It Only Took 35 Years

Secondhand smoke - nobody liked it back in 1974 either. It only took 35 years to fight back.

Face The Facts

Ever hear the critics of smoking bans say "Why are you picking on us? What about the fat people, why aren't we doing more to ban overeating?"

Hmmm.. I wonder who put those thoughts in their heads?

The Worst Second-Hand Smoke

From the tobacco industry - "Hey, we're not advertising to kids".

Related Link: Every day, nearly 3,500 kids under the age of 18 try a cigarette for the first time and 850 of them become daily smokers.

Stop Smoking, Save A Tree

You'd be amazed how many trees are needed to make one day's worth of cigarettes.


Ydouthink anti-tobacco TV Commercial: Forrest by rescuescg619

Teens Targeting Smoking Interventions

If we're going to target teen smoking, we'd better be prepared to become targets ourselves. Some kids are REALLY unhappy with the increasing costs required to continue their nicotine addiction, and they're apt to fight back.

[Link removed by source]

A Smoking Intervention

Do you know how tough it is to convince nicotine addicts to quit smoking? Try it. Militant smokers will always try to convince you that "you're" the cause of all their problems.

Here's what happened when I tried to convince one young lady with "issues" to quit smoking before it's too late. I guess that if you're going to intervene, it's best to have witnesses.

Source: Funny or Die: I Hate You

The College Smoker

A mind is a terrible thing.. at least according to those looking to exploit college students.


The College Smoker from Jeff Jacobson on Vimeo.

What Happens In Vegas..

I guess what they say about Vegas is true. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Unfortunately, they were talking about secondhand smoke.


Source: SmokeFree Vegas and Right to Breathe

Gerilix: The Quick COPD Remedy

I write about the many risks associated with smoking cigarettes, but there is one risk that I forgot to mention - the risk associated with your healthcare being assigned to an overworked, unsympathetic, and tired on-call hospitalist.

Can you really blame the hospitalist for prioritizing your care to the bottom of the list when you don't even care enough about yourself to quit smoking? Just something to think about.

Image Source: Welsh Gas Doc

World No Tobacco Day 2011

The World Health Organization (WHO) selects "The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control" as the theme of the next World No Tobacco Day, which will take place on Tuesday, 31 May 2011.

The healthcare community is aware that the goals of the tobacco industry and those of the public health community are diametrically opposed. The tobacco industry exists to make money. To do that, it needs to sell tobacco, which when used as directed, kills up to half its users. It's in the tobacco industry's best interest to subvert any challenges to it's goals.

By contrast, the public health community exists to save lives.

That's the goal for WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

According to the treaty’s guidelines, "The tobacco industry produces and promotes a product that has been proven scientifically to be addictive, to cause disease and death and to give rise to a variety of social ills, including increased poverty. Therefore, Parties should protect the formulation and implementation of public health policies for tobacco control from the tobacco industry to the greatest extent possible."

The tobacco epidemic poses a formidable challenge to public health and development. But with the WHO FCTC, the odds against mitigating the epidemic are no longer insurmountable, if Parties to this framework tirelessly pursue full implementation. Because as we all know, it's in everyone's best interest if we achieve our goals of reducing or eliminating tobacco use.

So, let's Party.

We can make every day World No Tobacco Day. By doing so, we stand the biggest chance of achieving what could be the single largest positive impact on health in this century.

Why Mona Lisa Didn't Smile

Scientists have recently the discovered the reason behind why Mona Lisa didn't smile in her portraits. It seems that her long term smoking addiction did a number on her teeth.

Image Artist: Onepixel at Worth 1000

Nicotine Is The Purrfect Drug

See what happens when you try to come between a nicotine addict and his fix? Fur will fly!

Smokers Are Sophisticated

Yes, I see it now. Smoking does make one seem like a winner.

You Smoke, You Lose

Nicotine - more addictive than pussy. If you smoke, you lose.


You smoke you lose... from PharmaTube on Vimeo.

This Dress Is Smoking

According to excerpts from an AFP/Google news release -

Paris (France) student Flore Garcia Bour, 22, is picking up butts by the hundred from the streets and stitching them painstakingly into a dress in an effort to draw attention to the smelly detritus degrading the city's streets.

"I have always been revolted by the number of butts dropped on our streets while it would be simple to change habits and to put them into a rubbish bin," she told AFP.

Flore started stitching the dress on April 26 and plans to finish it on May 15 with cigarette butts collected in jars from all over the city, and treated to remove the evil smell. Let's hope she models the dress when she's finished. It was designed to accentuate her nice ash.

Image Source: Flore's Blog: Le Mégot Défi

What Does Surrender Look Like?

Here's your wake up call - brought to you by "your friend", the voice of addiction.


Source: Venomocity

The Environmental Impact Of Smoking

What's the most littered item in American? How about that cigarette in your mouth.

Every year more than 360 billion cigarettes are smoked in the United States.

The butts from those cigarettes are the No. 1 littered item on U.S. roadways and the No. 1 item found on beaches and waterways worldwide, and they're not biodegradable.

Your nicotine addiction - kick it, don't flick it.


Source: Legacy for Health

You Can't Hide Your Habit

Next time someone tells you "nice butt", it may not be considered a compliment.


butts from onfilm ag Zürich on Vimeo.

Last Minutes With Oden

The affects of secondhand smoke can be devastating.

Without realizing it, you may be hurting those that enrich your life, give you the most joy, and love you unconditionally, and without them demanding anything in return.

If you won't quit smoking for yourself, then do it for the ones you love.


Last Minutes with ODEN from phos pictures on Vimeo.

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

Cigarettes make you look cool. And don't forget to include the people you love.

From The Eyes Of A Non-Smoker

Take a clue from your mechanic. Pay attention to what's coming out and you can get a good idea as to what problems your engine may be having, often before they get bad.

If white smoke is coming out of your exhaust, your physiological engine is headed for trouble. Take care it before it gets bad and quit smoking ASAP.

Source: Ideas Inspiring Innovation

The Ravages Of A Nicotine Addiction

This is Janice at 51 years of age, and enjoying her golden years. Still think smoking is cool?

Is All Smokin Bad?

People ask me if I'm against all types of smoking. To be honest, I guess I would have to eat some humble pie and admit that I get great pleasure from this one aspect of Smokin'.



Ironically, and tragically, Steve Marriott, the lead singer and songwriter for Humble Pie, died in a fire at his home caused when he fell asleep while smoking a cigarette.

They Lie, You Die

So, why are you allowing them to play you like that?


Source: Youth Empowerment in Action and Show-Me Smoke-Free

Quit Smoking!

For every drag off that cigarette, a little piece of your life goes down the drain.

Source: 6EMEIA

Just Like Smoking Kills, Enabling Kills

A nicotine addiction is a terrible thing. Not being a smoker, I can only imagine just how hard it must be for someone to quit smoking. Think about it.

First of all, a smoker would have to acknowledge being "played" by the tobacco industry, their "friends" or their family members when they were tricked into smoking while in their teens or preteens, before their minds were fully developed, and before they were legally capable of making rational decisions. No one wants to admit to being played the fool.

Then, smokers would have to acknowledge that they are true addicts, similar to alcoholics or those hooked on illicit drugs. Of course, it's almost impossible for smokers to consider themselves addicts because they don't view smoking as causing a problem in their life.. YET. Remember, most smokers tell themselves that "I can quit anytime".

Finally, after acknowledging their mistake and admitting it's a problem, comes the hard part - actually quitting. Years of smoking have caused both a chemical and a psychological dependence. We've all read about how nicotine is as addictive, or more addictive, than heroin or cocaine. Any smoker that has gone a full day without smoking must know what's in store for them, and has to be fearful of the eventual withdrawal symptoms.

As such, there are numerous nicotine addicts who don't want to quit and refuse go through these difficult processes. I call them militant smokers. These militant smokers have resolved themselves to their eventual fate and have become slaves to their addiction because it's easier to continue then it is to change. They refuse to change until it's too late.

So, it goes without saying that militant smokers will use any means necessary to prevent someone from coming between them and their fix.

We've all heard the frequent irrational arguments from these smokers, and those who profit from their continued addiction, about their "rights" or how other habits are just as harmful. It's all bullshit, but militant smokers will try their best to convince the gullible just how bad their constitutional rights are being violated by interfering with their "freedom" to smoke.

If you look close enough, you will see that militant smokers have learned to become master manipulators, and nothing anyone says or nothing anyone does will convince them to quit. But, that doesn't mean you have to become part of their addiction.

As a compassionate human being and a caring healthcare professional, I'm totally against smoking and the harm it causes. Personally, I have nothing against these militant smokers. Most of them became addicts when they were children, before they were really able to make rational decisions, or realize that they were being exploited. I just don't like it when their addictive behavior affects my life, and I refuse to enable them.

One of the worst things someone can do is to become an enabler and assist in a nicotine addict's self-destructive behavior. Addicts love foolish enablers and will manipulate them to their fullest extent, and usually without remorse. Enabling only makes things worse for the smoker and eventually takes it's toll on the enabler too.

Just something to keep in mind if you live with a smoker.