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What's New: 2011 - 2014

December 2014

Is your New Year's Resolution to stop smoking?: A press release featuring Joel's new New Year's resolution video.

New videos added to Joel's Library:

- 30 years of nicotine gum - 12/28/14
- Is your New Year's resolution to quit smoking? - 12/27/14

November 2014

New videos added to Joel's Library:

- Smoking breaks - 11/06/14
- Every quit is different - 11/04/14

October 2014

New videos added to Joel's Library:

- Joel's Halloween Fearfest - 10/31/14
- Is relapsing on nicotine a good learning experience? - 10/29/14
- After quitting smoking is there such a thing as the "quitters flu?" - 10/22/14

September 2014

New videos added to Joel's Library:

- Be proud that you quit smoking - 09/13/14
- "What should I do with my leftover cigarettes?" - 09/12/14
- Well meaning offers for cigarettes - 09/09/14
- What about using herbal cigarettes to quit smoking? - 09/04/14
- Joel, how do you remember so many program details? - 09/04/14
- Prolonging nicotine withdrawal - 09/03/14

August 2014

New articles added to Joel's Library:

- "I made a conscious decision to smoke" - 08/08/14
- "I think I have decided to go back to smoking" - 08/08/14

New videos added to Joel's Library:

- Are doctors taught about nicotine recovery? - 08/29/14
- "It's inevitable, some smokers are going to relapse" - 08/25/14
- A thirty year success story - 08/22/14
- "Should I reset my quit meter?" - 08/21/14
- The Freedom from Nicotine Support Board - 08/15/14
- "What did they do to you to make you quit smoking?" - 08/11/14
- Introduction to "The Fan Letter" - 08/08/14
- Introduction to the "The isolation of the widowed smoker" - 08/07/14
- Intentional relapses - 08/06/14
- Quitting smoking is an option - 08/05/14
- "Please don't smoke" - 08/04/14

July 2014

WhyQuit's Free Online Quit Smoking Statistics Calculator: No download necessary for this free online stop smoking meter statistics calculator which tracks time since you quit, cigarettes not smoked, and money and life saved since quitting.

New videos added to Joel's Library:

- My work in the field of smoking prevention and cessation - July 31
- Why I no longer conduct stop smoking clinics - July 30
- Quitting smoking out of fear - July 29
- Are you stronger than your cigarettes? - July 27
- Are you smart enough for an IQ pin? - July 26
- "Should I let him know that I know he is smoking?" - July 25
- "After I lose weight I will quit smoking" - July 24
- The urge hits - July 23
- The power of nicotine addiction - July 22
- Fear of failure - July 19
- Fear of success - July 19
- Fear of relapsing - July 19
- How would you deal with the following situations? - July 17
- Are you a nicotine junkie? - July 17
- Words that translate into RELAPSE - July 16
- "You mean you haven't had a single puff off of a cigarette? - July 15
- Good reasons to take puff on a cigarette after having quit smoking - July 13
- "My support group is responsible" - July 12
- Thoughts for cigarettes that may seem worse than when first quitting smoking - July 11
- "Miracle" aids for quitting smoking - July 5
- Resources explaining interaction between nicotine and stress - July 2
- Keeping cigarettes to deal with stress - July 2
- "I smoke because I'm self-destructive" - July 1

Embracing Crave Episodes: John's 2001 crave coping thread at Freedom entitled "Embracing Crave Episodes" has been updated and added to WhyQuit.

Thoughts that seem worse than urges experienced the first few days: A 2000 relapse prevention article by Joel explaining why thoughts about wanting to smoke can seem worse weeks or months after quitting has been added to Joel's Library.

2014 U.S. Surgeon: The health consequences causally linked to smoking: While smoking is suspected of causing additional cancers and diseases, Figure 1.1A of the 2014 Surgeon General's Report shows the cancers and chronic diseases that we know with medical certainty are caused by cigarette smoking.

June 2014

New videos added to Joel's Library:

- No need to apologize for not posting for a while - 06/28/14
- Resources regarding quit smoking aids - 06/27/14
- "I'll have to use willpower for the rest of my life not to smoke" - 06/27/14
- Smoking does not help you overcome stress - 06/23/14
- Come share your strength, come recognize your vulnerabilities - 06/20/14
- Lost long term quits (video) - 06/17/14
- "Don't beat yourself up for smoking" - 06/12/14
- For people who think quitting smoking is the hardest thing they have ever done - 06/12/14
- "Is this an unlucky day to quit smoking?" - 06/13/14

May 2014

World No Tobacco Nicotine Day (WNTD) - May 31: a golden opportunity: What better excuse to reach out to addicted friends and loved ones and invite them to spend a few minutes exploring the planet's #1 nicotine dependency recovery site than World No Tobacco Day? We invite you to invite them by using one or more of the following images as your social media profile, cover, message or blog image. Together, just one smoker at a time, we can and are making a difference:

- WNTD cover image
- WNTD profile image
- WNTD blog/article image
- Small WNTD icon - just 17.5k

New videos added to Joel's Library:

- If you quit smoking with a lousy attitude... - 05/17/14
- "I don't have a choice, I have to quit smoking" - 05/15/14

April 2014

ITC sustainability award for India's million smoking deaths: Imagine Philip Morris or British American Tobacco sponsoring national spelling bees in the U.S. or England. India's leading cigarette maker is ITC Limited and it is doing just that.

CDC Looking for Ex-Smokers for New TIPS campaign: Has your smoking resulted in colorectal cancer or macular degeneration, or has some serious smoking related harm resulted despite e-cigarette or little cigar use? If so, the take a look at these other requirements as the CDC may be looking for you.

Where have all the smokers gone?: A new motivational YouTube video which shares WhyQuit victim photos.

March 2014

New videos added to Joel's Library:

- Smoking is easier than not smoking - 03/28/14
- The importance of quitting for yourself - 03/07/14

February 2014

Nine new videos added to Joel's Library:

- Crave or thoughts for cigarettes that occur over time - 02/28/14
- Quitting smoking can make you calmer, happier and healthier - 02/28/14
- Carrying mock cigarettes - 02/26/14
- The fallacy of "good cigarettes" - 02/26/14
- Fixating on a cigarette - 02/26/14
- "Smoking a cigarette will help me secure my quit" - 02/26/14
- Disorientation that may occur when first quitting smoking - 02/08/14
- Because now it really hurts! - 02/07/14
- Using cigarettes as rewards - 02/06/14

January 2014

The Surgeon General's Reports: 50 years of cessation ignorance: Imagine President Obama declaring he's 95% cured while continuing to be addicted to regular mandatory nicotine feedings. When will our leaders have the courage to talk about the root cause of our nation's #1 killer? Sadly, from the first U.S. Surgeon General's report of Dr. Terry 50 years ago, to President Obama today, a lack of dependency and cessation honesty due to dependency denial continues to be smoking's greatest killer."

December 2013

Prepare now for New Year's, the biggest quitting day of the year!: Sadly, 12 of 13 New Year's quit smoking resolutions are expected to again go up in smoke. It didn't need to be! Link to 50 New Year's quitting tips

November 2013

Australia's half-baked quit smoking campaign: Australia may soon boast the world's highest cigarette prices, most frightening and colorless cigarette packs, and the world's worst government quitting advice.

The Great American Quit Smoking Sham: The American Cancer Society, founder of the Great American Smokeout, falsely suggests to smokers that most successful ex-smokers quit smoking by use of nicotine replacment therapy (NRT) products or approved medications. It does so while accepting donations from pharma companies who make those products.

WhyQuit Director Published in British Medical Journal: John's November 19 BMJ letter suggests that NRT studies are sham and that NRT is costing lives. "Despite 39 years and billions spent on marketing, only one in 100 US ex-smokers credit nicotine gum for their success, with all approved products combined accounting for only 8% of successful cessation. How much closer to consumer fraud can approved products get?"

October 2013

Marlboro Maybe Archetype Ad Campaign: Is the "Be Marlboro" Maybe marketing campaign targeting children and teenagers for addiction to smoking nicotine? A 1991 Philip Morris archetype study strongly suggests that it is.

Philip Morris International's annual report boasts selling 12 billion additional cigarettes worldwide in 2012: PMI's 2013 annual report is troubling. Apparently the Marlboro Man has been retired in favor of a new "Maybe" campaign that taps into a teenager's dreams of a wonderful life. PMI boasts that the campain is effective, and that means one thing, that teens are getting hooked at an accelerated rate. If "Maybe" Marlboro advertisements are appearing in your country (I've seen none as yet here in the U.S.) we'd greatly appreciate you sending high resolution photos to john@whyquit.com, indicating the date and location each photo were taken, and we'll share them online with the world. Sincere thanks in advance.

Ten reasons to try smart turkey before e-cigarettes: Many are trying to convince smokers that it's simply too hard to quit, that they are hopelessly hooked and should give up on "real" quitting. While true that there is no more deadly nicotine delivery vehicle than cigarettes, it's also true that fully arresting your addiction is vastly more do-able and far more wonderful than your wanting for that next fix suggests.

New video added to Joel's Library:

- "Nicotine Addiction"

September 2013

A letter to Obama: one nicotine addict to another: A letter to President Obama, an addicted Nicorette nicotine gum users, encouraging him to investigate U.S. nicotine smoking cessation policy and the lies government health officals are telling to smokers about how to quit smoking.

Ten reasons to turn Stoptober into Smarttober: Imagine a focus makeover for the UK National Health Service's (NHS) 2nd annual October Stoptober quit smoking campaign. Instead of making the pharmaceutical industry richer by purchasing "free" yet highly ineffective replacement nicotine for all, imagine transforming Stoptober into Smarttober and encouraging England's smokers to become more dependency recovery savvy than smoked nicotine's influence upon their brain.

America's face of smoking cessation, Terrie Hall, laid to rest: There may never been a more courageous ex-smoker than 53 year-old Terrie Linn Hall, the 13-year cold turkey quitter and laryngectomee made famous by the CDC's March 2012 Tips from Former Smokers campaign.

Student Warning: Nicotine addiction can be quick and permanente: All experts agree, nicotine is highly addictive. But what does "highly" and "addictive" mean?

Three new videos added to Joel's Library:

- "The President and nicotine gum"
- "E-cigs as effective as nicotine patches"
- Dual use of cigarettes and electronic cigarettes

August 2013

4th edition of "Freedom from Nicotine - The Journey Home" released: The latest version of FFN-TJH, John R. Polito's free pdf book is now available here at WhyQuit.

Gallup Poll: cold turkey 48 times smarter than Nicorette: A 2013 Gallup Poll finds that 92% of successful ex-smokers did not use the nicotine patch, gum, Zyban, Chantix or Champix, that most quit smoking cold turkey.

Two new videos added to Joel's Library:

- "Gallup Poll: most quitters credit cold turkey"
- "Whatever you do, don't quit cold turkey"

July 2013

Three new videos added to Joel's Library:

- "Boy, do I miss smoking"
- Medication adjustments that may be necessary after smoking cessation
- "Will this get better?"

June 2013

Turkeyville Membership hits 2,000: Membership at WhyQuit's Facebook quit smoking support group Turkeyville has skyrocketed from 200 to 2,000 in 13 months.

Seven new videos added to Joel's Library:

- Nicotine is nicotine is nicotine
- There is no legitimate reason to relapse
- Tell a newbie how many seconds a day you want a cigarette
- My personal, brief views on Chantix or Champix
- Carrying replacement nicotine in case of emergency
- "I am trying to quit"
- Past "successful" quits

May 2013

Your smoking friends need your help: Smoking is scheduled to kill half of your smoking friends while crippling many lucky enough to survive. Friday, May 31 is World No Tobacco Day, a golden opportunity to reach out while hopefully still time.

Joel's "How to quit smoking" video logs 50,000 views: Created eight months ago, Joel's basic 14 minute quitting tips video has become his most popular yet.

April 2013

Joel's quit smoking video views surpass 4 million!: On April 18 it was noted that the number of views for Joel's videos and MP3s totaled 4,001,780.

March 2013

New England Journal of Medicine debates smoker job discrimination: Need another reason to quit? Whether realized or not, employers are increasingly refusing to hire smokers and it's difficult to hide the smell.

WhyQuit launches WhyQuit Facebook page: WhyQuit's new Facebook page will feature breaking news, new studies and key recovery tips.

February 2013

National Cancer Institute denies favoring one quitting method over another: In the linked discussion, while the NCI claims not to favor one quitting method over another, the quitting booklet it cites blasts cold turkey.

January 2013

Turkeyville Million Cigs Stats Strut: A January 11 member parade at Turkeyville had members adding together their quit counter's cigarettes not smoked totals. The grand total: 1,125,263 cigarettes that were not smoked!

December 2012

How do most Sweedish smokers quit smoking?: New study finds that 68% of smokers successfully quitting between 2008-2009 quit smoking totally unassisted!

November 2012

Turkeyville celebrates 1,000th member: On November 28 the population of WhyQuit's new Facebook support group Turkeyville topped 1,000!

Lung Cancer Awareness Month: Sadly, lung cancer kills twice as many women as breast cancer. One cause is championed while the other all but ignored. Why?

September 2012

"How to Quit Smoking": Please share Joel's new "How to Quit Smoking" YouTube video with every smoker you know. Why? Because it might help end their self-destruction and save their life!

August 2012

24 New Videos Added to Joel's Library: Joel has been rather busy during August creating new video stop smoking lessons. We took the opportunity to reorganize the video clips. Please help spread the word that quitters can have their very own cessaton counselor.

Pharma bias destroys ITC quit smoking medication study: Imagine being a paid consultant to both Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline - the two stop smoking product giants - while at the same time conducting medical journal research into the most effective quitting methods. Imagine the conflicts created. This article shares a review by physician-professor Michael Siegel as he dissects a study co-authored by a financially conflicted researcher.

"Freedom from Nicotine - The Journey Home" Revised: Incorporating the latest study findings, John devoted July to a substantial update of Freedom from Nicotine - The Journey Home.

July 2012

Joel's free ebook "Never Take Another Puff" celebrates 4 millionth download!: As Joel shared, as of July 6, 2012 "Never Take Another Puff" registered 4,069,162 downloads. If visiting, download your copy and experience the magic that happens once we become more dependency recovery savvy than our addiction is strong! Yes you can!

June 2012

WhyQuit's Facebook Group Named and Registers 500th Memeber: Welcome to Turkeyville, home to WhyQuit's Facebook group! Turkeyville's primary objective is in helping newbies navigate getting started and the first few days. Instant education and support feedback, it is quickly becoming another valuable Internet resource tool for cold turkey quitters.

May 2012

For Smokers Only: Understanding and Silencing the Wanting Within: Do powerful quitting anxieties keep destroying your stop smoking attempts? This article helps destroy the root cause of quit smoking anxiety, the fear and panic born of false smoking rationalizations.

April 2012

Study claims nicotine causes cancer: Injecting mice for two years with levels of nicotine sufficient to cause hair loss caused 78 percent to develop cancer.

March 2012

Potent warnings, horrible quitting advice: what's the CDC smoking?: The challenge of awaking U.S. health policymakers to the insanity of not only failing to support the nation's single largest block of quitters (cold turkey), but actually discouraging them as they fight to save their lives, continues. It's sadly frightening, as if no one is home.

February 2012

Replacement Nicotine's Killing Fields: Are replacement nicotine products (NRT) costing smokers their lives? It's a debate being encouraged by the current issue of the British Medical Journal.

January 2012

Does nicotine replacement really help smokers quit?: The rate of successful quitting has stalled and debate has erupted as findings from two new population level studies, Pierce and Alpert, have motivated their authors to suggest that it's time to consider changing quit smoking policy, as NRT failed to defeat those quitting without it (see Table 1 findings from the Pierce ARPH study).

December 2011

Why 12 of 13 New Year's quit smoking resolutions needlessly fail: New Year's Day is by far the biggest quitting day of the year. Hopefully this year's New Years quitting article will be widely shared, and WhyQuit will experience a bumper crop of New Year's visitors.

Helen Bradford, age 40, dies: Helen was a WhyQuit friend and volunteer who at the above link shared with us her battle with lung. On December 22, Helen's sister Maurren posted of Helen's passing on Helen's Facebook page. There she wrote, "Yesterday we sadly lost another family member. Helen Bradford will be sadly missed by so many people. I hope my sisters are partying it up in heaven tonight. So deeply missed." She lives on in our hearts and minds. Peace be with you Helen.

Chantix study joins negative findings omissions club: The practice of quit smoking product researchers omitting negative findings from study summaries that might be harmful to the economic interests of Pfizer or GlaxoSmithKline continues.

November 2011

Helen of Tobacco a Joan of Addiction: The story of Helen Bradford, a 30-year former smoker who after quitting and becoming active in battling nicotine addiction and then found herself battling lung cancer.

Dying Truths About Quitting Smoking Methods: This article shares the quitting histories and living nightmares of two ex-smokers diagnosed with lung cancer during 2011, Neil, now deceased, and Helen, and what each learned along the way.

"Suicidal Behavior and Depression in Smoking Cessation Treatments": This free full-text study reviewed 2,925 varenicline, 229 bupropion and 95 nicotine replacement reports of suicidal/self-injurious behavior or depression to the U.S. FDA and concludes that "findings for varenicline, combined with other problems with its safety profile, render it unsuitable for first-line use in smoking cessation."

October 2011

Freedom Reports that NoNic4Neal has Died: Sadly, Freedom reported on October 7 that NoNic4Neal (Neal) died at age 53, just 37 days after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Our prayers are with Neal's surviving 9 year-old daughter, his wife, family and friends.

September 2011

NZ Youth Smoking Prevention Ex-smoker Battling Lung Cancer: On September 3, 2011, Helen, age 50, a four-year quitter, former thirty-year smoker, and New Zealand youth smoking prevention activist, was diagnosed with lung cancer. "I went to the doctor because I had swollen hands, feet, ankles and knees," recalls Helen. "She sent me for all sorts of blood tests and x-rays. The last was a chest x-ray that showed a shadow on my left lung. The doctor suggested that, considering all my symptoms that it was probably lung cancer." Follow Helen's journey on WhyQuit's Facebook page.

July 2011

Nicotine vaccine fails and pronounced "dead": Since 2004 headlines had touted Nabi's coming NicVax nicotine vaccine as a cure to smoking. After failing to prevail over placebo in a phase III drug approval study, this Bloomberg story suggests that NicVax is dead, just like many who waited and believed in its false promise these past seven years.

Chantix/Champix's missing risk-benefit analysis: Polito's attempt to stir debate in Canada's largest medical journal (Canadian Medical Association Journal) over the fact that there have been 36,342 U.S. adverse event reports to the Food and Drug Administration, including 272 completed suicides, 323 suicide attempts and 63 cases described as suicidal behavior, and still no proof that Chantix is effective as a stand-alone quitting aid.

June 2011

Is a 14% Chantix success rate worth risking death?: While Pfizer Chantix marketing boasts a 44% success rate, a new study found that only 1 in 7 Chantix quitters were still not smoking at 6 months. This comes as U.S. Chantix adverse reaction reports top 35,000.

May 2011

Turning World No Tobacco Day Into Victory: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 is World No Tobacco Day. It's a golden opportunity to discover how nicotine took your brain hostage, the consequences and how to break free.

100 Reasons Why CVS Should Stop Selling Cigarettes: CVS pharmacists are being forced to work at stores that sells America's leading cause of disease, disability and death. They article is part of a campaign to stop the sale of cigarettes at pharmacies.

January 2011

Chantix serious injuries exceed 8,500: Despite FDA ordered black box warnings, the number of serious adverse Chantix events being reported continues to alarm medication safety watchdogs.

Joel's How to Stop Smoking Videos Celebrate 3 Million Views: Discover why Joel's 64 free videos are so popular.

"Smoke Remedy" infomercial: a fraud, hoax and scam?: The Smoke Remedy infomercial repeatedly suggests to smokers that Smoke Remedy eliminates cravings, while the use instructions at the Smoke Remedy website state, 'At each craving or desire to smoke .. spray 3 times into your mouth.' Which is it?

Chantix / Champix Worth Questioned: A letter in the Journal Addiction questions whether or not Pfizer's controversial quit smoking pill varenicline is worth it. Also, the latest English varenicline quitting rate data suggests that Pfizer is vastly overstating the odds of success that real-world quitters should expect.

New Year's quitters swamp WhyQuit: On January 3, 2011 WhyQuit recorded nearly a quarter of a million hits (requests).

Test your quit smoking IQ: How much do you know about smoking and quitting? Use this short 10 question quiz to test your stop smoking IQ.


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