Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking - Allen Carr [55]
I used to be a fanatical golfer. Because I enjoyed it so much I would play whenever I could. If casual smokers think that smoking is so enjoyable, why don’t they do it more? And why do casual smokers feel bound to say things like ‘I could go all week without a smoke and it wouldn’t bother me.’ Why bother to say such a thing? If I said: ‘I could go a whole week without a carrot’ would you think that I didn’t have a problem with carrots, or that I did? If I didn’t have a problem with carrots, why would I be telling you about how masterfully I can control my intake of them? It doesn’t add up.
The casual smoker is trying to convince both of you that he doesn’t have a problem. But if he didn’t have a problem, surely he wouldn’t have a need to mention it? After all, I’m sure you don’t go around telling people that you can go all week without shooting up with heroin. Why make such a statement unless you are a heroin addict? Only a heroin addict would be proud of going all week without.
It doesn’t make sense. Casual smokers would have you believe that they could take or leave cigarettes. But if this were true, why would they take them? Which adult, knowing what we know now about smoking, would choose to become a smoker? Would you?
Actually, I believe many casual smokers are more firmly hooked than heavy smokers. The reason for this is that they suffer from the illusion that they enjoy smoking, whereas few heavy smokers believe they enjoy smoking—they are just doing it because they don’t think they can stop.
Remember, the only ‘pleasure’ that smokers get is the illusory one of temporarily relieving the very slight withdrawal symptoms caused by the previous cigarette. Picture that little nicotine monster as an itch. For the most part, it is so slight we are barely even aware of it.
All smokers, casual or otherwise, have this ‘itch’ and of course the natural tendency is to scratch it as soon as you become aware of it. By lighting up, we scratch the itch, but because our bodies build immunity to the effect of the drug, as time goes on we tend to need to smoke more to relieve it. Soon, nicotine withdrawal creates a permanent itch, and this is why most smokers become regular smokers, and also why some become chain smokers.
Casual smokers remain so for a variety of reasons:
FEAR: They are terrified of the consequences of smoking more and think that by limiting their intake they are limiting their risk.
MONEY: They physically can’t afford to smoke more, or resent paying for something they don’t enjoy, so they limit their intake in an attempt to control the cost.
LACK OF OPPORTUNITY: These days many people won’t smoke in their car, at work, at home or when their kids are around. This only leaves a very limited number of opportunities to smoke and so these smokers have to use significant amounts of willpower not to smoke more.
FEAR OF LOSS OF CONTROL: These people hate smoking and being a smoker. They live in fear of becoming hooked, but of course, already are.
I used to think of my chain-smoking as a weakness. I couldn’t understand why my friends could limit their intake to five, ten or twenty a day. I knew I was a very strong-willed person. It never occurred to me that most smokers are physically incapable of chain-smoking. The truth is that these five-a-day smokers whom I envied throughout my smoking life don’t smoke more because their bodies can’t hack it, they detest it, they can’t afford to, they are using willpower not to or they are terrified of the consequences.
Let’s take a closer look at the different categories of ‘casual’ smoker.
THE BEGINNER. This is the teenager who is trying the odd cigarette at parties or when hanging out with their friends. At this stage, the cigarette tastes absolutely disgusting and the teenager is convinced that he could never get hooked. Unfortunately this is exactly how and when over 95% of us became addicted and we spend the rest of our lives paying for it and trying to break free.
THE RELAPSER. This is a smoker who was previously a heavier smoker but feels he can’t do without altogether.