefit brigade, well some of them anyway

Mick

It was a joke. It's all a joke.

Martin.