Never Take Another Puff By Joel Spitzer

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Joel Spitzer has been a leading authority in the development and implementation of 

smoking cessation and prevention programs for over 30 years. Far from just following 

and teaching the commonly held beliefs of the day, he has been a visionary who 

recognized early on that nicotine was an addiction while the rest of the medical and 

scientific community contended it was simply a habit. His unique insight allowed him to 

develop and implement nicotine prevention and intervention strategies that were decades 

ahead of their time. Participants in his clinics have success in quitting at rates that far 

exceed the national average for such programs. 

 Currently, he serves as a smoking prevention and cessation consultant to the 

Evanston and Skokie, Illinois Health Departments. He is conducting full 6-day clinics 

throughout the year as well as conducting monthly seminars. He also is currently comanaging an Internet based smoking cessation support group with over 3,000 

members and serves as a technical advisor for another smoking prevention and 

cessation site http://www.whyquit.com/ that has over four million hits per year. His 

materials are being widely utilized on many Internet based quit sites. 

 Mr. Spitzer has been providing smoking cessation and prevention services since 

1972, first as a volunteer speaker and then a member of the professional staff of the 

American Cancer Society, and later as the smoking programs coordinator for the 

Rush North Shore Medical Center's Good Health Program. 

 He has conducted over 325 six-session stop smoking clinics to over 4,500 

participants, including programs for major corporations, medium and small sized

Table of Contents 

Chapter 1 Why do people continue to smoke? ............................................................... 9 

Junkie, burn-out, addict, drug abuser, drunk, alcoholic, smoke-a-holic......................... 9 

I Smoke Because I Like Smoking!............................................................................... 10 

I Smoke Because I'm Self-Destructive!........................................................................ 11 

You Smoke Because You're A Smoke-a-holic!............................................................ 11 

Why Do I Smoke?......................................................................................................... 13 

How would you deal with the following situations? .................................................... 14 

I Have to Smoke Because of All My Stress!................................................................ 15 

I've Smoked for So Long and So Much, What is the Use in Quitting Now? ............... 16 

What A Relief, I Think I Have Cancer!........................................................................ 18 

The Power of Advertising............................................................................................. 19 

A Safer Way to Smoke ................................................................................................. 20 

Are You Smoking More and Enjoying it Less.............................................................. 21 

"Quitting Smoking": A Fate Worse than Death?.......................................................... 22 

Quitting by Gradual Withdrawal .................................................................................. 23 

I Can't Quit or I Won't Quit .......................................................................................... 24 

"Why Did I Start Smoking? Why Did I Quit?" ........................................................... 26 

Chapter 2 The Real Cost of Smoking............................................................................. 28 

My Cigarette, My Friend .............................................................................................. 28 

Smoking and Circulation .............................................................................................. 29 

Because Now it Really Hurts!....................................................................................... 39 

Smoking's Impact on the Lungs.................................................................................... 40 

The Isolation of a Widowed Smoker............................................................................ 51 

Medical Implications of Smoking................................................................................. 52 

Reasons People Want to Quit Smoking........................................................................ 54 

Individual Approaches Used to Motivate Smokers to Quit.......................................... 55 

"If Cigarettes Were as Deadly as You Claim They Are, The Government Would Not 

Sell Them!”................................................................................................................... 56 

So I Can't Run Marathons............................................................................................. 57 

He Will Quit When He "Bottoms Out!" ....................................................................... 58 

“It's only cigarette smoking - it's not like a crime punishable by death”...................... 59 

Smokers Need Not Apply!............................................................................................ 60 

The Social Toll of Smoking.......................................................................................... 60 

Proud To Be A Smoker?............................................................................................... 61 

The Closet Smoker........................................................................................................ 62 

Devine Revelations....................................................................................................... 63 

The Fan Letter............................................................................................................... 64

Chapter 3 How to quit smoking...................................................................................... 67 

Quit Smoking Tip Sheet................................................................................................ 67 

Quit Cold Turkey!......................................................................................................... 68 

Take it ONE DAY AT A TIME................................................................................... 69 

Quitting for Others........................................................................................................ 70 

Every Quit is Different.................................................................................................. 70 

6Never Take Another Puff 

I'm Not Going to Smoke Today!................................................................................... 71 

"Minimizing the Most Common Side Effects to Quitting Smoking”........................... 72 

How Can I Get My Family and Friends to Quit Smoking?.......................................... 74 

Replacing Crutches....................................................................................................... 75 

Pharmacological Crutches............................................................................................ 76 

Pharmacological Aids: Prolonging Withdrawal Syndromes....................................... 77 

The Easy Way Out!....................................................................................................... 78 

I Will Quit When... ....................................................................................................... 79 

Understanding the Emotional Loss Experienced When Quitting Smoking.................. 80 

Can we motivate a smoker to quit if he thinks he doesn't want to quit?....................... 82 

“You know smoking two or three cigarettes is better than having smoked two or three 

packs!” .......................................................................................................................... 84 

“You said it would get better. It's just as bad as the day I quit smoking!”................... 85 

“I have smoked for so long and so much, what is the use in quitting now?” ............... 86 

“I’m just too weak to quit smoking!” ........................................................................... 88 

We Understand Why You Relapsed............................................................................. 89 

My Support Group is Responsible!............................................................................... 90 

“I Liked My Other Smoking Clinic More!” ................................................................. 91 

How Does Your Program Compare To... ..................................................................... 92 

Support Group Diversions............................................................................................ 94 

"What should I call myself?" ........................................................................................ 95 

“I'm going to have to carry cigarettes with me at all times for me to quit smoking.”.. 96 

Sleep Adjustments........................................................................................................ 97 

The Smoking Dream..................................................................................................... 99 

Chapter 4 Relapse Prevention....................................................................................... 101 

The Smoker’s Vow..................................................................................................... 101 

The Law of Addiction................................................................................................. 102 

"Just One Little Puff?"................................................................................................ 103 

"Was I Addicted?" ...................................................................................................... 104 

Devine Revelations..................................................................................................... 104 

"Maybe I am Different?"............................................................................................. 105 

"Everyone is Different?"............................................................................................. 106 

Fixating on a Cigarette................................................................................................ 107 

"Never Take Another Puff!" ....................................................................................... 108 

I Can't Quit or I Won't Quit ........................................................................................ 109 

The Lucky One’s Get Hooked!................................................................................... 111 

Negative Support from Others.................................................................................... 112 

I Feel 100% Better Since I Quit.................................................................................. 113 

“I'm Not Going to Smoke Today!”............................................................................. 114 

New Reactions to Anger as an Ex-smoker................................................................. 116 

“Why are you so hard on the concept of cheating?”................................................... 117 

“Things were just so bad at work that I took a cigarette!”.......................................... 118 

"If they ever cure lung cancer, I would go back to smoking.".................................... 119 

“I went back to smoking when I was in the hospital with pneumonia.”..................... 120 

Come Share Your Strength, Come Recognize Your Vulnerabilities.......................... 121 

7Joel Spitzer 

“You said it would get better. It's just as bad as the day I quit smoking!”................. 123 

"The only time I think of cigarettes is when I receive one of your stupid letters!".... 124 

"Help Me, I've Relapsed!" A plea for help or a cry for attention?............................. 125 

Chapter 5 Weight Gain ............................................................................................... 127 

Minimizing the Weight Gained from Quitting Smoking............................................ 127 

“I’ve tried everything to lose weight but nothing works!” ......................................... 128 

“I would rather be a little overweight and not smoking than underweight and dead.”130 

After I Lose Weight I Will Quit Smoking.................................................................. 131 

Chapter 6 Prevention................................................................................................... 133 

Frightening Trends in Teenage Smoking.................................................................... 133 

What Can We Do to Stop the Rise of Teen Smoking?............................................... 134 

“Thank goodness it's only cigarette smoking!” .......................................................... 135 

Why I don't speak at more sites on how to help people quit smoking........................ 136 

Kids Just Don't Get It!................................................................................................ 138 

Chapter 7 Smoking, a historical perspective................................................................. 141 

When Smoking Was a "Choice Addiction"................................................................ 141 

"How did we survive back then?"............................................................................... 142 

The Right to Smoke in Public..................................................................................... 144 

“I am a smoker!”......................................................................................................... 145 

Index ............................................................................................................................... 147 

http://whyquit.com/joel/ntap.pdf