Federal Appeals Court rejects class-action light cigarette suit

A class action lawsuit alleging fraud by the cigarette companies was thrown out by a federal appeals court.  Recently, U.S. federal and supreme courts have made radically absurd judgments to protect large corporations from repaying the public for damages made, but this is NOT one of those absurd judgements.  This lawsuit had no merit.

The lawsuit basically alleges that cigarette companies produced and sold cigarettes they called ‘light’ even though they conclusively knew that they were no safer than regular cigarettes.  Smokers would compensate for the lost ‘lighter’ smoke by inhaling for longer breaths and buying more cigarettes.  For this reason, the lawsuit alleges ‘fraud’.

No, that is not fraud.  The cigarettes in fact did exactly what they were advertised to do, produce less smoke.  When I started smoking, and someone gave me a light cigarette, I knew to put tape around the filter to close the holes that reduced the smoke intake and make it a ‘regular’.  Even if you did not know that, you still had a cigarette that produced less smoke due to the holes in the filter (drew air to mix with smoke).

Some people argue that the law should apply what the ‘average person’ should know.  And others argue that the stupidest of people should be protected.  Either way, this case was justifyably thrown out.

To get away from the bias of ‘evil’ cigarette companies, we have a good parallel example: milk.  Milk contains fat, of which in excess can cause horrible diseases and early death.   Not only does ‘2% milk’ not have 2% the fat of regular milk (it has over 50%) but we psychologically compensate for the lost taste and color (in coffee and chocolate milk) by adding more ‘light’ milk.  When I use skim milk in my coffee, I keep going until it overflows – we all subconsciously go by color when we add milk to coffee, thus offsetting the fat reduction.  Should the milk industry be liable for fraud?

Class action lawsuits are very important in our culture, helping to prevent high level crimes and reimbursement for being wronged.  Business and press have been using this case to argue that class action lawsuits are too frequently used in our society, and they are completely wrong and just trying to protect large industry.  This case was correctly thrown out because it failed on merit.

How I quit smoking, Pt.2

 

 Because of the responses to my last post on quitting smoking, I decided to post more information about my personal smoke cessation here, in addition to emailing responses.   I hope this information helps people who are trying to quit.  I am also trying to respond to each email I receive with any specific questions, along the way.  I know how difficult it can be to quit, and understand the need for support.

If you are a smoker and do not want to quit, then I do not want to try and convince you.  Based on the studies I have seen, the  evidence of the dangers of second hand smoke are inconclusive, at best.  Of course, it is difficult to separate the data from other factor, such as: higher smoker population in industrial cities and the reduction in regulation and regulation enforcement that limits the amount of toxins in the air.  Cigarette smoking is bad for your health.   Everyone knows that and it isn’t my or anyone else’s job to try and stop you from hurting yourself, as long as you are capable of making competent decisions and you don’t hurt anyone else.   Here is the follow-up details on my quitting smoking.

Nicotine is the key to smoking addiction.  Cigarette companies have increased nicotine content over the years, as well as additives that increase the nicotine potency, when taken in combination.  The more nicotine, the more the cigarette craving.  So the first, and most important, part of my quitting was to quit nicotine. 

Nicotine withdrawal is very unpleasant, horrible if removed quickly.  It can cause nasty headaches and irritability, as well as some other very bad feelings.  To avoid or lessen these bad feelings, I reduced nicotine levels very slowly.   I still smoked as many cigarettes as I wanted during these times, only within the specific level of nicotine.   These are the levels I used – I recommend a week on each level to allow your body to adjust to the new level of nicotine.  Buy enough cigarettes at that level for the week, and then make sure to smoke all the cigarettes at a level before moving to the next level. 

Marlboro Reds:  1.1 mg nicotine

Marlboro Lights:  0.8 mg

Quest level 1:  0.6 mg

Quest level 2:  0.3 mg

Quest level 3:  0.05 mg almost no nicotine. 

 

The brands are not important, only the nicotine levels.  In the United States, the nicotine levels are listed on the pack, or the info is available online.  Once again, it was important to stay on each nicotine level.  One week on each allows the body to adjust to the new levels.  Before I moved to the next level, I made sure I smoked all the cigarettes I had at the prior level.  I searched my car, old jackets and coats, behind the couch – in the couch, under the bed, in the cat litter, in the freezer, in the tape deck – everywhere!  Trust me, if you do not find it at this point, you will find it later. 

Once I got to the level of no nicotine cigarettes, I did not smoke as much.  After only a few days of being nicotine free, I suddenly realized I hadn’t had a cigarette in hours – without noticing! 

So I decided to make a strong attempt to quit right then, and it was relatively easy. I just stopped, and distracted myself whenever I had the urge to smoke.

The cigarette cravings were reduced significantly.  When I did crave cigarettes, I distracted myself for a minute and it went away.  There were the usual strong reminders, but each time I forced it out of my head by doing something else, like exercise or doing quick math problems in my head, or quickly counting the number of ex-girlfriends.  Well, ok – that last one might make you want to smoke – but the idea is to occupy your mind for a minute until the craving stops.  If you are constantly around people who smoke, try to keep away from them or distract yourself with conversation.  Tell them you are quitting smoking.  Most will try and help, and you will find that you are more likely to quit if you have your reputation on the line. 

One last thing.  If you do slip, make sure to only smoke nicotine free cigarettes.  Do not accept a cigarette with nicotine.  Keep a pack of nicotine free cigarettes stashed away nearby, like home or car or deep in your jacket pocket – just in case.  I kept half a carton of nicotine free cigarettes nearby, and it was only last month – 11 months after quitting – that I threw them away – untouched. 

I believe this method works better than any other for quitting smoking, based on the science.  Of course, no method works perfectly, but I have more confidence in this method than any other.  Quitting cold turkey, all at once, causes severe withdrawal which leads to slips.  Nicotine gum and patches just add addictions.  Support groups can be helpful, however.  We are all in this together. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me – I should put some of my ashtrays up for auction on Ebay. 

How to Quit Smoking

About a year ago, I quit smoking, shocking all people that knew me. After many years, this was my first attempt at quitting, and it was successful. The reason I was successful was the technique I used to stop. I know smokers do not think that they can quit smoking for various reasons, and every one of those reasons applied to me. If you think you cannot successfully quit smoking, read on to see how I did it.

Here are some reasons people feel they cannot quit smoking, and how they applied to me.

1) I have smoked for too long to stop. I smoked for 20 years, most of my life, before I quit.

2) I smoke too much. When I quit smoking, I was smoking over 2.5 packs per day (over 50 cigarettes). My cigarette of choice was always a heavy (high tar/nicotine) one: Marlboro Reds, or Camels. I always smoked down to the end of the cigarette. Oh, I was the best smoker around!

3) I need to smoke at certain times. I would smoke all the time. At the computer I would smoke. While driving, I would have a cigarette. After a meal, oh yes – that’s the best time. Oh, in the bathroom. I can’t sit on the toilet without a cigarette! I used to smoke all the time, inside and outside – in every room of the home.

4) I do not want to gain weight. Well, I have lost weight since I quit smoking. I was shocked to find I didn’t gain weight after quitting, since I relied on smoking to suppress my appetite.

5) I do not really want to quit, even though I should. Hey, I love to smoke. Smoking was a big part of my personality. I felt pride to be a smoker and would gladly have done commercials for cigarette companies. I just wanted to see if I could quit.

6) I am genetically predisposed to smoking. My Dad smoked all his adult life.  We tried to keep the pets away from the habit.

7) Now is too stressful a time for me to quit. Nah, I quit during a very stressful time, including a family member death.

As you can see, I was the last smoker anyone expected to quit, yet I did. How did I do it? The technique was given to me by a friend, who successfully quit. Even though she did it, I was skeptical that the method would work for me.

Why do we smoke? Simple question

Human are animals who respond to reenforcement. Smokers are conditioned to crave nicotine (the positive reenforcement – addictive agent) by self administrating nicotine during certain times (trigger). As an example. every time I stopped at a red light in my car – I lit a cigarette, which trained me to desire a cigarette the next time I stopped at a red light. To break this conditioning, the link to nicotine needs to be removed, according to this theory.

Initially, I did not believe this method would work. For 20 years I put a stick in my mouth, used my hands to manipulate the stick, and ran smoke through my skull. How could that oral and manual fixation be removed without replacement? I did not plan to replace the other forms of nicotine (patches or gum), nor did I plan to replace it with food or nicotineless sticks.

In order to get myself off of nicotine, I titrated (reduced nicotine incrementally) down, until I was smoking nicotine free cigarettes. Nicotine withdrawal can be very unpleasant, so these steps should be done slowly to minimize the withdrawal.

In general, that is the method for quitting smoking.   For more details, please email me at SkeptiSys@gmail.com

I would be happy to answer all questions to help you quit smoking.  We are all in this together.