If I quit smoking right now...

Just as the deadline got closer, I found a cheaper way to get cigarettes in Singapore.

Last new year's eve I promised myself that I would quit smoking this year (2007). I made a couple of attempts with varied successes but now the 'deadline' is drawing closer. 31st December is just a breath away, considering I have just 4 days left in Singapore before I go home, after which time will just fly. What's more, you can get cigarettes so cheap in Pakistan that it's nearly impossible to quit. Plus, you can buy loose cigarettes - so even if you are virtually penniless, you can still get a couple of cigarettes.

The discovery was made by my friend Don [not his real name] when he got his hands on Drum, a popular brand of fine-cut hand-rolling tobacco - or 'shag'. Don had been on student exchange to Europe where he discovered the bliss of shags and their low cost. Plus, the added joy of rolling cigarettes yourself was priceless.

When he arrived in Singapore, he was hit by the S$ 11.80 price of just one pack of cigarettes (thanks to "sin taxes" in Singapore). One packet of Drum costs S$ 12.90 plus 50 cents for 50 rolling papers. The packet itself can be used to make about 75 cigarettes - that is about 4 packs of regular cigarettes! The only issue is that you have to smoke without filters, which seems a little too hazardous for even the most eager smoker.

He searched and finally found Zig-Zags, a brand more commonly known as 'ziggies', available at a couple of news-stands in Holland Village. One packet of Zig-Zags filters costs just S$ 1.50 and has 150 filters - good to last for two packs of Drum! The discovery quickly made its way around many Pakistanis and many of them smoke Drum or Butterfly [another brand] now.

Why I started to discover the joy of rolling was primarily because I thought to myself, "I will need to put in so much work into making each cigarette, and with the added benefit of low cost, I am bound to reduce smoking."

Wrong.

I started smoking even more. From 10 cigarettes a day I went up to smoking 25 on average. Quitting smoking seems like a distant dream to me now.

But who knows what transformation awaits me upon arrival at my beloved city?

Quitting smoking is really hard, but with family around most of the time, it would definitely reduce my intake. That is certainly a healthy start, right?

I already know all there is to know about quitting, and if I am just in the right frame of mind, I just might do it before the 'deadline' - December 31, 2007.

Here's a graphic image I got from here about what would happen to my body if I quit smoking right now:


Random thought: I wondered why would they name a brand of tobacco "Drum"!? I guess Google Image Search gave me the answer - you can also buy a drum of Drum!