Kicking the Nic-Bug

So I was at the a few nights back with my friend back from HS. I hadn't seen him for a while and I was surprised to see that he hasn't kicked his nicotine habits. Sure in High School, most kids smoke/chew for experimentation and what not. He smokes a pack of Benson Golds and chews an entire tin on a daily basis. So i thought it would be interesting to see just how much he has spent in the last 4 years. The prices have gone up a considerable amount in the last month due to new tobacco taxes. I know he now pays around $15.00 for his smokes and $22.00 for his tin. Keep in mind I reside in Canada, so the prices are just crazy. We began piecing together an semi-accurate calculation. He used his memory of prices to average out the first three years of his addiction. Which came out to just under ten thousand a year. Grand total for the first 3 years: $29,565.00. The last year was harder to calculated, but we averaged the prices before and after the recent taxation, in favour of the 10 months of so. For the last year we got $11,680.00. Add the years together for a grand total of $41,245.00.

After we figured out the rough number, he decided that 40k elsewhere would have been more beneficial and he took the oath to quit both cold turkey. I really never got into smoking or chewing, I couldn't stomach the idea of handing over my earned money to the tobacco companies, not to mention the Gov't who takes roughly 80% of the cost.

So, who here has good advice? All the internet searches come up with the same repetitive rules, drink water, breathe, relax, delay ect ect. Anyone have any useful tips to help my buddy kick both habits?

 

He's tried before, numerous times. Every time he would make it around a day and his mood would completely change. I met up with him last year when he was trying to quit, he went three days and was doing pretty damn good. He insisted on having a beer that night, and by the end of the night he was smoking and dipping again. I told him to stay clear of alcohol for a while, but I don't think he will. He thoroughly enjoys his weekend drinks. I think this might be different now. I couldn't believe he spent 40k in the last 4 years.

I talked to him today, and the method he has chosen doesn't sound too promising. He is going to try and cut down on half his intake by next week, therefore he should be smoking half a pack by next Wed and dipping half a can. Then for the following week he's going to aim at half that. The method is questionable, but more than possible.

 

Anyone suggest or live by nicotine patches/gum? Seems kind of ridiculous and more of a hoax than an assistant to quitting. I know a guy who smoked 10+ years and was giving a prescription from his doctor, some new drug at the time. It worked wonders for him.

 

I could never justify spending 15 dollars on a product designed to rape you of your sanity. I've seen people go literally insane when they have a craving. This was a primary focus in one of our lectures, and a main focus on one of my political/economic papers. Does the Govt tax these products to such an extent to deter the use, or do they do it to wring out more money from the individuals addicted. I'm not entirely sure the government cares all too much over the health effects, more so I believe taxation to be an unjust way to reap the benefits from the addicted. This also led to the taxation of health coverage, and should "smokers" be taxed more, which then led to discrimination. It was a really interesting lecture that resulted in some heated discussion. The profit these companies make are brilliant, and if I were offered a job in promotion, I don't think I could turn it down. The girl who lived across the street from me finished her economics undergrad and landed a job promoting tobacco. She made around 110k her first year, with great benefits and incentives. Everyone has their price, and coming out of a four year program and being offered upwards of a hundred grand is hard to turn down. Needless to say, she lasted three years because she could no longer come to terms with herself. For a while she hit rock bottom, and then picked herself up and went into law school. Its a crazy world.