Opinion
By Takis Theodoropoulos
“Quit before a doctor makes you quit.”
Unfortunately, I stopped smoking only after it had already caused the damage doctors had been warning me about for years. The damage was serious, though thankfully not serious enough to change the way I live my life.
I have to admit that I learned firsthand just how true Mark Twain’s famous line is: “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I’ve done it thousands of times.” So had I. I would quit, feel proud of myself, congratulate myself on my willpower, and enjoy the sense of accomplishment. Then, sooner or later, I would forget all of that and light the first cigarette in what I knew would become a long chain of cigarettes.
I kept fooling myself into thinking I could control it. Three cigarettes a day at most. Maybe five. Perhaps seven. It was impossible. That was especially true because I had linked smoking to writing. I had convinced myself that I could not write without a cigarette.
I remember reading a short story in The New Yorker in 1980, when organized anti-smoking campaigns were just getting underway. The story imagined the last remaining smokers gathering somewhere in the Grand Canyon. They were writers hiding out so they could write in peace. Today I know that all of this was a fantasy I built to give shelter to my addiction to nicotine.
Nicotine has qualities that make it unique. Unlike alcohol or hard drugs, it does not interfere with your day-to-day behavior. You remain clear-headed. The only thing you fail to notice is that you smell unpleasant to everyone around you. Smoking also creates the illusion of interrupting time itself. Every cigarette offers a brief break in the flow of the day. That feeling can be particularly appealing when you spend hours sitting at a desk, especially if your work involves writing.
It is easy to get and always within reach. It is sold everywhere, relatively inexpensive, and waiting for you without putting up a fight. Those white, soft, neatly arranged cylinders seem almost inviting.
Experts say that alternatives such as vaping are just as addictive and just as dangerous. Then there is the awkward, oversized device you have to grip in your hand before bringing it to your mouth.
The truth is that breaking free is not easy, particularly when you are older and smoking has been part of your life for decades. We are not all like Captain Michalis in Kazantzakis’s novel, who realized he was a slave to tobacco and threw away his tobacco pouch for good.
One final thought for doctors: smoking is not a rational habit. Like every addiction, it appeals to the part of human nature that exists beyond reason. Lectures are not enough. Neither are wagging fingers.
I wrote this piece because of World No Tobacco Day, and it leaves me with one simple conclusion:
Fortunate are those who never started smoking in the first place.
