Blog Baltimore

In case you missed it, recently the State of Maryland House Bill 88 denies online vendors the ability to sell Other Tobacco Products (OTP, products other than cigarettes) to Maryland consumers. If I want to buy cigars from a vendor outside of Maryland, whether by Phone, Fax, or Internet, I cannot.

I contacted Michael Vorgetts, who is the analyst for this bill, who was unable to take my call. I also contacted a popular online vendor of cigars who informed me that if I wanted to purchase cigars from them that I could only do it via wholesale. The bill is very vague in what it actually wants to do. From what I could understand from reading it, they want to tax vendors of OTP, but only if they are whole selling.

I personally would never consider buying cigars from a local store vendor. The rates they charge are often times 30-40% more than what I would pay online. This has been the practice of many cigar store fronts and it is probably the reason there aren’t that many around. It is not that I don’t enjoy going in and talking with the vendors, its that they need to work on their prices. Also the selection options in a store front are significantly less then that of the larger vendors.

Today was a good day because Marylanders can now order wine online and have it shipped to them, but now we cannot have cigars ordered and shipped to us? What kind of hypocrisy is this?

http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/fnotes/bil_0008/hb0088.pdf

ABC’s Wipeout is setting up downtown by the waterfall for something, possible trails for the show maybe? Pictures to follow when I get in to work.

Just an FYI for all those that are searching and reading. I’ve been smoke free for over 7 months now with Chantix. I took it for a total of 2 1/2 months and stopped. I stopped because I was forgetting to take the pill and didn’t have any cravings. I’m also not much of a breakfast person so needing to eat before taking the pill was getting annoying. I’ve had over 10 of my coworkers quit taking it and they’re all very happy people now. I’ve seen no issues with suicides or suicidal tendencies nor have I seen any issues with respiratory problems. What ever the hype, you can either deal with these problems or die from emphysema, lung cancer, broke ass no money cancer, or what ever else comes its way with cigarettes.

I quit taking Chantix a couple days ago and so far every thing is fine. I don’t feel stressed, I don’t feel suicidal, and I don’t have any desire to smoke. I’m positive that if you truly want to quit but just need the help getting over that hump than Chantix will do it.

If you don’t want to quit, don’t fool yourself, just keep smoking, someone’s got to provide tax dollars for the things that the state needs funding for.

As for everyone talking about the suicidal issues with the drug: There’s been over 4 million suggested users who’ve taken Chantix and about 400+ are having suicidal tendencies or have committed suicide. That’s also probably roughly the exact same number that do heavier drugs, drink like fish, and were already suicidal.

I hope Pfizer shits on every single court case that’s brought up by money grubbers and the lawyers that support them. They develop a drug that helps to prevent people from further destroying their bodies and they try to take advantage of them. Granted Pfizer’s out to make money but what would have happened if Pfizer hadn’t supported the research and the time it took to get this drug ready, we’d all still be sitting around puffing away or sucking down nicotine patches coughing up life.

With the smoking ban coming in to play Feb. 1st, it has been getting better and better in the bars. I’m curious to see what Canton’s going to look like Feb. 1st. I know New York City complained about the amount of smokers out on the streets and out in the public; Fells Point and Federal Hill will probably be in the same boat. When you’ve got bars packed in to small streets with people drinking and smoking on the streets, it changes the atmosphere from bar central to Mardi Gras. Hopefully things will settle down and maybe the crowds will disperse or they’ll find hidden hole in the walls that allow smoking inside.

It’s been a while since I’ve given an update on how well Chantix has been working for me so here I go.

It’s been over a month and a half since I’ve been on the Chantix and I’ve still no urges to smoke. I had actually skipped a pill on accident and was worried but had no side affects. I just past that pill up and continued with my regiment. Other than making sure to eat before taking the pill, I’ve been doing fantastic. If I haven’t mentioned this before, one thing that has also helped was that one of my friends bet me $100 not to smoke. It’s not a terribly large sum of money and I would pay if I did smoke but the thought of having that over my head really changes things if there are any slight urges.

The weekend was good. We went out for the girlfriends birthday and had some beers and dinner at Outback. I kept myself generally busy with conversation which helped to avoid any form of desire to smoke. The desire wasn’t near as bad as it could have been with people standing around talking, laughing, and joking at the bar. Also, fortunately for me, none of my girlfriend’s sisters or her sister’s husbands smoke regularly. We went back to her sister’s house and played Cranium and beers. Sunday went well also, no desire to smoke. The only time it gets a little bit interesting is if I’m late on my pill, waking up late or getting side tracked at work I start to get a little fidgety but that goes away almost instantly after taking my pill.

The wind downtown is rough! 83 was backed up like hell Baltimore street you could tie a string to a UPS truck and fly it like a kite for a few blocks. This is probably a good tell tale sign that we’re in for a fun winter in Baltimore. The weather’s calling for snow later this week but already with the wind and the funky temperatures, I have a feeling it’s going to be a nasty winter.

Day 4 and 5 were a real test to Chantix and quitting smoking. Yesterday was a very stressful day with the amount of work being thrown at me as well as the challenges I was facing. One of the things I used to do in the past was “reward” myself with a cigarette after a tough problem that I’d solve and this has been a hard thing to fight. Needless to say, with Chantix it’s definitely killed any temper I’ve had from quitting in the past and I can already feel myself getting more energy and breathing easier.

The only thing that really needs a good quick fix though is my snoring. If that doesn’t stop soon I swear the girlfriend’s going to smother me with her pillow

I started Chantix a week before my quit date (which they instruct you to do) and have been doing good. There’s nothing really necessary to do that first week, other than making sure you eat before you take the pill. I’ve been doing very well though. When I have down time I keep myself busy with games or reading but other then that I don’t even think about smoking. I have no cravings what-so-ever nor do I have any of the withdraw affects that I’ve had before with other methods of quitting. I’m only on day 3 at this point but from what I’ve heard from friends, the first week of quitting is the hardest but isn’t it for all quitting methods?

Now this only works if you’re smoking while walking on the street.
When someone asks you for a cigarette, just give them the one you’re smoking! It’s ingenious, they don’t want it because they can’t turn around and sell it for 5 cents or 10 cents later and they usually don’t smoke anyways so they just bugger off.