Young People Are Tripping on Benadryl--and It's Always a Bad Time (Wired, November 17)

[I_UndergroundPanther]

45. I smoked 1/8 of a Marlboro

I was on a psych unit in the early 80’s back then they had rooms set aside for smokers. Since all the interesting people were in there I was in there too sometimes.

What was the big deal about cigarettes? I wondered because everyone in my family smoked but me and everyone in the unit was asking for them giving them out for a buck.

I was curious to try it. I asked 3 people offered I had the choice of some brand I didn’t know, a Newport or a Marlboro. I picked the Marlboro. They found it amusing I held it like a joint.

First puff it tasted horrendous. Second puff it made my throat hurt and my lungs itch deep inside .By the 3rd puff I had enough. This sucked ass.

I wanted to get out of the room and go lie down I was quickly becoming miserable. As I walked to my room I got something similar to tunnel vision. It was unnerving.

I laid down and the nausea hit. Drooling I was scared I was gonna puke and the dizziness and weird vision didn’t help me feel confident I would make it to the toilet.

However being emetiphobic I know just how to breathe a certain way to control nausea .I laid there closed my eyes breathed and waited until it was over.

That was my one and only time a cigarette touched my lips.