The High Cost of Smoking Cigarettes ~

If you think your cigarettes are getting even more expensive, you're right. In the past 10 years, 47 states and the District of Columbia have implemented 105 cigarette tax rate increases. (In contrast, Missouri and North Dakota haven't raised cigarette taxes since 1993, while California last hiked them up in 1999.)

According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, states currently charge an average of $1.47 in taxes on each pack of cigarettes. As a result, the average price for a pack of smokes in the United States is now $5.58, though the price fluctuates wildly by geography. In Missouri -- the state with the nation's cheapest retail price -- a pack costs $3.93, while in New York -- the most expensive state -- it's a whopping $9.11. And that's outside New York City. Here in the five boroughs, where there are additional city taxes, a pack can cost anywhere from $11 to $13.

The average smoker burns through 13 to 16 cigarettes a day, or four to six packs a week. That adds up. The average smoker forks over at least $1,500 a year, while here in New York City, it's closer to $3,300.

But because smoking, like takeout food and store-made coffee, hits our wallets in a series of small purchases, it can be easy to overlook how much you're spending. Still, it has a psychological impact: One of many reasons governments implement cigarette taxes is to reduce smoking among price-conscious consumers.

It works: Research shows that people smoke less as cigarettes get more expensive. As tobacco giant Philip Morris (PM) stated in its 10-Q for the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 3, 2008, "Tax increases are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on sales of tobacco products by our tobacco subsidiaries, due to lower consumption levels."

Smokers will have a lot to ponder in coming months, as the Department of Health and Human Services implements its new packaging policy requiring warning labels that include graphic photos of the health damages caused by smoking. In the meantime, we wanted to know how sensitive smokers are to the price of their cigarettes, so we hit the streets of Manhattan during lunchtime to find out.

102 Weeks of Recovery ~

Recovery from nicatine addiction is a combination of carrots and sticks. There will be days when you feel great and love life. There will be days when everything seems like a challenge to your sanity; especially in the begining. That's perfectly normal. We're human!!

The key to living without our former crutch is to recognize that both days are good for our growth in recovery. And both days are potentially dangerous -- if we don't stay vigilant.

Remember, we're dealing with a foe that's cunning, baffling, powerful, persuasive, and extraordinarily patient. For me, nearly two years later it can feel as if I've got the tiger by the tail. But I can risk letting my guard down, even momentarily, or that tiger will pounce.

Happy occasions are just as likely to invite relapse as stressful situations. But as long as we keep your guard up and don't allow yourself to be seduced into thinking we're "cured" (we're not)... we'll all be fine.

707 ~ What's Special About This Number?

* 707 = 7 x 101.

* 707 is the smallest number whose reciprocal has period 12: 1/707 = 0.001414427157001414427157001. . .

* 707 is the sum of five consecutive primes: 707 = 131 + 137 + 139 + 149 + 151.

* 707 is the sum of three nonzero fourth powers: 707 = 54 + 34 + 14.

* 707 is the sum of five distinct pentatope numbers: 707 = 495 + 126 + 70 + 15 + 1.

* 707 x 715 = 505505.

* The Boeing 707 was a commercial passenger jet airliner, which first flew in 1957.

** I Quit Smoking 707 days ago today!!! **

Read How Nine Stars Gave Up Smoking ~

http://www.everydayhealth.com/stop-smoking-pictures/9-celebrities-that-successfully-quit-smoking.aspx

Why Haven't I Gained A Pound??

Mouse Study Reveals How Smoking Helps Keep People Thin
By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay News

The notion that smoking somehow helps keep smokers thin has gotten new support from a study in mice — and the finding might one day be parlayed into new drugs to control weight gain.
It's always a leap to extrapolate from animal experiments, one expert said, but this new research does open up interesting possibilities.

"Humans have basically the receptors as mice," noted Ursula Winzer-Serhan, an associate professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in Bryan. "There is good evidence that what happens in mice also happens in humans."

Winzer-Serhan was not involved with the study, which appears in the June 10 issue of Science.
"We have to be very cautious," added study author Yann Mineur, but the basic biology, "as far as we can tell, is fairly similar to what's happening in humans."

It's well known that people who smoke tend to be skinnier, even if their lives tend to be shorter than those of nonsmokers.

"All animal studies show that nicotine reduces body weight by reducing food intake and increasing energy expenditure," said Winzer-Serhan. "That is one of the few facts in science there is not a lot of controversy about."

But the new study goes deeper than that. Mineur, an associate research scientist in psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, stumbled upon the compound used in the study, cytisine, while looking into possible drugs for depression.

The smoking-cessation drug Chantix (varenicline) is a derivative of cytisine.

In experiments with mice, cytisine prevented weight gain by activating the same set of neurons in the hypothalamus as nicotine does. This neurological pathway is also involved in appetite and metabolism, the researchers said.

However, even though the idea of targeting nicotine receptors to control weight has been around a long time, the problem is that nicotine receptors are located all over the body, explained William Tank, chair of pharmacology and physiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

That means that any drug developed to control weight via nicotinic receptors would have to be very targeted, otherwise it could have effects on other parts of the body, including memory, blood pressure and heart beat, explained Winzer-Serhan.

Cytisine, which Mineur says is already used in some Eastern European countries as a smoking-cessation aid, is fairly selective, targeting receptors in the peripheral nervous system.
In the meantime, the current findings should not be used to encourage smoking as a weight-loss tool, given the habit's deadly effects.

Certain nicotine-based, smoking-cessation techniques, such as patches, could potentially limit weight gain, Mineur says, but smoking is not the way to go.

Mineur also pointed out that there are many other factors associated with post-smoking weight gain, such as munching on candy because you miss the cigarette.

"The idea of there being a therapeutic use of nicotine agonists is...a great idea," said Tank. "[But] this is a very complicated set of physiologies and nicotine is an extraordinarily complicated drug."

100 Weeks Ago Today!

That's Right ... One Hundred consecutive weeks with out a cigarette! That's 700 Days to you and me!

Do you know what you were doing July 5th, 2009?
I know what I was doing ... Suffering!!

It's hard to believe now that I was so heavily addicted to Cigarettes for so long. I'm at the point now where I can hardly stand the smell of tobacco smoke, especially in people's clothes.

I am now just four weeks away from my Two Year Mark! It was just two short years ago four weeks seemed like an eternity. Today it just seems like any other four weeks without a cigarette.

If you're still new to the "Quit Smoking Club" keep up the struggle -- it really does get easier. I'm living proof!

Cheers. FJW

How Do I Know I'm Really Addicted to Nicotine?

You may think you smoke just because you want to, but telltale signs of nicotine addiction include the time of day you start lighting up and what you will do in order to have a cigarette. Get the lowdown on nicotine addiction, and find out how to quit for good.

By Beth W. Orenstein

If you smoke cigarettes, it’s likely you are addicted to nicotine. Statistics show that three out of four people who start smoking are still smoking 40 years later. They simply can’t quit smoking, because nicotine, a drug found naturally in tobacco, is addictive. The Surgeon General has concluded that nicotine addiction has similar pharmacologic and behavioral characteristics to cocaine and heroin addictions.

A pack-a-day smoker smokes a cigarette about every hour or so, says Erik Augustson, PhD, MPH, a behavioral scientist in the Tobacco Control Research Branch of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. If you were to stop or even cut back, you would start to go into nicotine withdrawal — and that’s what drives smokers to smoke their next cigarette.

How soon you reach for a cigarette in the morning, after not smoking for the time you were sleeping, is a good indication of the severity of your nicotine addiction. “If you have your first cigarette of the day within five minutes of waking, your addiction is pretty strong. If it’s within 30 minutes, it’s moderate and, if it’s within 60 minutes or later, it’s somewhat lower,” says Cheryl Yates, a master certified tobacco treatment specialist at The Tobacco-Free Wellness Center at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Pennsylvania.

Other signs that you have a nicotine addiction include:
· You smoke more than seven cigarettes a day.
· You smoke even when you’re sick.
· You go outside to smoke even if it’s freezing or raining.

You have to consider not only how many cigarettes you smoke, but also how heavily you inhale, Yates points out. “You can extract the same amount of nicotine from 10 cigarettes as you do from 20 if you smoke heavily rather than lightly,” she says.

Another way to know you’re addicted to cigarettes is if you try to stop and you experience withdrawal symptoms. The most common nicotine withdrawal symptoms are:
· Irritability and anger
· Restlessness
· Depression
· Physical sensations, like you have a mild case of the flu
· Inability to sleep uninterrupted
· Cravings for cigarettes
· Weight gain, though typically less than 10 pounds

Some people who have quit smoking complain of dizziness, headaches, and having more dreams during withdrawal. According to research, most smokers experience at least four of these nicotine withdrawal symptoms when they try to quit smoking.

“Nicotine withdrawal is unpleasant for the vast majority of smokers,” Augustson says, “but it’s not as bad as we see with other drug addictions. It’s not physically dangerous and, while it’s unpleasant, most smokers try to manage it.”

The unpleasant side effects of nicotine withdrawal are the most intense when you first quit. They begin to subside somewhat after a week and even more after a month. Withdrawal symptoms can linger, but it does get easier. Eventually, the time between cravings will grow longer and longer, and eventually stop — typically after about six months.

The cravings themselves are like waves, Augustson explains. “Cravings can be very intense, but they will crest and fade even if you don’t have a cigarette. They will go away naturally on their own. Cravings won’t last more than 10 to 15 minutes for most smokers. Finding a way to get through that 10- to 15-minute period is a very effective strategy for quitting.”

Augustson suggests saying to yourself: “I know it’s unpleasant now, but if I wait 15 to 20 minutes, I can wait it out and I can be very proud of myself because I did.”
Other strategies for quitting include:

· Find a distraction. Go for a walk, wash the dishes, or play a game with your kids. “Find something that will distract you enough to get through those cravings,” says Augustson.
· Remind yourself why you should quit. Write a list of the top five reasons why you should stop smoking — such as you don’t want to get lung cancer like Dad and die at an early age, or you can save $75 a week not buying cigarettes. Keep the list with you and review it when you feel the urge to smoke.
· Avoid situations where you are likely tempted to smoke. Common triggers include feeling stressed, being bored, or drinking alcohol. Know what situations cause you the most stress and try to come up with coping techniques, such as deep breathing or practicing yoga. Plan activities so that you’re not bored. Stay away from bars and other places where you often drink — especially when you’re first starting in your efforts to quit. If you must have something, switch to non-alcoholic beverages.
· Seek support. Let friends and family members know of your intention to quit. Also, find a support group. You can find support online or in person with groups that meet locally.

Because nicotine is addictive, quitting is never easy. But with the right help and the right attitude, you can overcome your addiction.