Addiction or hobby?

[RightAJ]

Having a conversation with my mom this week, she said she sees a spike in the consistency and amount of my cigar smoking. I think it's relativly tame (usually between 2 and 4 a week) but she is an ex-smoker and says I'm moving towards addiction. I don't feel addicted, as this is a hobby for me -one I am quite involved in. I love cigars because they are relaxing and tasty, NOT because they are a nicotine filled product.

To prove her wrong I'm not smoking at all this week.

I'd love to hear others' opinions on this situation.

aj

[wayner123]

Here is my take on it:

Addiction
1 : the quality or state of being addicted <addiction to reading>
2 : compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful

Hobby
: a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation

[icehog3]

I AM addicted...to the hobby and the community, not to the nicotine.

[Skywalker]

I AM addicted...to the hobby and the community, not to the nicotine.

:tpd:

[kelmac07]

I AM addicted...to the hobby and the community, not to the nicotine.

:tpd: Gotta agree with Tim and Darrell on this one.

[SilverFox]

I am addicted to nothing.

Cigars are my passion and hobby.

[aich75013]

I smoke about 2-3 a week.
I'd say I'm definately not addicted. I don't feel the need to have a cigar. It's more of a want. I'll go outside w/ my laptop or iPhone and surf or watch a movie or read.

[icehog3]

I am addicted to nothing.

Cigars are my passion and hobby.

Phaneuf!!!


God Bless You.... :)

[SmokeyJoe]

I AM addicted...to the hobby and the community, not to the nicotine.

My thoughts exactly... well stated by everyone's favorite Admiral. :D

[Scottw]

I agree with Shawn, it's a passion of mine, not an addition. P**n on the other hand is an addiction.

[landhoney]

I was concerned about this after I had been in the hobby for a while and began to smoke a few a week, then one week I was busy and didn't smoke for 10 days or so, and it was no big deal. Since then "dry spells" happen for one reason or another and it's still not a big deal, glad to not be additcted. :tu

[Bax]

It's much harder to become addicted to cigars (though not impossible) due to the way that the nicotine is absorbed.

Inhaling cigarettes will give you a nic fix in a matter of seconds instead of minutes with puffing on cigars.

I could easily give up cigars if needed. Though I'd miss them, there would be no jonesing, shakes or edginess like quitting cigarettes.

I think alot of people here would miss hanging out with friends sharing a good stogie than the stogie itself. :2

[SkinsFanLarry]

I AM addicted...to the hobby and the community, not to the nicotine.

:tpd:Gotta agree with Tom, Tim, Darrell, Mac and Joe on this one.

[NCRadioMan]

I AM addicted...to the hobby and the community, not to the nicotine.
Agreed. I would also add one more thing to what Tom wrote, I AM addicted to the pursuit of buying more and more, not smoking more and more. I work at a non-smoking b&m :confused: and I am here up to 12 hours a day and even though I would love to have a cigar or two or three, I don't crave them and it doesn't bother me at all, like a cigarette smoker would be. We are next to a beauty shop and the girls that fix hair go out 8 or 9 times a day to have a cigarette.

Please tell her to not to lump cigarette smokers and cigar smokers together. They are totally different animals. Cigars are a choice. Cigarettes seem to be a necessity, to my anyway.

[bobarian]

Phaneuf!!!


God Bless You.... :)

:r:r:r Now that's funny!


Cigars are probably the least efficient means of delivering nicotine to the bloodstream. Given that you do not inhale, the only absorption occurs through the mouth and nose. You would have to smoke an awful lot of cigars(a la George Burns) to become physically addicted. Mental addiction probably occurs more easily but is much harder to quantify.
But I am more addicted to the friendships I have formed since joining CS/CA than I ever will be to a bunch of rolled up leaves. :2

[Cyanide]

Addiction itself typically refers to two elements:

1) physiological changes that produce both a tolerance of the substance and rebound physiologically stressful response to the removal of the substance (withdrawl). Not all of this has to be present (no withdrawl phenomenon is easily identifiable with halucinogens for instance).

2) maladaptive behaviours that are adopted to obtain, secure or use substance. So, by maladaptive, this means that the behaviours are continued despite the real/understood and accepted understanding that what you are doing is ultimately harming you.

So, you may very well be dependant on the nicotine. I will give you that one, but many could argue either way on this. To me its rather inconsequential.

Now, if you are spending more than you should on cigars, if you are missing work or risking trouble at work to smoke a cigar. If.....blah blah blah. Then there may be a problem. If you accept that cigars are GOING to 100% give you cancer (if it could ever be stated with such certainty) and you can't quit, then there may be a problem. Otherwise, probably not, at least psycho-physiologically.

[Skywalker]

:r:r:r Now that's funny!


Cigars are probably the least efficient means of delivering nicotine to the bloodstream. Given that you do not inhale, the only absorption occurs through the mouth and nose. You would have to smoke an awful lot of cigars(a la George Burns) to become physically addicted. Mental addiction probably occurs more easily but is much harder to quantify.
But I am more addicted to the friendships I have formed since joining CS/CA than I ever will be to a bunch of rolled up leaves. :2

We are addicted to you too, Buddy!!!:tu

[Kreth]

Smoking cigars is a hobby. Collecting them, now *that's* an addiction. :r
Posted via Mobile Device

[Lucky_Hippo]

Listen to your Mother. :tu

She sounds like she's just looking out for you and your health. As cigar smokers we can easily see the benifits to the spirit and sanity that a simple cigar can offer but she will always see you as her baby. It's enough to concern her about you and your health. If all it takes is backing down a few sticks to take some worry from Mom's shoulders, it's well worth it.

There will be plenty of chances to catch up on missed sticks down the road.

:2

P.s.
I'm not addicted either.:fu

[goalie204]

I call it a hobby, because i don't like to call it an addiction, but like John said, if you aren't missing work for a cigar, or making excuses why you "need" to have a cigar instead of doing important tasks in life, who cares :)

I've been addicted to drugs before, and this ain't anything like that :tu

Hobdiction! Addobby? :)

[SmokinApe]

I have been smoking cigars every day for years and continue to smoke more and more while buying more and more making me an authority on the matter... There is no way that these things are addictive...

[The EVP]

It's a hobby.

1) I don't NEED cigars in order to get through my day/week/month/whatever.
2) I can go weeks without a cigar and it doesn't bother me a bit.
3) It doesn't interfere with my financial situation and I'm not making decisions to either pay my cigar dealer or my bills.
4) I don't see crackheads rotating their junk while it ages and making sure it's kept at the right temp and humidity
5) I've never known an addict who was happy.

[hotreds]

Smoking cigars is a hobby. Buying cigars is an addiction.

[GTsetGO]

i can quit anytime i want to. :D

[Kreth]

Smoking cigars is a hobby. Buying cigars is an addiction.
Get your own material... :r
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[hotreds]

Get your own material... :r
Posted via Mobile Device


;s

[Snake Hips]

Physiologically it's extremely difficult to become addicted to cigars. Not only is the nicotine absorbed in a slower and less direct fashion, but the nicotine itself has very little addictive property. The nicotine in cigars and the nicotine in cigarettes are two very different chemicals.

[GreekGodX]

This is a great topic. I agree with what many have already said. Truthfully without all you guys, cigars would mean nothing to me.

[Mr. Ed]

Smoking cigars is a hobby. Buying cigars is an addiction.

:tpd:

I don't mean this tongue in cheek, but I think all of us (in varying degrees, and myself included) get addicted to the buying and collecting and organizing. :2

[troutbreath]

Clearly, you have a monkey on your back. We'll see you next week.

Like Bob said, one would have to smoke a LOT of cigars to get addicted. At 2-4 per week, you are missing out on plenty of good stogie junkie time. I vote hobby.

[Don Fernando]

I AM addicted...to the hobby and the community, not to the nicotine.

wise words Tom! I totally agree. With the upcoming surgery I know I won't be able to smoke for several months, probably 9 to 12 months, a sacrifice I gladly make, but I know I will keep coming here during that time, because the community is my family now.

[Ashcan Bill]

I generally smoke a cigar a day. But I honestly don't need to. This last weekend, I didn't fire one up at all because I just didn't have the time to sit down and enjoy one. Didn't actually even cross my mind.

On the other hand, when I used to smoke cigarettes, no way would I have gone over two days without one. Couldn't have done it either physically or mentally.

Was I addicted to cigarettes? Yep.

Am I addicted to cigars? Don't think so.

[icehog3]

I agree with Shawn, it's a passion of mine, not an addition. P**n on the other hand is an addiction.

You're addicted to pnoon? :confused:


:r

[pnoon]

You're addicted to pnoon? :confused:


:r

:tg

[Cigary]

Cigars at least for me have been something that is not an addiction because I am able to not smoke for months at a time and then go back to smoking once a week. I admit that I can get up to 2 a day but for the most part cigars help me relax and it's not a stimulant in the least. It's more than smoking as much as it is a seperation from anxiety and from everything I am reading on this thread people surround themselves with friends and just enjoy the comraderie as well as the taste. Nicotine seems to be something that isn't even in the mix.

[icehog3]

:tg

The lights are on,
but pnoon's not home
your mind is not your own
your heart sweats,
pnoon's body shakes
another kiss is what it takes
You can’t sleep,
pnoon can eat
there’s no doubt,
pnoon's in deep
your throat is tight,
you can’t breathe
another kiss
is all pnoon needs
Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh Yeah
it’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough,
you know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to pnoon

[tooomanycolors]

Smoking cigars is a hobby. Buying cigars is an addiction.

:tpd:

[pnoon]

pnoon's body shakes
another beer is what it takes
You can’t sleep,
pnoon can eat
there’s no doubt,
pnoon's in deep
your throat is tight,
you can’t breathe
another :pn
is all pnoon needs
Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh Yeah

[Cyanide]

You're addicted to pnoon? :confused:


:r

That's how I first read it too. But, didn't have the clever-streak necessary to turn it into group hilarity.

[goalie204]

It's a hobby.

1) I don't NEED cigars in order to get through my day/week/month/whatever.
2) I can go weeks without a cigar and it doesn't bother me a bit.
3) It doesn't interfere with my financial situation and I'm not making decisions to either pay my cigar dealer or my bills.
4) I don't see crackheads rotating their junk while it ages and making sure it's kept at the right temp and humidity
5) I've never known an addict who was happy.

I bite my nails which is an addiction, it doesn't stop me from getting through the day, etc etc etc

[c2000]

I am a compulsive, degenerate, addicted cigar smoker and I call it a hobby.........


Jerry in Minnesota.

[CasaDooley]

The lights are on,
but pnoon's not home
your mind is not your own
your heart sweats,
pnoon's body shakes
another kiss is what it takes
You can’t sleep,
pnoon can eat
there’s no doubt,
pnoon's in deep
your throat is tight,
you can’t breathe
another kiss
is all pnoon needs
Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh Yeah
it’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough,
you know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to pnoon

pnoon's body shakes
another beer is what it takes
You can’t sleep,
pnoon can eat
there’s no doubt,
pnoon's in deep
your throat is tight,
you can’t breathe
another :pn
is all pnoon needs
Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh Yeah

You both owe me a cup o joe see'un how I just speewed mine! Funny chit boys!:r

[RightAJ]

Posing this question else where as well, I got the answer that 'I will only smoke what I enjoy. Unlike an addicted cigarette smoker who will smoke anything they can get their hands on, I choose what I smoke and if I can't have what I want, I will not smoke then'

Thought that was another valid point..

aj

[DBall]

Smoking cigars = hobby

Buying cigars = addiction...

;)

[Bubba - NJ]

I AM addicted...to the hobby and the community, not to the nicotine.

Pretty much sums it all up for me too . :tu

[yourchoice]

I call it my cigar hobsession.