Alright Pam...one more post. Thanks Pat and Phil, for your responses,btw.
I'm not trying to skirt the issue (my answer to your question) in this, Pam. Just bear with me.
To me, this would be the ideal situation, if I ran a site like this. And I base this on what I see as people relapsing, and then (understandably)looking for reassurance. A pseudo confessional or something. I get it. My problem with this, though, is well established and I'll spare all of you that. But maybe the better thing to do, as a site, would be to require at log-in an honest answer to your smoking status. If you have slipped/relapsed, you have your ability to post in the general forums temporarily removed and you are then limited to another group just for that population. In this relapse group, you are evaluated and nurtured by the sites experts and the the oldies who are solid in their quits. These people and you determine things like your commitment to quit, what to do with your meter, all that stuff before your rights to post in the general forums are renewed.
No one is the wiser and it doesn't impact on the strugglers in the general forums in any way. Us newbies aren't subjected to all the subtle junkie thoughts that inadvertantly come from it.
Well...that's how I WISH this site worked. I certainly don't agree with another sites attitude about one strike and you're out. That may surprize some of you, but I see no benefit in that method, either.
But back to the real world.
So, to the answer to your question. If, after say 2 years, I took a puff off someone's cig at a party. If one really equates this addiction with say heroin (and most say it's worse) , that would be the same as saying I shot up, but only 1/2 syringe. I guess the question is, could I stop? If I did take only one drag and walked away....maybe I wouldn't confess it to anyone. I know what you're saying. It would be horrible, but by then, I think that I wouldn't be posting anymore UNLESS I started smoking again. It's hard to imagine being "clean" for that long. I suppose if I had no adverse reaction and never felt an increased crave and just went on like before (this is a huge supposition) then 1. I wouldn't tell anyone, anyway, and 2. I doubt I'd be using the meter anymore since I'd like to at some time be
