Smokers....I finally quit!

So if they're the same price and you're still smoking, wouldn't chewing the gum be better?? That kinda was my point.

And, yeah, cigarettes are insanely expensive here and I think it's a GOOD thing. Maybe it'll help discourage young people from starting.

 

Yep, chewing the gum is better than smoking no matter what the cost. But when money is tight, people are gonna choose the cheapest route.

As for the cost of cigarettes, I'm one of those people who will argue to the death, that raising the price of cigarettes does nothing but increase the crime rate. It does not make smokers quit, and kids will smoke just because they wanna be "bad". When they become expensive enough, people will break the law to get them.

When cigarettes were less than a dollar a pack in Michigan, Ontario raised the price of theirs to $5.00... pure lunacy! What did they think was going to happen? Of course the American cigarettes came pouring across the border by the truckload. That disparity is still there... and American cigarettes are still prevalent in Ontario.

It's funny, because American and Canadian cigarettes both have their own unique smell. Walk around in Sarnia and do a little nose survey--there's a lot of Canadians having a smoke that smells supiciously American. I'd venture to say a lot of them came from the duty free shop too.

At any rate, I think it's been over a week for me now... no smokes. If I made it this far, I guess I don't have to worry about the price anymore.

 

About the smell, yes, I know. American smokes, to ME, STINK!! I hate them! They're VERY different from Canadian smokes. I guess it's all what you're used to, eh?

A week!! Good for you!!!

 

First i would like to say Congrats to you....

I have been trying to get my mother to stop smoking who has been doing so 30+ years.... I will suggest this pill to here and hopfully it will work for her....

 

This story about Chantix, and updated warnings, was on the CNN ticker last night. Here's a brief of the update from WFAA.com (one of many sites that has the story):

DALLAS — "Tougher warnings were issued Friday for Chantix, a prescription drug used by thousands of people to quit smoking.

Pfizer, the drug's manufacturer, voluntarily updated the drug's label to include much more serious potential consequences—including an alert about suicide.

News 8 has been investigating the drug since the bizarre Labor Day death of Dallas musician Carter Albrecht. He was shot and killed by a neighbor of his girlfriend who was terrorized by Albrecht's erratic behavior.

Our reports generated thousands of complaints, and triggered, in part, an ongoing investigation by the Food and Drug Administration.

Pfizer said the labels will be updated with a warning that patients using Chantix should "be observed for serious neuropsychiatric symptoms, including changes in behavior, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior."

'"I think an advisory from a pharmaceutical company is an important notification step," said Dallas pulmonologist Dr. Mark Millard. "It means doctors need to be communicating with their patients that these are potentials, they're rare. They don't seem to be common given the number of prescriptions out there. But they have to recognize that if it's you it's given to, it's not rare—it's real."'

These reports seem right now to be far more common than the company anticipated; that's why Pfizer is posting a more prominent warning on the box.

Chantix was approved last year as an aid to quit smoking. More than four million smokers have in the U.S. have tried the drug. Pfizer says they don't yet know for sure whether Chantix causes depression, violent behavior, or suicide—but based on the number of complaints, they can't rule it out right now."

 

I guess the lawyers will be adding that one to the list of "Drugs you took that can get you FREE MONEY".

 

No idea lil, but lawyers and presciption med mistakes usually go hand-in-hand. It is pretty sad though, that all of these new 'wonder drugs' became available before anyone had a clue what the side effects might be. Like Vioxx, for another example.

I don't even take aspirin, so I don't know what it would be like to need meds.

I would say though, for anyone who is trying to quit smoking, leave Chantix alone.

 

This program called final smoke--www.finalsmoke.com--it uses all natural stuff. It comes with the stop smoking pills, lung cleaner, and anger management pills (god knows imma run out of them:LOL). Its expensive but I know many people that quit taking it. It is also nicotine free so its not putting nicotine back into your body. Its worth a shot though. The Zyban also works and i never had it to bring on depression--but there is another prescription that will make you feel like your losing it just dont remember the name of it. The final smoke you can order right off the internet.

 

Should we celebrate with a cuban cigar?

 

Yeah, I'll bring the Cogniac and the Amaretto.