Are You Just Blowin' Smoke?

If you're one of the frequent visitors of Smoking Blows, then you'll know that I like to convey my views and opinions about smoking and nicotine addiction through the use of video.

Thanks to a recent Tweet from SmokeFreeDonna @SmokeFreeLife I discovered this "button-pushing" Kacey Musgraves video while reading the very insightful commentary by Julia Cartwright found at The Partnership at DrugFree.org.

According to Julia -

This song is a smart but sad anthem for most of the 44 million Americans who still smoke. What a four-minute song can’t put into context is just how powerful an addiction to smoking is. For those not informed of how difficult it is to quit nicotine, smoking is framed as a lifestyle choice instead of an addiction that can plague people for years – no matter how hard they try to stop. [my emphasis]

As a leader in the battle against nicotine addiction, Julia's assessment is right on the mark about the problems facing many Americans that come from the sinister forces enabling the tobacco industry to market the use of tobacco subconsciously through print advertisements, the internet, on film, and even in music videos, in order to normalize nicotine addiction.

But, like I usually do, I'm presenting this country music video with a slightly different interpretation, to serve as an educational resource with commentary that enlightens smokers about the subconscious behaviors, and the unfortunate consequences that a nicotine addiction will bring into their lives.

It's a sad fact, that as a smoker, you most-likely fell victim to your nicotine addiction because of the omnipresent and sinister marketing efforts of Big Tobacco directed towards you as a child.

Like Julia points-out, many young smokers are unfortunately tricked into believing that tobacco use is a lifestyle choice instead of an addiction. There's nothing you can do to change the past, but now that you realize that you were "played", you must make the conscious decision to do something about it.

So, like Kacey says, "Don’t wait for a quarterlife crisis to cross things off your bucket list." Don't just blow smoke about your current situation. Start on that journey and change your life now. Quit!

Being stuck in a rut, working a crappy job, and barely scraping by is the perfect time to quit spending money you don't have to buy cigarettes, other tobacco products, or e-cigarettes. It doesn't make any sense waiting until you become successful before you decide to quit smoking. The time is now.

Because if you take a closer look at your life, you'll see that your nicotine addiction is one of the main culprits contributing to the so-called "un-success" that you're experiencing. For example -

Cigarettes are EXPENSIVE, not only to continually purchase, but to treat the illnesses they cause.

You limit your options of finding a life-partner if you're a smoker. Understandably, many non-smokers refuse to date smokers. No one likes being around smokers, except other smokers.

Imagine the difficulties you'll experience going back to school as a smoker to earn a degree when just about all of the colleges and universities are now becoming tobacco-free.

A nicotine addiction will also limit your options of finding a good-paying job. The increasing number of companies that institute tobacco-free employee programs (pdf) refuse to hire smokers.

AND, as described by this video, if you're seeking to become a wildly-popular and successful country singer, not only will smoking harm your beautiful voice, but it will also taint your beautiful face.



Stop blowin' smoke. Use your anger as motivation to "quit smoking" before your quarterlife ends, so that you don't have to begin worrying about an end-of-life crisis, way before reaching your midlife one.