Every year we see a big spike in our seminar bookings immediately before Thanksgiving. I guess people want to go back to their families as happy non-smokers, rather than having to suffer through Thanksgiving weekend as a smoker, constantly on the look-out for any excuse to be away from their family so they can sneak out for a quick cigarette.
We are running two seminars in the US before Thanksgiving: one in NYC on November 15th (more information here) and one in LA on November 21st (information here).
If either of these dates or locations is not convenient, then you could think about quitting online with our webcast seminar. The online seminar is available 24/7/365 and you can watch it whenever you want, wherever you want. For more information click here.
Showing posts with label smoking cessation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smoking cessation. Show all posts
Friday, October 23, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Thought for the day...
What happens to all those cigarette butts that just get tossed onto the sidewalk?
When I was a smoker I didn't give them a second thought, but cigarette butts are easily the world's biggest source of litter with 4,500,000,000,000 (that's 4.5 TRILLION) being discarded annually.
Keep America Beautfiul (www.kab.org) estimates that cigarette butts constitute 34% of all litter (food wrappers came in second place, with around 10%). On a monthly clean-up of a small section of Boynton Beach in Florida, over 5,000 butts are collected daily.
Cigarette butts contain arsenic, acetone, lead, formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia and cadmium. These chemicals seep out on contact with water, making them deadly to marine life. The filters are made of cellulose acetate, which takes decades to biodegrade.
So before you toss your butt away, think about holding onto it and throwing it in a trash can...
Or, even better, quit smoking with the world's most effective stop smoking method - Allen Carr's Easyway. For more information about this simple, drug-free approach to quitting, visit us at www.TheEasywayToStopSmoking.com
When I was a smoker I didn't give them a second thought, but cigarette butts are easily the world's biggest source of litter with 4,500,000,000,000 (that's 4.5 TRILLION) being discarded annually.
Keep America Beautfiul (www.kab.org) estimates that cigarette butts constitute 34% of all litter (food wrappers came in second place, with around 10%). On a monthly clean-up of a small section of Boynton Beach in Florida, over 5,000 butts are collected daily.
Cigarette butts contain arsenic, acetone, lead, formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia and cadmium. These chemicals seep out on contact with water, making them deadly to marine life. The filters are made of cellulose acetate, which takes decades to biodegrade.
So before you toss your butt away, think about holding onto it and throwing it in a trash can...
Or, even better, quit smoking with the world's most effective stop smoking method - Allen Carr's Easyway. For more information about this simple, drug-free approach to quitting, visit us at www.TheEasywayToStopSmoking.com
Monday, August 24, 2009
Allen Carr seminars now available in Denver, Houston and Dallas
Allen Carr North America is delighted to announce the launch of our seminar program in Denver, Houston and Dallas.
The seminars are conducted by Denver-native Collene Curran, who quit smoking using Allen Carr's Easyway method in 2005.
To find out dates and locations please visit us at www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com.
The seminars are conducted by Denver-native Collene Curran, who quit smoking using Allen Carr's Easyway method in 2005.
To find out dates and locations please visit us at www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
If you are addicted to nicotine gum...
I'm ordinarily a really big fan of John Tierney's Science blog in the NY Times, but I have to take exception with today's entry entitled Should Obama Take Nicotine Pledge? (http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/should-obama-quit-nicorettes/?scp=3&sq=smoking&st=cse)
Here are my concerns.
Firstly, Sen. Obama is described as using nicotine gum 'successfully', but then we are told that he is still ocasionally smoking. I struggle to characterize this as success because (i) he is still addicted to nicotine and (ii) he is still smoking. What is successful about this?
Secondly, Mr. Teirney speculates 'What if the nicotine gum strategy is so successful that Mr. Obama is capable of weaning himself from nicotine altogether? If he reaches the White House, should he give up the chemical that he relied on during his career and his campaign?'
The most obvious problem with this is that Mr. Teirney implicitly assumes that at least part of Sen. Obama's success came because he is addicted to nicotine. But where is the evidence to support this claim? Perhaps Sen. Obama's success is nothing to do with nicotine. Perhaps he is successful because he's smart, hard-working and dedicated. In fact, with the stigma associated with smoking so profound these days, we might even argue that he is successful despite being addicted to nicotine, not because of it.
In support of this theory that weaning himself off nicotine might be a bad thing for Sen. Obama and for America, Mr. Teirney (also a nicotine gum chewer) quotes his colleague Jane Brody, 'Among the...effects of nicotine are arousal, relaxation, improved mood, reduced anxiety and stress, better concentration and faster reaction time.'
It reads like an ad for nicotine gum. Who wouldn't want these things?
But let's think about this for a moment: how can a drug that creates arousal also relax you? Aren't they more or less opposites? And how does a drug that relaxes also improve reaction time? Doesn't this seem contradictory to you? And if nicotine reduces anxiety and stress, then why aren't smokers less anxious and less stressed than non-smokers? In fact, recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates the opposite - that smokers are substantially more prone to depression, anxiety, high blood pressure and panic disorders than non-smokers. And if smoking aids concentration, then why aren't smokers smarter than non-smokers?
It gets worse. Ms. Brody goes on to explain "When deprived, smokers report withdrawal symptoms that include irritability, depression, restlessness, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, increased hunger, insomnia, a craving for tobacco, difficulty getting along with others and a feeling that life lacks pleasure."
Like most addicts, including myself when I was a smoker, Mr. Teirney appears to accept that the removal of these 'withdrawal symptoms' is a good reason to continue to consume nicotine. But we don't see the obvious: that non-smokers do not feel irritable, depressed, restless, anxious, distracted, hungry, sleepless, anti-social or dysphoric because they can't smoke. In fact, it is smokers, not non-smokers who suffer from these symptoms. So instead of giving nicotine the credit for alleviating these symptoms, perhaps we should be blaming the previous dose for creating them.
Mr. Teirney poses the question: 'Do do we really want someone in the White House going through nicotine withdrawal?' The answer, I think, is no. Mr. Teirney concludes that Sen. Obama should therefore continue to chew the gum if voted into office. However this would merely guarantee that he would continue to experience withdrawal indefinitely. People who do not smoke or chew nicotine gum do not go through nicotine withdrawal. Those who do, do. On that basis, Sen. Obama should stop chewing the gum.
Mr. Teirney's piece is a classic case of really smart people falling for illusions due to the subtlety of the drug nicotine: Smokers spend most of their time in very mild withdrawal and over time they begin to perceive this as their 'normal' state; smoking temporarily removes this feeling. In this way smokers begin to get tricked into seeing the removal of withdrawal symptoms as genuine pleasure or relief.
If a smoker sleeps for six hours at night, when they wake up they're 97% nicotine-free! Even very heavy smokers do this as a matter of routine. You are 100% nicotine-free and technically no longer an addict after just 3 days.
These 'withdrawal symptoms' - depression, anxiety, over-eating etc. are actually nothing to do with nicotine withdrawal. For a start many of them come weeks or even months after all the nicotine has left your body. They can't be anything to do with nicotine.
They are the symptoms of mental conflict experienced by people who are trying to stop using nicotine but still believe that it provided some benefit, pleasure or crutch. They want to quit, but they still want nicotine and this conflict can create all manner of symptoms. Allen Carr's Easyway removes this conflict: remove the conflict, remove the symptoms.
Here are my concerns.
Firstly, Sen. Obama is described as using nicotine gum 'successfully', but then we are told that he is still ocasionally smoking. I struggle to characterize this as success because (i) he is still addicted to nicotine and (ii) he is still smoking. What is successful about this?
Secondly, Mr. Teirney speculates 'What if the nicotine gum strategy is so successful that Mr. Obama is capable of weaning himself from nicotine altogether? If he reaches the White House, should he give up the chemical that he relied on during his career and his campaign?'
The most obvious problem with this is that Mr. Teirney implicitly assumes that at least part of Sen. Obama's success came because he is addicted to nicotine. But where is the evidence to support this claim? Perhaps Sen. Obama's success is nothing to do with nicotine. Perhaps he is successful because he's smart, hard-working and dedicated. In fact, with the stigma associated with smoking so profound these days, we might even argue that he is successful despite being addicted to nicotine, not because of it.
In support of this theory that weaning himself off nicotine might be a bad thing for Sen. Obama and for America, Mr. Teirney (also a nicotine gum chewer) quotes his colleague Jane Brody, 'Among the...effects of nicotine are arousal, relaxation, improved mood, reduced anxiety and stress, better concentration and faster reaction time.'
It reads like an ad for nicotine gum. Who wouldn't want these things?
But let's think about this for a moment: how can a drug that creates arousal also relax you? Aren't they more or less opposites? And how does a drug that relaxes also improve reaction time? Doesn't this seem contradictory to you? And if nicotine reduces anxiety and stress, then why aren't smokers less anxious and less stressed than non-smokers? In fact, recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates the opposite - that smokers are substantially more prone to depression, anxiety, high blood pressure and panic disorders than non-smokers. And if smoking aids concentration, then why aren't smokers smarter than non-smokers?
It gets worse. Ms. Brody goes on to explain "When deprived, smokers report withdrawal symptoms that include irritability, depression, restlessness, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, increased hunger, insomnia, a craving for tobacco, difficulty getting along with others and a feeling that life lacks pleasure."
Like most addicts, including myself when I was a smoker, Mr. Teirney appears to accept that the removal of these 'withdrawal symptoms' is a good reason to continue to consume nicotine. But we don't see the obvious: that non-smokers do not feel irritable, depressed, restless, anxious, distracted, hungry, sleepless, anti-social or dysphoric because they can't smoke. In fact, it is smokers, not non-smokers who suffer from these symptoms. So instead of giving nicotine the credit for alleviating these symptoms, perhaps we should be blaming the previous dose for creating them.
Mr. Teirney poses the question: 'Do do we really want someone in the White House going through nicotine withdrawal?' The answer, I think, is no. Mr. Teirney concludes that Sen. Obama should therefore continue to chew the gum if voted into office. However this would merely guarantee that he would continue to experience withdrawal indefinitely. People who do not smoke or chew nicotine gum do not go through nicotine withdrawal. Those who do, do. On that basis, Sen. Obama should stop chewing the gum.
Mr. Teirney's piece is a classic case of really smart people falling for illusions due to the subtlety of the drug nicotine: Smokers spend most of their time in very mild withdrawal and over time they begin to perceive this as their 'normal' state; smoking temporarily removes this feeling. In this way smokers begin to get tricked into seeing the removal of withdrawal symptoms as genuine pleasure or relief.
If a smoker sleeps for six hours at night, when they wake up they're 97% nicotine-free! Even very heavy smokers do this as a matter of routine. You are 100% nicotine-free and technically no longer an addict after just 3 days.
These 'withdrawal symptoms' - depression, anxiety, over-eating etc. are actually nothing to do with nicotine withdrawal. For a start many of them come weeks or even months after all the nicotine has left your body. They can't be anything to do with nicotine.
They are the symptoms of mental conflict experienced by people who are trying to stop using nicotine but still believe that it provided some benefit, pleasure or crutch. They want to quit, but they still want nicotine and this conflict can create all manner of symptoms. Allen Carr's Easyway removes this conflict: remove the conflict, remove the symptoms.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Quit smoking drug companies slug it out...
Drug comany Glaxo has been quick to try to take advantage of their comeptitor Pfizer's problems.
With the recent announcement by the Federal Aviation Authority banning the use of Pfizer's Chantix among commercial pilots and air traffic controllers due to concern over its' safety, Glaxo marketers have generously offered pilots and air traffic controllers 48 free nicotine lozenges.
However they are not publicising two things: firstly that a full programme of lozenges comprises over 900 lozenges and that the program will cost the pilots an additional $500 to complete, and secondly, that according to research published by industry consultants, the success rate of the lozenge is around 7%.
So, if you're a pilot wanting to quit, you can spend $500 on a product with a 7% success rate or you can visit us www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com
With the recent announcement by the Federal Aviation Authority banning the use of Pfizer's Chantix among commercial pilots and air traffic controllers due to concern over its' safety, Glaxo marketers have generously offered pilots and air traffic controllers 48 free nicotine lozenges.
However they are not publicising two things: firstly that a full programme of lozenges comprises over 900 lozenges and that the program will cost the pilots an additional $500 to complete, and secondly, that according to research published by industry consultants, the success rate of the lozenge is around 7%.
So, if you're a pilot wanting to quit, you can spend $500 on a product with a 7% success rate or you can visit us www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com
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