
Bangkok Smoking Kid - kervokian
https://creativesamba.substack.com/p/bangkok-smoking-kid-you-worry-about
======
qwerty456127
Whoever smokes and wouldn't mind quitting if it wasn't hard I recommend to
consider the following (based on my experience and understanding, trusting me
is your own risk):

1\. switch 100% to vaping (try a nicotine-heavy liquid if you don't enjoy what
you try initially), get rid of cigarettes. Make sure to find a flavor you
enjoy and try different ones every now and then.

2\. you'll find your health improving soon: vaping is not 100% safe but
usually a much healthier choice than cigs because no tar, heavy metals,
formaldehyde etc. I bet your doctor will tell you "good job!" once they notice
the changes in your health.

3\. quitting is going to be much easier than you imagine at this moment. I
just stopped one day and had no problem, I even enjoyed the mildly weird
feeling during 2 days (but gained a couple of extra pounds).

Perhaps this depends on the kind of the vaping liquid you use, I only tried
one kind. Don't try butter/caramel-flavoured liquids or THC oils - these are
dangerous.

~~~
mfkp
THC-oils are dangerous? Source?

~~~
Cerium
There was an outbreak of lung injury over the last year that became associated
with black market THC products that were cut with chemicals that are not safe
to inhale, such as vitamin E oil.

[https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/s...](https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-
lung-disease.html)

~~~
mfkp
Yeah, I thought that was limited to black market products only though (filled
with cutting agents and heavy metals). They basically deemed it safe if you're
buying lab-tested products from licensed dispensaries. Seems like overkill to
say "THC is dangerous" since THC is not the part that's causing the side
effects?

~~~
qwerty456127
> Seems like overkill to say "THC is dangerous"

Sure, THC itself (at least in reasonable doses, taken by a mentally stable
person) is not dangerous, vaping [black market] THC oils is. We don't vape
anything but nicotine here in Europe, we just smoke weed occasionally when we
want THC so we have no vaping-related deaths here.

~~~
ryanlol
THC vape cartridges are very common in Spain and UK.

------
oxymoran
Never smokers just don’t understand. It’s not that you don’t know that it’s
bad for you(duh) or that you don’t want to quit. It is because it really is
that hard to quit. For me, suppressing the desire to smoke felt like the worst
restless leg syndrome but it wasn’t in my legs, it was deep down in the core
of my being. Plus I genuinely enjoyed it. It took me over 10 years, dozens of
attempts, and having a child(extra incentive) to finally overcome cigarettes.

And I don’t think I would have made it without the help of vaping which, yes,
I also eventually quit. I made my own flavorless juice and titrated the
nicotine down to zero which made it real easy to stop vaping at that point.

~~~
fiblye
We can understand.

I grew up in a household where chips, soda, and ice cream were dinner. I've
been at points in my life where easily 70% of my daily calories were sugar. My
body hurt and I felt like shit, but those moments where I took that first bite
of ice cream in an hour were bliss.

Quitting it was fucking painful. I was tired, irritable, and had this constant
feeling in the back of my throat of just _needing_ some sweets. I managed to
go a whole year without any sweets at all an finally forgot the feeling and
managed to lose a bunch of weight, then someone gave me a box of chocolate and
I've been trying to quit (and failing) for two years. Whenever I make some
progress on quitting, someone offers me some sweets and the cycle starts all
over again.

Just looking at the obesity problem in the world, I think loads of people are
suffering from an equally debilitating addiction, but they're not targeted by
ad campaigns asking them to quit, and they've never tried to do so. People
who've tried to lose weight will often say it's incredibly tough, and a lot of
experiences seem to align with what smokers describe.

~~~
fouc
Fasting might be easier than quitting sweets outright. Doing a 36-hour fast
once a week is incredibly effective (basically skip a whole day, plus sleep)

------
hpoe
I can relate to this on a personal level. I've got 2 small children at home
and as you may have guess the 'Rona has increased the stress levels of
everyone in the household have been up. I noticed myself getting more
frustrated and angry lately, one of the things that helped me really start
turning it around was realizing I was setting an example for my kids, and I
didn't want my sons to grow up getting angry and dealing with their problems
by yelling and shouting.

That thought really changed it from doing it for myself to doing it for my
kids. It seems maybe if we thought more about our examples would be mirrored
by the young people around us we'd set a better example.

~~~
em-bee
a friend of mine told me he stopped smoking when one day his 7 year old told
him "daddy, i don't want you to die"

------
eyelidlessness
> Smokers are fully aware of the health risks of smoking. But they ignore all
> warnings from friends, family and outsiders. Because the only voice they
> listen to is theirs. And it tells them things like, "Everything causes
> cancer these days" or "I can give up whenever I want.

This is not the logic of most smokers I know (myself included). My reasoning,
like that of most smokers I know, is:

1\. I know how bad smoking is.

2\. I know how hard quitting is.

3\. I know the mental health effect of a quitting effort (whether successful
or not) is challenging and unpredictable.

4\. I have a lot of other challenges in life that incentivize putting off #2-3
until such a time as I think I can weather the storm and have a high chance of
success.

Most smokers try and fail to quit multiple times before they succeed. It's a
strong addiction, with a lot of negative emotional associations.

~~~
chrisandchips
You really should read allen carr's easy way to quit smoking. I was a smoker
for a _long_ time and would say exactly what you've said here. The main pull
for me was always the social smoking as well.

The tl;dr is that, for a lot of different reasons that aren't your fault,
you've become convinced that quitting smoking is a lot harder than it actually
is. If you have any feeling like you would like to quit (or that you think its
gross) then go grab the PDF and give it a shot.

I dropped the habit two years ago and have never had a slight urge to try
again. The text is a little cringeworthy, but if you can look past it you will
see the benefits

~~~
exhilaration
I see the PDF is posted here:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/QuittingJUUL/comments/d10l69/full_p...](https://www.reddit.com/r/QuittingJUUL/comments/d10l69/full_pdf_of_allen_carrs_easy_way_to_stop_smoking/)

In a subreddit called "QuittingJUUL", none the less! An entirely new
generation is getting to learn about Carr's book.

------
ccleve
Wow. Watch this ad.

The article suggests that it works because it fits in with Thai culture.
That's not it. I'm not Thai, and it had an impact on me.

It's the story of a child saving an adult's life. That will have an impact in
any culture.

~~~
SilasX
I’ll find it if I have a chance but there was an /r/AskReddit about “what was
a time you majorly impacted someone’s life without knowing it then”.

One redditor told of the time that, when he was a kid, he decided to be goofy
and “dress like Uncle”, which naturally included humorously puffing on his
pretend “pipe”.

That uncle then had a come-to-Jesus moment and finally quit, from the sight of
his nephew seeing him that way.

------
kozak
I remember that when I was a teenager, every male around me (both adults and
kids of my age and older) smoked. But I never tried, not even once. My
reasoning was the following: if I try it and I don't like it, then I would
regret trying (because by definition of "don't like it", it will be
unpleasant). But if I try it and I like it (which will mean that I will feel
that this is good and pleasant), then I'll just become one of them - one of
those who can't live without cigarettes. So thus I never tried.

~~~
throwanem
Good for you, but I don't think this is necessarily an example that applies in
the general case. I was just about the last member of my cohort to start
smoking, and nearly unique in not having done so until I was actually old
enough to legally buy my own. But I _did_ start.

------
tyleo
Here is a link to the actual ad:
[https://youtu.be/g_YZ_PtMkw0](https://youtu.be/g_YZ_PtMkw0)

------
matz1
Everything in life is a trade off. Most smokers know its bad but smoking is
not 0 benefit, otherwise people won't smoke. They accept the risk and willing
to trade the cost with the benefit.

~~~
covidacct
_> They accept the risk and willing to trade the cost with the benefit._

This is only true at the very beginning of a smoker's habit.

I know a lot of smokers. Exactly zero of them are "willing" to trade the cost
for the benefit, for any meaningful definition of "willing".

Addiction is hard. Many addicts rationalize, but few truly "choose".

~~~
matz1
Even for addict, its still a choice, they choose to continue smoking because
its much easier than giving up.

~~~
munk-a
In our society when someone is highly intoxicated they cannot legally consent
to sexual activities - they do have a choice still and are deciding it... we
just understand that their thought process is being extremely heavily
influenced by an outside source.

For an addict it becomes not a choice, I'm not absolving every addict of
everything ever but addiction really screws with your brain and if you have an
addictive personality you can end up feeling compelled to do something even
while fully accepting you'll feel guilty about it later.

From a technical & mechanical perspective the person has made a choice, from
an agency perspective the scenario is less clear and we generally understand
that intoxication (either through physical addictions or obsessions) can lower
the responsibility of the party involved... and there are a lot of examples
toward and against this point in society[1] but I don't think we can clearly
consider this a choice.

1\. For instance drunk driving is considered in the opposite manner where
choosing to drive drunk assumes a greater responsibility, and implies a
greater agency, on the actor.

~~~
matz1
For an addict, its still a choice between continue or work extremely hard to
give it up. Sure, you can consider it not a choice, its your preference but I
do consider is a choice, I think many other people do as well.

------
11235813213455
Smoking also affect living beings around, and the environment (There are like
10 to 50 cigarettes butts every meter in the grass, on a city road side, here
in France). So not just the smoker itself.

It's not like consuming junk food/drinks, where you harm yourself mostly
(there are also environmental issues though)

~~~
collyw
Just to play devils advocate regarding passive smoking (not saying it not
annoying for others, and the cigarette butts is just irresponsible - I would
hope its not all smokers that do that, but clearly enough do that it's
noticable).

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/12/12/study-f...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/12/12/study-
finds-no-link-between-secondhand-smoke-and-cancer/#24bba5dd65d4)

~~~
tyrust
>The study doesn't cover the many other ill effects of breathing somebody
else's cigarette smoke, of course, which include asthma and possibly cardio-
pulmonary disease.

>Previous cancer studies have had mixed results, the researchers said,
although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still calculate
secondhand smoke is responsible for 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,400
deaths from cancer a year.

------
artfulhippo
Smoking is clearly not healthy. But I wish the benefits of nicotine were more
widely known and discussed.

I smoked from age 16 to 23 and now I'm 27. I've had cravings for the
stimulation that I miss for the last 4 years. I expect to have them for the
rest of my life.

As a teenager, smoking was mysterious and therefore attractive to me because
everyone seemed to agree that it's bad. The benefits were a secret that I had
to discover through first-hand experience.

I don't regret quitting smoking and I'm not planning on starting up again, but
the "smoking is bad" messaging is not as clear-cut as it seems.

~~~
projektfu
You seem to have tackled the "little monster" of nicotene-directed urges but
not the "big monster" of urges that come from the programming in your brain.
You definitely should read the book mentioned in the other comment, _The Easy
Way to Stop Smoking_ , by Allen Carr. Time to take down the big monster.

~~~
artfulhippo
I'm sorry, this book really doesn't speak to the reasons why I smoked
(cognitive stimulation, social connection, a reason to take a break).

I'm glad it's help other people but it feels out-of-touch in exactly the way
that I highlighted in my comment above: it demonizes cigarettes, describing
the harms of nicotine without the benefits.

In many ways, nicotine is similar to amphetamines or caffeine. Adderall isn't
healthy but people take it for a reason. It doesn't help anyone to pretend
like it's totally irrational to consume addictive stimulants.

~~~
pgreenwood
Interesting, the book worked for me, particularly because it did address
reasons (that I thought I had) like cognitive stimulation, social connection,
and taking a break.

I'd like to add; that I think that all of the stimulants mentioned above
result in a net loss of energy and focus, even if the peaks are higher.

------
riantogo
This has some parallels to the psychological effect that I don’t recollect the
name for. It goes something like this: Tell a kid to clean their room and they
will come up several excuses to not do it, “I’m busy”, “I will do to tomorrow”
etc. So you ask the kid, “given a choice between cleaning a room and not
cleaning a room, what would be the reasons why a kid will choose to clean
it?”. This triggers the positive reasons in their head to actually do it. Use
responsibly.

------
stickfigure
While it does seem like a good ad, is there any data on whether it is actually
effective?

The title for World's Cleverest Anti-Smoking ad really should be given to
whatever actually gets people to _stop smoking_.

~~~
Shivetya
it really comes down to immediate expense versus deferred, as in the health
costs are deferred to the point that people don't feel the impact until it is
upon them.

so the only solution is to make the product cost so much that the immediate
cost becomes the concern or just outright ban it. The US issue is too many
states rely on the tax and penalty revenue associated with the products they
may be loathe to give it up.

------
IgorPartola
Similar: if you tell an average person that their earbuds are turned up too
loud and it’ll damage their hearing, they likely won’t do anything. Tell them
it’s too loud and will damage their headphones, and they’ll turn down their
volume for the rest of their lives.

~~~
LeoTinnitus
I actually am one of those weirdos that has to use an equalizer for android
because i can't stand how loud the lowest setting is. When you work in a
relatively quiet office, you sometimes want to be pick up on what other people
are saying without having to ask again.

~~~
hestipod
I find the lowest settings on any phone I have tried too loud with any
headphones or bluetooth device. I gave up trying. Even in a normal room its
painfully loud. Per your username I do have tinnitus also and some minor
hearing loss but not massive. No idea why this is so miserable.

~~~
seemack
I had a similar issue where I bought a pair of in-ear monitors with very low
impedance and the lowest settings on my phone/laptop is still too loud. I
solved it buying a small headphone amp:
[https://www.radsone.com/earstudio](https://www.radsone.com/earstudio)

It's worked out really well. It's much smaller than most headphone amps and
has the added bonus (for me) of making my headphones wireless.

------
lazylizard
I took a few weeks to stop smoking reguarly(20 in 2-3 days) , only when i was
drinking. Then stopped totally when we stopped meeting for drinks with the
covid19 "stay home" restrictions.

I think i still want to smoke when out for drinks. Like, what do you do? Just
gulp all the beer in 1 go and leave? The smoking is good for pauses in between
the alcohol.. But temporarily stopping is no hardship.

------
jcampbell1
My favorite teenager behavior modification ad campaign is the Australian anti-
speeding campaign with the pinky curl.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2nvAFOk7x0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2nvAFOk7x0)

The subtext is "you are speeding because you have a small penis".

~~~
watwut
Shaming guys with small penises and feminity simultaneously ... even as issue
at hand has nothing to do with penis size ... and nothing to do with feminine
women either ...

------
IHLayman
Pointing out hypocrisy is a common ad tactic. Reminded me strongly of this old
classic:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUXb7do9C-w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUXb7do9C-w)
I wouldn't claim it was the cleverest.

------
3minus1
I like the idea behind this article, but a 62% increase in calls to phone
hotline after an ad campaign doesn't sound that amazing to me. Ads are pretty
effective in general; even just reminding someone that a hotline exists to
quit smoking would cause an increase.

------
nigrioid
I thought it was this for a minute:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4c_wI6kQyE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4c_wI6kQyE)

------
mellow2020
> "If it's so bad, why are you smoking?"

" _I didn 't say 'it's bad', I said 'it's bad for you'. Just because you're a
little kid doesn't mean you get to move goal posts, so try again._"

edit: that's my answer. If you say I must be impressed because those other
people are, then you're wrong. Smoking is bad for kids an it's bad for adults,
adults get to make choices that harm them, ask parents for details, case
closed.

------
sova
Reminding the individual that their fate is in their hands is the way to go !
Even better when they can remind themselves!

------
runawaybottle
The ad is very good, but it is also very patronizing. Most smokers know it’s
bad, the problem is it’s an addiction. In a way, the ad is very honest,
because saying ‘why don’t you just stop your addiction’ is a childish
question.

~~~
yumraj
> Most smokers know it’s bad, the problem is it’s an addiction.

Yes it's addictive, but the first step towards quiting is accepting, or rather
convincing yourself, that you need to quit now!

This ad is a step towards that, making people realize that they need to quit.

Once that threshold is crossed, rest follows at it's own pace.

~~~
oxymoran
That’s like telling someone that depressed to just realize they are depressed
and to stop being depressed. Realizing that you need to quit is not some sort
of magick. I think that almost all smokers know that they need to quit.
Further the problem is staying quit. Smokers quit all the time but then
relapse.

------
gowld
"Worked" means "people made phone calls".

Title violate HN guidelines against inventing editorizalied titles.

~~~
dang
Ok, we put the smoking kid in the title above.

------
assblaster
It's amazing what can be done from an advertising standpoint to both get
people interested in smoking, but also how to dissuade people from smoking.

As a gay man, this anti-smoking ad campaign doesn't really appeal or apply to
me, but I could see why it would be effective for heterosexuals:

[https://youtu.be/82x9pzHkHK4?t=16](https://youtu.be/82x9pzHkHK4?t=16)

Edit: nevermind, this is satire.

~~~
ndespres
That's a satirical news segment from The Onion. Not a real anti-smoking
campaign.

