I use the word habituation because I can't think of a better word for what I experience, some might call it a cross-addiction, but there has been recent discussion here suggesting addiction is also an incorrect term... so...

I am admittedly weak of will - most of the time. Sometimes when I truly believe I must do this or not do that, it sticks. I can barely keep up with my bills for example, but I have *always* ensured at least one dose of cannabis per day for about two years now.

I would be using it mainly medically, occasionally recreationally, if it weren't for one thing: I have been mixing tobacco with my weed almost as long as I have been using weed. A few months ago I bought a Solo vapouriser and discovered that vaping small amounts of weed had like 5X the effect of smoking twice as much weed mixed with tobacco. It seems obvious now, yes? I should quit tobacco.

Now the biggest problem with what I'm doing is health. My lungs are starting to have noticeable chronic problems. My lupus also doesn't like nicotine, skin gets all... nasty. Financially too, it's ruinous, because every time I need a nicotine fix, I gotta smoke weed with it too. I never need a weed fix, because I've always just had some, but I think I'd probably only vape 4 times a day if I quit tobacco, hard to know for sure, but currently I'm hitting the pipe every 30 minutes. Works out to about 2 grams a day (plus the tobacco), I can only grow about 1 gram a day in the space I have. I suspect 1 gram a day, vaped, would be plenty.

*SOMEHOW* I have to unlink tobacco and cannabis in my mind, so I can quit the tobacco. And then *SOMEHOW* I have to actually quit the tobacco, and stay quit... I have tried many times, various techniques... I get all panicky within 24 hours, I know it's all in my mind, a few years ago I managed to quit tobacco for two weeks almost painlessly (but relapsed after a fight), during that time I seemed to need only 0.5-0.75g a day to keep the immune system at bay. But I have no idea how I did it, one day I just didn't want tobacco, didn't crave it... a day like that has never come again.

Anyone got any tips? What do I tell myself? What routines / rituals should I employ? Do I hire someone to whack me upside the head every time I head out for smokes? Is there some incremental way? Or will it always be as much time & effort to quit as it was to get habituated? Anything? Keeping in mind that I don't believe in substitute substances...

Thanks all.

You could always look into electronic cigarettes that would provide you with the nicotine you currently need without the poisons of combusting tobacco & cigarettes additives, with the option of easily decreasing the nicotine strength and all the while enjoying whatever you crave for any flavoring out there.

It has worked for 100's & 100's of thousands to date as an alternative to cold turkey or the failed NRT (nicorette) regimes.

Take a look here: E-cig Forum for more information than you could ever absorb, as well as a community of users/supporters in their use.

**** Just be aware though.... don't EVER mention illicit drugs (legal use or otherwise) there, or you'll get an immediate ban.

I'm one of the hard heads that flip flop with them personally, but I'm far better off than the 3ppd I was at when introduced to them.

Ill agree with Habituation. I also think you've got a mind. Use it.

yah , I have 6 month supply of nicotine in the fridge in liquid format / 20mg .

If you cant quit ,id just order some nic off the internet, You can order it pure and break it down to non toxic levels. works out very cheap

Im not gonna say its healthy or anything ,, just cheap

Seems to me the only ones to actually quit are the ones that quit cold turkey..
I am not a smoker myself but my wife and sons are. My older son and his wife both quit three years ago.He claimed then when he had the urge to smoke he would have a few hoots of weed and that seems to do the trick.He would also
Chew gum instead. I can not get my wife to quit though and have been trying for
28 years now . She does not puff the reefer at all but smokes those cigarretes.
Even a person who has COPD ( my wife ) she stll cannot quit .
She has COPD ,her dad had it till he died ,she has one brother and one sister whoHas it . The only one in the family who does not ,did not smoke.
Hope quitting goes well for you spectral as it appears that is not a easy thing to do. Mind over matter that is the way to do it.If you really want to quit.

If you don't quit cold turkey, you haven't quit. It's a logic thing: One can "try to quit" as a goal, and never have to quit. One could actually smoke MORE, while "trying to quit" and will have fully succeeded at the goal of "trying to quit", which isn't actually a goal of any kind.

Quitting is a goal. Quitting is done by STOPPING. No backsliding, no "bad days" but being an adult and gutting it out for those three DAYS. Wow, must be hard to not smoke a cig for 3 days. Step one, DONT BUY ANY. Step TWO, don't BORROW BEG OR STEAL a cig. STEP 3, the only tobacco you can ingest is butts strangers left on the side of the road.

Will it really be hard? LMAO

Some of the latest studies on addictions claim that cigs are harder to quit than heroin. I've never been a junkie so I can't attest to that but I have quit tobacco for various lengths of time in my 45+ years of smoking the un-kind weed.

I would have to agree with Mikey that cold turkey is the way to go. I've tried almost every method available and nothing has stuck yet. Doctor gave me those newest quit pills even tho he knew I was a chronic alcoholic and a chronic depressive. I have never been so close to suicide than I was after 3 days on those pills.

It took over a month before I was back to my normal level of depression and near a year, with therapy, to get where I am now.

Still depressed a lot of the time but healing day by day.

I was diagnosed with early COPD symptoms a few years ago but still haven't given up the evil weed. If you've ever smoked crack with those mini butane torches you're prolly further along in that sickness than myself.

The wife smokes too but not pot. She needs to quit worse than me with her conditions and we both have to quit for it to work.

Nicotine is the big hook and nicotine replacement therapy only works if you can continuously reduce your nicotine use to zero. It is better than smoking cigs by a long shot as there can be up to 600 different chemicals in a commercial Canadian cigarette. More in American ones not to mention the low levels of radioactive polonium you get in each puff from the phosphate fertilizer used since the 30's. Lung cancer from smoking was almost unheard of until the 50's.

Grow your own organic tobacco or order some leaf from LeafOnly dot com. Cheap and healthier if you decide to continue with a tobacco habit.

I wish all those who are trying to quit smoking all the best in the world. Although I personally never took up the habit (thankfully) I am all too familiar with the pain and suffering, not to mention the cost of the habit, and how difficult it is to stop.

You are fighting the most important fight of your life. Hang in there.

I've quit a few times, the longest was a year and a half. I quit cold turkey, chewed gum, sun flower seeds, and gummy candies (I was addicted to sugar instead, but it worked).I would take deep breath's and hold as long as I could, whenever I had really bad cravings. I would keep doing that until I was out of breath and that made me not want to smoke, because my lungs were tired out. I would sleep a lot! take some time off work if you can and just rest, without distraction/stress and take warm bath/shower to relax and go back to bed whenever your tired, which for me was often.

Last time I tried to quit was 5 months ago, where I lasted 16 days cold turkey. Boredom and a stress event happened and I lost it all. Just get pissed off and want it!, find pictures on the web of what your doing to yourself, to scare you and visit forums for support.I know I will be trying to quit again,don't ever stop trying, even when discourage if you fail.

It's a battle but not an impossible one. Just the first 3 weeks. But when you do get "over it" you will not believe, why you ever wanted to smoke. How it ever had any power over you in the first place. Your cravings with be that far gone for you. and it's such a relief when you get there and you will feel great!

Just remember, don't ever cheat..."Your just one puff away from a pack a day."

i have had a few addictions in my life and cigs were very hard to just drop .i started smoking when i was like 10 yrs old and by the time i was 13 i had my mom buying me cigs at the reservation to save money ...i spent 6 ,months getting off of pain killers ..cigs i used the patch and i guilt myself into stopping ..i remember there was a commercial out at the time about a guy who lost his wife to smoking and she was only 32 he says in it he didnt no spending their lives together was only going to be 10 yrs .it showed him standing there with 3 kids all under 10 yrs old ..i new i had to quit anyway i could..my wife and i set a date and went for it ..i quit for about a week and then i hid the fact for 2 yrs before i quit for real ..for 2 yrs my wife didnt no i had kept smoking behind her back .. ..i mean when you look at what it really does to our body's it a no brainier but the addiction is just so hard to break ..it almost ruined my marriage ..the fact that it could kill me wasn't bad enough but now i was looking at a life without my family ..i new i had to quit ..it did take hold the 2ND time i tried ..been cig free for about 10 yrs or so now ..

to be honest i dont no how anyone can afford to smoke ..in NY cigs are 10 bucks a pack ..i can remember bitching and saying i am quiting once they hit 2 bucks a pack ..if you smoke 2 packs a day its 140 bucks a week ..in a month you could afford to up grade your grow or in a yr or 2 put an addition on the house ..or that nice vacca you always wanted to take ..

i tell all my friends to give them up any way they can ..you can do this bro ..if i was able to after smoking for 35 yrs...

good luck and use any method that works for you ..the important part is that you quite..