The Nicotine Delivery Business

Back then, it was all about chemically manipulating the nicotine content contained in tobacco.

Now it's e-cigarettes, a pure and less restricted form of nicotine delivery. But, the business model remains the same - push nicotine addiction for profit regardless of the consequences to its users.

Project Quit | Arizona

People from all walks of life use tobacco, and trying to quit tobacco is a struggle for everyone.

Recently, four courageous people made a commitment to quit using tobacco and kick nicotine to the curb. So, Project Quit tracked their progress for 30 days and filmed their unscripted stories.

Project Quit is a community of Arizonans determined to quit using tobacco. These tobacco users generously shared their intimate feelings, emotions, and lives with us throughout the quitting process.

But, Project Quit is about you, too. Anyone Can Join. Everyone Can Quit. If you’re ready to quit tobacco, they invite you to join Project Quit.

They know what addiction is like. They're aware that the nicotine in tobacco has characteristics that affect people physically and mentally. In fact, they're aware that nicotine is even more addictive than many illegal narcotics like heroin and cocaine.

So, what are you waiting for? Give them a chance to help you quit.

Smokey The Bear Gets Real

Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, interviews Smokey the Bear about the Government shutdown.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook

Nicotine Is A Gateway Drug

Don't think that smoking tobacco or e-cigarettes is just a harmless endeavor to prove yourself cool to your so-called "friends". According to the gateway drug model, epidemiological evidence suggests that most illicit drug users report use of tobacco products or alcohol prior to illicit drug use.

And do you think that the corporations that manufacture these products care what happens to you? Of course not, sweetheart. You're just a tool they're using to line their own pockets. This time it's just a smoke, but what happens next time?

Have You Become A Firestarter?

Are you still trying to become a tobacco industry prodigy? Didn't I say that nothing good ever comes from a nicotine addiction? Don't play their game, and you won't earn that terrible moniker.

How Addictive Is Nicotine?

Let's see what this brave woman who was willing to freely share her story with everyone has to say about the difficulties and consequences of a nicotine addiction.

Unfortunately, Terrie finally succumbed to her smoking-induced cancer this week at age fifty-three.

You were a hero to many of us, and your bravery helped others avoid the same fate. You've made a definite impact in peoples' lives and you've left a terrific legacy Terrie. RIP knowing that you did good!


Source: CDC: Tips From Former Smokers

Don't Let Your Shit Become Fucked Up

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Warren Zevon, the legendary singer/songwriter whom I admired not only for his musical talents, but for his great sense of humor too. Warren passed away from lung cancer at age 56 due to mesothelioma, but exacerbated by years of being a smoker.

Here's what Warren thought after receiving his frightful diagnosis at such a relatively young age.



Folks, don't let your shit become fucked up. Don't let it happen to you before your time is due. Make sure to see your physician for a yearly check-up, and for God's sake, attempt to quit smoking before it's too late, and you find yourself writing a song about the consequences.

Listen To The Lovely Felicia

Not only should you listen to the smart and beautiful Felicia about the financial costs of smoking, but consider the guilt-producing evil-eye that you'll get from your children who know that your smoking will also affect them. Smoking IS NOT worth the costs. If you're upset about it, call to enlist some help.


Source: New York State Smokers' Quitline

You Can't Hide Your Nicotine Addiction

Because I'm a healthcare professional, I tend to notice the physical signs of sickness or disease in people that others don't see, unless they specifically know what to look for.

As such, I'm writing this post because I happened to watch from my window as one of my neighbors walked her dog the other morning. I live in a large complex and haven't met her before, and don't know anything about her. But she was attractive, had a slim body, and looked to be in about her mid-60s.

But because I've been trained to focus on certain signs, and even though she was about 50 feet away outside my window, I could tell that she was a long-term smoker. Her skin and hair gave her away. I started thinking to myself that she was probably only in her 50s, and that her smoking made her look much older then her actual age.

She had that grayish/orange-colored hue to her skin, and that dried-up, smoked-jerky wrinkling effect that can often be seen in many long-term smokers. Her hair was also thin and fragile-looking. It really detracted from her otherwise good looks.

As I continued to watch her walking her dog, I felt bad for her because I knew that she probably has a long-standing nicotine addiction that she can't kick, and because she probably doesn't realize how bad smoking cigarettes has affected her complexion.

I also felt bad because she's now around that age-stage where the serious healthcare consequences of her addiction are about to manifest themselves, and that she's probably in denial about it.

But you don't have to be a healthcare professional to see how smoking affects smokers in ways that other people can see. This video really does a good job of showing just what those signs look like. If this is what smoking does to the outside of one's body, just imagine what the inside must look like.


Source: Take A Stand Arizona

Be Free From Regret

Almost all tobacco use begins during youth and young adulthood. 88% of adults who smoke daily started smoking by age 18; 99% started by age 26.

Smoking of parents and other relatives leads to a substantial increase in the number of children who were determined to smoke in the future or were considering it.

Smoking of family members significantly reduces the efficiency of school educational anti-smoking activities aimed at children and young people.

Most smokers realize that they're addicted to nicotine, regret becoming smokers, and want to quit.

Would you want your children to follow in your footsteps of being a smoker? Of course not.

Be free from that regret. If you currently use tobacco, you can still make a difference.

Your best move, of course, is to attempt to quit smoking. Meanwhile, don’t use tobacco around your children, don’t offer it to them, and don’t leave it where they can easily get it.


Source: New Lung OC: Be Tobacco Free

Take Your Freedom Back?

E-cigarette manufacturers will do anything to make their products seem more attractive. They'll even hire celebrity douches to say ridiculous things like "It's time we take our freedom back."

But keep in mind that smoking an e-cigarette doesn't make you look cool, it just keeps you addicted to nicotine, which keeps you buying their products. And perhaps the production of toxic secondhand cigarette smoke may not have been the only reason behind your "freedom".

Nicotine Addiction: It's Not A Lifestyle Choice

For nine months, James Capps didn’t have a bite of food. He had to pour nutritional supplements into a feeding tube for nourishment while he underwent and recovered from treatment for oral cancer.

Capps was hooked to nicotine by the time he was 15, and he began "dipping" because that’s what every good Oklahoma cowboy did. "You don’t need that crutch to be someone you want to be,” he says. “You should do it without tobacco.”


Source: The Missoulan and Chew On This

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.

Decades of Lies and Deception

From the first day in 1964 when the Surgeon General of the United States publicly announced that cigarette smoking can be harmful to one's health, the tobacco industry has spend untold amounts time, resources, and money to deceivingly convince the American public into believing otherwise.

If the past 50 years have taught us anything, it's that the tobacco industry cannot be trusted to place the public's interest above their own profits no matter what they say. And what's almost unimaginable to me, is that after all those years of discovering evidence proving the contrary, they're still able to lie to us without any criminal accountability.

So if you're anything like me, you'd have to wonder why, after so many decades of proven lies, deceit, and fraud, that Big Tobacco representatives (pdf) should be allowed to provide any type of scientific advice or information to the organization that's empowered by the Government to regulate tobacco?


Source: The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society

Fight The Enemy - Tobacco

The war on tobacco remains a back-and-forth conflict, and DoD needs your help to fight the enemy.

They've found this sinister enemy to be all around us, infiltrating our forces, preying on our family, our friends, and fellow DoD service members. Their weapons in this battle are many, but DoD is reaching out to you today to enlist your help in a tactical mission they believe can help turn the tide.

Using the audio/visual equipment found in your arsenal, create a short video that illustrates the threat tobacco poses to individual’s health and social status. The Fight the Enemy video campaign aims to change the social norms surrounding tobacco use by declaring that tobacco use is the "enemy" that degrades health, fitness, mission readiness and work productivity.

The mission of creating videos "by Service members for Service members" is to frame tobacco use as socially unacceptable. This video competition is open to all DoD Service members, DoD Civilians and family members of DoD Service members. You can do it, get out there and kick some butts!

Video submissions will be accepted from August 15 -- October 15, 2013.

Quitting Smoking Is A Journey

When you eventually make the decision to quit smoking, it's ALWAYS going to be in your own best interest to enlist some help. Take advantage of the many free services offered by your local quit team (1-800-QUIT-NOW) and your neighborhood pharmacist.

Make sure to also discuss it with your personal physician before you attempt to quit. Your ability to successfully quit smoking improves when evidence-based anti-smoking medications are incorporated.

Become familiar with what's involved in a quit attempt and what's to be expected when you've decided to beat your nicotine addiction. Learn as much as you can about the process beforehand.

And remember the ancient Chinese proverb, a journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step.

Here's an excellent video created by Mike Evans, MD explaining the mechanics of a quit attempt -


HT: Manchester Stop Smoking Service

Fighting For Smokefree Air | Cynthia's Story

Cynthia Falls has been dealing at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for decades. She loves her job, but hates the cigarette smoke. Cynthia, a nonsmoker, used to be much more physically active, but the daily exposure to secondhand smoke has made it difficult to breathe and she can no longer do the things she once loved.

To become involved and support the effort to make casinos 100% smokefree for workers like Cynthia and her colleagues, please visit Smokefree Casinos.


Source: Americans for Non-Smokers' Rights

Those Things Will Kill You

Like I've said one-hundred times before, nothing good ever comes from a nicotine addiction.

30 Seconds Can Save A Life

It's never too late to change someone's life and help them stop smoking for good. Just spending 30-seconds of your time as a healthcare provider could help save a life. Ask-Advise-Act.


30 Seconds - A Short Film About Saving a Life from UHL on Vimeo and HT: Action to Quit.

Take Your Last Drag

I've mentioned the strange love affair that often occurs between smokers and their cigarettes before on Smoking Blows, and the fact that many smokers consider cigarettes to be their first love.

But, nicotine addiction is not the kind of love worth pursuing. It may seem right in the beginning, but it's only after being abused for many years when smokers eventually come to realize that it's a love affair that should never have been consummated. Taking your breath away is never a good thing.

And, while taking your last drag and stomping out that cigarette is a good thing, using e-cigarettes to quit smoking has not been proven safe and effective, and still leaves you craving that bad relationship.

Don't buy into that e-cigarette porn. Take your last drag and kick nicotine out of your life altogether.