Getting Caught

[nicotineandbubblegum]

Okay so here's the thing. I don't smoke a lot. i have had two cigarettes in the past month though and I am supposed to go to the doctor soon. I'm a little scared. my mother has no idea. She would flip if she did and I don't want her to find out. Can they see nicotine from urine and and blood tests? And how long do I need to be clean for for them not to notice?

[DeliaDeLyon]

Nicotine only stays in your body for up to three days. Thats why when you're trying to quit, the first three days are when you go through physical withdrawl, after that its psychological. Even within the first week of quitting, the risk of heart disease drops drastically because the toxins are no longer in your body. If you want to find more information about how long it stays in your body, just look around for websites or pamphlets that talk about quitting smoking.
In any event, I dont really think youll have a problem. First off, if you only smoked two cigarettes in the past month I doubt there would be significant amount of residue in your body for it to show up on a test. Furthermore, doctors dont standardly test for nicotine so unless your parents specifically asked for that test to be done, they wouldnt even look for it. Even then, if you were smoking enough for it to show up I think that your parents would already have figured out that you smoke.

[CptCatz]

you shouldnt be smoking in the first place. you are mentally weak. most likely you smoked those cigarettes because a friend or a "peer" offered them to you or pressured you into them. you are weak if you take that ****. you are the most important person in your life. you have to make your own decisions and not let other people control your life.

now if you chose to smoke them yourself and you were by yourself when you were smoking, thats a differant story...

[Comfortably Dumb]

All in all, it's just a cigarette.

[whuknu]

CptCatz- while i agree with u that smoking is bad and falling into peer pressure is also bad, i feel that here on thelockers we should be supporting eachother- not criticizing eachother so harshly. (of course i could be wrong). maybe first u could ask first why she started to smoke.... then go on and we could offer her our support....

[CptCatz]

ok, fair enough.

whate made you smoke in the first place?

[luckst4rs]

CptCtz-
it's nice that you care so much to want to convince nicotine to quit smoking a cigarette once a month but if you go about it by calling her weak then it is definately not the way to go about it. cigarettes aren't a sign of peer pressure or weakness. i happen to smoke about half a pack to a pack a week. I know everyone flips out and its so "bad" for me. I'm letting myself get cancer blah blahy blah. and i understand completely you might want to make that point. But the reason i started smoking was in no way related to a friend offering me a cigarette. I picked it up on my own. I started smoking a few times a year before all my friends did even. Then more recently i started everyday. I'm not addicted yet- i can drop it tomorrow if i really wanted to. but i don't i smoke because i like the feeling and it helps control my other cravings. nicotine goes straight to your brain and affects the pleasure system or whatever and tells your brain that you are satisfied. that is one reason it makes you less hungry and you eat less. that's why the europeans are so skinny is because they smoke constantly, not because of a healthier diet. so there are many other reasons people smoke than because they are so called "weak" or give in to peer pressure. my bad habit might be unjustified to you but that doesn't mean anyone who smokes deserves to be looked upon as weak. weak is when you do it because everyone else does and you dont really want to but even then there might be a good reason. and dont give me that know it all BS back because i'm sure you know everything about cigarettes and nicotine- right?

[The Nameless One]

whuknu- sometimes you have to critisize to support, though gental critisizm is best.
All in all, it's just a cigarette-comfortably dumb, when does it stop being just a cigarette? you can have one a day and say it's just one... meanwhile you are throwing away your body and shortening your life. Smoking is just as bad as suicide. the affect just takes longer to come out. if that's your attitude you need to get help, because it's dangerous to go on like that.

[whuknu]

yeh well like luckst4rs sed- going and calling nicotine weak in this case might not help- and i think in this case she needs our support and gentle critcism- sry cptcatz-calling her weak isnt so gently-and also to luckst4rs- u gave an example- one might smoke to be skinny- thats the ultimate reason for that persons smoking- then the ultimate reason is most likely peer pressure- a person want to be skinny like everyone else- and there are healthier ways to go about doing that- like the same thing the codtors say- eat right and excersize- not smoke, throw up, dont ever eat....so if one smokes simply bc they like to- not cuz someone made them or cuz they want to be skinny- then maybe they arent so weak...

[The Nameless One]

peer preassure shouldn't get you off the hook for things like this. If they're preassuring you, they're not worthy of being your peers, as for you, not saying no... you endanger your life, and if that's the case you are weak, if not then you're not weak, just wrong. reaserach what you're really getting yourself into. It could be that some people don't know the affect untill it's too late. make sure you know the affect anything that you are doing to your body before you do them, no matter how highly recommended it is by a friend. If your too lazy to do the reaserch, get a reccomendation from a specialist.

[luckst4rs]

whuknu- i didn't mean smoke to be skinny as an anorexic form. i mean smoking makes you eat a little bit less but its not a tool for anorexia or anything like that. i just was pointing out how not everyone smokes because their friends do and not everyone who smokes picks it up due to influential people. all my friends there are smokers and nonsmokers and everyone is usually cool with each other except for the one people who yell and scream about it. and seriously the best way to support a friend is to not ***** at them- it just makes them madder and screws up a friendship over a tiny bad habit. you might think that every cigarette takes away a day of your life- some people just will think your being dumb and not care. so just dont be mean just dont do it yourself

[whuknu]

i dont- i have a friend that smokes- and while i wish she wouldnt, i try as hard as i can to be supportive (i dont tell her not to smoke cuz i know she would get upset and everything). i dont yell or anything like that. and i know what used about smoking to be skinny and how u were trying to show that not everyone smokes bc they were influenced to do so- but being skiiny is somethig that they were influenced that they have to be (whether it be from their friend or the media or whtvr) so there u go-they were influenced to be skinny- thats why they smoke- indirectly one is smoking due to the influence of others.

[The Nameless One]

if you want to be skinny diest. while smoking might not bother you, it bothers me. I have asthma and i am sensitive to even second hand smoke. It really burns and i can only imagine how harmful it must be to those who get it first hand. My friend's father smoked since he was 10. a few years ago he was diagnosed with lung cancer. it was cought early on and after tratment and stopping to smoke he got better. point is it can be harmful in the long run.

If it was only yourself you were endangering i'd ignore it. it's your funeral, but second hand smoke is harmful too, and that effects others. Some like me are very sensitive too it and you are being selfish and unfair to them.

[luckst4rs]

tzippibird-
yea okay maybe its selfish in front of others sensitive to second hand smoke but what about if you smoke by yourself outside in a secluded area like i do.

[whuknu]

u dont have to hang out with ppl who smoke- or if u want to hang out with them- jsut dont be around them when they smoke- and if someone's smoking is bothering u, move away- i know sometimes u cant... so i feel for u...but i agree with u about the first part.

[luckst4rs]

the only way to get someone to quite doing something is by supporting them while nicely giving them advice. no one wants a friend who preaches with a holier than thou ego.

[The Nameless One]

suit yourself, if you're only affecting other smokers then fine, but you are endangering your health. you are right that you need support, but i don't beleve in supporting somking. What i will do is attampt to make you see what harm you are doing to yourself so that you will stop.

One news report called the chemicals in tobacco smoke "a lethal cocktail - a horrifying list of toxic chemicals." Another called it "600 poisons in every cigarette."

According to information released by the British government, cigarettes contain: a paint stipper, a toilet cleaner, a lighter fuel, the chemical in mothballs, a poison used in gas chambers, a rocket fuel, and many other deadly poisons.

doesn't that mean anything to you. smoking is more than skin deep. Do you really want yellow rotting teeth, bad breath, and breathing problems all to be skinny? it's not worth it.

Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. Nicotine and the dozens of other poisonous chemicals in tobacco cause lots of diseases, like heart problems and some kinds of cancer. Some of these illnesses take years to develop, but others can show up right away. For example, kids who smoke are much more likely to get infections such as colds and pneumonia. Each time you light up, it hurts your heart, lungs, and brain. And the longer you smoke, the worse the damage becomes.

Along with bad breath and stinky hair and clothes, using tobacco makes it harder to run and to play sports. It also makes it more difficult for blood to move around in the body, so smokers often feel tired and cranky, and they can't think as quickly as their friends.

People can get addicted to nicotine really quickly, and kids might start lying and making excuses to leave home or school to go smoke or chew tobacco. Kids who smoke may also lie to their friends or their parents about where they go, what they do, and how they spend their money. And if you smoke, friends who don't use tobacco may not want to be around you anymore.Is tobacco worth all this trouble?

if you are having trouble quitting go to http://whyquit.com/joel/Joel_03_01_tip_sheet.html
it has some great tips for quitting.

[luckst4rs]

i was just at my friends house and she was bi***ing at me all weekend about my smoking and sexing and everything i do 'wrong'. makes me just wanna not be friends with her more than quitting. i understand its the wrong thing to do and unhealthy. yea wrinkles, yellow teeth, bad breath, cancer everything. but leave me the hell alone! like i'm THAT stupid. stop treating me like a child who doesnt know the consequences. ever think that i just dont give a damn? yea that IS stupid but its MY decision not YOURS. my body. not yours, not my parents, no one else. so explain ur upset ok i can deal but no need to treat me like an idiot or a horrible person. what/who i do has nothing to do with a bad person. HOW i do it might but the fact that a kid smokes does not make them a rude, vagrant. get over your do-gooder selves and try helping yourselves instead of me for once....

[whuknu]

i dont think anyone was treating u like u are stupid- thenamelessone was just trying to make a point (i think). if u want to smoke and u understand all the consequences- fine go ahead. but ur friends and family do care about u- and so do we! and thats why ppl are telling u how bad it is. so ur body is not ur parents- but ur parents love and care about u, and ur mom gave borht tou, she didnt smoke or drink when she was pregnant (im assuming here) so that YOU could be healthy. the least a kid could do is try and maintain that health. ur parents take u to doctors if ur sick- i mean maybe urs dont- but i know mine do. thats bc they care about ur health and well being- and u should care about ur self as well. ur parents dont want u to die when ur young, thats why they dont want u to smoke. look if u thought abuot all this already and u decided u dont care that ur parents take u to doctors and so on... then fine smoke- but jsut realize that even though it may be YOUR body, u r still hurting other ppl and not jsut by smoking near them.

[Confuzedinlimbo]

i know smoking is bad for you but i love the smell

[whuknu]

wow- the smell makes me so nausiated. a friend of mine was smoking and we were going somewhere (he was driving) and he was smoking and i pretty much stuck my head out the window (i didnt mean too i was just so nauseated and i didnt want to be mean and ask him not to smoke lol), he thought i was nuts and he asked me what i was doing, after i explained to him he was very nice and put out his cigarette. i just dont know why one would like the smell...but to each his own right?

[PrUnE]

i dont even really like the smell or dislike it.

[The Nameless One]

thank you whuknu, that's exacly what i was saying. i'm telling you b/c i care, and i know we care and ur friends care even if you don't if you want to throw ur life away b my guest, but just know that there will be alot of people who will miss you and there will be alot of people who will get sick of the smell and the side effects and abandon you. if this is what you want i'm not trying to stop you or tell you you're stipid, i'm telling you that you made a stupid decision and even if you don't care now you may care later, and even if you don't care later ur friends and family will still care.

Ask yourself, why do you do it?

[whuknu]

actually, my friend smokes, and she smokes things besides cigarets wich i guess contributes alot to the smell, but sometimes i cant stand to be next to her after she smokes jsut cuz the smell bothers me- dont get me wrong, shes my friend and i luv her and all but the smell.. oh God the smell

[The Nameless One]

i'm sensitive to smoke, i hav asthma. My bus drive smokes and our van usually smells like it. I have to sit in the back and open a window to breath well. Even when it's snowing raining freezing, i can't stand the smell!!!! if you don't know what's so bad about smoking, here it is, the rancid odor u give off, that should b enough to stop u.

[darkfairyeyes]

I don't know. I used to do some major **** and actually today is three weeks since the last time I cut or had a cigarette but I drink a lot. That **** is dangerous.

[forget]

i love the smell :-)