Erin Thompson, Marketing Manager:   This Thursday, November 19, the nation will celebrate the 34th annual Great American Smokeout, sponsored by our partner in tobacco cessation, the American Cancer Society (ACS). Check out this endorsement from Dear Abby's Abigail Van Buren, who posted a letter from Dr. Alan G. Thorson, National Volunteer President of the ACS, in response to a request from "Desperate" in Arlington, Texas.

Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager, Tobacco:   The slight increase in smoking prevalence detected by the National Health Interview Survey is cause for concern but probably not alarm. The upward trend was small (less than 1%) but it should definitely give us pause. Smoking prevalence has reduced over the years due to a number of factors. The increasing cost of smoking from excise taxes and price increases, as well as smoke-free indoor air restrictions, have both led to reductions in smok... [More]

Aimee Schiefelbein, Quit Coach, Service Delivery:   "I think I want to quit but my parents and all of my friends smoke. I just don't know how I am going to do it because they won't quit." As a Quit Coach, this is something I hear often from teenagers. Furthermore, the teen I am talking with usually has ambivalence about quitting in the first place, as many don't relate to the long-term health impact or have incentive to quit in the first place. A recent study by the University of ... [More]

Krista Gilbert, Quit Coach, Service Delivery:   It can be easy to get overwhelmed by the tobacco problem. Tobacco is still the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Every day I talk to people suffering from emphysema or heart disease and tobacco is largely to blame. I talk to people whose budgets are drained by the price of their habit and whose families are begging them to quit. Tobacco takes its toll. But then I take a step back and look at the BIG picture. I think of w... [More]

Jason Kalivas, Quit Coach, Service Delivery:   A participant asked me recently how long it takes being quit before there are no more cravings for nicotine, at all, ever. "It's different for everyone," I said. "Some people never miss it; for some people it takes years; and for some those cravings never go away, but just become manageable." I'd learned it in Free & Clear University, while training to be a Quit Coach. I'd heard it from participants on the phone. I know that it's a true ans... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   A friend came to me recently, heartbroken. She and her husband have been together for 10 years. He was her first love. And now, they’re getting a divorce. We thought they were great together. Sure, he smelled bad, but we let that go because she loved him so much. He was always with her at parties, always there to celebrate the fun times with her. He was there in the hard times too, when she had stressful days, when she felt... [More]

Janice Milliman, Quit Coach, Service Delivery:   The recent death of Patrick Swayze raised much media attention and discussion of a little known and very deadly cancer: pancreatic.  For me, it also brought back bad memories. My good friend, Jim, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March of 2007.  Unfortunately, he did not survive long, and lost his battle 2 months later. I felt such grief and compassion upon learning of Mr. Swayze's death.  I wondered if he suffered the extrem... [More]

Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager, Tobacco:   In a move that one cannot help but suspect is strategically calculated, Big Tobacco has filed suit against the FDA for restricting their First Amendment rights of free speech. The Congress passed legislation this last summer that gives the FDA the ability to regulate tobacco products, including how the industry advertises (Title II; Section 201; Sections a & b) their products. Given the track record of the tobacco industry of putting profit... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   If any country on earth is culturally defined through cigarettes, it’s Spain. Butts crushed on the stone streets, olive-skinned Sevillanos taking drags in the late hours of Féria, smoke misting every bar in Barcelona—it seems you forget that real air actually exists in Spanish public until you get back to the smoke-free airport for your return flight. Until now. Spain is considering a revolutionary, culture-warp... [More]

Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager, Tobacco:   It appears that manufacturers of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) have shrugged off the efforts of the FDA to limit access to e-cigs and to point out safety concerns (read final FDA Report here). One brand, Smoking Everywhere, has filed an injunction to try and halt the FDA’s authority to block import of these products, citing the FDA “lacks jurisdiction to regulate its product.” The FDA claims (and rightly so), “SE’s [Smoking Everywher... [More]