Have you ever heard a smoker say it was easy – even enjoyable – to quit smoking? It has been 9 days since my last cigarette. I feel good, actually better than I have felt in awhile. The coughing has almost subdued and I can already start to feel improvement in my lungs. I had been thinking about quitting for maybe the past 4 or 5 months. I made several attempts, but none have lasted more than 2 or 3 days. I remember an attempt to quit cold turkey on New Year’s Eve, but that lasted until January 2nd.
The main factor that helped me end my addiction was this book, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, by Allen Carr. His book taught me a lot of things that I didn’t already know and re-inforced things that I did. Carr debunks many of the myths about smoking: smokers enjoy smoking, smokers choose to smoke, smoking is a social habit, smoking relieves boredom and stress, and smoking aids concentration and relaxation. He offers a step-by-step approach to stopping, and reveals how to handle withdrawal symptoms and temptation situations.
The eye-opener that first attracted me to this book was that the author tells you to keep smoking like they usually do while they read the book. I found this peculiar and thought that it must work if he tells you to keep smoking. As I progressed through the book, I became more conscious of each cigarette I smoked. I finished it Monday, March 22, 2010. This also happens to be the day I put out my last cigarette.
The first week was somewhat difficult, but not unmanageable. I have had urges to light up, but I know that this is the nicotine ‘monster’ inside me who is angry because he hasn’t been fed in awhile. After the initial 3 weeks, the actual nicotine should leave my body and that will end the physical cravings.
There is nothing positive that comes from cigarettes at all. I have saved about $60 so far in the twelve days that I’m going on without this habit. I used to throw away $5 everyday towards my addiction. I feel better physically, mentally, etc. In addition, the ‘sin’ taxes have been going up almost every year on tobacco-related products. In some countries, tobacco is the source of local government income. This is literally , a killer, cash crop.
Thinking about our U.S. obsession with lighting up, we are not the only nation. For example, China has the largest smoking population in the world – 350 million. Every year, 1 million Chinese die of tobacco-related diseases. China is the largest tobacco producer in the world. During the past 10 years, it’s average annual production of leaf tobacco accounted for 35% of the world’s total. Also, while many industries are seeing a negative impact on business, the Chinese tobacco companies are thriving. Profits allowed the industry to pay $75.13 billion (U.S.) taxes in 2009, a year-on-year increase of 12.2 percent. In June 2009, the government increased the tax on tobacco. The tax now on category A cigarettes rose from 45% to 56%, and category B cigarettes rose from 30% to 36%. This high-tax policy has transformed the tobacco industry into a major source of tax revenue in China and a backbone for fiscal revenue for some local governments.
Among China’s top 500 companies in 2009, nine were from the tobacco industry. This industry is one of the few industries in China not open to foreign investors. The tobacco industry is a government monopoly in China, overseen by a supreme management entity. This entity is known as the STMB (State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau), which is tasked with restricting consumption, organizing production, and operation of monopolized tobacco products. According to the STMB, since tobacco products are special commodities and harmful to human health, they cannot be produced and sold randomly. Hence, China will not change its centralized and unified management policy toward the tobacco industry.
To me, it sounds like China has government-run “population control”. For the government to monopolize the tobacco businesses in China, it seems like they want to control how many people are smoking and/or dying from their own government’s products (while the government makes money). I like how the STMB said that tobacco products cannot be produced and sold randomly, since they are special commodities and harmful to human health. Isn’t alcohol a special commodity and harmful to your health, as well? Why doesn’t China treat alcohol the same as tobacco?
- Lan, X. (2010, January 28). Tobacco dilemma. Beijing Review, 53(4), 44-45. Retrieved Monday, March 22, 2010 from Academic Search Complete Database.
