River of Tears

February is Heart Month

One family’s heartbreaking story about smoking

I started my Valentine's Day with a moment of silence. A quiet reflection about the 1,300 families who will be crying tears of sorrow today as they lose a loved one to death by smoking. This happens every day in America, the need to plan 1300 more funerals. A heartbreaking reality on Valentine's Day.

Twice, I've cried tears of fear followed by tears of gratitude when the Grim Reaper could have taken my son, but passed him by. 

Behind the sunglasses is my son when he was 14. He's in his Jr. Dragster participating in a youth racing program. He's practicing harm reduction by wearing sunglasses, helmet, neck brace, fire suit, and arm restraints. He's tucked safely in a roll cage, with a quick release steering wheel, and a strong chromoly chassis.

When he was 18, he made the deadly choice to start smoking. He now has heart disease and will be on medications for the rest of his life. 

He had his first heart attack when he was 29. He's had 2 heart attacks in his young life and has 3 stents in his heart. I watched in horror as he coded right in front of me in the ER. The doctor said if he continued to smoke, he would die. When he couldn't quit smoking, he tried vapor products and quit smoking in a few days!  

Vaping is not smoking. It's a form of harm reduction. 

It is safer than smoking. If my son had vaped instead of smoked, his little girl, Jessica, wouldn't have experienced the trauma she's gone through. 

Jessica is grateful to still have a Daddy. It was terrifying for a 5 year old to watch her Dad have a heart attack. Her tear stained face as she waved to the helicopter flying over us with her Daddy in it was a heartbreaking sight I will never forget. 

"Good-bye Daddy, I love you" she sobbed. "Please don't die. Please come home". 

A five year old should have days full of giggles. A life stuffed with more hugs than she can count. She should be surrounded with books that sets her imagination free. This little sweetheart shouldn't have any worries bigger than needing to decide what color popsicle to have on a warm summer's day. Her greatest concern should have been if she was going to dress up as a princess or an astronaut today.

But this little girl had to learn that parents can die. She had to learn what a bottle of nitro pills are and where they're kept. She had to learn how to stuff one in her Daddy's mouth if she was home alone with him and he was in trouble. A little girl had to learn how to save a grownup's life!

In most families, a parent will get up during the night to check on a sleeping child. After her Daddy's heart attack, this little girl would get up in the middle of the night and check on her Dad. She was caught blowing him kisses in the dark, with a tear running down her cheek. 

Sometimes, life just isn't fair. Jessica will live with the fear of finding her Dad on the floor having another heart attack. My heart pounds every time my phone rings, afraid my son is having more heart problems.

We have a war going on in this country over vaping products. There are some that would like to ban the flavors that help people like this little girl's Dad stop smoking. Some would like to tax them until low income people (the largest group of folks who smoke) can't afford them. After facing losing my son not once, but twice, I struggle to comprehend why anyone with a heart would try to eliminate this life saving technology.

The issue at hand? Kids will be kids. No matter what we do, what we tell them, and how many laws we pass, some kids are going to experiment or rebel. Even good kids will make the choice to break the law and try things they aren't supposed to try. Some like the thrill of rule breaking or risk taking, believing nothing bad will happen to them. 

Some kids will continue that behavior of risk taking into adulthood. If you do things like drive over the speed limit or use your cell phone while driving, you have not yet grown out of that risk taking / rule breaking cycle of life.

When teenagers use vapor products, we as a society have failed. We've failed to teach them to make good choices. We've failed to convince them to choose right over wrong. We've failed to enforce our laws which make it illegal to sell or give these products to anyone under the age of 21. If we are already failing at enforcement, will more laws solve the problem? Will it prevent a black market where people sell to others and don't care about their age and don't care about the quality of what they're selling?

I understand the instinct to protect our youth. 

Before you make a decision to ban flavored products or tax vapor technology to try to stop the youth who are breaking the law, I want you to look into the eyes of this little girl who has a Dad that no longer smokes. 

This little girl didn't break any laws. What are we going to do for her?

Does she deserve protection from a childhood without a parent? 

Does she deserve to grow up in a smoke free home?

Does she deserve a Dad to kiss her boo-boo's, hug her when a boy breaks her heart, and ground her when she makes a bad choice?

When you ban and tax the things that help smoking parents stop smoking, you're telling little angels like this one that her life and her family aren't important. 

I think it's time to get back on track with our original mission. Do everything we can to end the death and disease caused by smoking. We can start by enforcing the laws we already have. We can make progress faster by leaving life saving technology readily available to our smoking adults. Let's fill our nation with healthy, smoke-free parents and grandparents ready to play hide and seek with little girls.

My granddaughter, Jessica, and I are asking you to not ban flavored vaping products or increase the taxes on these products. She doesn't want to risk her Dad going back to smoking. She has her heart set on him still being here when she graduates from school, when she falls in love and gets married, and when she blesses him with his first grandchild. I have my heart set on never having to plan my son's funeral because he went back to smoking.

You have the power to help make that happen.

#HeartMonth2021

Labels

Labels, Labels, and More Labels

Today I woke with my brain full of words. Thoughts were flowing at a flood stage. I think I’ll need to open a gate or 2 and let some of them out if I have any hope of accomplishing what I’d like to get done today.

Today, I'm pushing myself past my comfort zone. I'm pretty nervous. I am afraid of being judged or being looked at differently. But I'm going to take the risk and do this anyway because the world is hurting and part of that hurt is because we see too many negative, stigmatizing labels and we forget to see that we're people, not labels. This is a practice what I preach moment... so I'm taking a deep breath and here I go!

Life is stuffed full of labels. Much of my life has been spent advocating for the labeled. I hate labels. I’ve always looked at them from the point of how they stigmatize people. How they erase the person and slap a barrier up that blocks the world from seeing the amazing person behind that label. I've only thought of labels as a negative thing and didn't give a thought that we can have positive labels.

I am often good at spotting what a person’s label might be and trying to adapt how I do things to assist that person with the tools they need to live their life as well as they can. Many times I have shocked parents with the suggestion to have their child evaluated for certain things and when they did, they found my suspicions were true (most often autism). I always thought I was able to identify these challenges that children might be facing because I've been around people with those challenges and have learned the "warning signs". I never gave thought it might be more intuitive than that.

Before I move forward to the point about labels, I have to step back and tell you the story behind this story...

I’m someone who is usually stuffed full of hope. The past couple of years has found that hope slipping away. I landed in a very dark place. It’s possible that COVID accelerated the process. I like people, so all this distancing stuff isolates me. I’m a toucher and a hugger. That all stopped with COVID. 

The problem was, I was working so hard to be a beacon of light for others that I didn’t see the darkness that was seeking to take my soul from me. Last summer, an amazing group of people made the trip to my neighborhood to show me the results of a project they had worked on for a couple of years. It turned into an amazing day! 

It was a day filled with hugs, hugs, and more hugs. OMG, I was starving for hugs! We talked, laughed, cried, and ate good food. It was super hot out, the bugs were everywhere, and it tried to rain on us a few times. It couldn’t put an end to our day, a day of sharing. At sunset, we settled down to a drive-in-style movie we watched on a giant inflatable screen.

By the end of the film, my eyes became their own river and the tears flowed. I was so moved! The film was awesome. The message was liberating. The honesty was overwhelming. I knew I’d have to watch that movie a couple of more times to wrap my head around all that was in it.

But, a strange thing happened. I suddenly realized that I had no sense of my own value to the world. What made me aware of that? The credits at the end of the film. There is a list of “Thank-yous” and there it was… MY NAME! In print, for the world to see, someone valued what I had given them enough to put it up on the big screen, to be seen forever. Discovering you have value is a life-changing experience.

"Valued" would later become a label for me.

A repeat viewing of the film would give even more meaning to my story when I noticed my Mom’s name in the “In Memory” section in the credits of the film. To see her battles against her labels honored in such a meaningful way, giving further value to my need to help make the world a better place.

It was bittersweet to have to say goodbye to my friends, as they headed out to continue their journey to do their part to make the world a better place. I enjoyed a bit of self-pity, feeling sad knowing they live far away, and it could be a long time before we all see each other again. That stage of self-pity made me realize that a cloud of darkness had surrounded my heart. 

OK, back to the main topic: Labels...

It was time to talk to a professional. And then another. Finally, #3 was the perfect match for me. My involvement with this person has been liberating and I look forward to our sessions. Well, most of the time. Along with talking and working through the feelings and peeling away the darkness comes testing.

And then it was here. The full report. Black and white. The handing out of the labels I didn’t know I had. UGH! It’s like going through a grieving process! Denial, anger, and finally acceptance. I had labels. Ones I never saw in myself, even though I can see them in others.

It took my breath away. I didn’t tell a soul. 

A few days ago, I got brave enough to tell Matthew M. A couple of days after that, I told Aaron B. Why them? Because they are brave, accepting, and giving. Both of them get up every day and fight to make the world better. No matter what’s going on in their minds or bodies, they are warriors of goodness. They don’t live their lives by any negative labels, they manage their time and their energy to get done what they can get done every day.

Depression, ADD (the heart of my staying on-track issues, now called ADHD), and HFA (High Functioning Autism it used to be called Asperger's - the beginnings of my fitting in issues). The last one has been the hardest to accept. All of a sudden, the queen of label haters could see nothing but her new labels. (Update: Months later PTSD was added to the list)

And then came the revelation that I’m a river. There are many stones sticking out of my river and each one affects the flow of who I am. Sure, there’s a stone that’s Depression and another that’s ADD (well, ADD is like having a really big stone), and the stone that’s Autism's. It took me a few days to realize that my river also has many beautiful stones rising to glisten in the sunlight.

Finally seeing the river made me realize we all have labels. Many of them we are born with. They are a part of what makes us uniquely our own being, with no carbon copy anywhere. Each label is not WHO we are, they're just a stone that lays the foundation of the complete person.

So, I will add these new labels to the many labels I already have and never thought of as a label. Some of our labels are not a challenge, some are a gift. I am not only ADHD, Autism, PTSD, and Depression, I am kind, giving, big-hearted, funny, optimistic, enthusiastic, inquisitive, valued, loving, caring, strong, hopeful, fiercely loyal, a fighter for what is right, and of late - brave. I’m going to choose to move forward and not live by the "negative" labels. I’ll be aware of what they are and start using tools that will make the labels that cause challenges be less challenging, but I’m not going to focus on them.

I am me, I’ve always been me. I am what I was created to be. My identity comes from my heart and soul, not a collection of words on a piece of paper. Labels be damned, I am ready to greet another day.

From one Momvocate to another. 

I wish we could do lunch and talk.

The world is full of concerned Moms. It's in our job description and many of us take that job very seriously. I've seen some of you on the news, watched you at Congressional hearings, have heard you testify before city council's, and have seen your social media posts. I watched the movie You Don't Know Nicotine and it taught me that there are 2 sides to every story. I learned a lot about your concerns from watching it. I could see the concern in your eyes and hear it in your voices. I know in the end we all want the same thing. We want our kids to be safe, healthy, and making good choices. We fear for their well being, their health, and even their lives. 

I'd like to share with you my story and why I'm a Momvocate. While many of you have stories about your kids that begin with vaping, my story starts with smoking and ends with vaping. I hope by the sharing of concerns and our stories we can find common ground to adress the issues that concern all of us.

 I come from a long line of people who smoke. My Dad smoked, was a veteran, and struggled with parenting skills. He didn't understand the line between discipline and abuse. It was a line that was crossed often. He didn't want a daughter and was not pleased with my birth. It was a blessing the day Mom kicked him out and the beatings stopped.

Mom's side of the family had issues, too, where boys were God and girls were trash. Mom tried to do better. Sometimes she succeeded, sometimes she failed. Learned behaviors are hard to unlearn. I grew up feeling unwanted and unworthy - 2 things I never want my child to feel.

My Grandpa (Mom's Dad) was my hero. In a world that I felt wasn't happy to have me here, I was his favorite. He made me feel special. I started smoking when I was 10. Not because I wanted to be cool and fit in, not because I wanted to be a rebel and break the rules. I started smoking because my Grandpa smoked and I loved and admired him so much, I was so grateful for his love and acceptance, I just wanted to be like him. 


Being a tomboy, I didn't really date much in high school. I was always one of the guys. I had a thing about not belonging to a "click", a tribe, a group. I became lonely and did things kids shouldn't do, like drink and experiment with drugs. I don't think that smoking led to those things, I think that poverty and abuse and family issues and loneliness made me higher risk to go down that path. I was a "smart" kid with good grades, while my brother struggled with school and his disabilities, so the family focus was on him. Growing up I didn't understand his needs and was jealous of the attention he got. That also gave fuel to my need to "act out" and do things kids aren't supposed to do. Looking back on my youth, I realize how loudly I was crying out in my own way to be noticed and accepted.

By the time I was done with high school, I was smoking up to 2 packs a day and continued to do so for over 40 years. I lost count years ago of all the times and ways I tried to quit smoking. It felt like I was a failure. The point of the story of my youth is that parents can do their best, and still have kids that experiment, make bad choices, act out, or seek relief from feelings a parent might not even know a kid has. Time to move on to adulthood.

As a young adult  I developed some health issues and was told I'd never be able to have a child. I have a bit of a defiant streak in me, and I told those doctors that I believed that when I quit messing up my life, settled in with a good man, God would give me 1 child. It would be a boy with blond hair, blue eyes, and freckles. 

In 1984 I met that man. In 1985 I gave birth to an amazing boy with blond hair, blue eyes, and later on - freckles! God gave me my miracle baby. We thought we were being good parents, but now I live everyday with the guilt that our miracle baby grew up breathing second hand smoke. What damage did we do to him, exposing him to that? Did this contribute to his learning disabilities, his seasonal affective disorder, or his unspecified social disorder (believed to be undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome)? There's no science that says those things, but I think it's natural for a mother to blame herself. I'll get back to my son's health in a bit.

The amazing Mom I had as a kid went away as one traumatic experience after another finally got the best of her. As she aged, she was obviously mentally ill, but would not seek medical help, the paranoia would not allow her to trust doctors. Mom's smoking did a number to her health and she had COPD.  She then quit smoking. After she quit smoking, her mental illness rapidly got worse. She got so bad, so verbally abusive it started to have an effect on my own mental health and I did not have any communication with her for 4 years. 

Then mom's neighbors started calling expressing concern. I called my brother and he drove up here to check on her. She was gravely ill, very delirious, and agreed to let him take her to a doctor. The doctor told her she had heart failure and cancer, with very little time to live. They admitted her for the night to get her stabilized and get her signed up for hospice care.

I had a key to her home and went to take care of her dog. The condition of her home took my breath away. She had become a hoarder and her home was packed with stuff. Some rooms were so full, you could only take a couple of steps into the room. There were binoculars at every window, so she could watch out into the woods for the people her paranoia convinced her were coming to get her. 

It was evident that she had been too ill to care for herself or her home for a long time. There was no way the county was going to let her live out her life there in those conditions. Christmas Day we put out the call for help. A Christmas Miracle happened when a dozen of the most loving, amazing friends joined my son and I at my mother's home and cleaned up things I choose not to go into detail about, so that my Mom could come home to die.

I spent the last month of my Mother's life with her, caring for her as much as she would allow. She struggled to breathe, it was exhausting for her to get up and use the bathroom. I sat with her as I heard her last breath leave her body at 2:04 a.m.. Smoking had killed another one.

I went outside and had a cigarette.

July of 2014 in the wee hours of the morning, my phone rang. I could barely hear my 29 year old son as he said in agony "Mom, I think I'm having a heart attack". We almost lost him that day. It was the worst day of my life. He was airlifted to a different hospital. The hour drive to get to him was agonizing, as we had no way of knowing if he was dead or alive. Healthy guy, no blood pressure issues, no cholesterol problems, but the doctor said that smoking caused 3 clogged arteries in his heart. After putting 2 stents in his heart, his life was saved. 

He didn't start smoking until he was 18. It only took 11 years to do this damage to him. I hope I did a good job of parenting my son, but I don't think I will ever forgive myself for smoking around him and setting the example of smoking being OK. After his heart attack, he tried vaping and he quit smoking. The doctor told him if he started smoking again he would die. My son hasn't smoked since. His doctor encourages him to continue to vape to prevent relapse.

Our next scare was  the day my husband called me and said he couldn't breathe. My son and I rushed him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with COPD. By now, I'm sure you can guess the cause - SMOKING. Now he's inhaler dependent and his quality of life sucks. It will get worse as he ages. He quit smoking after being diagnosed with COPD.

I continued to smoke. My teeth started falling out. Yes, that is a smoking related issue, too. With many years of no dental insurance, and a problem with letting people put fingers in my mouth due to PTSD, a side effect of being raped and what was done during the rape. I spend my time embarrassed to smile or speak in public, because people assume that a toothless person must be a meth head or something.

I have spent my adult life trying to quit smoking. I have tried everything. The only thing that worked for me was Chantix, but after being on it for 3 weeks, I became a danger to myself and my doctor took it away from me. November of 2014 I tried vaping and I dual used for a few months before I accidentally quit smoking. I didn't try to quit, I was just vaping in places I couldn't smoke and ended up transitioning to just vaping. I have been smoke-free ever since.

I'm proud to say that my step-grandson has also quit smoking thanks to vaping, and my great grand kids are now the first generation growing up in a smoke free home. My whole family is now smoke-free! Vaping has changed the lives of 4 generations!

My husband has been confined to our home since fall of last year, because of a big influenza outbreak followed by the COVID pandemic . He sits out there in our rural home with no contact with anyone besides my son and myself. Our granddaughter has not been to our home in months. He is very high risk of dying if he gets influenza or COVID-19. COPD is an ugly price to pay for smoking.

July of this year was 6 years since my son had his heart attack. 2 days after that anniversary, his girlfriend called me and told me I needed to come get him as he's sure he's having another heart attack. I rushed to his side and drove him to the ER. They met him at the door and rushed him back. I parked the car and they told me I needed to go in the back right away. I was only in his room a couple of minutes when he coded and they told me to go to the hallway. I stood out in that hallway calling out to him the whole time, hoping he'd hear my voice and not slip away from us forever. They saved him, rushed him to surgery, where he coded again. They placed another stent in his heart. This is when we learned that his smoking when he was a young adult gave him heart disease. He will be on medications for the rest of his life and will always be at risk for another heart attack.

Every time my phone rings, fear grips my heart. The first thought that crosses my mind is did he have another heart attack and if he did, did it kill him this time? As a mom, I know you know how frightening this can be.

As many of you fear your children using vapor products, I wish with a broken heart that my son, my husband, and my mom would have never started smoking and would have had the option to vape instead. I wish we would have known that one of the reasons mom's mental illness might have gotten so much worse was because she quit smoking and we would have offered her an alternative source of nicotine to ease some of her suffering and the heartbreak we all experienced watching her deteriorate. 

I learned to be a Momvocate from my Mom. From birth her life threw her one hard knock after another. She never gave up. She never quit fighting for what she believed was right. She was generous and giving. She was a kind lady outside of the behaviors her mental illness caused later in her life.  I cherish the memory of my mom, Margaret Place. It's a horrible legacy to know that she died twice.  The first time when the mental illness took away all the goodness in her and replaced her with an angry, paranoid person who could no longer trust anyone. The second time was from the COPD, Heart Disease, and Cancer - a death I refer to as "death by smoking". I hope none of our kids have to witness their mom dying twice.

I am hopeful that the movie You Don't Know Nicotine will teach more of us that there are 2 sides to every story. I hope the movie will motivate Momvocates from all sides to sit down and talk about the issues that are worrisome to us. I hope we can find ways to help youth make better choices, help society do a better job of enforcing the law, and continue to leave life saving technology on the market for those who need those products. I hope we can get away from stigmatizing people and substances, to leave a better future for all.  

Thank-you for sharing your stories. I hope my story will give you a perspective as to why moms like me fight so hard to save what moms like you are fighting against. My dream is that someday it will be hard to find a Mom with a story like mine. I'm guessing that some of you also have a dream of someday a Mom not having a story like yours. I'd give anything for us to find a way to sit down and talk about how to protect kids like yours AND protect kids like mine. It just doesn't seem right for concerned moms to be at odds with each other, when we could accomplish so much more if we found a way to work together.

My Way or the Highway

If a person has cancer, we do our best to do everything in our power to help them get rid of it. We try as many different kids of treatments, medications, and surgeries as necessary to get the job done. If we can't cure it, we do everything we can to extend their life, keep them comfortable, and provide them with the best quality of life that medicine, faith, and support by loved ones can provide. As science and technology progress, we will be able to do even more for victims of cancer.

When a child is born with a disability, we do everything we can to help them overcome it. If it's something they will live with forever, we do our best to provide them with a productive and meaningful life by giving them the tools and support they need to live up to their full potential. We make accommodations so they can be valued members of our communities. As science and technology progress, we will be able to do even more for people with disabilities.

If a person becomes addicted to drugs, we try to help them. We have treatment programs and support programs. If the person struggles to remain drug free, we have medical interventions that can help some people move past their addiction and return to a fully productive life with their families, friends, and as members of society. As science and technology progress, we will be able to do even more for people battling drug addiction.

As the automotive industry grew, cars were able to go farther and faster. Accidents caused injury and even death. We've enacted laws requiring our vehicles to have built in safety features. These help reduce fatalities and injuries. We've also enacted "rules of the road", things like speed limits to further reduce the dangers of being in a car. As science and technology progress, we will be able to add even more safety features into our vehicles and save more lives. 

Such is the way of modern man. We identify a problem and we work towards solutions, and if a solution doesn't work for everyone, we look to science and technology to find even more and better solutions.

Or at least we do until we talk about people who smoke. It used to be we didn't think it was dangerous. Then we learned different. We did what man does best, we went on the hunt for solutions for smokers. We offered them ways to quit. We started therapies, support groups, we invented nicotine replacement therapies and medicines all to help smokers. For some smokers, these options helped them quit this deadly habit. Some smokers weren't able to quit. 

This should be the part where we say as science and technology progress, we will find more and better ways to help people quit smoking. But we refuse to accept science and technology when it comes to people who smoke. Smokers found a technology that helps them quit. They invented a device and over the years they have improved the device. Why isn't society embracing this new technology that doesn't cost tax payers any money and improves the health of their loved ones, by helping them quit smoking?

When do we tell a cancer patient "get cured my way or die"? We don't and we wouldn't. Nor do we tell an alcoholic "get sober my way or die". We don't tell someone with a disability to deal with it locked in a closet with no adaptations to help them succeed. We will never go back to cars with no air bags or seat belts to reduce the potential harm of going from A to B.

Why does this country think it's OK to tell a person who smokes "quit my way or die"? Shouldn't we be cheering for every smoker to kick the habit in what ever way works best for them? Do we really care if they quit cold turkey, use a quit line, chew gum, take a pill, or use vapor technology to quit smoking?

People in white coats in labs invent amazing things, but it is not possible for them to find the cure for everything that ails mankind. Sometimes what's needed most is the people fighting the battle to figure out what works best for them and invent their own cure. 

Many people who smoke have found their cure in a little battery operated device that is 95% safer than smoking. That little device can help millions of more people quit smoking, if we stop our current path and don't regulate the product out of existence.

It's time to focus on the smokers. Let them quit smoking in peace. My way or the highway shouldn't be the message we send them. 

"This Is My Fight Song"

I like to share stories from the vape shop and have 2 today I'll combine into 1 story. 1st off, a customer with special needs comes in to purchase e-liquid. She is with her group home staff. We helped this amazing person quit smoking a couple of years ago. She is limited to $10 spending money for vape stuff. She is here 1x per week and we give her a special deal, including tax. She either gets a 30ml and a coil or two 30mls for her $10. Today was a staff person who I've never seen before. That staff person mentioned they smoked and they will never vape because it's more dangerous than smoking. WHOA! They now know the truth. And my customer helped to educate her staff person!

The shop is a mess, it's in the middle of being remodeled and I should be putting stuff back in the cases, but there is so much advocacy work to be done, so I fire up my get motivated to fight for vape song and spend some time on the computer. Regular walks in the door, stops dead in their tracks, starts humming along to the song, then busts out laughing and says "Are you fighting for vape again? What do you need me to do?". 

I love our customers. From the ones we have to fight for to the ones who stand firmly buy our side and fight with us. Please fire up my favorite get to work song and fight with me Fight Song - Rachel Platten. 

Don't give up!

*All photos are screen shots from the video.

 

Tears.......

 

Time to share a story from a local vape shop owner! 

"I'm an emotional old lady, and I'm going to admit that over the last couple of weeks, I have shed a lot of tears. From the never-ending assault on this amazing industry to the harsh reality of the 10-month verdict, to the next day being the 5-year anniversary of the smoking-related heart attack that almost killed my 29-year-old son, to today, I'm a roller coaster river of happy, sad, worried, elated tears. And when I get down, it seems that something reaches out, and bitch slaps me a good one, reminding me to never give up.

It was time to lock up the shop last night when a guy in pretty rough shape walked in. He was so out of breath that he could barely walk. He just came from the doctor, and the doctor told him this is it, quit smoking or die. The old guy reached into his pocket for his phone and had to pull out 2 inhalers first. My hubby has COPD, so I recognized that one of them was Symbicort and mentioned it to the man. Yep, he has COPD, too. Much worse than my out-of-breath husband. The old guy uses 2 different inhalers and a nebulizer. (spelling?).

The man liked the Smok Infinix. I asked him how much he had to spend. He looked at the floor and said $20.00. I looked over at my son, and he had the same thought as me. I pointed to the man's hat and asked if he was a Veteran, and of course (Vietnam), he was. We don't have a military discount, but we're not going to tell that guy. So, he ended up with a 30mL of our house line, an Infinix, and a box of pods - with selling him the liquid at our Friday sale price (on a Tuesday, LOL) and our newly discovered military discount, it came out to exactly $20!!!! We got him set up, and he was so exhausted he could barely smile as he said thank you, and he headed out the door. I felt so bad for him that I muttered a little prayer.

The guy just came back to my shop! He's smiling! He hasn't had a cigarette since last night. AND AND AND!!!! Here's the exciting part.... his buddy saw him "puffing on that thing" and had to try it. Now he wants one. So I ask if his buddy is a Vet, too, and he is. So what the hell, his buddy got an Infinix and a 30ml for 20 bucks, and they're going to share the box of pods.

Off he went, and he's going to the Legion for lunch. Says he'll be back in a couple of hours with more buddies because getting old sucks, and he's got grandkids, and these puffing machines make it easy to not smoke! Guess I'm having a flash sale for Veterans!!

So now I'm in tears. Don't get many old folks coming in to quit anymore. Took an old Vet to remind me that Freedom in all its forms is worth fighting for. So go ahead - yell, cry, punch a wall, write a letter, take a day off, but whatever you do, don't give up. Come fight with me. Come fight with all of us. We have so many lives yet to save.

I promise I'll stand with you, I'll fight with you.
~Skip

P.S. - In 2 weeks' time, this Veteran brought in 9 of his fellow Vets, all of who quit smoking with what they call "puffing machines". 

Tobacco Harm Reduction Takes a Hit in Minnesota

We've all heard the heartbreaking news that over 480,000 Americans die from smoking related causes every year. We've also heard the projections that a BILLION people around the world will die from smoking this century. Heartbreaking to think of so many early deaths, so many families grieving for loved ones. So much money spent on the health effects of smoking. 

Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) is a proven strategy in countries like the UK and Sweden, and if America had any brains at all, we would follow the lead of these countries and embrace THR ourselves. These products help smokers switch to a safer alternative, and don't pose a risk to people who are around smokers.

When it comes to THR, the United States has taken a more cautious approach. As a matter of fact, we've gotten way off track here in America. We forgot the war was on smoking, and have switched our focus to nicotine, which is a stimulant much like caffeine is. Because we've forgotten about the war on smoking and changed our strategy to a war on nicotine, we are going to see more needless deaths than we should be seeing.

Minnesota is a prime example. We have gone down the path of restricting adults access to THR products which are legal in MN. We are doing that one city and county at a time. From banning adults from being able to purchase a flavored THR product anywhere they can buy a cigarette, to banning some adults from purchasing any THR products, to restricting where some people can buy THR products, we're a mixed bag of regression and oppression here in Minnesota.

Just this week the city of Brooklyn Center passed an ordinance that restricts the purchase of some THR products to adult only stores, while leaving it legal to buy a pack of cigarettes at the corner gas station, the local grocery store, and the neighborhood pharmacy. It will now be easier in Brooklyn Center to purchase the cigarettes that can kill you, than it will be to buy things like vapor technology that can help people quit smoking and save lives.

Also this week Ottertail County, MN decided to circumvent the jurisdiction of cities to pass ordinances over THR products (THR is lumped in with tobacco in MN) and ban young adults from purchasing THR products by calling their new ordinance a "Public Health" ordinance instead of a "Tobacco" ordinance. The county has now decided to tell all cities in it's borders that young adults can not buy products that can help them quit smoking for reasons of "Public Health". What is healthy about that?

I'm not sure what the lawmakers in MN are thinking (or smoking?), or if there is something weird in our water, but it breaks my heart to see our leaders making it hard or illegal for adults to purchase the products that can help them switch from smoking to a safer alternative. Are we telling our citizens that even though we say they should quit smoking, secretly we hope they never will?