The Cigarette Lesson

As I grew up in a fairly conservative family, I was brought up with teachings like drinking is bad, gambling is bad, smoking is bad and so on. I agree gambling is bad. Drinking, not so much. (But we do add alcohol to our dishes so my family is not that boring. Besides, daddy loves beer.) Smoking. Smoking is bad indeed.

I was not that convinced of course, I see things with an curious eye.

So at 28, I tried smoking. Ha! So old it's like a joke. But you should have seen the look on that old lady's face when I asked for a pack of cigarettes at her counter. That gives you an idea of how I looked - the typical goody-two-shoes.

The reason I wanted to try was because I was depressed, and I thought it's like chronic suicide to get hooked to smoking. Only I couldn't!

Every time I smoked, I felt sick. The first two times were fine, probably because I didn't keep the smoke in my lungs much. Then I started getting giddy as I got the hang of it. I thought the giddiness amplified by its interaction with my antidepressants. Whatever it is, it made me vomit.

So each time that happened, I said, 'I'll not try it again.'

I wasn't hooked, I wanted to be, but I couldn't. I was inclined towards self-destruction you see. So a few weeks after vomiting from one cigarette, I tried again. And puked again.

Another few weeks later, which was earlier tonight, I tried again. Oh god I clung on to the toilet bowl sicking up my dinner. After that, I climbed into bed, unwilling to move because it made me giddy.

I got wiser this time though, after sleeping off the worse of it. I was holding on to a packet of American Spirits, purchased a year ago when I visited the States. As you know American Spirits are 'Class A Cigarettes' containing only the real stuff, mine was the light green one so it contained tobacco and mint. Anyway I tore the cigarette paper and got all the good stuff out - tobacco and mint leaves - into an up-cycled glass jar. It smelled so good.

The reason I kept the herbs is because tobacco can be used to sooth bites, stings and small wounds, and stop bleeding from small wounds. It also acts as a tinder. Sounds like a good thing to have in a first aid kit if you asked me.

So, that marked the end of my relationship with cigarettes. I think my cigarettes are happy now. They've been liberated from their white cells and fiery death to live the dignified life they were intended for, albeit in a dried form.

I was happy about the whole incident though I puked and am still reeling from nausea, because I learnt that herbs are beautiful. Tobacco has analgesic properties, and probably wasn't meant to be smoked. Humans misused it. Now it's widely seen as a bad plant.

Which leads me to think about cannabis. Cannabis is an interesting plant with even more healing properties than tobacco - reducing seizures, treating PTSD, alleviating chronic pain etc. Mostly, it just makes people happy and hungry. In spite of that, humans all over the world, especially in Asia, has slapped cannabis with such a bad reputation it's cruel. I can't wait for the day stupid humans finally frees it.

In truth, plants should never have been manipulated by human beings. I hate that they're being seen in a bad light because of how humans used it. It's time to wake up!