December 2009
Five facts Chantix ads keep hidden
Critical insights Pfizer doesn't want quitters to know, including how Pfizer's "I honestly loved smoking" ad campaign toys with smokers.
The Perfect Smoker Gift: Free MP3 Counseling
Why give holiday gifts that ignore your smoking friend or loved one's greatest unfilled need, the insights needed to quit? Download 11 hours of free MP3 audio quit smoking lessons from America's leading cessation counselor, Joel Spitzer of Chicago.
UW-CTRI's Holiday
Health Media Manipulation
Read how the University of Wisconsin is attempting to manipulate the media into writing storeis this holiday season that will make smokers spend twice as much on quitting products.
"Please help me quit smoking for New Year's!"
Statistically, 70% of our smoking friends want to quit but don't know how. New Year's is the biggest quitting day of the year and our chance to reach out and invite them to explore the power of knowledge! What do we have to lose?
Petition for Honest Quit Smoking Studies
Read, sign and share a petition demanding that stop smoking studies and policy be driven by honesty, integrity and science instead of frustrations, profits and greed.
November 2009
October 2009
Enslaved college smokers pay hefty price
Breathing, fitness and endurance, while college and university student smokers pretend that smoking's harms and risks are decades away, a new study asserts that they're already being felt.
September 2009
City and county council inaction hand youth to nicotine industry
Although a rash of recent studies indicate that it may only take smoking nicotine once or twice before the adolescent brain begins begging for more, city and county councils across America continue to allow the nicotine addiction industry to daily assault passing children and teenagers with store tobacco marketing.
"How can I help a smoker quit smoking?"
It might surprise you to learn that 81% of smokers realize that they're committing slow suicide, that 93% of pack-a-day smokers admit to being addicted, and that last year 40% of all smokers made a serious quitting attempt of at least one day. What they don't know is that knowledge and understanding are the keys to lasting freedom.
Study finds quit smoking
weight gain temporary
Although many smokers fear weight gain when quitting a new study reports that nearly all cessation weight gain is temporary. Minor calorie and exercise adjustments can help avoid stop smoking weight gain.
August 2009
John's quitting book invades the real world
At last the recovery lessons shared at WhyQuit are finding their way into published form. While Freedom from Nicotine - The Journey Home will not be sold at WhyQuit, we're not trying to hide the fact that the book exists. Site visitors will continue to be able to download the free PDF version from WhyQuit's main page.
July 2009
WhyQuit Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary!!
Hard to believe that ten years have passed but here we are! Sincere thanks to the thousands of contributors who have made this forum one of the finest nicotine dependency recovery tools ever!
Cold turkey trounces pharmacology in GlaxoSmithKline quitting study
A July 2009 study not only found that the odds of an unplanned quit smoking attempt lasting six months or longer are 2.6 times higher than planned attempts, it was also forced to admit that cold turkey quitters clobbered the quitting rate seen in those using quitting products.
Why Obama and smokers fear quitting
Most who smoke or use oral nicotine have deep fears that life without it won't be nearly as satisfying. New research demolishes this unhappiness fiction. A May study published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research found that successful quitters were 21 times more likely to report feeling happier after quitting smoking (69.3%) than feeling less happy (3.3%).
June 2009
The President Needs Your Help to Quit
President Obama's recent comments about his 'habit' being '95% cured' while still smoking, with co-dependency upon nicotine gum for 28 months, evidences a recovery understanding that's an utter mess. He needs our help, a jolt of reality, a quality education and he needs it now. It will only take a few minutes to share your thoughts with the President. Together we can make a difference!
March 2009
Freedom's thread topic index has been updated by replacing dead MSN links with hot Yuku links. Sincere thanks to Joe J, JohnneyNoNic and Joel for tackling this project. A topic index of Joel's Freedom Message Board Posts has also been created and added to Joel's Library. It allows visitors to quickly locate many articles that were not previously tied into the library.
February 2009
MSN pulled the plug on Freedom from Tobacco's 9 year home at MSN Groups on February 22. Freedom has reopened at Yuku as Freedom from Nicotine. Yuku was able to migrate (move) roughly half of Freedom's old messages. It'll take a few months to repair links and replace missing threads but in the end the site should be stronger and more focused than ever. Older members are slowly finding their way home.
January 2009
On New Year's John released his new 244 page, free PDF e-book "Freedom from Nicotine - The Journey Home." It contains more than 400 footnotes, most linked to medical journal articles, and shares the research and science underlying the cessation method which, by far, undeniably accounts for more long-term success stories each year than all other methods combined. "Pharmaceutical industry influence falsely portrays cold turkey quitting as nearly impossible and non-science-based," says John. "The assertions are insane and it's time to fight back."
December 2008
Read more than 150 user accounts written by long-term Nicorette gum users about the consequences of living life as a slave to pure nicotine.
November 2008
Michael Kinsley attacked president-elect Obama in a November 20 Washington Post op-ed for "fibbing about giving up cigarettes," asserting that he's setting a "deplorable example for young people." Read why the president-elect should ignore the motivational bait Kinsley dangles before him.
A new report ranks South Carolina 51st nationally in youth tobacco prevention spending. While the Confederate battle has flown 30 feet above the statehouse grounds since July 1, 2000, there is no flag and is no battle to save the state's youth from a chemical to Amercia's cheapest nicotine. Why?
Read how the the greatest medical research sham in medical history continues to be perpetrated upon smokers and no one seems to care.
October 2008
A just released report by The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), a non-profit medication watchdog, found that during the first quarter of 2008 that varenicline (Chantix) accounted for more reports of serious injury than the 10 best selling brand name prescription drugs combined.
June 2008
In trying to salvage Chantix from the FDA chopping block following reports that it is generating far more complaints of serious harm to the FDA than any other prescription medication, Pfizer is attempting to hide Chantix induced harms inside the normal smoking cessation withdrawal syndrome. The problem is that experienced quitters know the differences, are not buying it and sounding the alarm.
May 2008
A May 21, 2008 study examined 6,363 U.S. Food and Drug Administration adverse drug reaction reports implicating Pfizer's quit smoking pill Chantix and found 3,063 involved serious injuries.
Widespread financial conflicts among panel members authoring the Clinical Practice Guideline for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence May 2000 Update raise serious questions about the document's integrity.
The updated U.S. Guideline for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence will be released May 7, 2008. The Guideline will show that pharmaceutical industry financial influence continues to own official U.S. smoking cessation policy.
April 2008
Increasingly, young and middle-aged terminally ill smokers, and their surviving families, are realizing the value of their stories to youth smoking prevention efforts and in motivating smokers to quit smoking, and sharing them online.
Knowledge and understanding truly is a quitting method, a lesson and path far too few smokers are taught.
March 2008
Knowledge and understanding truly is a quitting method, a lesson and path far too few smokers are taught.
Boston University School of Public Health professor Michael Siegel today accused the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health of selling the scientific integrity of the global tobacco control movement to pharmaceutical influence.
Hooked on nicotine gum for at least 13 months, Senator Obama has led America's youth to believe that he is not battling full-blown chemical addiction but simply some nasty little habit that he claims to already have succeeded in ending.
February 2008
Analysis of a new study suggests 10 of 11 Chantix users may relapse within six months. If so, how could the FDA have been so wrong about both varenicline's safety and effectiveness?
A new World Health Organization report predicts that the tobacco epidemic could kill one billion during the 21st century. If true, how much blame should be attributed to physician ignorance of substantive smoking cessation counseling lessons?
On February 10, New York Magazine published "This is My Brain on Chantix," a firsthand Chantix use account by Derek de Koff, a features writer, who after taking Chantix experienced vivid dreams, blackouts, hallucinations and contemplated suicide.
A February 2008 study by Professor Slotkin of Duke reviews the destructive impact of fetal and adolescent nicotine upon the developing animal brain, including celluar damage inflicted by nicotine in the neural tube stage in rats, a stage which starts in human embryos within 3 to 4 weeks of conception.
January 2008
Welcome New Year's Quitters!
December 2007
New Year's is by far the biggest quitting time of the year but what are the keys to success? Here, scores of ex-smokers hand you the keys.
November 2007
On November 20 the FDA announced that it had "received reports of suicidal thoughts and aggressive and erratic behavior in patients who have taken Chantix" and had launched an investigation. On November 29 a Dallas TV station reported that 55 suicides in Chantix users were reported to the FDA in just one week. Follow all Chantix developments as WhyQuit's primary Chantix / Champix article is kept current.
A list of 41 quit smoking tips for the GASO, which is always the 3rd Thursday in November.
October 2007
Statistically, 2.3 million out of 3 million U.S. Chantix users are expected to relapse to smoking. Where can they turn?
September 2007
Still smoking? If so, help Swiss researchers by taking this very short, less than 5 minute survey.
A why and how guide to aid prison administrators in helping inmates and correctional officers break free from nicotine
August 2007
You can't call this book a million seller -- because it's not for sale. "Never Take Another Puff," a 149 page quit smoking e-book has now recorded its one millionth Internet download. It's a blockbuster that hasn't earned a nickle. And that's the way its author, Joel Spitzer of Evanston Illinois, wants it.
July 2007
These nicotine cessation tips apply whether seeking to quit smoking (cigarettes, cigars or pipes), stop using oral tobacco (snuff, dip, snus or chewing tobacco) or whether hooked on nicotine replacement therapy (nicotine gum, patch, lozenge, spray or inhaler).
What is it like to be 15 years-old and find yourself hooked on smoking?
June 2007
On Sunday, July 1, England becomes the 11th nation to ban workplace cigarette smoking. Those stepping outside will have no choice but to fabricate new lies for allegiance to their mind's number one priority, smoking that next cigarette.
May 2007
A great excuse to send an email to all still smoking friends and loved ones inviting them to explore WhyQuit.
April 2007
Studies show that nicotine somehow doubles the rate by which the body depletes caffeine and upon quitting smoking blood serum caffeine levels may be twice as high.
Thirty-five ex-smokers of at least one year tell what it feels like to have quit smoking
Many articles describe how to quit smoking but few speak directly to those who won't or don't.
March 2007
They call it "quitting smoking" but it's about overcoming true chemical addiction, about reclaiming brain dopamine "pay attention" pathways taken hostage by an external chemical.
Pharmaceutical industry marketing of quit smoking products boasts that they double the cold turkey quitter's chances of quitting. But is it true?
An article by Kevin Millstone of Columbia University Graduate School of Jounalism contrasting cold turkey quitting to pharmacology quitting
Spring is the season when life renews and possibly the most wonderful time to end all nicotine use and return home.
February 2007
This important article by Kevin Helliker, a 2004 Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, is the first to explore how pharmacology quitting products reign supreme inside highly manipulated double-blind randomized clinical trails yet fall flat on their face in real-world use.
The UK NHS recently extended nicotine replacement therapy use to pregnancy and children from age twelve. A 03/07 review in the Journal of Health Psychology takes issue with the grave risks associated with this irresponsible policy.
Dr. Ginzel, a physician who spent nearly four decades studying smoking and nicotine, shares some rather disturbing insights.
January 2007
Sadly, smokers are being intentionally deprived of the most important quit smoking lesson of all, that nicotine dependency recovery is one of the few challenges in life where being 99% successful all but assures 100% defeat.
December 2006
How many times have you heard GlaxoSmithKline or Pfizer announce that during 2006 nearly all successful long-term quitters quit smoking cold turkey? Never. Although true, if widely known it could cost them billions in profits.
Are you in search of a holiday gift for that special smoker? Have you ever considered a gifting a link? This link could make the perfect gift. Joel has arranged and sequenced a number of his video lessons and articles as though he were presenting a full two-week quitting clinic.
November 2006
An article aimed at getting students involved in both nicotine dependency prevention and cessation efforts within their school.
Joel's collection of quitting videos has mushroomed to 38 and just in time for the annual U.S. Smokeout. National quitting days are great excuses to send still smoking friends links to quality quitting tools.
Are you hooked on snuff, snus or chewing tobacco? Ready to reclaim your mouth, mind and life?
October 2006
A growing array of FDA approved and widely used quit smoking products promised to double cessation rates. Instead, on October 27, 2006 the CDC was forced to report that for the first time since 1997 the U.S. smoking rate failed to decline.
Joel Is Heard on World Talk Radio
On October 26 Joel was interviewed for an hour on World Talk Radio.
Imagine bringing your own personal professional quit smoking counselor into your home. Imagine your doctor handing smoking patients counseling lessons as they leave the office. Joel Spitzer's growing collection of more than 20 free video and audio quitting lessons are now available for download in Joel's Library
On September 29, 2006, Pfizer announced European Commission approval of Champix, its new quit smoking pill, boasting that "after one year, approximately one-in-five patients who received the 12-week course of varenicline [Champix] remained smoke-free." This article explores why real-world effectiveness will likely be substantially less.
Never Take Another Puff is a free PDF quit smoking book by Joel Spitzer that has now been downloaded 503,678 times since August 2005. Congratulations Joel!
September 2006
On 09/14 John was Fiona's guest on Simple Savings, a one hour World Talk Radio show with an Australian flavor. The show was archived as is available for listening at the above link. The program was broken down into three segments: the cost of smoking, why smokers smoke and how to quit.
August 2006
This review takes a close look at the Chantix studies and your odds of quitting.
July 2006
One-quarter of all adult smokers are dying during middle-age. What price is inflicted upon their loves ones?
WhyQuit.com is Google's 3rd ranked U.S. 'quit smoking' destination among 27 million search results. Amazingly, its gradual climb to the top is based upon popularity not money.
June 2006
Nie wieder einen einzigen Zug! ... von Joel Spitzer
Nachstehend finden Sie Links zu einem kostenlosen 171-seitigen Buch zum Thema "mit dem Rauchen aufhören" von Joel Spitzer aus Chicago, einem der in der Welt führenden Experten in diesem Gebiet. Es wurde ins Deutsche übersetzt. Egal, ob Sie Zigaretten, Zigarren oder Pfeife rauchen, ob Sie Kau- oder Schnupftabak benutzen, oder ob Sie von Nikotinkaugummi, -lutschtabletten oder Inhalatoren abhängig sind, dieses Buch wird Sie dabei anleiten, sich aus der Gewalt des Nikotins über Ihren Geist, Ihre Gesundheit und Ihr Leben zu befreien.
May 2006
Smoked nicotine's dopamine/adrenaline high comes with a horrible price. The shortness of breath sensed on exertion and the sounds rising from crying lungs are being echoed in every living cell in the smoker's body.
World No Tobacco Day is a wonderful opportunity to e-mail smoking friends a link to WhyQuit with an invitation to visit and explore.
A May 2006 Australian study has produced cold turkey quit smoking success rates that are twice as high as rates for those using the nicotine patch, gum, inhaler or bupropion (Zyban and Wellbutrin).
April 2006
Do you see quitting as the most emotional roller coaster ride of highs and lows that you could possibly experience? If so, it's time for a reality check. In this new addition to Joel's Library, Joel shares Mike and Sue's treatment journey as they endured a five year ride on the lung cancer express.
March 2006
Neighborhood convenience stores are enticing students to smoke nicotine. This article calls for an end to irresponsible tobacco marketing and for student groups to organize and fight back if the practice continues.
February 2006
An army of nicotine industry consultants are asserting to the world that nicotine is as safe as caffeine. While it takes 60 mg of nicotine to kill a 160 human it would take 10,000 mg of caffeine to do so.
January 2006
A new quitter survey reports that roughly half of all smokers attempt quitting without any planning whatsoever. Those conducting the survey were surprised to learn that the unplanned attempts to quit smoking were 2.6 times more successful in lasting at least six months than attempts planned in advance.
December 2005
A just released Core Institute Alcohol & Drug Survey of College of Charleston students found that the number of students smoking at least three times weekly dropped nine percentage points in the last two years, from 30% of the student body in January 2004 to just 21% by December 2005.
The maker of Nicorette ™ gum, the NicoDerm ™ patch and the Commit ™ nicotine lozenge issued a December 5, 2005 press release asserting that nearly all cold turkey quitting attempts fail. What it failed to mention is that the rates associated with sticking with NRT are substantially worse - less than 1% for second time patch users.
Do you have a question about quitting smoking? Now you can pose your question to Joel Spitzer, a professional cessation counselor who has devoted the past thirty years (full-time) to teaching smokers the law of addiction - Never Take Another Puff!
A review of why parents wanting to teach their child or teen the unabridged truth about smoking might be wise to select a teacher other than Philip Morris USA
November 2005
Youth smoking prevention peer-to-peer messages of ten College of Charleston smokers are being shared with teens and tweens via the Internet.
WhyQuit's 2005 GASO quitting tips
Do you plan on quitting? As the Smokeout approaches be prepared to hear some not so accurate assertions by those trying to take your money.
October 2005
Joel's Library's newest addition looks at alcohol use when quitting in four different groups: social drinkers, problem drinkers, recovering alcoholics, and drinking alcoholics.
Challenge your understanding of nicotine dependency by taking a free online 30 question quit smoking quiz.
If smoking is America's leading cause of premature death then whose team is TIME magazine on, the tobacco industry's or its readers?
Are you planning on quitting within a week or so of October 14, 2005? If so ABC News would love to hear from you and possibly film your story.
One of Joel's most inspiring articles, about a mother's parting gift to her son, is featured in a WhyQuit press release.
Tired of the same old quitting tips? How will you navigate the up to 72 hours needed to reach peak withdrawal and again reside inside a nicotine free body? This article shares tips that are vastly different from advice rendered by those advocating the use of weeks or months of nicotine replacement products.
September 2005
For roughly half of adult smokers it isn't a question of if smoking will kill them but how. Ask any smoker what smoking’s greatest killer is and they’ll likely tell you it’s lung cancer. They’re wrong. The correct response would have been circulatory or cardiovascular disease.
Imagine the tremendous physician frustration at watching 95% of patient attempts to quit smoking end in relapse within a year. Imagine twenty years of nicotine replacement therapy marketing telling your patients that NRT doubles their chances of quitting when your own empirical evidence tells you that it simply isn't true. It can feel like trying to swim upstream. Sadly, it gradually becomes easier for doctors not to ask patients about smoking than to deal with the answer. This story is about a new 8 page cessation tool WhyQuit is offering to physicians.
Thirty-one percent of Latina teens report current cigarette use. This article explores how Latina magazine is teaching young Hispanic girls in search of adult role models that to be cool, meet guys, stay thin, have fun, make friends or experience pleasure, that they need to smoke nicotine, preferably mentholated.
August 2005
A critical review of Philip Morris's just released sixteen-page youth smoking prevention brochure entitled, Could your kid be smoking?"
The August 22 issue of TIME contains a one-third page tribute to Peter Jennings on page 21 and a full page Camel ad on page 2.
The smoking induced lung cancer death of ABC evening news anchor Peter Jennings has Joel's "Never Take Another Puff" flying off the shelves.
July 2005
Built from Joel's Library, WhyQuit articles, Freedom posts and recent studies, it is hoped that this tip sheet will quickly get new quitters off to a solid start. If you have any suggestions for additions to the list please send them to
john@whyquit.com. Thanks!
June 2005
Why would the U.S. National Association of Attorneys General demand that selective binding be used to remove tobacco ads from four school magazines but not from scores of others? Why is the tobacco industry not being immediately expelled from America's schools?
Is R.J. Reynolds using music as bait to enslave young African Americans to nicotine?
This editorial reviews Philip Morris' youth smoking prevention and corporate responsibility campaign with emphysis on two Philip Morris booklets entitled Raising Kids Who Don't Smoke and Peer Pressure & Smoking.
If WhyQuit's
smoking initiation survey mirrors the real world then more than 90% of all smokers started smoking while children or teens. The tobacco industry realizes this critical fact and competition to permanently enslave youth to nicotine is an endless battle that's always denied. "
WhyQuit on Youth" is dedicated to both educating youth to industry tactics and developing innovative means of protecting youth from them.
May 2005
Philip Morris
brochures are teaching parents and their children that it takes at least a few weeks to become addicted to smoking nicotine (see right side of PDF page 7 of 9). But is it true?
Here in the U.S.,
Bryan Lee Curtis' son and widow are scheduled to make a motivational appearance on the Tuesday, May 24 episode of PAX TV's
Cold Turkey II. The show starts at 9 p.m. EST.
A short 10 question survey exploring how long and how many cigarettes it took before we started losing our autonomy to simply turn and walk away.
April 2005
A recent Maryland study concludes that as compared to nonusers, ever users of replacement nicotine products were less likely to stop smoking.
March 2005
A moving collection of short Real Player clips on various smoking related topics.
February 2005
A growing collection of insightful messages from cold turkey quitters who have been free from all nicotine for at least one year.
Take a look at how each and every puff destroys a bit more of the body's capacity to receive and transport life giving oxygen.
WhyQuit recorded a whopping 3.9 million hits during January, shattering the old record by 1.2 million.
January 2005
If your 2005 New Year's resolution is to quit smoking, quit chewing, quit sucking or quit dipping, and you're ready to soon see and feel the extended calm and mental quiet that is you, then you're in the right place!
December 2004
Imagine the world's most respected weekly news magazine playing a significant role in helping create a climate and culture that enslaves young minds. It's time for such madness to end!
November 2004
Will youth somehow see through extremely reckless holiday marketing that has hid nicotine inside peppermint and mocha or beneath a layer of toasty toffee? Will they realize that the cute furry camel delivering neurochemical fury is really in the drug addiction business? Will we silently watch the bait lure, entice and hook them or will our voice be heard?
Are you a long-term nicotine gum user? If so, do you have 10 to 15 minutes to take a short survey that's part of a University of Geneva study?
This new addition to Joel's Library asks us to ponder why U.S. smoking rates stopped their dramatic decline with the arrival of replacement nicotine.
October 2004
U.S. reality show "Cold Turkey" airs
Imagine 10 heavy smokers being tricked into quitting by PAX television and then all 10 succeeding in remaining nicotine free at 8 days. It's happened and they're all still going strong. The show airs Sundays at 10 PM EST and replays on Tuesday at 9/8c.
What if we could help this generation of children, teens and young adults avoid the same mistake we made? Here in the U.S. youth are bombarded by $11.2 billion in annual tobacco industry marketing. If we're to help them we must get a feel for how they're being targeted and explore ways to counter it.
September 2004
You decide! Examine an actual ad from People's Magazine and take a short survey.
August 2004
Read (or share) messages of women who used nicotine during pregnancy or breastfeeding and from those having questions or concerns about doing so. This resource is intended as a woman to woman nicotine cessation motivational tool for those planning a pregnancy, expecting, or who recently gave birth.
What happens when dollars count more than votes? Unless you live in South Carolina this deeply disturbing chronology of once secret tobacco industry documents may at first glance seem to have no relation to you or where you live. But if you briefly explore the history of tobacco related legislation considered by your regional government and then do a bit of searching of the 33 million once secret tobacco industry documents at
TobaccoDocuments.org,
Legacy's Library or the
British-American Collection of document sites, sadly, you may find that democracy has been for sale or horribly manipulated where you live too.
July 2004
June 2004
"Believe me everyone, withdrawal was and is so much easier than this 2 year cancer battle I have been fighting. The craves disappeared, the cancer hasn't." Kim - March 8, 2004
Imagine a state that has no nicotine cessation programs, no youth prevention programs, where youth and adult smoking rates continue to climb year after year, and in which 80% of lawmakers have accepted political contributions from the nicotine industry. Welcome to
South Carolina! This new page is John's attempt to foster legislative accountability by identifying and featuring lawmakers taking the largest slice of industry profits.
An article exploring the final phase of nicotine dependency recovery, dealing with those pesky conscious thoughts of wanting to smoke nicotine.
May 2004
World No Tobacco Day, Monday, May 31, 2004Need an excuse to reach out to smoking family, friends or possibly your entire community. A short two paragraph "Letter to the Editor" of your local paper reminding smokers of this worldwide event and inviting them to visit one or more of your favorite internet education, motivation or quitting support resources might just permanently change a life.
April 2004
March 2004
The Birth of GoColdTurkey.com
Congratulations Arizona on creating the first government website that actually encourages and supports those desiring to end all nicotine use. Your leadership is inspiring! [NOTE: On April 2, 2005 GoColdTurkey.com appeared to be a dead link. If it stays dead, we should appreciate that it isn't easy for any government to serve the needs of its cold turkey quitters in the face of tremendous pharmaceutical industry influence.]
December 2003
South Carolina Ignores Dying Nicotine Addicts - by John R. Polito
An article exploring nicotine dependency dying and death in South Carolina and how one state not only turns its back on smokers but actually discriminates against them in denying effective treatment. It is hoped that the ideas expressed in this article might be beneficial to others in helping change the way nicotine dependency is seen by their community.
November 2003
Great American Smokeout Hijacked - by John R. Polito
When the American Cancer Society held its first Smokeout in 1976 it was to was to help smokers quit smoking nicotine. Twenty-six Smokouts later it has been transformed from a national quitting day into a day for selling new methods to replace the nicotine within the bodies of those addicted to it.
Is cold turkey quitting ten times more effective than nicotine gum? by John R. Polito
A November study published in Tobacco Control estimates that 36% of nicotine gum users are chronic users. It also raises serious concern that almost all of the 7% of gum users who were previously declared to have quit smoking while using over-the-counter gum may have still been hooked on the gum.
October 2003
Are nicotine weaning products a bad joke? - by John R. Polito
A review of recent evidence.
August 2003
This new link provides doctors and health care providers a quick overview of WhyQuit and invites them to freely use all its resources in reaching out to nicotine dependent patients. Is your physician, dentist, or area hospital wellness center even aware that WhyQuit exists? It's highly unlikely. You might consider e-mailing them the above link and inviting them to visit.
July 2003
Select Joel's Library Articles Translated into Greek The Greek translation of 13 articles from Joel's Library has been completed and are available for use. Translated by Harry Kakoulidis of Thessaloniki, Greece - one of Freedom's newest members - they are a welcome edition that will hopefully provide critical cessation insight in a nation where 46.8% of the adult males (including 50% of all male physicians) and 29% of adult females smoke nicotine (
Greece's 2003 Tobacco Control Profile ). Thanks Harry!
The Japanese Version of WhyQuit.com Translated by Suehiko's Nisida of Yokohama, Japan and hosted by www.Anti-Smoke-jp.com, Suehiko's translation efforts are almost complete. The translation is being made available to a nation where 47.4% of males over age 20 ( including 27.1% of male physicians) and 11.5% of females smoke nicotine (
Japan's 2003 Tobacco Control Profile ). Involved in tobacco control for thirty-years, Suehiko finds Joel's psychological analysis of smokers and ex-smoker to be "very informative." "I am encouraging my friends and acquaintances to read my translated version of these articles whenever possible," writes Suehiko. Our sincere thanks for all your hard work!
June 2003
Joel's Library Now in PDF Book Format What if you could key word search Joel's entire Library to quickly find your favorite article, print all 148 pages with one click of your mouse, save it to your computer, or send the entire library to all your smoking friends as an e-mail attachment? Well now for the first time ever you can!
Click here or the link above to open Joel's entire library in PDF file format (1.75 MB). Once opened, use the save icon to store it to your computer. We owe this latest golden giver's gift to Freedom's BillW (Gold)! Thanks Bill! Please feel free to useKim updates us on her battle with cancer Kim's last chemo treatment is to be June 12. As Kim puts it, "yahoo!" I have an MRI for my head booked for July 16 ...and with fingers crossed I'm hoping to hear the words "You are Cancer Free!"
Harry's Quit Counter A pack-a-day Greek software designer, on April 21, 2003 Harry went "cold turkey" claiming freedom from nicotine, and on June 6th unveiled his own quit meter. Aside from the standard features in other counters, Harry's meter offers the unique ability to interact in supporting the quits of others by copying their quit statistic to your clipboard for easy pasting, tracking of their milestones, and, with the click of a mouse, the ability to send them an e-mail of "support." Yes, at last a meter design not only to foster and celebrate your achievement, but to interactively support the continuing success of those around you!
May 2003
Freedom Topic Index
A new alphabetical index combining posting highlights from all Freedom message boards and over 164,000 archived member posts. Please contact john@whyquit.com and advise of non-working links or to share thoughts, ideas, or recommendations for improvement. Thanks!
University of Geneva Study Questionnaire on Mood
Requested participants: Smokers, Ex-smokers & Never-smokers
Estimated completion time: 10 to 15 minutes
Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine
Faculty of Medicine
University of Geneva, Switzerland
Dr. Jean-francois Etter, Study Director
April 2003
