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Vaping or E cigarettes

Hello,

It has been awhile since I posted any new content because to be honest I get the feeling that I am preaching and not reaching those that can benefit from my experience with nicotine addiction.  And that truly is all that I am doing, sharing my experience.  I am not a doctor.  I make no claims or have any formal education as a researcher or teacher.

Some people would describe my sharing of information as “anecdotal” since I have no experience in scientific  research.   That may well be true but experience can sometimes be a painful but revealing teacher.  Lessons learned from the school of “hard knocks” can be worthy of being shared.

However,  as a former smoker that was addicted to nicotine for over 20 years and made many unsuccessful attempts to quit smoking before I finally broke that addiction by the “cold turkey” method, I have information about that addiction and experience that I can and do share.  As a thirty nine year, tobacco induced lung cancer survivor, I have information about that experience that I can and do share at my website http://www.quitterscanbewinners.com/quitterscanbewinners004.htm

All of the above is written in order to share my opinion on vaping and e cigarettes that seem to be getting a lot news coverage lately.  Some reports are negative and some are positive.  I tend to lean toward the negative side of this issue for a couple of reasons.

During one of my many efforts to quit smoking I decided to switch to a mentholated brand of cigarettes because I felt that I would be able to cut down on smoking by getting less nicotine into my system.  That idea caused me to smoke twice as much and the addiction lasted another 10 years.  I found, by way of experience,  that any nicotine no matter how small the amount, introduced into one’s system feeds the addiction.   Is that not one of the arguments for vaping?  It is supposed to cut down on nicotine consumption.  There is no such thing as cutting down.

Tobacco has been around and used by mankind for centuries.  However, it has only been medically and scientifically studied and researched since the late 1940s.  During that period medical professionals and scientist have concluded that tobacco use is a definite health risk and can cause numerous illnesses  and death in some cases.  One report that I read claimed that over 400,000 deaths per year are caused by tobacco use.

It is a documented fact,  admitted to by tobacco company officials, that also during the above mentioned time frame the tobacco companies were manipulating the amount of nicotine in their products in order to cause more people to become addicted to nicotine and purchase more of their products.  This admission to guilt by the tobacco companies alone is reason enough to question their motives in their heavy investment into vaping and e cigarette products.  Flavoring added to these new products, even though, they are only supposed to be sold to adults, can and is an enticement for teenagers and young people to try these devices.

It took the medical and scientific fields over fifty years to figure out that tobacco use is addictive and bad for you.  Why risk your health and possibly your life on vaping and e cigarettes?

Since my life experience with tobacco use and the consequences linked to that use I am skeptical of the tobacco companies intentions and therefore I would not recommend the use of any of their products.

If you want to quit smoking get my free book by clicking HERE

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Link to A Free Ebook

Hello,

 

Everyone should have the opportunity to quit smoking if they so desire.  They also should be able to do it without having to pay a lot of money to learn how to stop their nicotine addiction.

Recently the drug store chain CVS has stopped selling tobacco products to their customers in an effort to help them improve their health and live a  life without tobacco.  This company has given up a very lucrative market in order to help their customers improve their lives.

If CVS can afford to do this for the good of their customers I certainly can afford to offer my experience in quitting tobacco use for free.   It is my sincere hope that my book can be of some help to those that want to quit smoking.     CLICK HERE FOR FREE EBOOK

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Becoming a Better Person

Hello,

People that quit smoking automatically become a better person.  This statement does not mean that they become better than anyone else or better than a smoker.  It simply means that they become better off than when they were a smoker.

They no longer have to answer to their nicotine addiction that demands they light up a cigarette every chance that they get.

They no longer have to put up with the discomfort of having to go outside in all types of weather to satisfy their nicotine addiction.

They no longer have to put up with the foul odor of tobacco in their hair, car, and house and on their clothes and body.

They no longer have to make certain that they have enough of a supply of cigarettes to get them through to their next application of nicotine to their system.

They no longer have to go out in middle of the night to purchase cigarettes because they forgot to refresh their supply.

They no longer have to put up with illnesses caused by smoking such as colds, bronchitis, heart disease, breathing problems and lung cancer.

All these things make a person better off than a smoker.

While I am firm believer in quitting smoking with the “cold turkey” method, some folks just can not quit on their own.  For those folks that might need some help I suggest that they Click Here

 

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NOBODY TELLS ME WHAT TO DO.

 

Hello,

Some days it takes all of one’s strength and wisdom to remain silent.  Today was one of those days for me.

As I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office I overheard a conversation a couple of seats down from me.  A lady, 52 years of age, by her own declaration, not mine, was chatting with the lady next to her and she mentioned that since she had reached the ripe old age of 50 she seemed to be falling apart.  The two ladies exchanged complaints about their health situations and the ridiculous amount of time that they had to wait to be called in for their doctor’s visit.

The 52 year young lady stood up and told the other lady that she was going outside to have a cigarette.  A moment of awkward silence occurred and then she declared that her doctor had told her quit smoking and her boy friend had told her to quit smoking but that nobody was going to tell her what to do.  And then she repeated the phrase, “Nobody tells me what to do”.

As she headed out the door I had the strongest urge to say, “Mr. Nicotine tells you what to do and you do it”.  But evidently age has given me a little wisdom because I know that such a statement just opens the door to a fruitless conversation or possibly even an argument about one’s rights and /or minding one’s own business.

I understand this lady’s problem even if she does not yet know that she has a problem.

I know that the voice of nicotine addiction dictates that she gives in to whatever it demands.  I know that she must get up and leave that office and go outside to satisfy that graving for more nicotine.  Nicotine has no regard for her good health and general welfare.  Nicotine demands that she feed her addiction with more nicotine.  I know this because I have been where she is now and I have made that same statement.

Only after I had quit smoking, cold turkey, for a number of years did I realize what I had allowed nicotine to do to me and my loved ones.  Only after I had been nicotine free for more than a decade did I realize that an addiction had controlled me and my actions for years before I finally quit smoking.  At this point you might say that I am a slow learner and you may be right but I did finally learn that nicotine addiction had control over me and no one could tell me or explain that fact to me until I was ready to learn and accept the truth about nicotine addiction.

Some folks spend their entire life smoking, suffering from tobacco related diseases, and even die without realizing that they were addicted to nicotine.   It is a sad fact that unless we know what is happening in our lives and are willing to educate ourselves about the true reason that we smoke we are destined to live with nicotine addiction until we take our last breath.

The point I am trying to make here is, if you are a smoker do not make the claim that, “Nobody tells me what to do”, because the nicotine addiction does rule your life.

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IS A LIE ALWAYS A LIE?

Hello,

I had a fellow tell me the other day and I quote his remark, “I don’t smoke because I am addicted to smoking, I smoke because I like it.”

I did not attempt to rebuke his statement because I know the true facts about smoking and nicotine addiction.  I know because, having been a former smoker, I have been through that same ordeal and have told other people that same lie.  However, at the time or times I made that same remark I was convinced that I could quit smoking any time that I wanted to quit and I only smoked because I liked it.

After having quit smoking, cold turkey, many, many years ago and beating lung cancer I recently learned, in the last ten years, the truth about nicotine addiction.

The truth is that nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs known to mankind.  It is said to be more addictive than cocaine or heroin.  Once introduced into a person’s body, either through smoking or chewing tobacco, the effects of nicotine remain for a period of up to 72 hours.  Any introduction of nicotine to the body causes the addiction to reoccur.  Nicotine is a greedy addiction and as a person continually smokes and reintroduces nicotine into their system the addiction becomes stronger and stronger with each puff.  It usually starts out as an attempt to try smoking and it ends up as an addiction that lasts for the rest of their life.

So I ask the question, “Is a lie always a lie?”  In this case I would say, “Yes it is!”  The person making the statement does not realize that it is a lie because they may not know the truth and the truth is that they are indeed addicted to nicotine.  They actually believe that they can quit any time that they want to, and they can if they truly want to quit, but the key is they have to WANT to quit.  Until they want to quit by completely stopping the use of tobacco products they are addicted and they will continue to feed that addiction by continuing to smoke.

If someone makes that same remark to you and you have read this article then you know that they are telling you a lie and you can understand their frustration (lie) is caused by their addiction and is not directed to you personally.  But the sad part is that they are lying to themselves and they don’t even know it.

There are several things that are necessary in order to quit smoking forever:

  1.  A person has to know why they smoke.  They smoke because they are addicted to nicotine and each time they smoke a cigarette they reinforce their addiction.
  2. A person has to want to quit, really, really want to quit smoking.  They have to want to quit smoking more than they desire to continue the addiction.
  3. They have to realize that they can never, never ever smoke again.

The only way to break the nicotine addiction is to stop smoking and never introduce nicotine into your system again by taking another puff.

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Financial Reform

Hello,

While I usually reserve this blog for information about how to quit smoking my mind has been on the economy of the United States and I felt I had share my thoughts.

A world of perfect finance should be available to everyone.  A perfect reform of the present Financial System used in the United States of America could be something like this.

 1.  All mortgages would be capped at a 5% interest rate per year for the life of the loan.

2.  All residential mortgages would contain a renegotiation clause.

3.  The only time that a residence would be refinanced would be in the event of a sale of the property or to take equity out the property in the form of cash.

The present regulation D imposed by the Federal Reserve would be repealed.  A fair market interest rate would be paid on all savings accounts, CDs, and money market funds.

As an incentive to have one’s mortgage with a lender that lender would offer an account to the borrower that would pay interest on all savings accounts, CDs, and money market funds that would be up to one half of the rate of interest of the amount of the mortgage loan interest rate..  For example, if a mortgage rate is 4% compound interest per year then a savings account with that same institution will be earning 2% simple interest per year.  That would be much more fair and equal agreement then the present 30 year loan without a renegotiation clause and paying no interest on a savings account.  Remember, the mortgage interest rate is compounded while the savings account(s) are only paying simple interest per year. Simple interest is only paid on the principal, not principal and interest.  $500 deposited in the bank on January 1, 2012 at 2% simple interest per year would be $10 interest paid on January 1, 2013.

This would be a win-win situation for the bank as the lender and the customer as a borrower.  The bank is making money on the mortgage and the customer is leaving his savings account in that same bank and earning a fair interest rate on his savings.  How much more fair can it be to have a loyal banker and a loyal customer working together.

There are some that would argue that it is not a fair enough mark up between the savings account interest and the mortgage interest rate.  To those people I would say how much more fair can you get than a 100% difference in the two plans?  The bank is making 100% more on the mortgage then they are paying on the savings account.  Plus they have the savings account money to use for their compensating balance.

The argument that savings accounts, CDs, money market accounts are considered “demand accounts”, and can therefore drain an institution’s funds if everyone decided to withdraw them at once is no longer valid since most banks have the option of borrowing from the Federal Reserve or the United States Treasury.  The main reason that Regulation D is still in effect is that it forces savers to use other more risky means of saving money such as mutual funds, IRAs and stock purchases.

Ask anyone that has money invested in those “savings” instruments how they have faired in the last five years?

Who else thinks that the time has come for a Reform of our financial system and laws?

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BEST WAY TO STOP SMOKING

Hello,
 
It seems that everyone is trying to find the best way to stop smoking.  They also want it to be the easiest way to stop smoking.  Well I can tell you from experience that there is only one way to stop smoking.  That is to make up your mind that you have had enough of the terrible effects of nicotine addiction.  It has to be a mindset that you decide on in order for it to be effective.  This mindset has to fill you with determination to be done with smoking forever.  There is no such thing as quitting slowly or wanting to quit.  One has to do two things in order to be successful in their quit, have the knowledge of why he or she smokes and the knowledge that he or she can quit.

 

The first step in quitting smoking is to know why you smoke.  People believe that there are many reasons that they smoke.  However, the main reason people smoke is that nicotine is a drug, a highly addictive drug.  Some experts claim that nicotine is a stronger drug than heroin or cocaine and the addiction is much harder to break.  I tend to agree with that assessment.  Even though I have never been addicted to heroin or cocaine I have been addicted to nicotine and I know how hard it is to break that addiction because I have done it.   The thing about any type of drug is that it will have a reaction on you as long as you introduce it to and have it in your system.  With the nicotine drug one has a continuous problem because they continue to introduce the drug into their system with each and every puff of the cigarette.  When one thinks that they can get by with just a cigarette or two a day they are wrong.  Any introduction of nicotine into the system, anytime, will cause the nicotine addiction all over again.   Nicotine stays in one’s system for 72 hours.  After that time frame most if not all of the nicotine is gone from one’s system.  After that one is working on just the habit that was formed by the nicotine addiction.  The nicotine is no longer in control of one’s system.  While the effects of the addiction may still linger it is not the nicotine that is causing the problem it is just the habit that has to be broken.  Habits are much easier to break than addictions.  It has been said that the time frame for breaking a habit is 21 days.  I like to think that I traded my smoker’s habit for a non smoker’s habit of being simply tobacco free. The benefits of being tobacco free are too many to list here.  But let me say that there are many and they are worth the effort to quit smoking.   Let me just enter a word of caution at this point with a repeat of the above statement: Any introduction of nicotine into the system, anytime, will cause the nicotine addiction all over again.   That point cannot be stressed enough.  For some folks the addiction has been renewed with just one puff or one cigarette.  At that point nicotine remains in one system for another 72 hours.  That’s 72 hours of having to deal with the aggravation of trying to quit smoking again because one is right back to the point of beginning to deal with the nicotine addiction.   Now you know the real reason why you smoke.  It is because you are addicted to nicotine.  That is the reason that you have to have that next cigarette and the next one and the next one.  Each and every puff that you take from a cigarette you introduce the nicotine drug into your system and the addiction demands that you feed it more and more.   The second step and the best way to stop smoking is to just quit using tobacco products.  That is right, just quit.  If one uses just a little logic he or she can realize that in order to break that nicotine addiction he or she will have to quit now and stay quit completely forever.  You may ask, what about those cravings?  The simple answer is that you can persevere that first 72 hours with pure determination and a few quit smoking aids.  After that time frame one just has to keep reminding themselves the reasons that they wanted to quit smoking.  Constantly reinforcing your motivation and your knowledge will get you through the, so called, tough times.  Each and every day that a person goes without having nicotine in their system it becomes easier and easier to quit smoking.   It can be done and you can do it.
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You Can Quit Smoking Right Now

Hello,

Everyone that has ever smoked cigarettes for a long period of time has made the wish that he or she could Quit Smoking Right Now.  Just stop smoking and be done with the nasty addiction of nicotine.

 

For some people it is easier said than done.  They may suffer terrible withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety, nervousness, irritability, and have overwhelming cravings to smoke another cigarette.  These folks are not ready to quit smoking right now because they have not made the decision to change the way they view their smoking addiction.  They may feel that if they quit smoking cigarettes they are giving up something that has become a part of their life.  Instead of recognizing the fact that they are gaining freedom from their tobacco and nicotine addiction they can only see and imagine that they are losing something.  It is very sad but true that a large majority of people may want to quit smoking right now do not realize that in order to quit smoking they have to change how they look at the process and make it a positive decision that will give them positive results. 

 

While others simply make the decision to quit smoking, lay down that last pack of cigarettes, walk away and never look back.  They do not have another craving for a cigarette because they know that if they quit smoking right now only good things will come from that decision.  They will no longer have to go outside in freezing temperatures to smoke.  They will not have to plan their day around a pack, or two, or three packs of cigarettes.  They will not have to go to the convenience store late at night because they have run out of cigarettes.  They will be able to take long deep breaths of fresh air without coughing and gasping.  They realize that by quitting smoking right now their life will be better not worse.

 

It seems that a large percentage of people decide to try to quit smoking and are not successful.  Could this happen because they decide to try to quit instead of deciding to actually quit smoking? 

 

While some believe that there are many ways to quit smoking there is really only one way and that is to quit smoking right now and enjoy the benefits of being tobacco and nicotine free.

 

If one wants to view quit smoking right now as a negative decision they might want to consider this, every time that they light a cigarette and suck those damaging chemicals and nicotine into their system they are enhancing the wealth of some tobacco company executive.  The decision is yours, you can quit smoking right now.

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Lung Cancer Happens to the Other Guy

 

Lung Cancer is one of the leading causes of illness and death due to smoking cigarettes.  Not all lung cancer patients die.  Some are fortunate enough to be cured and live to tell others about their experience.  I am one of the lucky ones that have been blessed and beat the odds of dying from lung cancer.

Back in 1973 I was once told by my neighbor, who also smoked, “You are going to get lung cancer from that brand of cigarettes that you smoke”.  My smart response was, “I doubt it, cancer always happens to some other guy”.  Ten years later, three years after I had quit smoking, I was diagnosed with lung cancer.  The joke was on me, I was the other guy.

Think about these few statistics I would like to share with you.

A government study has found that each and every day there are 3,000 new smokers that become addicted to nicotine.  A high percentage of those 3,000 new smokers are young people in their teens and early twenties.

In another study it has been determined that 460,000 people die each year from lung cancer and cigarette smoking related diseases.

So here is how some of the figures stack up.

3000 times a day times 365 days equals 1,095,000 new smokers each year that become addicted to cigarettes.

1,095,000 new smokers minus 460,000 smokers that die each year leave 635,000 new smokers each year that survive. These survivors have become addicted smokers that purchase cigarettes.  They smoke and get illnesses and medical bills that are caused by cigarette smoking.  So, along with the expense of buying cigarettes, which I understand are increasing in price at a fast rate, they have to pay for visits to the doctor and prescriptions to combat the illnesses caused by the tobacco smoking addiction.  According to these figures, the tobacco companies are doing all right financially.

Every smoker, me included, believes that lung cancer won’t happen to him or her.  It always happens to the, other guy, not me.  If you smoke, according to the above figures, your chances of dying from lung cancer or having some other tobacco related disease is 459,999 to 1.  Do you think the odds are in your favor?  Why take that chance? You could be that, other guy.

If you think that you can quit smoking take my word for it you can if you believe that you can.  Life is better when you simply be tobacco free.

 

Thanks for visiting and good luck.

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Making Friends with Tobacco?

Even though I have been tobacco free for almost thirty three years and a tobacco induced lung cancer survivor for almost 30 years I still remember vividly the way that I started my nicotine addiction.  Below is an invitation that should not be accepted by anyone but it needs to be presented, so here goes.

 

Making Friends with Tobacco?

 

Hi there, my name is tobacco, I am in cigarettes and I want to be your friend.  I know that you have seen me before being used by your Mom or Dad or maybe some of your other relatives or friends.  You know that you want to give me a try but you are not sure if you should or not.  It is all right.  I really want to be your friend.  I will go with you where ever you go and participate in everything that you do.  It will be fun and you will enjoy my company because I will be with you constantly.

 

You only need to try using me a few times and I will be your constant companion for life.  No kidding you will like being my friend and I will never leave your side.  I promise that if you give me a try for a couple of times you will find that you can not live without me.  

 

Let me tell how I work.  If you light me up and inhale my smoke I will give you a small boost of temporary happiness.  Besides looking cool, like the rest of the kids, when you use me I will temporarily make you happy, calm, relaxed and make you feel like you are in total control of yourself and your surroundings.  Each and every time that you use me I will take you, temporarily, to that happy, calm, relaxing place because there is a drug in me called nicotine that very rapidly stimulates your brain and makes you think that I am causing you, temporarily, to be happy, calm, relaxed and in control. 

 

However, I usually only tell you this after you and I have been friends for a long, long time, I am not being completely honest with you.  I am not the nice, gentle, loving friend that I pretend to be.  Remember me mentioning the drug that I called nicotine?  Well it is the ingredient that causes you to, temporarily, have that happy, calm, relaxing, in control feeling.  But the more that you smoke and take that nicotine into your system the more you have to have it.  After all it is a drug and those are some of the side effects of using it.

The more you smoke the more you have to smoke because nicotine takes control over you and your life.

 

Oh, and by the way, those temporary happy, calming, relaxing and being in control feelings are just that, temporary.  The more nicotine you use the shorter period of time that good feeling lasts.  As a matter of fact you might say that my nicotine actually causes you to be irritable, anxious, uncomfortable and nervous and out of control because, truthfully, that is exactly what it does.  If you do not put nicotine into your system you will not have these terrible symptoms or side effects.  I forgot to tell you that there are other ingredients in my smoke that can cause cancer and many other illnesses and possibly even death.  But do not tell anyone about what I really do, let it be our little secret.

Remember it only takes a couple of times of using me and we will be together for the rest of your life.  Do you still want to be my friend?

I tell my story about my nicotine addiction and what I went through to beat it at http://www.quitterscanbewinners.com/

 

You can get my free ebook titled, How to stop smoking forever or Simply be Tobacco Free, by downloading it from http://www.simply-be-tobacco-free.com/