Rewind 50 years to a time when tight jeans, white t-shirts, and leather jackets paired perfectly with that American muscle car you’ve saved all summer to get. Add a pack of cigarettes in your sleeve and you’re sure to be the hottest thing at the diner.
Go further back to the times of horses, hats, and the wild west and you can’t help but to imagine a rugged cowboy getting work done, sure enough lighting up a cigarette or cigar.
While tobacco has played a major role in the “bad boy” “cool kid” image over the years, it may be time to leave the past, in the past.
Why Was Smoking Cool?
Many smokers picked up the habit due to peer pressure, or because it was the “cool” thing to do.
From your day to day workplace, to the people you hang out with, to major social activities such as the military and college, somewhere along the way someone you knew smoked, and encouraged you to give it a try.
As smoking remained taboo, that only encouraged some people to continue. This is where the “bad boy” reputation takes the lead.
Let’s be serious, all of us either wanted to be, know, hang out with, or spend time with the strong, handsome, bad boys in all the movies.
Why You Should Quit
While smoking may be portrayed in the movies as something the cool guys and girls do, medical research has continued to reveal the life threatening and negative impacts smoking could have on you, and your loved ones.
Your Health
The number one reason smokers decide to quit is to better their overall health, and reduce the risks of severe medical issues.
Chemicals such as nicotine are found to increase the risk of cancer-causing cells, leading to not only direct cancer to the mouth, throat, or lungs, but an increased risk of cancer throughout your body.
Smoking any plant will release certain levels of chemicals such as carbon monoxide and tar. These are released in high levels when smoking the tobacco plant, filling your body with these dangerous toxins.
Inhaling smoke is extremely dangerous, and remains a leading cause of bodily damage during fires. When smoking, you are choosing to inhale smoke which could damage your lungs, throat, mouth, and navel passages.
Damage to the lungs and throat are often associated with a shortness of breath or deep cough. Damage to the mouth and nose leads to a lack of taste or smell.
Your Appearance
To get the most out of your day, we all want to look, feel, and smell our best.
The leading complaint for non-smokers is the smell from cigarette smoke that sticks to everything. From your vehicle, to your clothes, and even stuck to your skin -- the smell of burnt cigarettes. This could be seen as less than ideal, or even unprofessional in many work settings.
Nicotine and other chemicals in tobacco can cause your skin and body to physically age faster. As you smoke, blood flow is restricted to your skin, causing dryness and reduced protection from the elements, leading to wrinkles and skin damage.
Why Can’t You Stop?
Even if you know and understand the risks and damage associated with tobacco use, smokers often can’t simply stop. Something always draws them back to another cigarette.
But why?
Like most addictive substances, nicotine releases heightened levels of dopamine, a chemical in your body that plays a big role in the feelings of reward, happiness, love, pleasure, and a range of other feelings.
While dopamine is released naturally when doing things that make you happy such as listening to music or receiving a hug, nicotine releases un-natural high levels of dopamine. Your body enjoys this feeling, and wants more, completely overlooking the health risks and terrible feelings from smoking.
Over time, continuous use creates a chemical dependency, or a feeling of need known as addiction.
Smoking Alternatives
It’s time to quit smoking, and while the idea of simply walking away from tobacco sounds appealing, addiction may pull you back in.
For many smokers, using smoking alternatives and tools to help them achieve a tobacco free life.
Alternatives are any tool or device that take the place of a cigarette, with the idea of a nicotine-free or nicotine-reduced substance being a key tool for being able to stay away from cigarettes. These tools not only help you become smoke-free, they provide a means to relieve withdrawal cravings and the need for ritual without using addictive nicotine products.
Why Alternatives Work
To quit smoking, you may need to smoke something else.
Well, when said like that, it seems a little silly.
Alternatives are about being able to relieve your cravings and habits, allowing you to battle the physical and mental withdrawal symptoms associated with nicotine dependency.
Hemp Cigarettes
When a smoker wants a product that looks, feels, and smokes like a standard cigarette without a mass of the negative effects, hemp products have found their role as the go-to for many smokers on their way to quitting.
Purchasing hemp cigarettes from a trusted distributor gives you peace of mind that your products are exactly what you paid for.
While hemp products must be lacking of THC, there are no limitations or standardizations on the levels of CBD. This means your hemp cigarettes may have low levels of CBD, or they could be packed with the health beneficial cannabinoid.
When hemp cigarettes are packed with CBD, they are often referred to as CBD cigarettes.
Using Hemp Cigarettes
When you decide to quit smoking, you’ll be cutting nicotine out of your system. This may lead to physical and emotional withdrawals. Just because you’re cutting nicotine, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider a gradual reduction.
Using other sources of nicotine, such as nicotine patches will allow you to use reduced levels from your normal smoking habits. Over time, these nicotine levels will further be reduced over time until you’ve reached zero.
With nicotine being the addictive substance in tobacco, this step is vital to your success in quitting.
During this time, you can light up a hemp cigarette whenever you feel overwhelming cravings. At first, this could be the same schedule as your standard cigarettes, with the goal to reduce how often you light up over time.
Benefits of Hemp
While hemp cigarettes will help you pull away from tobacco use and towards healthier habits, it can also benefit your life in other manners.
While you may lose your sense of taste and smell while smoking, hemp smoke is less harsh with a far reduced smell. This means in time, your sense of smell and taste will begin to return. That terrible odor that previously stuck to your clothes, skin, and just about everything else will be replaced by a more natural smell.
Returning Cravings
Once you’ve quit, the cravings could potentially return over time. While they may not be constant, a rough or stressful day may have you considering a cigarette. The feeling that you want to smoke again could become overwhelming.
Having a pack of hemp cigarettes at the ready will help you avoid picking up a pack of standard cigarettes and returning to the life threatening habit.
Stay Smoke-Free
Pulling away from smoking tobacco, or using any tobacco products can be difficult due to nicotine addiction. Quitting cold turkey may sound easy, but withdrawal symptoms often become too much.
Using the tricks and tools of hemp cigarettes will allow you to reduce your nicotine use, and work your way towards healthier habits.
With the options of CBD packed cigarettes, you may enjoy the idea of a cigarette that may add health benefits to your life. Many users have found the effects of CBD to be relieving and relaxing.
Always buy your hemp cigarettes from a quality distributor. Oklahoma Smokes has dedicated our time and efforts in now only providing quality products, but creating the educational material for you to become an at home expert. We wish you the best as you quit!
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