When would you consider yourself a "non-smoker"?

I have recently quit smoking (23 days 15 hours and 37 minutes cigarette free to be exact!), but I started thinking, when do you consider yourself a non-smoker? The day you quit? Two weeks? A month? A year? There's that obvious chance of relapsing, but how long do you think you need to be cigarette free to consider yourself a non-smoker?

Curious to see what everyone thinks!

I've never called myself a non-smoker. I tend to use the terms "former smoker" or "reformed smoker." lol I just hate how smokers have no rights and it seems the world is full of rabid-anti-smokers. yes, we all know it's horrible for everyone's health but so are a ton of other things. Not going to start a rant... Just giving my thought on it.

I smoke a single cigarette about once or twice a week at most. Sometimes I go weeks without. I definitely consider myself a non-smoker and my doctor does too even with all the facts. I was never addicted though and have just always done this so I don't know if that helps.

I am almost a full 4 weeks without cigarettes. Okay, my BD was on the 7th, and I had a few that day (like 4), but I bought the nastiest cigs on the shelf, and at the end of the day, I broke the rest of the pack and put them in the dumpster. It was a very depressing day, and I was on edge (unemployed, in the dark with edd, havent accomplished anything in life, etc etc). But I had a few that day, and when I woke up the next day, I did not have any cravings to go out and buy more cigs.

Being that I have lost that urge to smoke out of recreation, I would consider myself a non-smoker. I will through exception to that one day I had about 4 or 5, because it was controlled--- as in, I didn't get re-hooked. So, on Sunday, I will be a Month without a cigarette.

It takes months for your body to restore itself though. Lung capacity gets better with every work out, and blood pressure reduces gradually. GREAT JOB ON QUITTING! You just saved about $85 so far!

i never smoked.

but I do NOT consider myself a non-smoker... im just not currently smoking.

non-smoker implies i have some kind of problem with it.

I started smoking a pack a day at 14 years. About three years ago, I quit with the help of Chantix, after trying for over 20 years.
It was so impossible to quit, I'd never go back. But, I still consider myself a smoker because I know that if I had just one I'd be hooked again. And, I might never be able to quit a second time.
But, that's just me. I think once a smoker, always a smoker.
Research says that those who become smokers before age 18 years smoke the most and have the hardest time quitting, and the earlier you start the worse it is. People who begin smoking after age 18 years generally have a relatively easy time quitting.
The reason nicotine is so addicting is because the delivery system is through the lungs. That means, it gets to the blood stream and the brain fast and it hits them hard. It is why crack is so much more addictive than snorted cocaine, and why drugs injected into the vein tend to be so addictive. The harder and faster a chemical hits the brain the more it sucks!
The reason cigarettes are so difficult to quit is that there is no positive reinforcement for not smoking, but if you give in, and light up, you feel better right away.
Good luck with quitting! If things get hard, just remember, there has never been a smoker who hasn't tried quitting. There are many reasons for that.
Signed,
A smoker who refuses to relapse.

I have recently quit smoking (23 days 15 hours and 37 minutes cigarette free to be exact!), but I started thinking, when do you consider yourself a non-smoker? The day you quit? Two weeks? A month? A year? There's that obvious chance of relapsing, but how long do you think you need to be cigarette free to consider yourself a non-smoker?

Curious to see what everyone thinks!

good question and congrats, i am at 17 days 10 hours right now myself, i think you and i quit together (am i confusing you with someone else?) last year but it obviously didnt stick for either of us, funny that we would be doing it again at the same time

You were a non smoker the day you quit. Stay positive and you will continue to be smoke free. My day was July 25, 1974 ... haven't had a cigarette since then. I went from 3 packs of non-filter Camel's a day to zero ... absolutely cold turkey. If I could do that and still be smoke free after all these years then anyone can do it if they really want to.

If you but yourself into the mindset that you are a "nonsmoker" the first day that you quit than it will make it much easier to quit.

I think it depends on the person. I quit 3 years ago but find that classifying myself as a smoker who chooses not to smoke keeps me vigilant against picking the habit back up. I think you will be the best person to decide that. To this day, there are still moments when I don't want my "old friend" back especially during stressful or bored times. What is important is not going back to it.

I think this is a good way to think, reminded me of my dad who is a dry alcoholic, for years he hasn't touched alcohol, but if it comes up he'll say up front that he is a alcoholic. That mentality helped me quit the last time I quit, but I lapsed.. I was a recovering nicotine addict n still called myself a smoker.

I would say after you quit completely with no nicotine for 6 months. The moment you put nicotine in your system again you are a smoker. The problem I see with quitting smoking is that everyone has their own definition of "quitting". Quitting to some is just once a week. Quitting to others is just "when they drink". It's all a bunch of self deception. I have been 100% abstinent for 15 years. It was tough at first but gets easier and easier.

Many people believe that a non-smoker is a person who has never smoked. I quit smoking 5 years ago and tell people I am an ex-smoker which accurately describes my current status.