Cigarettes & Malt Liquor… What About a Magic Pill?
Ever sit around reminiscing about old times with old friends? Well, that’s how I’m feeling about my Newports and my Hurricane Gravity right about now.
If you’re an alcoholic who smokes menthol cigarettes, you understand that soothing feeling that comes with the sounds of popping open a tall can while flicking a lighter to spark up a cigarette.
Hurricane & Cigs… A Soothing Combination
Let’s face it, these two things go together. Well, at least they did for me.
Thinking back, nothing has ever soothed me more than the feeling of warm hard liquor burning my throat or cold beer fizzling as it goes down, combined with the inhale/exhale flow of a menthol cigarette, specifically, a Newport 100.
But I stopped smoking cigarettes in 2013, after downgrading from one menthol brand to another, trying to quit, or at least save money until I did. Recently, someone reminded me that I ended on Pall Mall Menthol 100s because they were significantly cheaper than Newports by then, especially in Vegas.
And that’s where I started drinking Hurricanes instead of hard liquor because a tall can they were TWO FOR $2.22 at the time. Just thinking back, that false sense of security is missed and loathed at the same time.
And Just Like That… My Prayers Were Answered
Anyway… Sometime in July 2013, I decided I wanted to be completely done with cigs by my birthday, which is in September. I knew that trying to stop on that day wouldn’t help me reach my goal (duh…). So, I asked God to help me start the process of quitting ASAP without adding more stress to my life.
That same night, a neighbor friend named Tasha (RIP) came by to check on me (I was the oldest one in all my circles in Desert Park Apartments). She told me her doctor wanted her to stop smoking cigarettes because she was pregnant (I guess he didn’t know about the meth). So, he prescribed her 30 days’ worth of Chantix.
She told me she had no desire to quit. We agreed she would give me the pills and tell her doctor she was taking them. By the time she left and came back from her apartment with the bottle, there were only 20 pills in the bottle. Her meth click had been sneak-stealing them from her, thinking they could get high from them.
Silly rabbits!
Chantix Took the Cig Cravings Away
I started with two per day for a couple of days, then the bottle said to just take one per day. By the time I was down to a couple of pills, it was time for her doctor’s visit.
Tasha and I discussed exactly what I was going through… cravings, triggers, substitutes, side effects (none, minus ONE head rush)… and she took the info back to the doctor like it was her story.
The dosage was tweaked, per my needs, and about 10 days into the second batch, I looked up and realized I hadn’t smoked a cigarette in a couple of days.
My co-dependent neighbors would come by at intervals and drop off lucies (loose cigarettes). And one day, one came by to get one, and that’s when I realized they had been piling up because I hadn’t smoked in days. So, I gave him the cigs and I’ve never looked back on that 21-year addiction.
How Chantix Basically Works for Cigarette Smokers
Chantix, those lil miracle pills weened me off and took the cravings completely away without me even noticing. Yes, they are technically anti-depressants. However, when prescribed as a smoking thingy, the dosages are so low that they don’t have that mental effect.
While studying people with anxiety and other mental health issues taking anti-depressants, they found that those same addicts were just miraculously leaving cigarettes alone right and left. And BLAM, they figured out how to take out the high needed to treat the mental health, and leave small doses of whatever TF made them put the cigs down without one, single issue.
And THAT’S why there were 20 pills left in the doggone bottle when she gave them to me. The Desert Park FRONT meth crew knew what the pills were by name.
The Joke Was on Them… LMAO!
However, they didn’t know about the “bought them from a mental health patient VS they were subscribed for quitting cigarettes” part. There was NO HIGH for them to GET!
LMAO!!!! Thinking back on that always cracks me TF up!!! Here’s a direct quote from what was then like a son to me…:
“Mom, 90% of the people who live in Vegas are on meth.” ~ My Play Son, Art
He was trying to warn my over-trusting azz. I lived there for a few years, on and off, after he made that statement. And, it’s sad, but I must agree.
Just had to get that out of the way before the questions about why there were so many meth addicts around me in Vegas comes up. It’s almost impossible to have ANY type of circle and they not exist, even if undercover, around you.
But I digress…
Where’s the Alcohol Addiction Miracle Pill?
Anyway, back to my journey with Chantix. That was in 2013… It was the coolest thing EVER!
Now, here I am, almost 10 years later, trying to get a handle on another vice… drinking alcohol. So, why am I writing this? Well, I have just one question…
Where’s the daaam “miracle pill” for alcoholics???
And I ain’t talking about some crap to replace the addiction. Or treat some physical ailment caused by the pills replacing the addiction. I mean a TRUE MIRACLE PILL like Chantix is for cig smokers???
Learning from the Work
But how much would I learn from that journey? About five years later, in like 2018, my roommate and I were sitting on paid bills, but for the next couple of days, we were gonna be BROKE BROKE. After about two days, somehow, my dumb azz was smoking cigars like cigarettes.
I talk a good game, but I just switched the vice up all these years.
So, with that said, I’m going to just sit back and appreciate the journey as it’s dealt out to me. Whatever cards I get, I’m gonna make the best out of my hand.
No miracle pill this time. Just me, my Medium network and the people in it who “got me” as I take this journey ONE DAY AT A TIME.
Thank You, Medium, for My Alcohol-Free Network
Thank you so much to everyone who’s ever clicked on my alcohol-free content, read it, saved it, shared it or commented on it. YOU are the reasons I do this online instead of in private.
Okay, rant over. Just had to share these feelings because they were clogging up my brain cells. Thanks for your time and attention. And I’ll catch you in the next Alcohol-Free blog post!
Spicey Out!
Originally published at http://spiceyky.wordpress.com on March 18, 2023.
