Be it your first time or your last, putting and end to your smoking habit can be accomplished in a novel and pleasant fashion. Be it for a job, for your health, your spouse, or your budget, anytime to quit can be the right time. Yet there is analternativeto going "cold turkey", from gums to hypnotism to nicotine patches, you can save a bundle and still manage to avoid the discomfort and agitation that often follows cessation despite virtually any route that you may take on your road to abstinence.
Recently I have had an occasion where, at my college, I have had absolutely no tobacco products whatsoever and a colleaguegaveme a semi-empty can of wintergreen-flavored dipping tobacco. For those of you unaware of what it is, dipping tobacco comes in a small round tin, is heavily flavored, costs anywhere from two to ten dollars and if used sparingly, a tincan last anywhere from two to six weeks.
Traditionally, someone who "dips" will take a pinch of tobacco from the size of a dime to a large wad the size of a quarter, hold it either by their gum or inside their check, saturating it with saliva and squeezing the juice out to where thenicotine is absorbed directly into the bloodstream through the lining of the mouth. Occasionally spitting out the juice because swallowing it can cause nausea and stomach cramps, among other problems.
You may be wondering at this point, why anyone in their right mind would do this instead of smoking. Perhaps having a large quantity of nicotine absorbed directly into your bloodstream through the lining of your mouth is so much more potent that a dipper will continue to do so despite the complications. Althoughsmokeless tobacco, as it is also called, does have the advantage of being useable in the office, at school, while driving, reading, etc, etc. Before this sounds any more like an infomercial I will share a bit of myself with you.
Personally, I use it (my first, and probably last tin) to avoid using a cigarette as an excuse to get out of a situation, as a way of doing intensive research and writingwithout distracting myself by smoking. I would take a small pinch, roughly the size of the tip of my pinky finger, leave it in my check until it begins to lose it's pleasant wintergreen flavor, and spit it out, telling my friends "Hey, its cheaper than nicotine gum and it doesn't taste all that bad to boot",always rinsing my mouth out afterwardswith the closest available beverage. Therefore I not only avoiding a cigarette which makes your mouth smell much worse than a pinch of tobacco, but I also absorbjust enoughnicotine to avoid snapping at my friends and classmates out of the irritability anyone attempting to quit can relate to.
If you still feel hesitant about putting a wad of tobacco in your mouth, potentially staining you pristine white teeth, consider this;you are quitting after all, and if so, one tin of any brand of your preferred flavor will be enough to do so. On top of which, many brands of Big-Tobacco like Camel and Marlboro have their own varieties ofSnus, which is asmall paper packet of tobaccowith a specially formulated no-spit wrapper that you can simply leave in your mouth forover half an hour.
The downside to snus packets is that they make dipping a tad to convenient, although they may help cravings they can easily become an addiction on their own. While the relative unpleasantness of dipping tobacco can help you quit smoking, snus can complement your habit rather than put an end to it unless usedVerysparingly.
Thus, if you are not quite ready to go cold-turkey, if you have a half used box of nicotine patches or gum lying in a cupboard somewhere at home, I highly recommend doing the following the next time you stop in at a gas station, preferably in a county where cigarettes still cost less then ten dollars a pack and
Get a pack of your favorite cigarettes
Pick out a tin of dipping tobacco (or snus)
Have an open mind
Keep your pack somewhere out of your immediate reach, like that cupboard where your nicotine patches lie gathering dust, reserved for situations of the greatest stress. Whenever you feel like you're just about ready to rip off someone's head, take a small pinch of dipping tobacco, not even enough for the juices to buildup, and spit it out the moment youfeel likeyou've had enough. Keep in mind that the more stress you feel while withdrawing from nicotine, the more rewarding your peace of mind will be in comparison to this stress once you have achieve total abstinence. With the key to its eventual attainment lying inblaming anything but the lack of nicotinefor your anxiety, because the more you blame its absence for your feelings of stress and irritability the more you will acknowledge it as the only cure.
Regardless of the route you take on your way to abstinence from nicotine, be it through snus or the patch, I wish you well andI pray that you do not get lost on the way there.
