Sunday, November 30, 2014

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Friday, November 28, 2014

I wanted to be Just Like Dad...

Back in the day,
for the Holidays,
I wanted to be 
Just Like Dad...


He smoked two 
packs a day for 
40 years. He died 
of lung, brain, 
liver & pancreatic
cancer when he 
was 56... If I was
just like Dad, 
I'd be dead now...


Black Lung Friday: What are you getting your friends for the Holidays?

When I was a wee 
lad, this was one guy's 
idea of holiday giving...

Thursday, November 27, 2014

MSN: Japanese researchers find e cigarettes contain up to ten times the amount of carcinogens as regular cigarettes...

An MSN article reports
that Agence France-
Presse published that 
Japanese research found 
some e cigarettes have 
10 times the carcinogens 
found in tobacco 
cigarettes. The research, 
commissioned by Japan's 
Health Ministry, found 
high levels of 
Formaldehyde, 
also known as embalming 
fluid and a plethora of
ingredients known to 
cause cancer.









RTS has long expressed 
concern about the make up 
of e cigs and the long term 
effects of e cig usage. The 
excessive amount of vapor 
that comes out of a person's 
face during a single
exhalation should have 
a sign and been cause for 
alarm from the get go.

MSN: Japanese research finds that e cigarettes contain ten times the carcinogens of regular cigarettes

Why did I not think of this thoughtful Holiday gift for my smoking friends in Arctic climes?

Really? How did I 
ever do without 
these when I was 
a smoker? Sure 
hope they come
in menthol green...
After all, they're 
for boys and girls...


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

From Sinosphere.blogs.nytimes: Proposed regulations aim to clamp down on smoking in China

This would be the 
beginning of the
greatest antismoking
breakthrough to 
ever hit the planet.
China has more than 
300 million smokers; 
and the government 
rakes in billions from 
tobacco; the new tact, 
with the proposed 
smoking bans, health
awareness campaigns, 
and rethinking the habit 
makes this anti-tobacco
effort one of the most 
stunning reversals of a 
country's approach to 
habit throughout time.
No doubt someone 
noticed the bazillions 
that were going to be 
required for healthcare 
for those 300 million...
Article by Didi Kirsten Tatlow
Photo: Shiho Fukada for NYTimes
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes: Proposed regulations aim to clamp down on smoking in China

From the New Yorker..."Bad Dog!"

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Really Bad Taste-Holiday Gift for the Smoking New Parents in yourLife...

An absolutely tasteless 
gift for young smoking
couples who have a 
newborn. Help remind 
them what a bad idea 
second hand smoke is...

As Robin Williams 
used to say when he 
did his best French 
impersonation...
"There. Ze baby eez
smoking. Does that 
make you angry...?"


Romancing The Smoke: Those were some epic times, weren't they...?

After almost 800 
posts to this blog 
covering the world's
stories, regulations, 
health news, break-
throughs & setbacks 
of all things tobacco, 
we will be reposting 
epic posts from 
Romancing The Smoke
on what we now call
Stop On A Dime Sunday.


Every other Sunday, we 
will share stories you might 
have missed that will stun 
& amuse you & maybe 
even kick your butt...
or get you to kick butts...
because encouraging you 
& others to quit smoking 
is ultimately the job of 
this blog...& SMOKEFREE 
is the way to be... Stay 
tuned this Sunday for 
"Those were 
epic times..."

Monday, November 24, 2014

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Daily Mail UK: Hookah fumes contain killer chemical benzene...

Researchers have found 
that hookah smokers are 
also breathing in a nasty 
collection of toxic 
chemicals, not the least 
of which is benzene. Due
to its high octane number, 
benzene is percentage 
component of gasoline. 
(During my high school 
summers, I worked in a 
plastics factory and 
transferred benzene-
based liquids into 
smaller containers. 
Twice during this task, 
I collapsed, dizzy as could 
be from the chemicals. 
Even when I smoked, 
didn't trust hookahs- 
something about the 
overwhelming nature 
of the fumes.) Dangerous 
stuff to breathe...
Mark Prigg reports.

Daily Mail UK: Researchers find toxic Benzene in Hookahs...


Friday, November 21, 2014

Huff Post: 16 Disturbing Numbers That Show That Smoking is Still an Epidemic...

The Huffington Post's
collection of compelling 
smoking numbers shows 
the smoking epidemic is 
really far from over. 
Sarah Klein reports...
Huff Post: 16 Disturbing Numbers That Show That Smoking is still an Epidemic...

METRO: Revolting New Way to Quit Smoking is Surprisingly Effective...

Rob Waugh of Metro, UK 
writes about a new radical 
aversion therapy-
dreadfully nauseating 
smells are mingled with 
cigarette smoke and 
administered to a smoker 
while they sleep. This
approach has a supposedly 
high success rate...but not
for the faint of nostril...
Photo: Rex

Metro: revolting New Way to Quit Smoking May Be Most Effective Yet...

Thursday, November 20, 2014

It's the Great American Smokeout 2014! GIVE IT UP! Get your FREE Kindle copy...

The Great American 
Smokeout is TODAY!
It's that time of the season
for you to stop wheezin'...
Take a deep breath!
To those who want to 
quit, or have a loved 
one who should-please
accept this gift of a 
FREE Kindle copy of
Romancing The Smoke.
Offer good only today.
Get your FREE Kindle copy of Romancing The Smoke!





Monday, November 17, 2014

NY Times: Disgusted by smoking, outraged by a proposal to ban tobacco...

Katharine Q. Seelye reports 
on the Massachusetts town 
of Westminster, where a 
white hot furor is rising from 
a Board of Health proposal 
to ban the sale of any tobacco 
or e cigs in the town...big 
controversy with national 
ramifications.
Photo: Gretchen Ertl/NYTimes

To prepare smokers for the Great American SmokeOut... A little black lung humor...

A little black lung 
humor to give smokers 
more great reasons to 
be Smokefree...Goofy in
a Disney piece from 1951-
"NO SMOKING" 
Goofy in Disney's cartoon, "NO SMOKING"

Get ready to quit...! The Great American SmokeOut is almost here! BREATHE!

Our Lady of the 
Respiratory Despair 
wants to tell you to 
GIVE IT UP for the 
Great American 
Smokeout 2014 but she's 
busy lighting another 
cigarette and having 
trouble getting the 
words out...



Friday, November 14, 2014

Countdown to the Great American Smoke Out 11/20

Are you going to 
GIVE IT UP?
Go smoke free
in six days...?

NY Times: Medicare proposes paying for lung cancer screenings for older long time smokers...

This news from the NY Times' 
Sabrina Tavernise is startlingly 
progressive, given the recent 
past of American healthcare.
This test may be available to 
some 4 million elders who have 
smoked for 30 years or more, 
even if they've been non-
smokers for up to fifteen years.
This screening program aims 
to save 20,000 lives a year.
NY Times: Medicare proposes paying for lung cancer screenings for older long time smokers...

Washington Post: Number of high schoolers smoking e-cigarettes has tripled since 2011...

While cigarette smoking 
has dropped amongst 
teenagers over the past 
few years, Roberto 
Ferdman reports for the 
Washington Post that 
the number of high 
schoolers smoking 
e-cigarettes has skyrocketed.
It's totally about the hipness
of the tech thing...methinks...
Washington Post: Number of high schoolers smoking e-cigarettes has tripled... 



Wednesday, November 12, 2014

New Rollers of the Nicotine Age: Millennials and Smoking

I recently conducted 
a survey of Millennial
smokers to discuss 
their theories of tobacco 
and how and why they 
use it. Their fierce 
enthusiasm is truly
Big Tobacco's long 
awaited wet dream.

While an increasing

number of Millennials
are choosing to go smoke 
free; this post applauds 
those who have turned 
away from nicotine, or 
just plain turned it down.

Yet I couldn't help 
but notice that 
amongst those who
are smokers...

-Not once did they use 
the terms "cigarette", 
"smoke", "smoking",
or "nicotine" or say 
"I should quit."

-None of them admitted 
to being addicted. Tobacco 
was mentioned in reference 
to it being medicine.

-They invoked the neo-
Native American relation-
ship to tobacco, insisting 
that their usage was ritual-
based, honorable and 
visionary.

-"Do you want to share 
some tobacco?" has 
replaced the phrase,
"Let's go have a cigarette..."

-Most weren't aware of 
the effect of their 2nd Hand 
Smoke on non smokers...
This group of smokers had 
disconnected themselves 
from the truth about 
nicotine addiction. It was 
here I first heard the phrase, 
"American Spirits advocate
the healthy use of tobacco"
as part of the alternative 
lifestyle of the Enlightened...

Witnessing smokers claim
to being highly evolved
humans aware of other
consciousnesses, 
meditative practices and 
skill sets making them 
shamans amongst their 
"tribe"...made no sense...
Because they continued 
to smoke...

When someone smokes,
they automatically fall off 
the enlightened list. Period. 
There are no "mulligans" 
with nicotine addiction.
There is nothing enlight-
ening about smoking 
except for the realization 
that it will kill you. Tobacco
is an anti-enlightenment drug. 
Smoking is, was, and will 
always be lame. Once one 
allows themselves that 
revelation and that smoke 
free is the way, then by
quitting, one can once 
again embark on the Path 
to Enlightenment...
...after all, Buddha never smoked...
Buddha and the Visitor, detail; Painting by John Aaron