On My Favourite Cancer Sticks

image came from here¹


I thought of writing about smoking, until I came across this excellent post on smoking done by Adrian.

He had pretty much summed up all that makes a smoker a smoker. Ever wonder why we smokers subject our lungs / throat / mouth / health / blah to such abuse? Adrian has the answer.

And Poh Huai Bin of sixthseal.com did a rather comprehensive introduction and review (of sorts) of cigarette brands in Malaysia. Interesting read coupled with photos.

Take a look too at this site with cute manga-style girls drawn for various cigarettes available in Japan. (No, it's not official; it's simply someone's interest.)

Still somewhat on a relevant note, I had a lil talk with an acquaintance yesterday...

What follows is not an exact transcript of course, but it's 90% accurate in terms of order and content.

Acq: Hey, I quit smoking already.

Me: What? For how long so far?

Acq: 7 weeks.

Me: Oh. Why?

Acq: The only reason why I quit is because of money. It's too expensive²!

Me: Doesn't really affect me. I smoke less nowadays.

Acq: How much do you smoke a day?

Me: Not much. A pack lasts me about two or three days.

Acq: Like that where got not much?

Me: Every time people ask me how many packs I smoke a day, I tell them one pack lasts me two or three days, then they tell me it's not much. I'm just going by their standard. Anyway, sometimes I go for a month without smoking. So, you just quit cold turkey?

Acq: No, this time I'm determined. I bought gum to chew.

Me: Huh? Nicotine gum? *Laughs hysterically for a quite a bit* What does it taste like?

Acq: It's quite hard and bitter.

Me: Hard like harder than Wrigley's? Bitter like traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)?

Acq: Ya, harder than that. But not as bitter as TCM, just bitter like Western medicine.

Me: So after you chew for a long time, there's no more taste?

Acq: Ya.

Me: Then where did you buy it from?

Acq: Guardian Pharmacy. It's quite expensive, 85 cents a stick.

Me: Huh? It's available over the counter? So is it sticky enough to use on the MRT train doors³?

Acq: Ya, if you really want, warm it up first. Why were you laughing earlier on?

Me: I think it's lame.

Acq: You think it's lame to quit smoking?

Me: No, if you quit smoking, it's better for your health, and you save money too. I think chewing gum to release nicotine into the body to quit smoking is lame though.

"Eh, why you chewing gum? It's illegal leh."

"I'm chewing gum to quit smoking la."

Why not just use nicotine patches?

Acq: *Laughs but says* Nicotine patches then lame, ok.

Me: No one can see them anyway.

Acq: When you chew gum, at least the mouth is doing something.

All right, I admit he has a point there, but I still think it's lame.

As for me, I enjoy my lil cancer sticks too much to want to quit. I have also never said I wanted to quit.



¹ This format of giving credit for pictures is inspired by the BigFuck.

² A Marlboro hard pack with 20 sticks costs 11 Singapore dollars.

³ I have never stuck gum on train doors before, and I don't intend to do so. That question was purely hypothetical, and simply related to why gum was banned in the first place.

⁴ No, there isn't a ⁴. But I just wanted to say Marlboro Menthol is my favourite.

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