I threw out my cigarettes on day three. Up to that point, I had stopped smoking without really planning to quit. Sick with the flu. Felt horrible to smoke, so I went one day. Then, I tried for a second day. Still, I was just testing the waters. After three days without a cigarette, my mindset completely changed...just as Joel describes. After having made it through three days without nicotine (for the first time in 35+ years), I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to become an ex-smoker.
It was then that I committed to never taking another puff. It was also then that I realized I could live without cigarettes on hand and that those cigarettes would be a very dangerous temptation at some point. Better to have to get in the car and go buy a pack to give into an urge. Build in a little hurdle to a careless relapse.
So I took the two packs I had bought the day before I quit, walked out to the garage, and tossed them in the garbage can. Definitely a point of no return.
I totally understand Joel's advice. I found an (empty) cigarette pack in the center console of my car yesterday (six weeks into my quit). I don't want the temptation.