Some People Really Can't Quit Smoking

David Crosby, a rock star who kicked every drug under the sun, including heroin and crack cocaine, never was able to quit smoking tobacco. President Barack Obama has said that he backslides from time to time (which, translating from Politicianese, means that he smokes), and Yours Truly has had very little success with quitting in my numerous efforts to do that.

Does this sound familiar to you? You've tried to quit a million and one times and nothing works? Don't sweat it. There are a lot of us out there. Study after study has shown that some people's brains just don't work right without nicotine. Even after a full year without smoking, a hardcore nicotine addicts brain won't light up the way it should on the EKG.

If you think you might be one of those unlucky folks who can't quit, the question you should ask yourself is, "How can I reduce the damage?"

Understand that nicotine will never be safe. It is a carcinogen. That is the bad news. The good news is that you can lower the damage caused by smoking itself while still delivering much-needed nicotine to your poor, addicted brain. Nicotine gum works to a certain extent but tastes horrible. The patch never did much for me because it doesn't provide any oral stimulation. The only thing that really satisfies me are those new electric cigarettes. They're great because you can "smoke" anywhere, and you don't get all the stink or stinky eyeballs. I love smoking at my desk or in the supermarket. It's awesome! Plus, they're much cheaper than gum or the patch. I figure it works out to $4.20 a day to smoke these things, and I'm a heavy smoker. That saves me six dollars every single day.

So that's it. If you are not able to quit smoking, you can at least protect yourself somewhat.