Coffee with Out Cigarettes? Starbucks, please say it isn't so?!?!?!?!

If you saw a guy about to light up first, it's time to stop smoking!
www.StopDontQuit.com

Starbuck's to ban smoking outside and with in 25 feet of cafe.
Cigarettes and coffee make a great team.  If you smoke, starting the morning with some light reading on the patio with a cup of Joe and a smoke is simply wonderful.  Non-smokers may never fully appreciate the wonders of cigarettes and coffee but that's OK.  I'll gladly release this pleasure for the ability to run, swing a kettlebell and not get winded just trying to take out the trash.

With that said, a big fat Kudoos to the Starbuck's crew for banning smoking with in 25 feet of their establishment.  I'm all for it.

Ironically, I'm also a proponent of smoker's rights and fully acknowledge that there are probably a good amount of smokers who are employed by Starbucks.  Both parties deserving of the right to commit a very slow passive aggressive suicide.  But not at the expense of the customer.  It's really about the customer experience and the safety of the non-smoking employees.  Mind you I've yet to see a death certificate listing second hand smoke as the cause of death, but I'm a cynic anyway...  The majority of caffeine-a-holics grossly outnumber the nicotine addicts and so in any good democracy (free market), majority wins.  Sorry smokers!

Even now, 11 years without a cigarette, I still miss them and enjoy vicariously smoking on the patio at the local Starbucks.  I will however, get over it.  Smoking is not a necessary component to my day anymore. And while the right to smoke is an exercise in personal freedom; so is having the self-awareness to decide to be free of the 30+ known carcinogens being inhaled every time you take a drag.

What?  No smoking?????

Wouldn't it be nice to be free of having to get pissed off that you can't smoke on the patio at Starbucks anymore? Or that you intentionally won't take a direct flight so you can hop off mid trip to grab a smoke?  True freedom is not being in the shadow of substance that controls your mood and puts a sheet over the real you.

Who knows, maybe this stupid little company policy is just what you need to finally decide to free yourself from the hold the nicotine delivery business has on you.

My book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone was designed to get you right in the head so you can finally stop once and for all.  Pick up a copy and get over it!

Etta Mae Lopez slaps Sheriff to try to kick the habit by getting thrown in jail!

In this great article from the Sacramento Bee, we learn about Etta Mae Lopez who slapped a cop across the
face.  The goal?  Get tossed in the brink so she can quit smoking.  Tax payer sponsored rehab.  NICE!

Here's a link to the article:  http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/09/5408451/sacto-911-sacramento-deputy-woman.html

My question for you though is HOW far are you willing to go to quit smoking?

Raising The Smoking Age Won't DO Jack Squat!

Will raising the smoking age help at all?  What do YOU think good people of cyberspace?

UCLA stops smoking on Earth Day

Congratulations to UCLA - campus went smoke free on Earth Day 2013!  While I will always be a proponent of any persons right to pollute themselves, I also want to support UCLA for joining in the already 1,000 + campuses that kicked the habit.

L.A. Times Article:  http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ucla-stops-smoking-on-earth-day-20130422,0,7326172.story

I like that they did it on Earth Day too.  Not smoking should be part of the bigger picture.  When you take care of yourself and love yourself just a little more, you are able to take care of the larger picture starting with your immediate surroundings then radiate outward.

Lastly, dig the slogan:  "Breathe Well"

Lorillard Buys blu ecigs (Jeffrey Wigand Was Right All Along)

In April of 2012, Lorillard Tobacco Co., the maker of Newport, sets out to secure it's revenue.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!  But as menthol cigarettes are facing scrutiny by the FDA and may soon be eliminated all together, the third largest tobacco company is looking for their own nicotine replacement therapy in blu ecigs.

Remember the Insider with Russell Crow and Al Pacino?  "A delivery device for nicotine.  Put it in your mouth, light it up and you're gonna get your fix."

So while this is from a movie, based on the experience of Jeffrey Wigand, this is the general feeling inside big tobacco and as I've mentioned before, the clear cut example of why there is no real difference between big tobacco and a man like Pablo Escobar.

But Dave, Big Tobacco doesn't go around killing people....

You sure?

How many deaths annually from tobacco related illness?  Consider chew, dip, cigars, then cigarettes.  The number is massive and way larger than any Mexican Cartel 's activity.

Don't get me wrong here, I think tobacco should remain legal, along with alcohol and I support Peter Tosh on the "marry-ju-wanna" deal.  People should have the right to use any of these products as little or as much as they want.  They also have a right to make an educated decision on how those product will effect their body and mind.

And while the ecig is not as blatantly harmful as a traditional cigarette, it does not mean it will be without consequence.   Remember it wasn't too long ago doctors recommended cigarettes, so before you go puffing away on "harmless water vapor" remember, there may be more to it than that.

Remember that ultimately, you are choosing to feed the hunger of an addiction.  Gotta get your fix, one way or another.  And if you are transitioning off of cigarettes with the ecig, keep in mind, you are only prolonging the inevitable, which is a one-on-one battle with a highly addictive and toxic chemical known as nicotine.

When that day comes you have to get your head right to face this tough opponent and win.  Fortunately, there's a book that will help you get your head right to kick the habit once and for all and for good!  You can get a copy and more information on the book at my website, www.StopDontQuit.com where you'll find out how to stop smoking without having to quit!   
 

FDA Sells Out Addicts By Loosening Restrictions On Nicotine

From Reuters:  "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is relaxing its restrictions on the use of over-the-counter nicotine patches, gum and lozenges."

As it sits, you get 12 weeks to get off cigarettes and nicotine.  After that you're expected to stop both.

Now, they're thinking this isn't enough time.

Right, I get it it...  I'll quit tomorrow....

Look, let's keep this simple - nicotine crosses the blood brain barrier intact.  It can be as addictive as heroin for many.  If you smoke, that's how you get your nicotine.  Cigarettes, as Jeffrey Wigand put it, are a "delivery devise for nicotine."  What other delivery devices for nicotine are there?  eCigarettes, Chew, Snuff, Pipes, Cigars, Patches, Gum, Lozenges.

Heroin can be smoked, snorted, shot up.

How would you like your nicotine?  Straight up or on the rocks?   Phillip Morris is evil for selling nicotine in the form of a cigarette and GlaxoSmithKline are heroes?

Or, like any good cartel, looking for a better, more efficient way to deliver the drug into the body.

Don't fall for it people.  Sooner or later you will have to do battle with your addiction to nicotine.  How do take a band aid off?  How do you dive in a pool?  How do you conquer a fear?  How much longer will you allow yourself to be a slave to chemical that is fatal at 30 - 60 mg?

From Wikipedia:  "Historically, most cases of nicotine poisoning have been the result of use of nicotine as an insecticide."

That's real.  You're smoking, chewing, sucking on, patching an insecticide.  Enjoy that!

Here's why I stopped.  I was tired of giving control of my state to a chemical known to cause...  you know the rest.

Take back control of your life and take control of your addiction.  Do not allow a so called legitimate drug dealer to convince you that you need nicotine replacement therapy to get off cigarettes.  You know what you need - you need you.   You can do it on your own.  That's the purpose of my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone.  To help people take back control.  NOT transfer it over from Big Tobacco to a pharmaceutical giant instead.  You don't need more nicotine.  You need to stop the cycle.

The Insider - Jeffrey Wigand vs Brown & Williamson

Searching to see the original 60 Minutes interview with Jeffrey Wigand and Mike Wallace I found a link on CBS News that shows what was finally aired and dramatized in the movie, The Insider, staring Russell Crowe.

HERE'S THE LINK:  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20094836-10391709.html

Take the 30 minutes and watch the whole thing.  What you'll see is how far tobacco companies are willing to go and towards the end of the segment, an attorney from Brown & Williamson says to Mike Wallace, "It's a lawful product; it's marketed and manufactured in a lawful way."

Yeah, but...  it kills people and you're participating in that.  He also says smoking is a choice.  Yes it is!  People choose to start smoking and people choose to stop.  Al Capone was also credited with "filling a need" and Pablo Escobar was simply answering the call of the people.  See where I'm going with this?  Just because one is legal and the other is not, does not make it OK, healthy or safe.

What is OK is to take the necessary steps to stop smoking before it's too late for you and your loved ones.  Help is everywhere now - you don't have to go it alone!