Quote Originally Posted by victory01 View Post
I am trying to quit smoking and recently read 'Easy way to quit smoking' by Allen Carr. I started smoking at 13 and quit for 3 years but started again a year ago. Cigars actually helped relieve the void 4 years ago, however after reading this book he states that substitution leads to further nicotine addiction. Even though I did quit cigarettes for 3 years and started cigars I did find the flavor very appealing and never found it a substitute for the habit of smoking cigarettes. Has anyone else gone through this? Have you used cigars as a substitute and found it to be more of an occasion of flavor rather than addiction, like drinking fine wine versus being an alcoholic??
I was a hard core 30+ cigarette per day chain smoker for over 30 years. I quit 2 1/2 years ago. About 6 months after quitting cig's I smoked my first "real" cigar (I had smoked colts and the like) when my wife's boss gave me a couple he brought back from Cuba. I first noticed the smell, it was wonderful. Then I lit it and slowly smoked it, without inhaling, and totally enjoyed the flavor and I've been hooked since that moment.

I do not inhale. Yes I know I can't help but inhale some smoke, even when smoking outside. But I've yet to have that buzz you get from inhaling a single drag fully into your lungs (oxygen deprivation!?!?). I don't kid myself, I'm certainly getting nicotine from smoking it whether it's from inhaling second-hand smoke or from direct absorbtion inside my mouth.

I can tell you this much. I don't crave cigarettes. After 2 1/2 years I rarely think about smoking them. I also don't go through wicked cravings for cigars (nicotine) like I used to with cigarettes as can be seen by how few cigars I actually smoke.

In the summer I might have 3 cigars per week. In the winter (I live in western Canada and believe-you-me, you do not hang outside and puff on a cigar for 1.5 hr's when it's -20, or colder) I might smoke 2 or 3 a month. Chances are I'll have 1 every week this winter since I now have a smoking buddy who has a place we can go and smoke indoors.......lol.

Do I use cigars to keep me from smoking cig's or as a substitue? No.

Just out of curiosity, I had a drag from a cigarette last November while out hunting. It tasted like sh*t and left me wondering why I ever smoked them to begin with (as I scrambled to light a Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 Torpedo........lol). For me cigars are strictly about the flavor and the sitting and relaxing and talking with friends for the duration of said cigar.