Smoking: How much is too much?

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ericka1701

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I have been a smoker for over 5 years, and for the most part, I’ve smoked about a pack a day, until very recently. It seems that I’m smoking more and more every day (in fact, I have a ciggy in my mouth as I’m typing this). In reading the following in the CCC, I’ve gotten a bit concerned about the amount, or the increasing of the amount, I’ve been smoking. I guess my question is this: is this sinful? Thanks in advance for any replies to this question.
2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.
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God Bless!
Ericka
 
Well, basically you can’t let it control you. Anything that causes you to loose your freedom isn’t good. Neither is being attached to things of the world. Also something to keep in mind is doing things that you know are harmful to you as a person or putting yourself at risk can be sinful too.

Basically if it is distracting you. If it becomes something you can’t live without, or something that causes you to loose focus on God, then you need to cut back or stop.
 
Hi Ericka,

Wow, you’re only 22 and smoking for 5 years and up to a pack a day? You gotta quit…it’s not good for you and I bet not cheap. That’s my sermon on that…🙂

But you’re asking if it’s a sin. Well, I once heard Father John Corapi state that he thought smoking was a sin against the commandment of Thou Shalt not Kill. I don’t really hold to that strict of a standard, as we all have vices of varying degrees. But I believe moderation in most things is really the key. I would think if smoking starts to effect your health, and it probably will some day, then you may be past that point. Of course, same can also apply to those that drink too much, eat too much, don’t exercise, and those that don’t get regular health checkups (that’s me). Also, there’s the matter of really realizing that you are commiting a sin, ect…

Don’t know if that helps, but my thoughts anyway…

Take Care…
 
I actually have set my quit date for Feb 25th (Ash Wednesday), and I think the stress of actually setting a quit date (instead of just saying that I’ll quit one day) is what’s making me smoke more lately. I’ve been seriously considering quitting sooner, but just typing that out makes me want another cigarette. I also would gather to say that it might be more sinful for me to smoke since I’ve been blessed with a great singing voice. Luckily, as of now, it’s not been affected too much (I’ve lost about 2 notes on my upper range, though 😊 😦 ), but I also need to remember Joni Mitchell’s latest album. I can definately tell a difference in her voice from my mom’s 33’s and now.

I am really beseeching prayers right now. I know from my really good friend that once I’ve overcome the addiction that I will be just fine, but going through the process of kicking the habit is scaring me sh******.

God Bless!
Ericka
 
ericka1701 said:
I actually have set my quit date for Feb 25th (Ash Wednesday), and I think the stress of actually setting a quit date (instead of just saying that I’ll quit one day) is what’s making me smoke more lately. I’ve been seriously considering quitting sooner, but just typing that out makes me want another cigarette. I also would gather to say that it might be more sinful for me to smoke since I’ve been blessed with a great singing voice. Luckily, as of now, it’s not been affected too much (I’ve lost about 2 notes on my upper range, though 😊 😦 ), but I also need to remember Joni Mitchell’s latest album. I can definately tell a difference in her voice from my mom’s 33’s and now.

I am really beseeching prayers right now. I know from my really good friend that once I’ve overcome the addiction that I will be just fine, but going through the process of kicking the habit is scaring me sh******.

God Bless!
Ericka
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You can do it Ericka! And of course, you have my prayers. The singing motivation is a good one since you can keep reminding yourself of possible damage to your chords.

Your posts are really interesting…

Make sure you throw something on Prayer Intentions some time and you’re get everyone storming the gates for you.
 
Simon_X said:
You can do it Ericka! And of course, you have my prayers. The singing motivation is a good one since you can keep reminding yourself of possible damage to your chords.

Your posts are really interesting…

Make sure you throw something on Prayer Intentions some time and you’re get everyone storming the gates for you.
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Thanks for the prayers, and I will definately make a post in Prayer Intentions. In fact, I need to get my butt back on that forum to pray for others anyways.

God Bless!
Ericka
 
Good luck. and prayers…it has been three weeks since I quit, I am still not out of the woods. But for now, the freedom is great. I just hang on so hard to Mary’s hand…
 
I can’t really say if it is sinful. Although, I guess I can say that if a person isn’t addicted to smoking, like doing it occasionally such as when one might have a couple drinks on social occasions, it isn’t sinful. But I think any kind of addiction can be sinful, especially if it is something that will hurt your body or hurt others around you. That is something you need to contemplate and pray over for yourself. As others have said, moderation is important.

I know that you know the medical problems which can ensue from heavy smoking, so I’m not going into all of that. BUT… as a fellow musician/singer, I will give you a little kick in the tookus 😛 and tell you that if you have been gifted with a beautiful voice it is important that you do your best to quit. God has blessed you with this gift… I look at having a voice as a responsibility - something that you have to take care of and have a duty to develop and give back to God and to those who hear you. In order to fully give of yourself with this gift, you have to take care of the mind, the soul AND the body with which you have also been gifted.

You are too young to have already lost two of your top notes. That’s something that happens many years down the road - like when you’re 80, if you take care of your voice. (I know some singers in their 60s and 70s that still have gorgeous voices.) But if you stop smoking now, you have plenty of time to build your voice back up.

I hope I didn’t sound like a little nag. I’m saying this out of love.

I definitely know how hard it is to break a habit, but I know you can do it. You’ll be in my prayers!!! God bless! 🙂
 
Thanks for the prayers. I have no doubt that I will be relying heavily on the Holy Family going through the quitting process.

Sarabande, thanks for the kick in the tookus! I do know that it’s being said out of love, and I really appreciate it.

I know that I should have never started in the first place, but at the time I did, I was sure that I was only going to do it “every once in awhile”. I even based my decision on the fact that Charlotte Church smoked. :rolleyes: That’s usually how I start doing really stupid things… because everyone else is doing it. I agree that I have a great responsibility for my voice (even in the 2 years that I quit singing and playing piano… STUPID STUPID STUPID), but in some ways, that wasn’t a bad thing for me to do because when I started back again, I appreciated it much more once I realized how much I missed it.

And now I’m rambling (too much coffee and Vault Zero), so I’ll just leave it at this: I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.

God Bless!
Ericka
 
So true, Ericka!!! Through Christ, you definitely can do all things.

Just as a little bit of a motivation… I just sang a recital last week where I met this little, older lady. She was 101 (will be 102 in March) and was an opera singer and teacher in her heyday. She graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music (which is considered one of the best music conservatories in the world) in 1930 and sang professionally until she was in her 60s. I discovered from another person that she still sang and played the piano until last year when her fingers finally gave into arthritis. But her voice, although not like it was in her prime and probably not with all her notes, was still lovely into her 90s.
 
There is no safe amount of cigarettes. Unlike alcohol, even in moderation smoking is unhealthy and addictive. It’s not only dangerous to you own health, it risks that of the environment and those around you.
 
ericka1701 said:
I have been a smoker for over 5 years, and for the most part, I’ve smoked about a pack a day, until very recently. It seems that I’m smoking more and more every day (in fact, I have a ciggy in my mouth as I’m typing this). In reading the following in the CCC, I’ve gotten a bit concerned about the amount, or the increasing of the amount, I’ve been smoking. I guess my question is this: is this sinful? Thanks in advance for any replies to this question.

God Bless!
Ericka
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The CCC talks about excessive smoking with regard to grave sin but frankly even one cigarette a day is bad for your health.
 
Personally I only smoke a cigar or two on major holidays…I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It’s like having an extra dessert for a few drinks. If I was smoking a cigar even weekly it might endanger my health and thus might be sinful…but this is a tough call.
 
twf said:
Personally I only smoke a cigar or two on major holidays…I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It’s like having an extra dessert for a few drinks. If I was smoking a cigar even weekly it might endanger my health and thus might be sinful…but this is a tough call.
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Right there with you.

Ericka,

I know that it is not good to be addicted to cigarettes, at least the commercial ones seeing that 50% of the stuff in them isn’t even tobacco. I take pride in being a tobacco expert. :thankyou: I know everything from growing tobacco through the finish product. However, it’s late for me so I give you a little advice on how to quit tomorrow.
 
Aloha Ericka, 5 years of smoking really isn’t that long & the fact that you are asking for advise & help on quitting, it’s time to do it! And the only way is cold turkey while your young. All the expensive aids on the market are a reap off. If you really want to quit you can sub gum or something like Tictacs to keep your mouth busy, but FIRST, you REALLY HAVE TO WANT to QUIT cigs.

Please listen! I will be 69 in 2 months & have been smoking for 60 years, yep, started smoking when 9 yrs. old.😦 I never thought about quitting til 12 years ago when my wife quit smoking. She subed the white Tictacs & I tried just about every one of those expensive aids (Patches, gum) & prescription pills. The wife always hated the smell of smoke and I like it.😊

God Bless! You are in my prayers, please pray for me.
 
Hello Ericka,

As promised I will give you some advice on quitting. Not from experience on quitting, but scientific opinion. As I said in the post above, the stuff you are smoking is not entirely tobacco. What makes up the rest of the cigarette. Expanded stems, paper, recon, chemicals, ect. Tobacco companies add stems to the tobacco you smoke because it contains more nicotine. They also add ammonia to free up the nicotine, thus making it easier to absorb in your system. Kind of like free base crack if you’ve ever heard of it. Stems are very bitter along with the chemicals they add so they mask it up with sugar and cocoa. Cocoa dilates the bronchi to allow for more nicotine to pass in to the body. Sugar is added to increase addictiveness. It takes 15sec for the sugar, nicotine, ect… to reach your brain. Because digesting sugar takes much longer to reach the brain, you get a faster “hit” when you smoke sugar. This is why many patch companies fail at getting folks off cigarettes. The key thing to do is get off smoking the sugar. Switch to a brand that doesn’t contain any added sugar like American Spirits. Once your off the sugar you should have a little easier time getting off the nicotine. I’d give you some of the stuff I grew, but I’m sure that wouldn’t work out for one reason or another. lol
 
I actually have been thinking about switching to American Spirits or the roll-your-owns for awhile for other reasons than the ones you’ve posted… I guess that’s a hint for me to try to find where they’re sold around here. 😉 Although, I imagine that the roll-your-own also has the additives as well, but I can imagine it would be better than Camels since I can’t recall ever seeing stems in loose tobacco.

Thanks for the advise, and hopefully this time in 2 months, I can safely call myself an ex-smoker.

God Bless!
Ericka
 
stringbeanduck said:
Hello Ericka,

As promised I will give you some advice on quitting. Not from experience on quitting, but scientific opinion. As I said in the post above, the stuff you are smoking is not entirely tobacco. What makes up the rest of the cigarette. Expanded stems, paper, recon, chemicals, ect. Tobacco companies add stems to the tobacco you smoke because it contains more nicotine. They also add ammonia to free up the nicotine, thus making it easier to absorb in your system. Kind of like free base crack if you’ve ever heard of it. Stems are very bitter along with the chemicals they add so they mask it up with sugar and cocoa. Cocoa dilates the bronchi to allow for more nicotine to pass in to the body. Sugar is added to increase addictiveness. It takes 15sec for the sugar, nicotine, ect… to reach your brain. Because digesting sugar takes much longer to reach the brain, you get a faster “hit” when you smoke sugar. This is why many patch companies fail at getting folks off cigarettes. The key thing to do is get off smoking the sugar. Switch to a brand that doesn’t contain any added sugar like American Spirits. Once your off the sugar you should have a little easier time getting off the nicotine. I’d give you some of the stuff I grew, but I’m sure that wouldn’t work out for one reason or another. lol
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Stringbean,

Found this very interesting. I once heard the cigarettes from the “old days” (before additives) were actually healthier than the cigarettes of today with all the chemicals. I also heard that they add a bit or arsenic to cigarettes (I forget the reason why).

Have you heard of any of this?
 
Simon_X said:
Stringbean,

Found this very interesting. I once heard the cigarettes from the “old days” (before additives) were actually healthier than the cigarettes of today with all the chemicals. I also heard that they add a bit or arsenic to cigarettes (I forget the reason why).

Have you heard of any of this?
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I prefer the phrase “less hazardous to your health”, but I know what you mean. The tobacco it self doesn’t contain large amounts of carcinogens, most of the extremely harmful ones come from what they add and few come from burning the tobacco via smoking, and even some of those can exist for only a second. Anyways, yes, by this logic tobacco back from the days was much less dangerous to your health.

Arsenic comes in two forms. Organic, which is naturally found in the the soil, and ground water. Your body is built to withstand trace amounts of this. Inorganic is the kind used in pesticides that farmers use on tobacco. Farmers don’t wash their tobacco so this stuff stays on them and becomes part of what you smoke.
 
God loves us, and he doesn’t want us to suffer needlessly. Smoking will only lead to bad health and pain which is something God doesn’t want.

I just looked after a man at work who’s not even 40 and he’s had a laryngectomy, where the larynx is brought forward and a stoma (hole) is created. He will now never be able to swim or shower - only baths. He will have to get an artifical voice as teh cancer he had in his throat had penetrated into his vocal cords. When he begins to eat orally again, he will be unable to taste as most of his tongue was also removed.

You need to consider more then just your health and God’s want for you to be healthy, but also for your family. There’s nothign worse then seeing family members of someone with a hole in their neck.

Pray for the binding of your will to Gods and the loosing of the spirit of smoking or addiction.

Or get some nictoine patches or gum.
 
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