Cigar Addiction


  

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A friend and I were debating whether or not most cigar smokers are physically addicted. I'm more addicted by the overall enjoyment than any physical nicotine addiction. This friend insists I'm addicted, but my argument is that I only smoke a couple a week and could stop today if I wanted to (not that the thought has ever entered my mind). So I ask the group, do you feel you have a physical addiction?

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I agree that I have become additcted to the overall experience. It is now my lifestyle. I AM A CIGAR SMOKER! I now look at the world as cigar smokers and non-cigar smokers. Just as I look at the world as golfers and non-golfers.

FJ

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Addiction, particularly physical addiction has some very specific hallmarks that I have never experienced nor have I seen. The notion of physical addiction to cigars is preposterous for 99% of smokers IMHO.

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A good question but a bad poll.

Do I think of cigars almost every day?

-Yes

Do I crave cigars?

-Yes

Do I smoke cigars all the time?

-No, I smoke about 2 per week. I can easily resist cravings if the time is not appropriate for smoking.

Do I have an addiction?

-Yes. But there are many levels of addiction. I've been addicted to cigarettes and my addiction for cigars is way smaller compared to that.

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I agree that I have become additcted to the overall experience. It is now my lifestyle. I AM A CIGAR SMOKER! I now look at the world as cigar smokers and non-cigar smokers. Just as I look at the world as golfers and non-golfers.

FJ

:D Great analogy!

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I agree that I have become additcted to the overall experience. It is now my lifestyle. I AM A CIGAR SMOKER! I now look at the world as cigar smokers and non-cigar smokers. Just as I look at the world as golfers and non-golfers.
Addiction, particularly physical addiction has some very specific hallmarks that I have never experienced nor have I seen. The notion of physical addiction to cigars is preposterous for 99% of smokers IMHO.

A great analogy and points made in the above.

I would very much agree. It's not an "addiction" as most of society would have us paint that term's use, as compared to alcoholism or cigarette use, or even drug use. There's not a chemical dependency there - that's the big ticket item, I feel, in determining if there's an actual addiction or not.

That said, I will definitely concede that you can easily be addicted to shopping, or stuff of a similar ilk, where there's not an outward chemical dependency in place, but there definitely is a mental chemical imbalance in play (thus, it could be similar to cigar smoking, in that there is a mental aspect to it more, rather than a physical chemical dependency). And sure, an addiction to nicotine is a definite issue - that's what is in play with cigarette-smokers. But, 99% of cigar smokers aren't in it for the nicotine, and the same percentage don't inhale the cigar smoke fully into their lungs - it's about the flavours and balances that are in place.

But I feel that cigar smoking is much more about the ritual, to the enjoyment and comraderie that's part of the overall experience of smoking a cigar, and not to the cigar itself.

I love that idea - cigar smokers and non-cigar smokers, compared to golfers and non-golfers. No different than those who like a good steak now and again - meat-eaters compared to vegetarians. Now, is any of that an addiction per say? Hell no. Compared to drug-addicts or alcoholics, how many meat-eaters do you know who do break-and-enters to support their habit? Its just not something that is there for those without a chemical-dependence in their addiction, IMO.

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I was a cigarette smoker for almost 20 years and was not addicted to it. When I decided to quit, I just quit. No shakes, no withdrawls, nothing. I was mentally addicted to them. I needed one on my ride home and definately needed many when I was drinking a beer. I just had to change my habits a bit and was able to quit.

As for cigars - I am the same way. I rarely smoke alone, so it's more of a social thing for me.

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Definitely not addicted. While I do think about them, I don't physically crave them. I sometimes ask myself why I smoke, and I guess the very bottom line is

flavor. I drink coffee for the same reason, and not for the kick (I rarely drink it first thing in the morning).

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I don't know what to "label" my fascination with cuban cigars. I love to smoke them but rarely do I crave one. But don't get me wrong, I do crave at times... but don't we all about something?!? Friday nights I crave a deep dish pizza :lol3:

You want to know what I see as a bigger problem, currently anyway, is my hoarding box after box. Yes, I can remember my first box every purchased... Cohiba Robusto. I was as happy as a pig in mud... no pun intended Mr. Piggy. God now I have an Aristocrat full of over 50 boxes and I still have 9 boxes in shipping que with Czar LOL. And I'm always ready to buy another if my gut says so. I probably smoke around 100 maybe 150 cigars a year, so I'm defiantly buying more than I'll smoke. Years and years and YEARS of supply already on hand.

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Like a few people have said; there's that fine line between chemical/physical addiction and mental addiction. A friend of mine actually summed it up quite nicely for me a while ago (he was a 1 or more a day cigar smoker):

"Do I think I'm addicted to cigars? No, no more than I am addicted to chocolate icecream. When I finish my dinner I like to have a bowl, but I'm not going to rob a gas station to get it"

I enjoy the ritual of sitting down for a cigar. I get a lot of enjoyment from meeting up with friends to smoke a cigar. But I could give it away in a day.

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For me personally it is a passion more than addiction. I love the cigar experience, smoking them, collecting them, socializing and making new friends with other cigar lovers, getting involved in the cigar forums, blogs and reviews! What is there not to like? Oh, since I have been a stay home dad taking care of my daughter for the last 4 and a half years when I return to work it will most likely be in the cigar business in some shape or form.

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The buying of cigars is an addiction to me! Sometimes I "crave" a cigar but I resist smoking because I can't find a cigar in my humidor that I want to smoke at that moment. If it was an addiction I'd be burning through the same box in a small amount of time, but I need the variation to really enjoy my hobby. Smoking the same cigar everyday is like eating the same meal everyday. I doubt people need a cigar in the morning as a pick-me-up, they just smoke it to accompany the coffee that they DO need in the morning :lol3:

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*Hey! I think CBL nailed it - I'm addicted to BUYING the cigars!! Once they're here - meh! But I'll get around to smoking them. And like LittleJosh said when it comes to Ice Cream...BINGO for me! I have to treat Ice Cream like drugs! If I get it, it HAS to be the little small size individual container. I was once at the drug store and there was the ice cream section. I searched for just the SMALL SIZE (I'm not kidding, folks) of the flavor I wanted. There was the assistant manager on the floor and I asked if he had an individual size of that. He pointed to this huge gallon size and said, "There you go!" I just dejectedly confessed to him that I COULDN'T get that size. "If I do, I won't be able to stop until it's gone..." It's just like Richard Pryor described. I'll TRY to put the spoon down, but it keeps jumping back into my hand..."Just ONE more scoop *Just ONE more scoop *Just ONE more scoop..." until it's gone. So that's my addiction. And I just don't purchase it if I can't find it in the little size. And if I do find it - only 2. Then it sits in the freezer from then until whenever. I won't do that to my figure again!! :D

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The buying of cigars is an addiction to me! Sometimes I "crave" a cigar but I resist smoking because I can't find a cigar in my humidor that I want to smoke at that moment.

This is the exact carbon copy of myself. Too damn funny. Sometimes I find myself standing in front of the humidor, doors open, unable to decide on what to smoke. :(

Over the years my 'passion' has lied in the procurement of obtaining the cigars as opposed to the addiction of smoking them. If I'm not too terribly busy during the week and/or weekend, I usually smoke about 3-4 sticks.

I've always felt that being addicted to smoking cigars would take the fun out of it, for me personally. I love the time between smokes. It makes me really appreciate them that much more when I do actually get the time to light one up again. :D

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I've always felt that being addicted to smoking cigars would take the fun out of it, for me personally. I love the time between smokes. It makes me really appreciate them that much more when I do actually get the time to light one up again. :D

Absolutely. I am getting over a cold right now which knocked my sense of smell out for over a week. Every day I think about how I need to recover. I am in training ; going for runs and swims to clear my sinus and sharpen my senses.

All for that next cigar. :(

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The term addiction can be misunderstood. To be addicted doesn't mean that you "need" a cigar. I think an addiction can have MANY ways of manifesting itself. Here are some good redflags

- Fighting with wife over money spent on cigars

- Always trying to find time (or taking time that shouldn't be taken) to smoke cigars

- Obsessing about cigars (often making wish lists or trying to collects many Limited Editions)

- Spending numerous hours on forum about cigars lol

I think that these COULD be indicators that you are addicted. As far as I am concerned I think I am addicted. When I say addicted, I don't mean addicted to tobacco but more to the ritual and the smoking of the cigar, the taste, the relaxation and the finish off a cigar. Thats my opinion, i could be wrong.

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