Holy shnikeys!! 3 packs a day.

Congrats on your long-term accomplishment. Fortunately for me, I never began smoking so I've never had to quit. Know more than a handful that have been unsuccessful, numerous times, over the years so I know how hard it is.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Another interesting bit of trivia, our esteemed member delibus did NOT name his first wagon after a pack of cigarettes!
( one of the mosts amazing things about his journies was the $figure tyler was able to sell Newport for).

Thanks for the comments and interesting stories.

Tobacco is overwhelmingly seductive for nearly everyone that comes into contact with it.

Taxation on tobacco goes back to the late 1700s. I wonder if there is an instance of a grander scheme where both state and federal governments colluded with industry to support something for the tax revenue it generates, and thereby caused 10s of millions of people to die from cancer in the name of ........... supporting tax revenue?

Good point Link. THEN, when the government finally DID crack down on the tobacco companies, they set it up so that the vast majority of profits from the remaining business went to the government.

For a short time in 2003, I dealt with Reynolds Tobacco. In getting to know them they told me the situation at the time. Their work force had been cut from, as I remember, about 4,500 to 1,500 and was in the process of being trimmed further.

At the time, they grew the tobacco, harvested the tobacco, processed the tobacco, produced and packaged the cigarettes, found someone to buy them, and distributed them to the stores.

For all this they made ten cents per pack while the government collected $1.50 per pack for doing nothing.

As I said in another thread, they don't wear jackboots and they don't goosestep, but they operate the same.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I think we'd be hard pressed to come up with a more egregious example.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

A couple of my lasting memories from 30 years of smoking. (15 to 45)

1. When I got out of the Navy and when back to college, an economics teacher was lecturing about supply and demand. Back then cigarerttes were about 50 cents a pack in machines. So, he asked how much those who smoked would pay for a pack of cigarettes before they would quit.
So, I raised my hand and answered "a dollar". He looked at me incredulously and said "You'd pay a dollar for a Pack of cigarettes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
To which I offhandedly replied: "Sure, if I could afford it"

2. Back in the mid 80's I stopped in a 7-11 on my way to work to but a pack of cigarettes. There was young teen-age girl, and when I asked her for a pack of Kent-3's, as she handed them to me, she said :
"You look too intelligent to smoke"
She left me speechless as I stammered for a silly response like" "Well, um, er, I know but....."

I have repeated this story many times over the years. I should have heeded her advice. Stupid is as stupid does.

That's great!

A pack in NY will set you back $13.- these days I believe; smoking a pack a day will cost you $4,745 a year. Still peanuts comparing to a heroine or coke addiction, but the cost of a nice vacation for two in the Caribbean nevertheless.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

Substitute the word alcohol for tobacco, and drop the word cancer - then multipy the disasterous results by a thousand+.......

I quit Dec 8, 1969, the day I left Nam. Flipped my last cigarette out as I walked across the tarmac to get on a big bird, said thanks for getting me out of there, and gave it up as penance. So far, so good but I still miss it.

I quit cold in 2009 after more then twenty plus years at two packs a day. Carried an unopened pack with me for a year to help control the panic of not having one nearby.

Started smoking at the ripe old age of 15, by the time I went to boot camp I was a pack to pack and a half.
Went cold turkey in boot camp, no tobacco products at all for 8 weeks. Started the first school, went right back to smoking.

Fast forward 10 years, still two packs a day until my oldest daughter was born. Quit again. For good. It's been 16 years now, there are days I still want one though

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86 300SDL. 250,xxx on #14 Head. One eye always on temp gauge.. Cruising towards 300K

I did the exact same thing; cold turkey and left the last pack unopened in a drawer at home.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

i really wish most employers would adopt a smoke free policy. drives me nuts some of the guys working for us that have to have a smoke every 30 mins. worst part is, upper management lets them get away with it. imagine if the entire crew took a 10 min break every half hour

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

Really I could get to the Caribbean for that!

Whoooooho - see ya lads!!!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Yeah imagine saying that you have a sex addiction and that you have to slope off every 30 mins for a quick fluid relief in your favourite secretary - I don't think they'd let you do that would they. It's just not fair is it?

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!