Addiction V Passion

[misterbulgarin]

The 7 Drawer humi is one drawer away from being full. (I say full, but every drawer has 10-20 smokes in, any more smokes will require stacking on previous stock). I have been smoking 5-7 sticks a week, now I'm wondering, is this addiction , or am i just enjoying my luxury of a well stocked humi?

I hate the word addiction, it conjurs up bad images of Ciggarrete smokers and junkies, and people with poor willpower. But When I have a cigar every day, it does make me wonder certain things.

Every cigar I smoke, the experience is just the same, I love cutting, and lighting, and wondering how this will smoke, burn and taste. I never think I NEEEEEEEEED A SHHHMOKEEE like a raving addict, I look at my 'cigar time' as personal solace, recently I use my cigars as a mental block helper, I've been fairly busy with my design business and sometimes creative mindblock/burnout is a terrible thing. A cigar and some fredyrk chopin can sort that out no problemo. Even last night, I had an argument and was raging, but a nice mild conneticut torpedo (georges reserve! nice), chilled me out fine.

I never smoke a cigar invain, I've never felt the desperate need for one, but each time, it's a good experience.

What if an alcoholic said that, he 'likes to drink'?

Views people?

[yiorgos]

You will probably get a mixed reaction to this, but I can't see many people in this forum saying it is an addiction... Fair is fair, cigars contain -a lot of- nicotine and nicotine is addictive, but you have to ask yourself...why do you smoke a cigar, when do you smoke a cigar and how long can you last without a cigar?

Personally, I find cigar smoking a habit, rather than an addiction. However this could be different from one to another...

Do you smoke a cigar so you can relax and calm down, unwind from your busy day? Do you feel that if you don't smoke a cigar you will still be stressed or tensed? If you don't smoke a cigar for a couple of days, do you feel the urge to smoke one on the third day? If you do all the above, then you do like your nicotine "fix"...

If you enjoy smoking cigars, but you wont miss one too much on a day you don't get the chance to smoke, feeling you have to catch up the next morning, then you probably do it just for the pleasure, or as a HABIT.

[deltawhisky]

Mister Bulgarin, stimulating reading as per usual. I think there is a thin and tenuous line between addiction and habit. So to make things less controversial, let me suggest that addiction is a chemical-psychological issue. I.e. - if you have not had a cigar on Tuesday, you will feel quite shite on Wednesday.

Let me also suggest that a habit is regular. It is often a hobby, as with cigar and pipe smoking, often. Habits - coffee drinking, cigars, a glass of wine with dinner - are enjoyable. We think about them, take time over them, but do not feel shite if we have not partaken in them.

For me, then, I agree with both of you, MB and Yio. Habit, not addiction. Smoking is a pleasure, something I try to ensure does not become a problem of any sort.

[HabanoSy]

I am in agreeance with Delta...

Cigar smoking is one of lifes pleasures and it should be treated as so.

To echo the words of others...

Along with the mouth, cigars can also be enjoyed by the nose, the hand and the eye, therefore the pleasures of cigar smoking are varied enough to keep the participant enchanted for a lifetime! (hobby)

Cigar smoking is a leisure activity and done correctly will help you to slow down, relax and increase your sense of well-being.

Cheers, HabanoSy

[Deano]

I'd like to replace habit, with hobby or 'past-time'.

[deltawhisky]

Even better, Mr Deano.

[jimmy_g32]

Surely (I always tell my students to beware of arguments that start with words like that) the crux is how you feel when you go without a cigar, in the same way as when you go without an alcoholic drink.

Yes, there are alcoholics (and smoking - be it cigar or otherwise - addicts) but there are also people who drink nearly every day but would not feel ill without a drink or *crave* one - or, importantly, have any dependence on it. Those who smoke a cigar a day, or drink a couple of glasses of wine, might miss their chosen pleasure, but, I think, no more than others would miss reading a newspaper or watching TV.

[Simon-JG-hr]

I'm with delta and jimmy et al... Provided you have no craving or ill-effects if you go a day or two without a cigar, then the odds are that you can refer to you cigar smoking as a passionate hobby rather than an addiction.

As I can go weeks without smoking a cigar, I think I'm safe at the moment... Of course, I have to look, smell and handle one every day. If I can't get my UKCF fix I get a bit irritable too.

[Pantomimehorse]

I agree with Deano its past time

[G-man]

Its a past time for sure,But 12 years later is it a past time or ?
To me its a hobbie . Its nice when your in the mood to burn a mild cigar to look in the humi and have many choices. The same goes with Medium and full flavor cigars. I love my Past time ,hobbie compulsive disorder and call it or me what they may.
I have time and knowledge put into my cigars and love every minute of it.

[Kdot]

Cigars are the new crack!

Its a hobby for me but I always feel I'm on the edge of addiction, I like having a cigar every night but force my self to take time off. I don't feel shitty about it and I don't think about it every second of the day but i don't think I'm far from that stage. It is something I enjoy very much. But too much of a good thing can make it bad.

For this reason I go a month or two without a smoke every now and again to detox.

who said rehab?

[Paulie]

Funny as I was having this conversation with a friend the other day. I said that I was not addicted to cigars as I do not crave the smoke or the nicotine at all. If I did then I would be looking for a "fix" and perhaps be using cigarettes in between. I can go a very long time without having a stick and not be bothered by it.

For me it is a hobby and something which I get pleasure from, the ritual of selecting a cigar, cutting and lighting it then actually enjoying it. Even buying them give me a level of enjoyment.

It is the combined package of all the above that defines it as anything other than addiction in my mind, be it hobby, past time or whatever.

[Lascaux]

i think with me cigars lose their special effect the more frequently i smoke them,
my best cigars have always been after days of real hard work. if i work for a cigar it borders on spiritual when i smoke it!

to be addicted to smoking cigars every day, they lose that effect. even if i try to smoke every day, i turn away from doing it eventually.

sometimes i have massive binges, on cigars, cigarettes, booze and other things. i have quite an addictive personality but its never found its way into drink or ciggies, i binge then abstain. and it'll never be there in cigars!

[rokkitsci]

Neither

Not habit; not addiction.

Let's be honest, folks: It's an affectation.

The cigar smoker is a man of taste, with savoir faire (I'm not entirely sure, but doesn't this translate as: "Jesus was a poof"?), charm, a James Bond sort of debonair chap who knows the difference between a 1787 Chateau Lafitte and a pint of two-day old Guinness Stout.

The nicotine addict is just looking for a cheap fix and would, therefore, be more likely to smoke fags (note to fellow Yanks: No, this is not another reference to our pansy Messiah, this is how these funny-talking people over on the other side of the pond {----------->} refer to cigarettes).

migh too sense

[Nuno Sa]

I enjoyed pipes smoking for years now, and as with cigar now i only have them when i fell like it. Not every day is a tasting day, but i absolutely cherish the moments when i do.

The only thing, at least with me, that comes close to be an addiction is the need to search for info about cigars, but not only, in everything i like i get really involved in an almost obsessive way.