Kick the Habit Naturally in 2024
Ask any Baby Boomer why they started smoking cigarettes and they will tell you that “everyone was doing it.” Its a habit that became normal. It was just 50 years ago that we were bombarded with commercials touting the benefits a good smoke could have – to help you relax and look cool doing it.
In 1965 a reported 42.6% of adults smoked a pack or more a day. The average age to pick up the habit was 13. Hospital rooms and tables in restaurants counted ashtrays among the décor; high schools had smoking areas; smoking on airplanes was common.
As baby boomers started to feel the effects of their habit – in the form of lung cancer, emphysema, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – awareness of the health risks rose. By the 1990s, public health campaigns advocated for a smoke-free environment around children. Mothers who continued to smoke were stigmatized as a “bad mother.”
The anti-smoking campaigns of the late 20th century led to smoking bans in restaurants, schools, and hospitals. Public smoking areas were smaller, further away from entries, or nonexistent.
While the ploy drastically turned the statistics upside down, cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or about 1 in 5 deaths. As of 2021, more than 16 million Americans were diagnosed with a smoking-related disease, and 11.5% of adults still smoked a pack or more a day.
It’s important to note that the contents of those cigarettes are the root of the health problem. Besides tobacco, smokers inhale such diverse carcinogens as PAH, N-nitrosamines, aromatic amines, 1,3-butadiene, benzene, aldehydes, and ethylene oxide. There is virtually nothing organic in that slender white tube.
While there are many products – patches, gum, pills – to help curb the craving for nicotine, the biggest hurdle to quitting is the actual habit. The first smoke of the day, the cigarette after a meal or sex, and the necessary smoke breaks throughout the workday are missed long after the nicotine addiction is kicked.
As a smoker myself, I discovered this truth when I quit in 2012 after 30 years of a pack-a-day habit. Making that monumental decision was half the battle; you will indeed know when the time is right.
For me, that time came as I sat in a dark ICU hospital room listening to the soft hissing sound of my mother’s ventilator, which was keeping the beat of my mother’s labored breathing. When she first picked up a cigarette at the age of 13, the world approved – everyone smoked. Now, here she lay, 57 years later – minus one lung and heavily sedated.
Following in my mother’s footsteps, I started smoking at the age of 16. Over the years I had tried to quit – patches, pills, self-restraint – but nothing worked. But that day in the hospital, I made the decision that my kids wouldn’t have to watch me struggle on a ventilator because of cigarettes. It’s a decision I have managed to stick with for 11 years now.
Holding onto that vision of my mother gave me the strength I needed to fight nicotine withdrawals. It was much harder to kick the actual habit of holding the tube and sucking on it. It was at that point I discovered that “smoking” wasn’t the real problem – rather, it was “what” was being smoked.
Using herbal vape juice and cigarettes rolled in natural hemp paper allowed me to continue taking those important breaks at work and eased the cravings. By controlling the contents that I was sucking into my body, I lessened my chances of becoming another smoking statistic like my mother.
Bear Blends herbs are the ideal choice to help a smoking cessation plan. Their herbal cigarettes are made with 100% natural hemp papers and filters. RAW cones and crutches are unbleached and unrefined, made from a blend of unbleached fibers, and finished with a natural gum line. RAW Rolling Papers have no added chalk or dyes.
The liquid herbs can be added to any beverage, or in any vaporizer set to 37-40 watts. One dropper will dissolve instantly in an 8 oz. glass of water.
If you’re ready to ditch the smoke altogether, the blends can be used as an edible chew or dip. The loose-leaf blend can be used inside a tea bag or cheesecloth pouch if you wish.
Whether you are looking for a calming blend, a grounding mix, or a stimulating combination, Bear Blend has many choices. Some popular blends include Bear Blend Original, Dream Lodge, Ceremonial Blend, and Kin Nik Nik. Each blend features a unique combination of herbs, carefully balanced to promote relaxation, clarity, and a sense of well-being.
Since herbs are not habit-forming or addictive, they can be beneficial for people attempting to quit tobacco. Bear Blend is an additive-free, herbal blend and contains no tobacco.
Bear Blend is located in a USDA certified organic facility in Southern California, and are handcrafted from biodynamic, fair trade, and USDA certified organic herbs.
