Persuasive Communication

What's my motivation? The psychology found behind convincing smokers to quit smoking.

Are You Following The Herd?

Is someone trying to convince you to smoke? The most successful people in this world are the ones who look before they leap, have the ability to think for themselves, and don't always follow the herd.


Source: The No Smoking Day Charity

Secondhand Smoke Kills

Secondhand smoke will turn even the most peaceful person into a raging monster if you choose to inconsiderately blow smoke into his/her face. Be careful where you light up.

Image Source: Picture is Unrelated

A Message From Big Tobacco

Five of the largest tobacco companies joined together in August to protect their corporate right to freedom of speech in a lawsuit to block the FDA from requiring graphic warning labels on cigarettes that show the health consequences of smoking. Just recently, Federal District Court Judge Richard Leon gave them their wish, deciding that such warnings infringe on the First Amendment rights of tobacco companies.

Of course, tobacco companies are well aware that studies have shown that graphic warning labels are far more effective than the text warning labels that have been on cigarette packages for the past 25 years. Indeed, a picture is worth a thousand words, and tobacco companies don’t want the public to get the picture.


Big Tobacco's Victory Press Conference from Zina Saunders on Vimeo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sure that the only thing you're smoking on Thanksgiving is the turkey.

But if not, a holiday is the worst time to consider quitting smoking cold turkey. As a matter of fact, quitting cold turkey isn't ever advisable. On the other hand though, watching Cold Turkey on this Thanksgiving holiday is almost always advisable. Enjoy!


The full film can be viewed online at YouTube.

Ask Your Pharmacist

Where do people go when they have an immediate healthcare question or concern?

To the local pharmacy of course. A pharmacist is the most readily and easily-accessible healthcare provider. A pharmacist is available to everyone, can be visited anytime without an appointment, and without any costs for consultation. Pharmacists can do more than just fill prescription medications. Pharmacists have the education and training necessary to provide many other medical and educational healthcare services, including smoking cessation skills.

Pharmacists can give you all of the information you'll need to become a successful quitter, provide any non-prescription medications you may need, follow-up with you to provide encouragement and support, and point you in the right direction for even more help to quit. Not many people are aware of this, but just a brief intervention by a pharmacist has been shown to increase attempts to quit smoking by 30%. They can make a difference.

So, if your pharmacist hasn't discussed your smoking status with you just yet, why pass up an opportunity to talk with this valuable professional resource for help in quiting smoking? Stop by your local pharmacy and initiate a conversation yourself.

You just may be glad you did.

The Beauty Of Youth

When the rest of the world is spending gazillions of dollars each day on products designed to make them look younger, why would you want to throw away the valuable beauty of your own youth so quickly by smoking? It's the one thing everyone wants. Keep it as long as you can.

Smoking speeds up the normal aging process of your skin, contributing to wrinkles. These skin changes may occur after only 10 years of smoking. The more cigarettes you smoke and the longer you smoke, the more skin wrinkling you're likely to have — even though the early skin damage from smoking may be hard for you to see.

The nicotine in cigarettes causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This impairs blood flow to your skin. With less blood flow, your skin doesn't get as much oxygen and important nutrients, such as vitamin A. Many of the more than 4,000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke also damage collagen and elastin, which are fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity.

As a result, your skin begins to sag and wrinkle prematurely because of smoking, making you look much older than your actual age, and much less desirable. Who wants that?


Anti-Smoking Advert-QUIT from Sophie Anderson on Vimeo.
Medical information via Lowell Dale, MD at MayoClinic.com

The Great American Smokeout

Americans from across the country have made plans to quit smoking as part of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout today. My congratulations and best wishes to everyone who decided to take that first step towards your goal of becoming nicotine free.

If you can quit for just one day, you can better imagine quitting forever. But, don't just take my word for it. See what President Obama, a former smoker himself, has to say about the Importance of the Great American Smokeout.


Source: The White House Blog

Smoking Kills

People still don't get, so let me reiterate. SMOKING KILLS!

When someone offers you a cigarette, it's not because they have your best interests at heart. They're doing it in order to satisfy their own sinister agenda.

Don't allow them, or a nicotine addiction, to choke the life out of you. Capiche?

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Catherine's Story

Just how addictive is nicotine? Ask Catherine.


Source: Truth and the American Legacy Foundation

Helping Veterans Quit Smoking

Win the war against the ravages of nicotine addiction. Healthcare experts at your local Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) are reaching out to help veterans quit smoking.

On Veterans Day, consider becoming a part of this month's Great American Smokeout. On November 17th, make it a plan to quit smoking just for that one day, and visit your local VAMC for all the support and services you've earned through proudly serving your country.

Filtered | A Short Film

Following up from my July post, Tony Lee has completed his short film task, and released Filtered, which follows Randy, an uninvolved recent divorcée, as he journeys on a quest for a cigarette after his landlord has given him the ultimatum: Mow the lawn or be evicted.

In this short film, Randy will meet a variety of characters along the way who throw their own, unique, wrench into Randy's long road to getting a smoke, inadvertently convincing him that smoking isn't worth the expense.


Filtered from Tony Lee on Vimeo.

The Smoking Gun

As Inspector Callahan might say, I know what you're thinking. "Is it time for me to quit smoking? That gun can't be fully loaded and not everyone dies. Maybe I can beat the odds."

Well, to tell you the truth, in all of the clouded smoking statistics being reported, I kind of lost track myself. But being as smoking is one of the most lethal weapons known to mankind, and would shorten your life considerably, you've got to ask yourself just one question:

Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?


"Gun" from Dennis Farris on Vimeo.

Get The Led Out For This Year's GASO

As you've probably heard by now, cigarettes contain all types of chemicals, carcinogens, radioactive materials, and even heavy metals. So, for this year's Great American Smokeout (GASO), I'm asking that you incorporate one more heavy metal into your routine - Led.



Many smokers don't know this, but Led Zeppelin's "I Can't Quit You Baby" was rumored to be sung as a treatment for a nicotine addiction.

That's right, smokers love their cigarettes, and many of them can't quit their addiction cold turkey, even when they know that smoking will mess up a happy home, and possibly make you mistreat your only child with second hand smoke.

Now, I realize that stopping cold turkey could leave you moaning and groaning, so I'm also asking you to put your cigarette down, like Robert Plant sings, just for a while (one day).

Why? Because most successes in life don't occur in just one single instance.

Success in anything takes a series of what I call "baby steps" to accomplish. For example, it takes baby steps to attain a college degree, it takes baby steps to master a trade, it takes baby steps to become a winning athlete, and so it often takes baby steps to finally give up smoking. With each step achieved, your goal becomes a little easier.

The first "baby step" towards quitting smoking altogether is to prepare yourself mentally, and choose a date when you'll begin. Take that first step and choose to "start" to quit smoking on November 17th, during the GASO. Call your local quitline for free guidance and support.

Trust me. Little by little, your chance for complete success improves by leaps and bounds.

The Smoke Eater

Those crazy Canadians. They're always one step ahead of the U.S. in the hard-fought battle against nicotine addiction. Leave it up to them to convince people to quit smoking by creating innovative ways of getting smokers to think outside of the box.

Well, or perhaps in this one instance, of thinking "inside the box".


Source: Quitters Unite

How Low Will They Go?

Hey, how can I afford to live in my gated community if you don't smoke? Who's going to pay for my new Mercedes this year? My kids need to go to the best private schools like the other Big Tobacco executive's kids, don't they? And what about my vacation in Aruba?

I'll have you know that it takes a lot money to keep up appearances. It's nothing personal little people, but something or someone has to be sacrificed in order to pay for my lifestyle, and it's not going to be my bank account or my children.


Anti Smoking PSA from Chemical Effects on Vimeo.

November Is COPD Awareness Month

Did you know that COPD is the third leading cause of death in the U.S.? Did you also know that 12 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD, while an estimated 12 million more have it, but have not been diagnosed? If you don’t, that’s part of the problem!

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis – can be prevented and is treatable, but only if people know about it. Smoking is the leading cause of COPD, and many long-term smokers aren't aware they have it.

So, it's no coincidence that November is both Lung Cancer Awareness Month and COPD Awareness Month. Lung cancer and COPD are two of the leading causes of death in America – and also among the most preventable and under-appreciated.

This November, the American Lung Association is shining a spotlight on these two deadly diseases, and what’s being done to reduce their burden on American lives and that of their loved ones. They've created two new pages on their website that are now dedicated to raising awareness about COPD and lung cancer year round.

Visit the American Lung Association COPD Awareness website to see if you're at risk.

What Is A Quitline?

A quitline is a FREE tobacco cessation service available through a toll-free telephone number, and is staffed by counselors trained specifically to help smokers quit.

Telephone quitlines deliver information, advice, support, and referrals to tobacco users — regardless of their geographic location, race/ethnicity, or economic status — in all U.S. states. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW and you will automatically be transferred to the free quitline servicing the area in which you live.

This program was developed in collaboration with and is sponsored by the states and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1-800-QUIT-NOW provides free cessation assistance and resource information to all U.S. tobacco users.

It's difficult trying to quit smoking alone. Why not use the free resources available to you, and enlist the support of others who want to help you succeed? Good luck!


Source: SmokeFree.gov