A health-promoting social work clinician believes there is a "relatively simple but hidden" way to end tobacco smoking and soon. Richard Terry Lovelace says, "Tell cigarette smokers the truth needed to save their lives rather than spread the politically correct untruths that make enormous profits for drug companies, both ‘big tobacco' and ‘big pharma' (pharmaceutical companies). For example, the frequently noted but nonexistent ‘tobacco addiction' (5,870 references found in scholarly papers) represents a major untruth that kills: tobacco is a drug."

Click here to learn why Lovelace is sure that big pharma's nicotine patch, inhaler, and gum are not addiction-knowledgeable. Read the evidence he believes proves that nicotine replacement therapy is not effective and actually harms smokers.

"Protecting children is never less important than profiting from the unhealthy behaviors and gullibility of their parents," is how Lovelace states this guiding ethical principle he says comes from clinical social work training. He practices that principle creating and sponsoring this Web site that promotes lifestyle health by giving away important little-known truths about stopping smoking, weight-loss, and stress management.

Some of Dr. Lovelace's uncommonly up-front research findings and clinical practice-based insights:

• "Common sense suggests that licensed or certified clinical addiction specialists potentially have the most to offer. But they do little I can identify to help adults and our children suffering with nicotine dependence (addiction)."
• "We put nearly 100 percent of our addiction-knowledgeable efforts into only 20 percent of our worldwide drug addiction disaster. Nicotine gets essentially none of those efforts and consequently remains the most heavily used addicting drug."
• "Nicotine addiction – certainly not tobacco and smoking it – is the leading cause of preventable U.S. deaths ... 435,000 each year or four times more than alcohol and illicit drugs combined. No one is a chronic heavy tobacco smoker unless he or she suffers from nicotine addiction (dependence)."
• "So-called ‘tobacco addiction' doesn't exist. The health organizations, professional associations, publications and academic institutions now telling the public, helping professionals and students 'tobacco is a drug' urgently need our encouragement to be accurate."

Note: When Richard has asked groups to not apply the "especially harmful false label, 'alcohol, tobacco and other drugs' or ATOD," they declined and used the reason that essentially says, "But everyone else is doing it."

• "Nicotine is the health and life risking problem rather than its common source, tobacco." Lovelace explains that tomato leaves and those of some other vegetables make nicotine and can be smoked. "If tobacco is a drug then tomato also has to be."
• "Pharmaceutical companies that make nicotine-filled cigarette replacement products (patch, gum, lozenge and more) may encourage spreading the false notion that tobacco is a drug. They probably find it easier to market their expensive additional ways to suck-up (deliver) the highly addictive insecticide, nicotine, when what they are selling is not identified as the threat."
• Sneaky? "Just in case some folks suspect I'm exposing these hidden realities to sneakily defend or promote tobacco and smoking," states Dr. Lovelace, "actual devious advocates for dubious ‘smokers' rights' tell the killer untruth that says even chronic heavier smoking is a ‘choice' rather than resulting from drug addiction. They try to give credibility to that lie by pointing out that most people stop without help. Smokers simply quit; they 'go cold turkey.' Those underhanded nicotine pushers allege in so many words, ‘When they choose to, most cigarette smokers can and do stop on their own and without significant complications.' Absolutely wrong!"

"The truth is that they don't stop; they substitute. That's called ‘symptom substitution.' * Smokers switch," strongly asserts Lovelace, "to overeating, to fattening 'comfort' foods, to being abused by alcohol, and more. They're given no real option but to self-medicate and unintentionally swap one major health threat and drain on our and their financial resources for another." He requests, "Please avoid accepting the politically correct untruth that it's only a coincidence that our 'obesity epidemic' and increased alcohol abuse began during the past four decades ... when pressuring rather than helping smokers to quit."

*"Do a Web search," says Lovelace, "and you'll find references that challenge the existence or importance of 'symptom substitution.’ When you look to see who paid for that online content and the studies referenced, you'll find corporate sponsors that make profits or those who win converts to their religious-like beliefs by casting doubts on what they consider to be 'the competition.’ I have never been a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapy practitioner and so would question the existence of symptom substitution except it has repeatedly shown to be present and the logical explanation for what has happened."

• "People who blame smokers and tobacco by mislabeling it a drug as much as folks who support alleged smokers' rights give the unintentional impression, because of their subconscious causation denial, that they are more interested in money than protecting our and their own children." Notes Lovelace, "You will find on this sponsored site no attempts, like product advertisements, to spread the moneymaking untruths commonly told smokers. Also, I am not telling any of this to benefit licensed clinical addiction specialists (LCAS) and am not licensed as one. I am a clinical social worker who has for 40 years cared about and helped adults dependent on nicotine: truly our most deadly addiction."

This and all other of this site's Web pages are intended solely for educational purposes and are the research findings and clinical insights of Richard T. Lovelace, PhD, MSW (master of social work) and not Winston Clinical Associates. Smoking tomato leaves should not be done by anyone. Thank you.     Next Truth Release

Winston Clinical Associates - Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103 USA This writer is retired and no longer sees new patients needing more than one or two sessions. Now devoted almost entirely to this not-for-money public health service ... he rarely writes for others. Those publishers included John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, Self (magazine), Clinical Laboratory Management Association, Counselor Magazine for Addiction Professionals and Business Life magazine. Home     Legal Notice

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