Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Trying to quit and need a friend? This book speaks to smokers....

After growing up in a houseful 
of smokers, 40 years of smoking 
and burying 6 family members 
from smoking related diseases, 
John Aaron brings the story of 
how he found his way to smoke
free. He knows what it takes.
AMAZON: Romancing The Smoke: Reflections of a Nicotine Addict

Romancing The Smoke Does Not Advocate For E-Cigarettes

For the record, Romancing 
The Smoke is in no way a
proponent of electronic 
vaporizing devices, ie, 
e-cigarettes or ENDS-
electronic nicotine 
dispensing systems.

First and foremost, RTS 
believes nicotine to be the 
most addictive substance
known, has thoroughly 
researched the dangers 
and opposes its use in any form.

RTS sees that the vaping
industry is rapidly being taken 
over by Big Tobacco, because 
no one other than Big Tobacco 
can afford the tv and print ads,
the cost of the celebrity 
spokespeople and rapid media
response to anti-e-cig campaigns;
to note, Lorillard bought up Blu,
Reynolds American owns Vuse,
and Altria Group, the wonderful
folks who bring you Marlboro, 
sell Mark Ten. NJOY uses rockers
like Courtney Love to promote 
their product, because who better
as a role model for youth than
someone like her? Not one of 
these products has been submitted
for FDA Smoking Cessation
approval, yet Pro-Vape advocates
claim tremendous cessation success
rates.  These claims are malarkey.
E-Juice flavorings are directed at
the youth market to hook the 
next generation. Big Tobacco
knows the western world is 
getting hip to their tricks and 
the only folks they can dupe 
around here now are kids.

This sort of stuff is the exact
same tactic used in cigarette
marketing in the 30's and 40's
to tell people how "healthy and 
safe" the use of their product is,
is and how much "cooler" and 
"desirable" a person will be 
if they use it.
Note the Blu bikini ad...

RTS has its share of detractors
in the Vape community, mostly 
from merchants who stand to 
lose money from legal restrictions 
on Vaping. RTS is not against 
ENDS products if they submit 
to federal regulations and agree 
to meet material standards. But 
refusing to cooperate whatsoever 
seems to be the basis of their
marketing campaign. Its past 
equivalency appears to be the 
cigar smoking experience.

The jury is still out about the 
health issues enshrouding vaping.
While safer than cigarettes, it is 
not known how much safer. RTS 
believes that COPD will become  
an issue for long-term vapers 
who see nothing disconcerting 
about releasing  a "ploom" of 
opaque vapor the size of a car 
with every exhalation. Lungs 
can't take this shit; and non-
smokers and non-vapers do not 
want to contend with that much 
of whatever it is in their otherwise 
breathable air. That's a plain fact.
Vape World. Own your scam.
 

Monday, March 30, 2015

scmp.com: Hong Kong anti-smoking watchdog urges ban on e-cigarettes

Samuel Chan reports for 
scmp.com that not long after 
the Council on Smoking and 
Health released its findings,
the Secretary for Food and 
Health, Dr. Ko Wing-man
recommended that perhaps
e-cigarettes as he called them, 
personal vaporizers, should
be banned- less than 2% of
the population in Hong Kong
has tried e-cigarettes. It may 
be part of China's new approach
to all forms of smoking products.
China is weighing the issues of
health care required due to nicotine
related illnesses. Photo by Reuters.
scmp.com: Hong Kong anti-smoking watchdog urges ban on e-cigarettes

Telegraph.co.uk: 20 students get violently ill after passing around prescription nicotine spray...

20 students at Wolstanton 
High School in Newcastle-
under-Lyme became violently 
ill after using a student's 
nicotine inhaler that had been
prescribed to her for her 
addiction to cigarettes.  The 
students, from Years 7 and 8,
were all underage  (16) 
according to the school's 
smoking regulations.  The 
school's Time To Quit program
had prescribed the inhaler.
All students have recovered; 
and the girl has been disciplined.
Telegraph.co.uk: 20 students violently ill after passing around perscription nicotine spray

I am an illustrator of the anti-smoking world...

After illustrating 
Romancing The Smoke,
I continue to tell the 
anti-smoking story in 
pictures in addition to 
words...

Saturday, March 28, 2015

The folks in Hollywood who are still lighting up the movies with tobacco...

This article by Elizabeth 
Hernandez focuses on the 
use of tobacco in the movies 
by the actors, directors, 
producers and writers...
Quite a list of the "Smokiest"
names you know well...
ucsf.edu: Hollywood & tobacco new spotlight on smoking movies, actors

InHealth: Keeping COPD under control....

For those who are having 
a difficult time breathing 
because of COPD, these
exercises can help ease the
difficulties of Chronic 
Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease. It is medically 
manageable. If you're 
having trouble breathing, 
see your doctor immediately.
InHealth: Keeping COPD under control- exercises for people with COPD

Friday, March 27, 2015

CDC challenges safety of e-cigarettes with new "Tips from Ex-Smoker" ad

During my research into 
e-cigarettes while writing 
Romancing the Smoke: 
Reflections of a Nicotine 
Addict, in 2010-11, my 
conclusions were three-fold:
e-cigarettes are a product 
designed to keep the habit
firmly in place; the amount
of vapor created by a vaping
device during inhalation
appears to be far too much
for lungs to handle in the
long term. And further, they
they are targeting young
(underage) hipsters who 
think smoking behavior
is even cooler now that it's
high tech. These opinions 
were widely dismissed.
The new ads by the CDC 
include a 35 year old woman 
who suffered a collapsed lung 
while developing COPD when 
she smoked and vaped.
Article by Gillian Mohney.
ABC News: CDC creates anti-smoking ad that cites e-cigarettes as dangerous

Thursday, March 26, 2015

TBT This is where I learned about Smoking...

TBT The Cocktail Lounge 
at the Penn Albert Hotel
where they used to set me
in the middle seat at the 
bar when I was four and 
serve me Roy Rogers while
the grown ups smoked and 
got sloshed. The drunk who
sat next to me powered down
martinis with so many green 
olives, I've never been able 
to eat them. He said they 
were his dinner. I also learned
to work the cigarette machine
so I could get cigarettes for 
my uncle. He was lazy.
- from Romancing The Smoke...

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Still Blowing Smoke dot org...

Tobacco Free California 
is pulling out the stops 
to slow the blatant lies
the tobacco industry
is spreading about the
safety and helpfulness
of ENDS-Electronic
Nicotine Dispensing 
Systems. 
Nicotine is nicotine.
If the industry uses 
movie stars, the anti-vape
movement has no choice 
but to use the TRUTH. 
See the WAKE UP ad
"What could go wrong? 
Kudos to the California
Dept. of Public Health.
Still Blowing Smoke dot org

Collective Evolution: Pharmacist's POV on e-cigs- You're bullshitting yourself...

Any uber-proponent of 
electronic cigarettes 
who rails against vape
regulation is in it for the
money with a direct
financial interest in the 
industry's success. Only 
people who stand to gain 
financially by backing a
product attack when the
opposition is insisting
upon factual scientific
information to back up
safety and health factors.
Pro-ENDSers are sounding
too much like Big Tobacco.
Smoke and mirrors has 
changed to vape & mirrors...
Truthful article by Marc
Angelo Coppola for
Collective Evolution.
P.S. Great new ads on tv
called "WAKE UP..."
Collective Evolution: Pharmacist's POV on e-cigs: You're bullshitting yourself...

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Lawyer suing neighbor for smoking defends corporations accused of toxic emissions...

Nessa Coppinger doesn't 
seem to be a very pleasant
person to be around. She's
an attorney who protects
people who poison the 
environment; yet she's suing
her neighbor over his
smoking in his house. 
Our original post of this story
is Keith L. Alexander's article
in the Washington Post on 
3/12/15 and can be found in
our Archives. Today's story
is by David Halperin.
republicreport.org: lawyer suing neighbor for smoking is defender of corporations accused of toxic smoke

An unscientific comparison of tobacco smoke vs e-cigarette vapor...

Top: A smoker exhaling 
a full puff;
Bottom: A vaper doing 
what's called plooming;
when inhaling that much 
material, tell us again 
just how safe it is to Vape?
And you know it's safe...how?


Monday, March 23, 2015

CNN: Are e-cigs fueling a new addiction?

Once again a major news 
source weighs in on e-cigs
and says the same thing
dozens of articles have
said before it- 
are e-cigs fueling a new 
addiction? RTS asks the 
question- When did 
nicotine become a
"new addiction?" It's the
same poison in a different
dispenser-let's call it what 
it is. The fact that there's
still any question of it 
"fueling an addiction" 
sounds chillingly similar
to the decades of denial
by Big Tobacco.













RTS does not believe that
ENDS -Electronic Nicotine 
Delivery Systems are doing 
that much other than keeping 
the gesture of the habit in place. 
We draw this conclusion from
the review of more than 400 
articles and papers that have
been written since 2011 that 
address the e-cigarette 
phenomenon. RTS
believes that the products 
do not aid quitting in the long 
run; nor will the dangers be fully 
revealed for decades. The 
product is geared towards
youth tech culture and its function 
is to ultimately assist the tobacco 
companies in keeping nicotine
firmly entrenched as on of the 
most serious addictions in the world.
Article by Meera Senthilingam. CNN: Are e-cigarettes fueling a new addiction?


Sunday, March 22, 2015

Express and Star: S. Staffordshire smoking ban for psychiatric patients...?

While RTS is all for
Smoke Free, we don't
see how this is going
to end well...I've 
worked with such
patients, and taking
away one of their only
personal comforts 
is not necessarily
the best idea as part
of their treatment...
Thank you to the 
Express and Star for this article.
Express and Star: Smoking ban for S. Staffordshire psychiatric patients
Who's going to tell this guy he has to quit?

Chronicle Live: Northumberland woman's smoking led to lung cancerinpet...

Heather Goddard, a long 
time smoker, was devastated 
when her dog, Clover was
diagnosed with lung cancer.
Heather, who developed
COPD, quit a year ago; but 
she is brokenhearted and 
hopes that her tragic story
about the dangers of second-
hand smoke will save at least
one beloved person and pet.
Craig Thompson reports.
ChronicleLive: Northumberland woman's smoking led to lung cancer in pet dog

538: Latin America is quitting and Africa is taking up smoking

Five Thirty Eight's
Anna Maria Barry-Jester 
assembled this stunning 
collection of smoking facts 
& charts that shows the past, 
current, & future smoking 
prevalence in each country 
as well as the percentage 
changes, projections &
presence of Big Tobacco.
BTW, Panama is the world
leader in cutting smoking 
prevalence over the past 15 years...
Five Thirty Eight: Latin America is quitting smoking and Africa is taking it up

Saturday, March 21, 2015

VOX: What it will take to end the tobacco epidemic...

The tobacco battle is heavily 
raging...
This link contains crucial 
information for everyone 
who believes in a smokefree
world.  America's smoking 
rate is at an all-time low.
This article tracks the recent 
changes in tobacco habits
and predicts where this is 
all going... imagine a 
tobacco free planet...
article by Megan Thielking...
VOX: What it will take to end the tobacco epidemic...
photo: Jonathan Irish, NatGeo/Corbis

Friday, March 20, 2015

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Guardian: BAT shares take hit from Bloomberg anti-smoking fight fund...

It was announced today
that the stock of British 
American Tobacco (BAT)
took the biggest hit of any 
stock on the London Stock 
Market (losing 3%) after 
Bloomberg Philanthropies 
stepped up to provide a
$4 million (L 2.7 million)
legal defense fund to battle
legal challenges by Big
Tobacco. Bloomberg was
assisted by the Bill and 
Melinda Gates Foundation. 
Article by Julia Kowelle.
Guardian: BAT shares hit by Bloomberg anti-smoking fight fund
Photo: Martin Rickett/ PA

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Amazon Link to the book, Romancing The Smoke: Reflections of a Nicotine Addict

Per recent requests, 
this is the Amazon 
link to John Aaron's 
illustrated memoir,
Romancing The Smoke:
Reflections of a Nicotine Addict.
Amazon: Romancing The Smoke by John Aaron; Paperback or Kindle E-book

Westword: Phantom Smoker-I still think about smoking after ten years smokefree

This article for Westword 
by Bree Davies shows the
hold that cigarettes and 
nicotine have on an ex-smoker...
In Chapter 7 of my book,
Romancing The Smoke,
(Withdrawal- 4th Condition)
I refer to the post-quitting
psychological battle that the 
mind wages with the habit as
Cranial Paralogism...
Westword: Phantom Smoker-I still think about smoking after ten years smokefree

On St. Patrick's Day, it's a good day to quit...

Once you quit, you'll 
be far more delicious 
to kiss...and that's no 
Blarney... Happy
St. Patrick's Day!
Thank you to CDC Tobacco Free
for reminding us of one of the 
best reasons to quit...



Saturday, March 14, 2015

Why You'll Never See Ironman Smoke...

Thank you to Disney for 
deciding that Smoking 
cannot be in any of their
Youth-oriented films...
Good policy...they've 
come a long way since
almost everyone at the 
studio smoked...
MTV: Why You'll Never See Ironman Smoking a Cigarette in a Movie

Medical News Today: Vaping in e cig ads may encourage tobacco smoking

A report just published suggests
that e cig ads, whose expeditures 
have tripled in the last two years, 
may be helping trigger smoking 
behavior in those who don't vape.
RTS believes this to be true. My 
book mentions that a danger of
e cigarettes is that they keep the 
habit of smoking firmly in place.
Article by Honor Whiteman.
Medical News Today: Vaping in e cig commercials may encourage tobacco smoking

Friday, March 13, 2015

Post # 900: Romancing The Smoke brings you the Nicotine News...

Since May 21, 2011,
Romancing The Smoke
has provided links to
important global news 
stories about tobacco.
Following anti-smoking
trends, the e-cigarette 
phenomenon and the
absurdist advertising
history of Big Tobacco,
RTS has brought the
Nicotine News to the 
world with the help of 
countless reporters 
uncovering  the truth
about nicotine addiction.
We have done our best 
to acknowledge everyone's
contributions to this blog, 
which has helped us to
create one of the most
comprehensive online 
locations for Nic News. 
Thank you for reading 
our blog. We hope you'll
share it with others.
We're not even going to 
use this post to shamelessly 
hype the book...;-)

My first sculpture: KOOL

In high school, I 
became fascinated 
with ceramics, which 
would become a more 
or less lifelong obsession.
Hooked on cigs at the 
tender age of 16, this was
my first nod to Pop Art,
after I saw a show of 
Warhol's Brillo Boxes...
there's something kind of  
Friday the 13th about this...

Thursday, March 12, 2015

A couple smoking in the privacy of their own home...


Washington Post: DC Neighbors Land in Court over Secondhand Smoke

Edwin Gray has lived in
the same house for 50 years. 
His new neighbors, Brendan
and Nessa Coppinger, both
lawyers, are suing him for
a half million dollars...
over the fact they say he
annoys them with his second
hand smoke. As much as RTS
is a staunch anti-smoking
advocacy that stands up for
non-smokers' rights, forcing
and threatening someone
with a lawsuit to quit a habit 
that is actually still legal in 
this country in one's own
house seems to be the gesture
of a couple of self-important
attorneys who are going to 
show people that when they
demand, one must bow down
and listen. RTS hopes the attys 
get what they deserve; and that 
Mr. Gray can find some place 
to smoke without his idiotic
neighbors dragging him into 
court over a right that was in 
place long before either of 
them were born...
Article by Keith L. Alexander.
Wash Post: DC Neighbors Land in Court Over Secondhand Smoke Issue

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Express.co.uk: No Smoking Day- What Happens to a Smoker Who Quits

Sarah Barns reports on 
the UK's NO Smoking 
Day, and what happens 
to a smoker who quits.
This is a link to a handy 
list of what one's body
and mind go through in 
the process of quitting.
express.co.uk: No Smoking Day-what happens to a smoker when they give up cigarettes?

No Smoking Day UK- John Oliver's Tobacco Part II

In honor of our new 
favorite television 
personality, British
comedian John Oliver,
for 11 March on the 
United Kingdom's
No Smoking Day,  
here's John's update
on Ireland's Plain
Packaging of Tobacco
and Oliver's new anti-
smoking mascot, 
Jeff the Diseased Lung
and his Line Dancers...
#jeffwecan
John Oliver: Tobacco Part II

Sunday, March 8, 2015

International Day of the Woman...Equality in Smoking???

Today we celebrate
the International 
Day of The Woman. 
A Day to Honor the 
efforts & contributions 
of one half of humanity, 
without which, none of 
us would be here.

But remember when 
Virginia Slims' motto 
was "You've come a 
long ways, baby"?
Besides being an 
incredibly sexist and 
condescending ad 
campaign, it encouraged
women to take up
smoking their brand
as a way to gain some
sort of warped sense
of equality to men. 
What women actually 
gained from this was
a higher incidence
of lung cancer than men...
Google Virginia Slims ads...
so...
just how far have we come...?


News.Health.com: Great source for articles on smoking and nicotine addiction...

TIME, Inc. Network 
on HEALTH is a great 
source for articles on 
Smoking...
News.health.com: Articles on smoking and nicotine addiction

Thursday, March 5, 2015

At the Signpost Up Ahead...

Three packs a day 
will send you there...
Next stop, the
Twilight Zone...
Rod Serling, Creator of the Twilight Zone and Night Gallery; Photo by LIFE



Huff Post: Six Ways Smoking Affects Your Sleep...

Huffington Post's Alena 
Hall reports on 6 ways 
smoking affects your 
sleep. From insomnia 
to throwing off the 
body's natural circadian 
rhythms, once a person 
has smoked, their sleep
 will never be the same, 
even when they quit.
(Wish I'd known that.)
Also, at the bottom of the 
page is a piece on Ten
beneficial side effects of 
quitting...
Huff Post: 6 Ways Smoking Affects Sleep

Even a monster enjoys a spot of tea...

Even monsters enjoy 
a cup of tea when not 
scaring the villagers.
What's scary is what's
in his other hand. Way 
scarier than a torch...
Boris Karloff died of 
complications from
emphysema in 1969.
Like most all of the 
film stars, he was a 
heavy smoker.