quitting smoking is tough. My parents quit when I was 7. They did it cold turkey, unconventionally. Every time they wanted to light up, they'd throw a dollar bill in a jar. That jar filled up QUICK. They had to be diligent, and they succeeded. Smoke free since the early 1980's, and dad still has a craving sometimes. Mom not so much. When you smoke around your kids and pets they too smoke. They are addicted to nicotine too. I went through it. It wasn't "as" hard for me as it was for mom & dad but it was still a time of nasty mood swings, headaches, etc. Then I had a bad accident where I was dead at the hospital, but was revived. Not related directly to smoking, but other causes. So I don't remember a whole lot before that.
Having known many folks over the years I can honestly say that some drugs are much harder to quit than others. I had an old GF that got tied up with meth. You can't quit meth. It is THAT addictive. Some have but they are not the same. Meth changes a person physically and mentally and emotionally. That's just one of many drugs. Meth used as a term for a chemical that is not prescribed. There are prescriptions that are also highly addictive but most of the time they are much easier to quit. My best friend was hooked on vikes and I saw what happened with that. He had no choice but to quit it, it was either that or lose every single thing he ever had, worked for, including his marriage, family, everything. And he almost did. I know folks who have, and it don't seem to bother them.
when I said if you smoke so do your kids, I also included any drugs that you might be using. Sure weed don't seem like a big deal to anyone but it is when there is a family involved. Your kids see you using it and they question it. Why? Because it makes you feel good. Well what do you know, a few years later you catch them with a joint. Then not long after they're hanging with a bunch of pot heads who will never get anywhere in life except to the big house over and over again, but it seems like no big deal. Pretty soon that pot high ain't enough to satisify their cravings to they start trying other stuff. I mean, "everyone" says it's no big deal, right? Wrong!! Trust me, I have seen this happen time and time again, probably thousands of times. It might be legal but ask yourself, why is it legal? MONEY! The government keeps getting bigger=they need more money=they legalize pot and tax it so heavily that street pot is cheaper and I hear better. I don't know I don't mess with it you'd have to ask my ex girlfriend about it since she's the guru. Notice I saw EX. If I had known when I met her, I'd not have had much to do with her. Another great example of worthlessness. Spend her $$$ on something that "doesn't do anything"--if that were the case, why's she doing it? Makes no sense.
thieves. I agree that the penalties for thieving are not harsh enough. But, we (Americans) have attorneys that get paid to define law. So when cruel and unusual punishment is brought up, some attorney is guaranteed to define it in such a way that benefits that attorney and maybe whomever he or she is representing. Attorneys are a big part of what is wrong with this country, but they're also a big part of what is right with this country. The justice system in itself can work so long as money and power are left out of it. That will never happen.
So with that being said, when a person kills another person, our way of law says that they may be convicted of capital murder by a trial of their peers. So then begins the process. Capital murder (used as an example only) can be punishable by death in "some states"--and other states believe that it is unethical. Define unethical. Is "unethical" applied to the murder that took place to begin with, or is "unethical" a term applied solely to the punishment? How about prison? We allowed our "leaders" to redefine what prison is for. The systems don't work most of the time. There are exceptions. Criminals are and will be criminals for the rest of their lives unless THEY decide to change themselves (which is increasingly rare). Additionally we have allowed the governments to take funding away from law ENFORCEMENT, meaning there are occasions where enforcement just is inadequate, and we are seeing that now. Defund the police. That's like giving a few a free ride to do whatever they want. Yet we keep trying to go after the tools that criminals use rather than going after the criminals themselves. The tool didn't cut the cats off, the criminal had to turn it on and hold it in place where he wanted it to cut. The scrapyards buying are doing what they do, they buy scrap. It is not their fault that the government mandated extremely expensive parts on vehicles. They have Platinum and Palladium (among other things) in them which is valueable. Is is that hard to figure this stuff out? If it is, we as a society, are doomed to failure.
out here where I live thieving is not a huge issue because we're out in the sticks, we gotta take care of ourselves since it takes the cops almost an hour to get here if they show up at all. Even if they do, the "system" is such that they don't usually deal with small time thieves. If you have camera footage or even better video footage, a lot of times it won't hold up in a courtroom even if you know the thieves. It is a sick system
