Smoking

[FrustratedFool]

Not necessarily. A healthy cigarette alternative could be invented by anyone.

And people get rich off many unhealthy things: cars, sugar, fast food, alcohol etc. It seems that vice is a good route to profit. People like such things.

[Ahriman]

Not necessarily.  A healthy cigarette alternative could be invented by anyone.

And people get rich off many unhealthy things: cars, sugar, fast food, alcohol etc.  It seems that vice is a good route to profit.  People like such things.

Yeah, that's true. It's been done. There are herbal cigarettes, clove cigarettes, light cigarettes, etc. They all suck, especially lights. People enjoy things that are addictive. Addictive things are pretty much always going to be bad for you. Cigarettes are extremely addictive, and also very bad for you. Can't be helped.

[FrustratedFool]

Herbal cigarettes aren't healthy, they are just not addictive.

And yes, they tend to taste and smell worse than tobacco.

[Ahriman]

Have you ever used the nicotine gum? It won't make you quit smoking, but it can be nice to have on hand in case you can't get cigarettes.

[FrustratedFool]

I don't smoke. Haven't for years.

[Ahriman]

I have tried to quit several times and it simply doesn't work. Cigarettes are my only major vice. I was kind of an alcoholic for a while, but that was nothing compared to the smoking.

[FrustratedFool]

I've quit smoking, booze, recreational drugs, religion, sex, masturbation, porn, swearing, meat, junk food, coffee, computer games, at various points in my life.

I now try and enjoy everything in moderation or find a decent alternative.

Smoking is the one that's hardest to find any alternative for. So I just smoke cigars/cigarillos very occasionally.

[Ahriman]

To be fair, no one really quits religion, if it becomes a part of them from an early enough age. I was raised Catholic and no longer practice and haven't been to Mass in years, but if someone in real life were to ask me if I had a religion, I would just say Catholic.

Sex is great if you can get it on a regular basis, but if you can't, it's just another prison life imposes on you. Same as any other addiction, really. Adolescent sexual frustration, in particular, can be absolutely torturous.

[FrustratedFool]

Yes, sexual frustration is torturous.

As for religion, I shook it off rather well, but it was a painful and long process, and I'm still working through some aspects.

[Ahriman]

Yes, sexual frustration is torturous.  

As for religion, I shook it off rather well, but it was a painful and long process, and I'm still working through some aspects.

It still influences your psychology.