18 Years Quit & More Quitter Questions | #48

18 Years Quit & More Quitter Questions – Episode 48

The Kill The Can Podcast
Recorded: July 27th, 2024

Introduction

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Kill The Can Podcast.

I’m doing some recording here on a Saturday morning. My wife and two of my kids are out of town. My middle son is in Toledo at a baseball tournament. He’s pitching, and I’m actually going to head up there this afternoon. He’s starting around 3:30 or 4:00.

My oldest son is working, my youngest son is off camping, so I’ve got a quiet house to myself this morning and I’m going to knock out a podcast.

I probably won’t get it posted until the middle of next week. I kind of like Tuesday or Wednesday for releasing the podcast, which is what I’ve been shooting for.

Let me know. Give me some feedback. Do you care? Is there a particular day of the week that you’d like to see the podcast released?

18 Years Quit

Last Wednesday, if you follow me on TikTok, you know that it was the 18th anniversary of my quit date.

As of today, I’ve been quit for 18 years and a few days.

As I normally do, and as I’ve been doing for probably the last 10 or 12 years, I have a little local watering hole—a little local bar—that I go to. I just kind of sit and reflect.

I was able to reflect on my quit and honestly give thanks to the Kill The Can community that has helped me get to where I am.

I’m eternally grateful.

It’s kind of cool. I’m now quit longer than I was a user.

When I started out, I remember thinking, “Man, there’s going to be a day when I’m quit longer than I was a user.”

I don’t know exactly what day that was. I’m actually going to try to figure it out. If I can find the football schedule for my high school football team in 1990, I can pinpoint the exact day I had my very first dip.

Once I figure that out, I can do some math wizardry with my quit date and determine exactly when I crossed what, in my opinion, is a pretty massive milestone: being quit longer than I was a user.

I know it happened sometime during this past year.

That Wednesday afternoon, I sat back and reflected. I really didn’t post much on social media that day. I posted one video on TikTok and some thoughts on my personal blog, but not on Kill The Can.

At this point in my life, it really is more about the community than it is about me.

It’s about the men and women who walk this walk with me on a daily basis to this day—posting roll, whether it’s on Discord, the forums, via text, chat, or whatever it may be.

I can’t express my gratitude enough.

This isn’t about me at this point. It’s about this community.

The community is what keeps me quit.

I love you all very much, and I really do appreciate it.

Remembering My Father

It was also, as I’ve talked about on the podcast, the first anniversary of my father’s death.

He died a year ago on July 24. He died of lung cancer.

For those of you who reached out and offered your sympathy and support, even a year later, thank you.

I really do appreciate it.

It means a lot, and it made that day a little bit easier.

Depression and Emotions After Quitting Zyn

Back to this morning. We’re going to do some more commenting on social media. I’ve got quite a few YouTube comments to get to, and this has worked well for the last couple of episodes, so I figured I’d give it another shot today.

The first comment comes from The Hobby Connects:

“I just quit Zyn five days ago and I’ve been so emotional and depressed. I pray that these feelings will subside soon. It’s been tough.”

First of all, huge congratulations on five days of freedom—in your case, from Zyn, and overall from nicotine.

That’s an amazing accomplishment.

You’re absolutely right. Emotions come into play here. Depression is very common when quitting nicotine. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a comment very similar to this.

All I can tell you is to continue pushing forward.

You’re still in the very early stages of your quit. For me, those first 10, 12, 20 days or so were absolutely brutal.

What worked well for me was drinking a ton of water. I was probably going through a gallon of water a day. I was doing a lot of walking and running just to keep my emotions in check.

And honestly, if you’re not already, I would suggest diving into a support community.

KillTheCan.org. Discord.

Even though we’re called Kill The Can and were founded on the premise of quitting smokeless tobacco, the reality is that nicotine is what we’re addicted to.

We are all addicted to nicotine.

That community is about battling our addiction to nicotine.

You do not have to go through this alone.

Keep fighting. Congratulations on five days of freedom.

You’ve got this, man. I know you can do it.

The Sean Marsee Story

The next comment is from Eric Dykeman:

“I never used any tobacco products in my life. What truly deterred me from dipping was learning about Sean Marsee in middle school.”

Sean Marsee, for those of you who don’t know, was a young man who developed cancer of the mouth and throat due to his smokeless tobacco use and died a very painful death.

Sean was an athlete. He was one of those “strongest guy you’ll ever know” types. To see him wither away due to smokeless tobacco and cancer was heartbreaking.

Back in 2011, Kill The Can attended the National Smokeless Tobacco Summit in Austin, Texas. Even though it was called the National Smokeless Tobacco Summit, it was actually an anti-smokeless-tobacco conference.

We attended as a vendor. We weren’t selling anything. We were really promoting our services, for lack of a better term.

I remember walking up and talking to one of the speakers. I introduced myself and said, “Hey, I’m Chewie. I’m from Kill The Can.”

He said, “Oh, I know you guys,” almost as if Kill The Can was some rogue organization.

We started chatting, and I asked him, “How long did you chew?”

He said, “I never did.”

I said, “Okay. How long did you smoke?”

He said, “No, I never did.”

I continued to get similar answers over and over again from many of the people at the conference.

That’s when it crystallized in my mind that many people and organizations in the anti-smoking and anti-tobacco movement may have a mission synonymous with ours—helping people quit these products—but they’re not coming at it from personal experience.

At that conference, I had the opportunity to meet Sean Marsee’s brother, Jason Marsee.

Jason told Sean’s story firsthand. He told the story of how his brother died at the age of 19 due to cancer caused by smokeless tobacco.

If you want to watch that presentation, it’s on the site. Search for The Sean Marsee Story Told Firsthand.

It’s an incredibly powerful story.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back and reread Sean’s story or rewatched Jason’s presentation.

Even 18 years into my quit, it continues to motivate me.

I really appreciate this comment because it brought Sean Marsee’s story back to the forefront.

Thank you.

Stop Trying to Quit

The next comment comes from USMC Jarheads 3584.

First of all, thank you for your service, sir. My sincere appreciation.

He says:

“Bro, I’m going to try now. For [expletive]’s sake, I’m losing my mind.”

First of all, sir, you can do this.

You are a Marine. You are the baddest of the bad. Again, thank you for your service.

You can do this.

The one thing I would suggest is changing the way you’re thinking and talking about your quit.

Even if it’s only in your mind, change your vocabulary.

You’re not going to try to do this.

You’re not hoping this is the last time.

You’re not hoping for success.

You can do this.

Don’t hope. Don’t try. Don’t say “if.”

Replace those words with will, can, and when.

“When I quit.”

“I know I can quit.”

“I will quit.”

Don’t talk about your last attempt.

Quit is final.

Take dip off your mind. It’s not an option. Period. End of story.

Once you grasp that concept, things will get easier.

They won’t be easy, but they’ll be easier.

I know you can do this.

Let me know how I can help. I will be honored to walk this quit path with you.

Should Someone Who Doesn’t Use Nicotine Try Zyn?

These next two comments are responses to something I talked about on the last episode.

If you recall, “Kurt Cobain” said:

“I’ve never smoked a cigarette, but I want to start doing Zyn.”

I responded by urging him to stay far, far away.

The overwhelming majority of people who use these products develop an addiction to them. Even if there are “benefits” to using nicotine, once you become addicted, the downsides quickly outweigh those benefits.

Another commenter responded:

“Zyn and its competitors have given me an addiction that’s by far the hardest I’ve ever had to quit, and that includes alcohol. Steer far, far away, as he said. My quality of life and memory have deteriorated more than I thought possible, and I still use to this day. Don’t do it.”

This is a current Zyn user telling a potential Zyn user not to do it.

Not how awesome it is.

Not how much they love it.

They’re saying, “Don’t do it.”

Kurt responded that he had bought a can and was putting off trying it because he was worried it would make him nauseous or cause a panic attack, but that eventually he planned to try it.

I can only assume he’s trolling.

But let’s assume, for the sake of the conversation, that he’s being completely sincere.

If that’s the case, I genuinely feel bad for him because it sounds like he’s curious about products like Zyn and wants to have the experience.

While I understand the curiosity, I would once again urge him to stay far, far away.

Once you satisfy that curiosity, I’m concerned you’re going to be left with an addiction to a product that you never needed in the first place.

Appreciating the Chaos

The next comment is from Secondhand Legs.

I had made a video after being off TikTok for a month or a month and a half, talking about how busy my summer had been with travel baseball, travel basketball and the kids.

They said:

“Summers with kids are long summers. They’re great summers, but so much to do. Congrats on keeping out of the can. I’ve got almost four years no cigs. We got this.”

First, congratulations on four years of freedom. That’s amazing.

And you’re right.

Summers are crazy, but they’re awesome.

I was sitting around the kitchen table with my wife about a month ago and said, “We’re going to blink and it’s just going to be the two of us sitting here.”

So I think we really need to embrace the crazy.

That’s what we’ve done.

We really try to reflect on how much we have and enjoy the busy amidst the chaos.

I appreciate the comment for reminding me once again that I need to appreciate all the chaos I’ve got going on.

Is “Addict” Too Strong a Word?

I told myself I wasn’t going to respond on the podcast anymore to this particular video. It’s one I’ve talked about several times. It’s titled Sorry Your Boyfriend Is Addicted to Zyn.

But I’m going to do it for these two comments.

The first comes from Jay Lawson 26, who said:

“Addict is a rather strong word.”

I’ll agree with that.

Addict is a strong word.

It’s also 100% the appropriate word to use in this case.

Just because we’re talking about nicotine addiction doesn’t mean we should downplay it.

Yes, “addict” is a strong word, and I use that word very purposefully.

Nicotine addiction is nothing to shake a stick at.

The other comment comes from Josh, who said he finally realized what a mistake he’d made by starting Zyn to quit smoking. He had believed some of the claims about brain-boosting benefits, but described it as a silent addiction that crept up on him.

He eventually got up to Swedish snus pouches containing around 35 milligrams of nicotine. It took him two months to taper down to two milligrams, and he was finally nicotine-free and on day four.

Josh, first of all, congratulations on four days of freedom.

Actually, you left this comment three days ago, so congratulations on a week of freedom.

Amazing accomplishment.

I appreciate comments like this because, while I talk about Zyn and nicotine pouches quite a bit, I can’t speak from personal experience with Zyn.

I never used them.

Zyn pouches didn’t exist when I was dipping or when I quit.

I can speak from the perspective that they contain nicotine and I was addicted to nicotine, but I appreciate firsthand comments from people who have used or quit Zyn.

Massive congratulations on getting free.

I’m honored to walk this path with you.

How Addictive Is Zyn?

The next comment says:

“I’ve smoked cigarettes for years in college and dipped Copenhagen for years as well. I’ve never been more addicted to anything as I have with Zyn. It’s crazy.”

Again, I highlight this because these nicotine pouch products really are addicting people.

I haven’t seen research showing that they’re addictive at a higher rate than smokeless tobacco, but if I had to guess why people find them so easy to use, I’d say it’s because they’re cleaner.

You don’t have to spit.

You can hide them a little better.

They really are everywhere.

I think it’s important to highlight just how addictive these products can be.

How Nicotine Addiction Begins

I’m going to wrap up the podcast with this comment from The Scratcher 2951:

“The first time you use a Zyn, they really hit you hard, but if you keep doing it, you just get used to it.”

The reality is, yes, that’s a pretty typical addiction timeline.

I didn’t enjoy the first time I used smokeless tobacco.

The first nicotine I ever used was a Skoal Bandit—Wintergreen. I remember it like it was yesterday.

The first time I actually tried dip, though, it was Kodiak.

I was sitting in my basement playing a video game. I remember getting a buzz like nobody’s business.

I wasn’t very good at keeping my dip packed at that point, so I had floaters all over the back of my mouth. I was gagging. It was a mess.

I remember going into the bathroom, spitting everything out, trying to clear out my mouth and thinking:

“God, how stupid is this? This is really bad.”

But that wicked head buzz I got led me back to that can for nearly two decades.

What’s So Bad About Nicotine?

I answered another question not too long ago about what’s so bad about nicotine.

I’m sure you’ve heard me say this on the podcast numerous times.

There’s a narrative out there that nicotine has all these benefits.

At this point, I’m not even arguing about those supposed benefits.

What I will say is this:

If those benefits exist, as a nicotine addict, I can’t enjoy them.

So what’s so bad about nicotine?

In addition to other concerns, there’s one massive red flag in my mind:

It’s addictive.

At this point in my life, I’ve battled too long and too hard—blood, sweat and tears—to get away from my addiction.

I’m never going back.

I appreciate you joining me today on the podcast, quitters.

I hope you have a wonderful afternoon. We’ll talk to you soon.

I’m honored to be quit with you.