Lessons Learned, and Not Learned

What lessons could we learn from nicotine chewing gum?

You might be surprised.

Read on.

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Having never been addicted to anything (or, anyone), the craving for a substance, other than food & water for sustenance, it interests me to understand the strong cravings that some have for non-food substances, including, for example, tobacco, spiritous beverage, or narcotics abused, or other illicit substances, including cocaine, methamphetamine, etc.

For years, I have, on a personal level, maintained that addiction was not what many were saying that it was, some years ago. And in the interim, from then until now, indeed, the definition, and our understanding of addiction has substantially changed, precisely because of our increased understanding of physiology, in conjunction with improved recognition of cause-and-effect patterns of human behavior.

For example, with smokers, they almost always fall into habituation through association with routine. Wake up, toilet, smoke, bathe, smoke. Drink coffee, smoke. Drive to work, smoke. Work a couple hours, smoke break. Work a few more, lunch break, smoke. Work a bit, smoke break. Off work, drive home, smoke. Get cleaned up, smoke. Watch teevee, smoke. Eat supper, smoke. Have cocktails/nightcap, smoke. And it all repeats itself the next day. That’s significantly serious behavioral reinforcement.

Those who make effort to quit, frequently forget the association of routine with smoking, and when determined to quit, they sometimes

Research: #Cannabis Smoke Much Less Harmful Than #Tobacco Smoke

Researchers publishing their findings of a 25-year international research project involving over 5000 people in the 22 November 2017 in the Journal “Addiction” have concluded that periodic marijuana smoking is not associated the cardiovascular disease.

However, they note that regular marijuana smoking does

Research: Higher Wages Reduces Smoking

September 7, 2015
Raising the minimum wage could benefit health, say researchers. 

 A 10% increase in wages leads to a 5% decrease in the rate of smoking. That is especially true for male employees with a low level of education, report scientists from the UC Davis Health System in Sacramento in the “Annals of Epidemiology.” Moreover, the likelihood of quitting smoking increases from 17-20%.

For their study, researchers analyzed data from full time workers aged 21 to 69 in the years 1999 to 2009 and

How to make a simple, inexpensive barbecue smoker

For those uninitiated in the finer things of Southern culture, Barbecue is a staple Southern food.

In fact, it’s one of the primary food groups.

Snake Handler Double IPA

It’s right alongside beer.

Yep, there’s bread, also known as the “staff of life” more often, though, it’s cornbread; there’re vegetables, which include tomatoes, green beans, black-eyed peas, corn on the cob; liquid refreshments which include sweet tea, beer – and then… there’s barbecue.