Do any aspies smoke cigarettes?

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That's a good point. I had to really hate it before I could stop, and believe me after 16 years I hated smoking; I felt like a slave. That moment comes to different people at different times, and for some it never happens. But you need a good reason to quit and it won't ever work if that reason is just other people telling you to stop.

I tried for about a month, maybe a little less. It's enjoyable, but it's not something I really get too much out of and I find it hard to see how anybody could become addicted. I get much more out of having been drunk or high. Of course, all burn up more money than they're worth.

You don't become addicted in a month. The addiction creeps up on you stealthily. But the attitude that people can't see how it can become addictive is part of the problem; everyone thinks they can avoid that trap.

I think I am going to start a list of reasons I should quit smoking

1. No leaving my drink unattended at a bar to go out and have a ciggerette
2. More money for other things
3. No wasting my time smoking something that does not even do anything other than irritate my throat.

and I will think of more, but yeah I've about had it with ciggerettes so I can officially say I want to quit.

Not trying to say I can speak for everyone. Obviously everybody is different and have their own reasons for either smoking or not. Just from personal experience, I figured that if I still hadn't felt any better by then, it was worthless to keep spending money on it.

No way. I would go as far is saying I have a phobia of cigarettes. Cigarettes have killed several people close to me and as soon I pass someone smoking I hold my breath because a) the smell is so bad I feel like I'm going to throw up and b) I start coughing like a manic and immediately feel sick. Just thinking about it I can kind of feel my stomach clenching in and my cheeks going whiter.

I remember last year I heard that one of the girl in my class (I actually kind of hated her) had just been down smoking and some of the other girls tried to convince her it was a bad idea, but she wouldn't. I started to feel sick and I went home that day with a huge meltdown, because I felt so bad for her ( yes I have empathy just way to much sadly)

So no. I would never ever start smoking in my life and no offence to the Aspies that do, but I generally feel bad about smokers. Not because they are not awesome people. They just make me feel literally sick.

Just to kind of prove your point I get more out of getting drunk or high, yet I still am having difficulties quitting smoking, I mean I don't see what is so great about nicotine. So yes anyone who thought 'you kids are stupid for smoking ciggerettes.' was right. they're just pointless and expensive why not spend money on better things.

No, I don't smoke.

It hurts my throat and lungs so much to be around people who smoke or to be around things that have been around smoke. I would never want to smoke.

And Febreze doesn't make anything smell better. Febreze smells worse than cat urine.

Biochemically, heroin may be more "addictive" than nicotine.
But when speaking of addiction, you have to factor in psychological dependency as well.

The thing about heroin is there is an immediate overdose risk, it takes a lot more nicotine to overdose, allowing one to form a more persistent psychological habit.

The thing that stresses me about quitting cigarettes is not getting off the chemical dependency on nicotine, but the mental obsession that can go on for a very long time.

Really in any "addiction" it's the psychological part that is the toughest to deal with. And scientists can't measure how psychologically addictive something is, it's different for every person. I happen to be very prone to that kind of addiction.

I am considering giving e-cigarettes a try, I hear they have helped a lot of people, and they don't stink like tobacco does. And it might be similar enough to tobacco cigarettes to satisfy the psychological addiction.

Back on the topic of cigarettes and the sense of smell. I actually have a very acute sense of smell, even for a smoker. Smoking doesn't really diminish my sense of smell itself, tobacco smoke is just so strong of a smell it over powers everything else.

During times when I am visiting family, and I am staying in a place where I smoke less, I notice every other little smell everywhere. It drives me crazy. I find most smells other than tobacco unpleasant. Probably to some degree, on an unconscious level I use tobacco smoke as a barrier to other smells.

The thing with smells and how "good" or "bad" they are, it's all relative and psychologically based. It all depends on what someone is used to and what kind of mental associations with a particular smell. A dairy farmer who spends all their time around manure would find that smell pleasant, reminding them of home, but many other folks can't deal with the scent of cow manure.

I smoke and use tobacco occasionally. Most I did when I still used daily was 2 or 3 cigarettes maximum per day. I've smoked many cigars, both low quality black & mild type, and expensive high quality cigars.

I also own a good tobacco pipe brought back from Ireland, which I occasionally enjoy.

I've used dip... never, never again. Just because of the taste, texture, and having to spit. I hold nothing against users, but it's just not for me.

Used a lot of nasal snuff at one time, that was excellent. Least harmful route of administration for tobacco, but the US government essentially banned it. It was wonderful, I used it practically all day long. Debating getting an e-cig.

Not used tobacco in a while, though.

I tried it once but I never cared for them.

I'm just going to say this, I used heroin for quite some time and it's the most horrific drug I've ever used. I mean when I smoke a cigarette I don't wake up hours later in my own vomit, feeling like crap until I have another cigarette. Yet the only thing different about quitting heroin than quitting smoking for me was that with heroin, the physical withdrawal is actually really noticeable and it's miserable. It's not just headaches and shakiness and hunger or whatever people attribute to nicotine withdrawal. It's brutal.

And I suppose there were other difference, like with heroin, I'm never going to do it again. With cigarettes I've never felt like an official smoker and I never say I quit because even when I've gone six months without a cigarette I've still always been OK with smoking. I have a pack somewhere now but I've been sick and previous to that I guess I was just turned off of smoking for a month or so maybe. It's not like if I smoke one I'm suddenly going to be in an endless cycle of smoking like I was with heroin. The half life of nicotine is incredibly short, sleeping a full eight hours gets you past the worst bit of the physical withdrawal from nicotine. Quitting heroin it took me more than four days to even be able to stand upright on my own. I did that without rehab or NA because psychologically, addiction just doesn't effect me. When I was using heroin I never desperately searched for more because I always had it readily available. I realized at some point I had to stop because I couldn't keep spending all that money on it and I had dropped so much weight I was certain I was malnourished. It just occurred to me at some point that I would die rather quickly if I didn't stop. And also with heroin, I'm never around junkies yet I've still had the occasional craving. I'm around smokers all of the time and never crave a cigarette, I don't even smoke around most people.

I smoke if I feel like it, and I like it. I started smoking around the age of ten but until I was about fifteen it wasn't a daily thing. Eventually I smoked a pack a day, that lasted three years, but I never got edgy or bothered when I didn't have cigarettes, I just loved smoking. I still do, but after about three years I started having lung problems and stopped immediately. It wasn't a medical necessity, I just had a persistent cough and realized pretty quickly if I quit smoking for a while it might go away. I didn't take it up again for six months and since then I've smoked off and on.

It's not that I didn't love heroin, it's that smoking the occasional cigarette doesn't leave me in a horrible situation or craving more when the nicotine has lost it's effect.

It's ridiculous to compare the two. They're two entirely different addictions. With cigarettes it's almost entirely a psychological addiction, within a few days you're no longer going to be feeling withdrawal pangs. After that it's almost entirely in your head and that may be a tougher addiction to overcome. In either case I can't judge other people with addiction problems because I've never experienced the psychological aspect of addiction. I'd say I'm extremely blessed in that regard.

As for the smell thing, I don't really know if smoking dulls my sense of smell. I mean if it does it isn't apparent to me. I don't smoke often enough to notice. I have loved the way cigarette smoke smells since I was a kid. Ashtrays smell nasty, no doubt, but the actual smoke doesn't bother me.

I don't deny that my smoking(as infrequent as it is) could contribute to me dying or shorten my lifespan in one way or another, but it's not something that I see as a deterrent. It seems obvious, but to me so does the effect my medication will have long term. I'm on a couple of meds that are shown to reduce lifespans when used long term. The only thing that has ever come close to killing me was drowning(which technically killed me but only for a short time before I was brought back) and a psych med that I had an allergic reaction to which is a really really common psych med. I didn't stop swimming and I'm still on an ever changing cocktail of medications.

To be certain... neither of my parents smoke, nor does my sister.

I smoked about 12 a day for 3 years, then quit for a year. Then I started again and kept at it for a year. Then I quit again a year ago and am still smokefree. The psychological part is the hardest. I still get cravings.

I also had a bit of an opiate addiction a university. I was only taking dihydrocodeine, but I was addicted. The physical withdrawal from opiates is a lot tougher than nicotine. I didn't find the psychological aspect of quitting that hard, tbh - but then I wasn't taking anything as serious as heroin. I still take codeine sometimes to get to sleep and stop diarrhoea, but I'm not addicted.

I would like to know how you even get addicted in the first place. I've smoked cigarettes numerous times, like when I'm over at a friend's house or at a pub, but I never feel the desire to go out and buy a pack for my own personal use.

Lucky you.