Me & My Cigarette. Part 1

By Author: Paul Dixon
Total Articles: 3
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Me & My Cigarette. Part 1

The dinner host shouts a mild curse from the kitchen as she berates the oven to stop smoking, the potatoes a little over done. Conversation is polite. The guests seated are middle age. They have good jobs, look after their families and respected in their communities. A couple are outside smoking cigarettes, are asked to stop and come inside to eat. There is light laughter, friendly conversation, and the host has just placed upon the table a roast chicken, vegetables, and a warm loaf of bread. The smoking has stopped from the kitchen. Dinner is eaten. The food is good. Desert is served. Ice cream, fruit, and then a cheese board. With evening near complete, stomachs full, a man dressed in a shirt, white collar, tie, and wearing glasses, the professor type, pulls out a large clear plastic bag, places it around his mouth and nose, and inhales deeply. He smiles, nothing better to finish off the evening than to sniff down some glue. The fumes waft up and into his head, giving him a pleasant high. A deep smile of satisfaction crosses his face as the fumes enter his blood stream pass the blood ...
... brain barrier and acts upon his nervous system. He offers the bag to another around the table. She too, sophisticated, wealthy and smart, brushes her long hair aside, wraps the bag around her face, and inhales deeply. The chemicals interact with her brain, destroying a few brain cells here and there. But she feels uplifted. A good meal and good glue fumes. What a great night, she smiles.

Doesn't quite make sense does it? Smart, intelligent, people, having a great evening and then inhaling glue. Crazy really. Real life isn't like that. Is it?

There are many ways people abuse substances in this world. There is the glue sniffer, the petrol sniffer and there is the person who inhales insecticide. There is little difference between people, except one persons habit is sanctioned by society, and the other two are not. If you come across a glue sniffer on the street, or perhaps view one on T.V it is normal to look at such a person with scorn. Wasting their life, addicted to substance abuse and slowly killing themselves by inhaling noxious fumes. And yet we look at people who smoke insecticide and we don't give them a second thought. Because Nicotine is an insecticide which is the main addictive chemical in cigarettes. People who smoke cigarettes are people who get off on inhaling nicotine. One group of people inhales, glue fumes, the other insecticide. Glue fumes are a toxic deadly poison. Nicotine is a toxic, deadly poison. Two drops of pure nicotine, injected into a fully grown male will kill him. People who smoke cigarettes are slowly but surely committing suicide over an extended period of time, but somehow society has been conned into believing that smoking is different to sniffing glue, inhaling petrol fumes and all those other substance abuses.

Luckily society has begun to realize the dangers of smoking. There are warnings on packets, and advertising is restricted in many countries. However the message still hasn't got through to everyone. So if you're a smoker, or know someone who smokes, or you are young, thought about smoking and have just taken your first few puffs, or perhaps you think it's time to quit smoking and you just need a little incentive to make the final decision, take the time now to really get an understanding of what a smoker is inhaling when they put a cigarette to their lips.

Apart from the nicotine, and the carbon dioxide gas that is inhaled (which are bad enough by themselves), cigarettes contain approximately 4000 other chemicals. Of those chemicals 600 are considered poisonous and 64 carcinogenic (Carcinogenic means they contribute to the likelihood of developing cancer). Commonly found poisons found in cigarettes are arsenic, which is also used as an insecticide. Cyanide which is used for fumigating cargo containers, Ammonia which is used in Disinfectants to clean bathrooms, showers and toilets. Cadmium which is found in metal batteries. Acetone which is used to remove nail varnish from finger nails. Benzene which is a chemical industrial solvent. Formaldehyde which is highly poisonous and is used to preserve corpses and Hydrocyanic acid which was used as a gas to execute murders. That's right used to kill murderers. But smokers aren't murders, and they are not sentenced to death and yet they have imposed a death sentence upon themselves. Crazy you say. Yes. Yes it is.

Now if you are a smoker, or you know some who smokes, it's time for a wakeup call. Smokers are substance abuser. Smokers might not like to think of themselves in that way, it might make smokers feel anxious, angry or attempt to deny the fact, Smokers get off on inhaling insecticide and industrial chemicals. So if you are a smoker the next time you reach for a cigarette just tell yourself that. I'm about to inhale some insecticide to make myself feel better. And then ask yourself, does that really make sense.

Forget about terrorists, shark attacks, and lightning strikes. If you smoke, or you know of a smoker, it is likely smoking will kill them or at least contribute to their demise. If a person smokes a pack a day it'll take about ten years off their life span. And those last few years are probably going to be nasty ones too. Cancer is always a bad one. Cancer of the bladder, cancer of the lungs, cancer of the throat and cancer of the stomach. Cancer; always a horrible death. Then there is Emphysema, which is like a slow suffocation. It's like you are being slowly strangled to death over a few years. Gasping and gagging with every exhale. Horrid. Then Blindness is common. From cataracts, to fungal infections and complete loss of sight. Gangrene, of course is another one you really don't want. The tar from cigarettes constricts in the arteries stopping the blood supply. Legs feet are common limbs that are chopped off. All pretty nasty stuff.

Now if they are really, really lucky, cigarettes might might not kill the smoker. But all those chemicals are still having an effect on the body. For a women, their fertility drops by approximately 30%, menopause comes on quicker, (by nearly two years) and fat distribution changes. Fat on a women begins to be stored in and around the tummy, like a male beer belly. For a man, he is no better off , not only is it common to get erectile dysfunction, embarrassing enough, but his sperm production goes a little askew and his sperm come out all wrong, weird shapes, three tails, that kind of thing. All of this because intelligent people insist on sucking down insecticide fumes.


So if you are a smoker, or if you know a smoker. Maybe it's time to quit smoking. Maybe you aren't the type of person who thought of themselves as the suicide type. Or perhaps the type of person who is a substances abuser, getting their daily fix off insecticide. There are many ways to quit smoking, going cold turkey, nicotine patches, and of course hypnosis. Whatever way you decide to quit smoking, make the decision to go out and do it, because you and your body deserve to be treated better.
Paul Dixon, Hypnotist and Hypnotherapist located in Auckland, New Zealand of Lifestyle Hypnosis works with a wide range of clients to help them overcome smoking and anxiety related behaviours.