Limiting my smoking

July 1, 2008 11:38 AM

I'm an on/off again smoker. At 'worst' I smoke a cigarette or two per night. At best I go 3-4 months without smoking at all. The rub is that it'll get to be around 11 PM, and I'll want one, and if they're available, I'll smoke one. If they're not available, I'm not about to go out and get them. Can the hive mind think of ways to keep them available but not smoke nightly? Anon because several people who read MeFi don't know I smoke.

I like having tobacco around because there are nights where I want to have a cigarette, and I'm fine with that. I'm not trying to quit. Its usually when its late and I'm pissed off and alone and can't bum one (and I really don't like bumming cigarettes anyway, and in general don't like smoking around other people), so relying on that option is out. I'd feel stupid buying the gum, since its so expensive, and if the tobacco wasn't around in the first place I wouldn't need the gum at all. I feel like ther should be some mechanism that raises the barrier just high enough that its discouraging for an every night habit but available for when I want to let myself have one (the distinction between wanting to let myself have one and giving in is very clear to me, so that isn't an issue). I also live alone, so letting someone else keep control of them is out as well. Any thoughts, hive mind?

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (27 comments total)

Don't buy them, don't have it around, that way if you really want one you have to go out and get it.

So, self control.
posted by BobbyDigital at 11:45 AM on July 1

I'm having a really hard time seeing what the problem is. '

You like smoking and don't want to quit, but you don't want to have cigarettes in the house? If you like them, why not just keep them around and smoke every night? I had one 'occasional smoker' friend who kept cigs in a ziploc in the freezer so they never got stale.

If the problem is that you don't want to smoke every night, but can't stop yourself if they're around, that is more a problem of addiction that no simple trick is going to solve.
posted by Miko at 11:46 AM on July 1

Just make them inconvenient to get to. Double, triple, quadruple bag them, fill each bag with scraps of paper or packing materials or something, put that bag somewhere a pain to get to (in the bag of a cabinet?), etc.
posted by inigo2 at 11:47 AM on July 1

I can tell you from personal experience - if they are around, you will smoke them. You already have a barrier mechanism that works (needing to go out to get them) - what you are doing now is trying to circumvent that mechanism (ain't addiction a bitch?)

It ain't broke - you don't need to fix it.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:47 AM on July 1

Rolling your own takes time and practice. Learn to do it, but try not to get good at it. Maybe wear ill-fitting rubber gloves so it's extra difficult.
posted by danOstuporStar at 11:52 AM on July 1 [1 favorite]

If you're only tempted to smoke them at night, and at no other time, maybe keep them in in a box in the trunk of your car? That way if you really want one, you can go get one, but the desire has to be high enough to go out to the garage/on the street, open the trunk and get one out.


I've actually used this trick with my laptop - I want to have my computer available, but don't want to spend all my time surfing the net, so I leave it in the trunk of my car sometimes for the evening so that I can get it if I really need it, but it isn't just sitting out to tempt me all evening.
posted by sherlockt at 11:56 AM on July 1 [2 favorites]

Well, having been a smoker, It sounds to me like you are fond of the idea of having cigarettes available at all times but are worried that you will develop a habit. The problem is, you already have a habit. If you didn't have some kind of habit the answer to your question would be a very simple "just don't smoke them every night."

What you're essentially asking for is a method for avoiding abuse, which means that you already must think you are vulnerable to it.

If you're gonna smoke, trust me, don't keep them available at all times. Before you know it any little stress (or pleasure for that matter) will become an excuse to light up.
posted by ISeemToBeAVerb at 11:58 AM on July 1 [1 favorite]

There's numerous patents for timed cigarette dispensers, but I can't find one actually for sale, except this cool-but-way-too-costly one
posted by danOstuporStar at 12:09 PM on July 1

Probably more expensive than what you're looking for, but you could get a time-delay safe that wouldn't open until X minutes after you punched in the unlock code. A brief search suggests these cost in the hundreds of dollars, though.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:14 PM on July 1

Put as many inconvenient steps in there as you possibly can. Keep the pack of cigarettes out of sight, perhaps on a really high shelf that you need a stool to access, and keep your lighters/matches in an equally inconvenient place on the opposite side of your house/apartment. For added challenge, put each cigarette in an individual tiny plastic bag and hide each one in a different inconvenient spot - make sure you won't stumble across them in your day-to-day nonsmoking life. Or lock them in a box and put the key in yet another inconvenient spot. When you want that cigarette, take exactly one cig (not the entire pack) and the lighter and go outside to smoke. "Outside" meaning walk all the way to the end of the driveway or down the block or something.

Or. Since there seems to be a certain set of conditions that precipitates your desire to have a cigarette (time of night, you're pissed off or bored), start training yourself to have a different reaction to those conditions than reaching for the smokes. Take a short walk, do some push-ups, make a cup of tea, watch an episode of The Simpsons, whatever. Teaching yourself that there are other things to do in that kind of situation besides smoking goes a longer way than any sort of physical obstacle you can put between yourself and your cigarettes. (I say this as a former very-occasional smoker turned pack-a-day smoker turned nonsmoker.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 12:18 PM on July 1

I've been in similar situations in the past - I chose to limit myself by throwing away the packs the next day or leaving them sit on the bus stop, because I knew I couldn't trust myself with them. The trip to get them isn't a big deal since I live just a few blocks from a liquor store and a gas station, but knowing that my cigarettes would cost 2-4 dollars each really held me back. I know this isn't a direct answer to your question, but I thought you'd appreciate the anecdote.
posted by thedaniel at 12:25 PM on July 1

What if you made up a rule that you could only smoke if you did, say, fifty pushups beforehand? Or you had to donate ten bucks to charity for each cigarette?
posted by roger ackroyd at 12:26 PM on July 1

Hmm... what about putting them somewhere that's really hard to get to at night? Perhaps an attic or crawl space or other similar unlit-area?

More extreme idea... stick them a bowl of water in your freezer (in a zip lock bag). Maybe the trouble of thawing them would keep you from lighting up.
posted by smalls at 12:27 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

You could smoke really expensive cigars, or a pipe. That might provide some deterrent.
posted by electroboy at 12:27 PM on July 1

If you're only tempted to smoke them at night, and at no other time, maybe keep them in in a box in the trunk of your car? That way if you really want one, you can go get one, but the desire has to be high enough to go out to the garage/on the street, open the trunk and get one out.


I've actually used this trick with my laptop - I want to have my computer available, but don't want to spend all my time surfing the net, so I leave it in the trunk of my car sometimes for the evening so that I can get it if I really need it, but it isn't just sitting out to tempt me all evening.
posted by sherlockt at 11:56 AM on July 1 [+] [!]


Agreeing with that - my first thought was keep them in the trunk of the car.
posted by KAS at 12:31 PM on July 1

In my own experience, every sort of obstructionist barrier I set up failed with enough practice (I can just imagine myself becoming the master of sundering that cigarette-containing block of ice smalls recommends with a single practiced blow of a hammer and chisel)... but then again, I was a certified junkie deluding myself so maybe wrapping them up, locking them up, putting them in your car, whatever will do it for you. You have to ponder what places in your immediate environment are available to you but not particularly accessible. Is there anything you occasionally but infrequently need to get access to in your home that is always a big pain in the ass when you do? Is there a storage closet somewhere you could bury it in the bottom of a box in? I think that sort of obstruction of access is really the only option.

Aside from the practical aspect of what you're looking for, I have to say that in my opinion you're not really "fine" with your smoking habit because you don't want people of your acquaintance to know you smoke... and beware the light habit, plenty of people have, especially under the duress of unexpected stress, rolled that sort of habit right into a more normal and debilitating one. Again, though, I was a heavy, no-control sort of smoker most of the time that I smoked, so I'm biased. But your reasons for commonly smoking (late, pissed off and alone) are sort of red-flaggy for future abuse potential to me - as is the fact you're looking for a mechanism other than will power to prevent yourself from smoking when you aren't really wanting to let yourself have one.
posted by nanojath at 1:19 PM on July 1

Do you have any friends who do smoke? When you break down and buy a pack, don't kick yourself over the 1 or 2 that you smoke, but give the remainder of the pack to your friend. At today's prices, free cigarettes is pretty sweet if you're a smoker, and it'll thwart the "they're around" problem nearly completely.

In addition, it makes cigarettes cost over 2 bucks each, making it something else to think about when you do feel the urge to smoke.
posted by explosion at 1:29 PM on July 1

A humidor with a lock and key. Put the key in some inconvenient place, like in the car. I suggest a humidoe because who the hell wants to smoke stale dry terbaccy?
posted by Gungho at 1:44 PM on July 1

Do you own your own property, or have a sympathetic landlord? If so, would your (spouse/city planning office/whomever you need to convince) allow you to build a very small shed at the far back corner of the lot? The cigarettes can be kept in a lockbox in the shed, so that to smoke you have to go out into the cold night, across the yard, unlock the shed, unlock the box, and then have a smoke. That makes a really nice ritual for the times you really need it, but adds about three steps for the times you just don't care that much.

The rest of the time, the shed can be used for gardening tools, bike storage, or whatever; you just want this to be as far from your house as you can make it without having to go visit the neighbors.
posted by Forktine at 1:54 PM on July 1

Does it absolutely have to be a burning stick + lungful of smoke, or would a nicotine hit + something to do with your hands suffice. If the latter then this might suit you.

They're pretty effective (more so than the gum and patches, IMO). I've used one to wean myself off a 15-year tobacco habit; I've actually still got several cartons of cigs in the house but the thought of smoking them now kind of disgusts me.

The main drawback is that they look stupid, so the fact that you smoke late at night and on your own is a plus. And of course there's no risk of burning your house down or stinking up the place.
posted by boosh at 2:13 PM on July 1

A humidor with a lock and key. Put the key in some inconvenient place, like in the car.

A more inconvenient place: taped to the inside of your rain gutter.

Or, instead of bumming ciggies off your friends, buy them a pack of cigarettes. Then you can smoke 20 of theirs with impunity. After you smoke 20, buy them another pack.
posted by muddgirl at 2:41 PM on July 1

If you can get a cigarette on the nights when you want one, you'll reinforce that behaviour and that desire will increase. You know it will because you're looking for artificial means to prevent yourself from smoking at other times. I spent a long time pretending not to smoke, and always, always, always, my rules changed over time to make more smoking possible. I would suggest not smoking for a year, and seeing if you still want your time delay safe then.
posted by b33j at 3:30 PM on July 1

I spent a long time pretending not to smoke, and always, always, always, my rules changed over time to make more smoking possible.

Exactly - you're already subverting your own rule - nothing will keep you from subverting the next one...and so on....
posted by The Light Fantastic at 4:58 PM on July 1

Do you live with anyone, or have regular visitors? A cheap digital combo safe costs under $40.00, and is strong enough to keep you out unless you're deadly serious about it. Make your housemate or visitor set the combination. If you get really keen on a smoke, you can ask them for the combination.
posted by tomble at 4:59 PM on July 1

Put them in a small plastic bag. Then put that bag in a bigger bag and fill it with water.

Place in the freezer.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 8:32 PM on July 1

I'm with everyone else who thinks that this is futile. You sound like you're trying to make yourself walk a really fine line; and at the same time you know that part of you will be trying to make yourself fall off it. My initial suggestion was to roll your own; my second is to just not have cigarettes around and force yourself to go out and buy them, with the inconvenience as a measure of how much you really want 'em.
posted by nihraguk at 1:41 AM on July 2

It sounds like your addictive personality is not nearly as bottomless as my own. But, as a day-to-day smoker for about 5 years I have never had success in self-control when cigarettes are in my possession, to have when I want.

I tried a few hare-brained schemes in hopes of managing my impulsive behavior but they never worked for me. I kept cigarettes hidden in very inconvenient places but always hunted them down; tried buying a more expensive brand but smoked as much at higher cost; at the end of the farce, I even took up a part-time job at the American Cancer Society who forbade nicotine use for employees and continued to habitually smoke the entire time of my employ. That one really made me feel like crap.

Nothing had consistent results and consistency is the crux regardless of depth of habit.

Solution? I have to side with those who have suggested giving a pack to your friends to dole out to you. People have a will and if they like you they can tell you no.

Of course, if you are a loner like myself this may not be a viable option.
posted by bumbleintuit at 5:22 AM on July 27