Tobacco's Faceless Victims
This year tobacco toxins and carcinogens will claim roughly 6 million of us. God forbid that it should be you or me. But what if we should be diagnosed with a terminal condition? Would it cross our mind during dark days of deep despair that the lives of thousands of struggling smokers might benefit greatly, or even be saved, by being touched by our parting hand, thoughts, insights, concerns and, yes, even our death? What if killed by a smoking-induced stroke or heart attack? Would our families bear witness as to why we had died?
You'll find no tobacco use celebrations here at WhyQuit, nor anyone made to feel guilty for having become hooked as a child, teen or adult. What you hopefully do feel is deep admiration for the victims and families who braved sharing their nightmare, many while looking death squarely in the face.
The Glykos family let us feel their love and pain during Noni's final embrace of life, which included six months of motherhood.
The Curtis family shared Bryan's message and the frightening aggressiveness of small cell lung cancer.
The ebb and flow of Kim Genovy's two-year journey picked us up and drop us hard. Scores of glimpses of the love between best-friend sisters, how could we not feel the massive hole in Kelly's heart?
Imagine the courage it took for Deborah Scott to chronicle and share her daily cancer battle, as quitters around the world followed her updates and prayed she'd succeed.
Imagine the thoughts going through Kim's mind as she posed for this photo after her lung removal scar, knowing it would be shared and hoping it would help motivate others to avoid a similar fate. The same for Gruen Von Behren, Brandon Carmichael and Sean Marsee.
Selfless and caring, these givers and their families may not fit the mold of the traditional hero but among the millions who annually have an opportunity to reach out, their caring and humanity stand tall.
Is it fair to expect the world's youth to get an accurate picture of nicotine addiction's impact upon life when this year nearly three million middle-aged tobacco users will die very privately and very quietly? "Death with dignity?" Where's the dignity in allowing one of the most purposeful messages in our life go undelivered, in not identifying our killer in hopes that others might avoid a similar fate?
The World Health Organization tells us that unless something changes, that 1 billion tobacco users will be claimed by century's end. But to the world's youth, This year tobacco toxins and carcinogens will claim roughly 6 million of us. God forbid that it should be you or me. But what if we should be diagnosed with a terminal condition? Would it cross our mind during dark days of deep despair that the lives of thousands of struggling smokers might benefit greatly, or even be saved, by being touched by our parting hand, thoughts, insights, concerns and, yes, even our death? What if killed by a smoking induced stroke or heart attack? Would our families bear witness as to why we had died?
You'll find no tobacco use celebrations here at WhyQuit, nor anyone made to feel guilty for having become hooked as a child, teen or adult. What you hopefully do feel is deep admiration for the victims and families who braved sharing their nightmare, many while looking death squarely in the face.
Noni's weddingThe Glykos family let us feel their love and pain during Noni's final embrace of life, that included six months of motherhood.
The Curtis family shared Bryan's message and the frightening agressiveness of small cell lung cancer.
The ebb and flow of Kim Genovy's two year journey picked us up and drop us hard. Scores of glimpses of the love between best-friend sisters, how could we not feel the massive hole in Kelly's heart?
Imagine the courage it took for Deborah Scott to chronicle and share her daily cancer battle, as quitters around the world followed her updates and prayed she'd succeed.
Kim's scarImagine the thoughts going through Kim's mind as she posed for this photo after her lung removal scar, knowing it would be shared and hoping it would help motivate others to avoid a similar fate. The same for Gruen Von Behren, Brandon Carmichael and Sean Marsee.
Selfless and caring, these givers and their families may not fit the mold of the traditional hero but among the millions who annually have an opportunity to reach out, their caring and humanity stands tall.
Is it fair to expect the world's youth to obtain an accurate picture of nicotine addiction's impact upon life when this year nearly three million middle-aged tobacco users will die very privately and very quietly? "Death with dignity?" Where's the dignity in allowing one of the most purposeful messages in our life go undelivered, in not identifying our killer in hopes that others might avoid a similar fate?
Deb and her daughterThe World Health Organization tells us that unless something changes, that 1 billion tobacco users will be claimed by century's end. But to the world's youth such statistics are just faceless numbers.
The evening news bombards students with almost daily automobile accident stories showing seriously injured or deceased victims being carried away in ambulances. So why show them auto accident victims while ignoring those killed by nicotine addiction?
Instead, students will walk into their neighborhood convenience store where their brains will be bombarded with the message that they have not lived, tasted real flavor, known true pleasure, made enough friends, rebelled, acted adult or been cool and true until they've smoked or used oral tobacco.
Kim and KellyWhether here or elsewhere, tobacco's true story must be told. It isn't easy reminding terminally ill smokers or those living with serious damage that there's still time to fight back. It's only an opportunity but like organ donation, unless the moment is seized it's opportunity lost.
It's ironic but once we learn we have cancer that most of us fight with every ounce of our being to beat it and stay alive. Clearly, we didn't appreciate how truly destructive each puff was. It's time that those truths were shared and known.such statistics are just faceless numbers.
The evening news bombards students with almost daily automobile accident stories showing seriously injured or deceased victims being carried away in ambulances. So why show them auto accident victims while ignoring those killed by nicotine addiction?
Instead, students will walk into their neighborhood convenience store where their brains will be bombarded with the message that they have not lived, tasted real flavor, known true pleasure, made enough friends, rebelled, acted adult or been cool and true until they've smoked or used oral tobacco.
Whether here or elsewhere, tobacco's true story must be told. It isn't easy reminding terminally ill smokers or those living with serious damage that there's still time to fight back. It's only an opportunity but like organ donation, unless the moment is seized it's opportunity lost.
It's ironic but once we learn we have cancer that most of us fight with every ounce of our being to beat it and stay alive. Clearly, we didn't appreciate how truly destructive each puff was. It's time that those truths were shared and known.
Breathe deep, hug hard, live long,
John R. Polito
Nicotine Cessation Educator
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- WhyQuit.com Founded in July 1999, WhyQuit is the Internet's oldest forum devoted to the art, science and psychology of cold turkey quitting, the nicotine dependency recovery method that each year produces more successful ex-users than all other methods combined.
- Why? Why quit? Here we collect and share WhyQuit's motivational articles. It's our hope that these materials will contribute toward fueling your dreams and resolve long enough to allow you to arrive here on Easy Street with us.
- Joel's Library Joel Spitzer devoted nearly 50 years toward teaching why smokers should quit, how to quit, and how to stay free. Joel's Library is home to Joel's "Daily Quitting Lesson Guide," Joel's 100 Reinforcement Articles, to his free ebook Never Take Another Puff, and his collection of nearly 500 video stop smoking lessons.
- Freedom from Nicotine - The Journey Home Written by John R. Polito, a former 30-year heavy smoker, WhyQuit's founder and Turkeyville's director. While there are hundreds of quitting books, only one was cited by the Surgeon General's 2020 Quit Smoking Report, Freedom from Nicotine - The Journey Home.
- Smart Turkey Smart Turkey is home to recovery articles written by students of Joel Spitzer, which includes "Memorable Freedom Threads"
- Turkeyville If quitting cold turkey and looking for a deadly serious and highly focused support group, visit Turkeyville. Home to more than 13,000 like-minded quitters, we have two requests before posting. First, carefully read Turkeyville's Rules as membership and posting are conditioned upon them. Last, do not post if still using nicotine as posting is reserved for those who have stopped.
- Nicotine Cessation Topic Index An alphabetical subject matter index to hundreds of nicotine cessation support group discussions, article and videos.
- 50 Quitting Tips Key cold turkey nicotine cessation insights into how to stop smoking, vaping, chewing or sucking nicotine into your body and bloodstream.
