I quit cold turkey 8 months ago after smoking for 38 years. I'm so proud of me

I am so glad to see this on KZfaq. This documentary (the original) is why I quit smoking. I went straight to my Dr and got the patch. My boyfriend said that if I was quitting, he had to also. So my GYN wrote him a Rx for the patch too. Neither one of us ever picked it back up: We both quit for good. It was one of the best things in my life. Thank you PBS for your journalism.

Is it me, or is the audio completely screwed up?

Imagine being in the courtroom with these guys saying it’s not addictive and not laughing hysterically every single time

Both of my parents died from Cancer and smoked several packs a day. I was able to quit after years of struggling. I know heroin addicts that were able to quit heroin but cannot quit smoking. Still to this day.

These cigarette CEO's are a good example of what's wrong with this world. Profit over people.

To say that cigarettes are an agricultural product and not an addicting drug is like saying that heroin is an agricultural product too because it comes from a poppy flower.

I finally quit smoking after 20 years and multiple attempts. I'm over 6 months nicotine free! I'm never going back!! Best decision I ever made!

Leaded gasoline and smoking caused so much damage. The people who fought against it are heroes.

"Would you rather have a pilot that just smoked a cigarette, a pilot that just had two beers, a pilot that just had cocaine, or a pilot that just shot heroin?" How about a pilot that's sober?

When I was in college, I had a professor come into the classroom, SLAM his briefcase down on his desk and announce "I AM TRYING TO QUIT SMOKING SO DON'T FU@K WITH ME!!!" He lasted a couple days and resumed smoking. It's addictive...come on folks! On the other hand, my dad had a heart attack at age 50 and he Prayed, "GOD help me quit!" and he never touched another cigarette after that.

They need to label alcohol as a drug as well. It is.

It's insane how many lives that guy saved.

frontline's narrator voice IS addictive

I’m a former smoker and loved every cigarette I smoked. If my doctor were to tell me you have 6 months to live, I would pick up smoking again.

need the same lawsuit for sugar additives especially high fructose corn syrup, obesity and death.

Brennan Dawson died in 2013, at 51, of what seems to be smoking-related illness. She left behind her husband (who died of hypertension shortly after that), and three college-age kids. She didn't deny that smoking was harmful, and in fact she said when interviewing for her job with the Tobacco Institute that she didn't want to promote smoking per se, but she did a lot of obfuscation for a living. It's a sad story.

Audio needs cleaning up.

Im 33 and I smoked cigarettes as a teen and then quit around 19, but picked the habit back up in my mid 20s while working in the restaurant industry. My ex kept trying to get me to quit but instead, I thought I'd make a compromise that wasn't as harmful by switching to vaping (which wasn't really around for most of the public when I was younger). I said this will be my way of gradually stepping away from nicotine over time... that did NOT work out that way at all. Making nicotine available in a form that 1. Doesn't smell disgusting (I had never gotten that used to the foul smell of cigarettes tbh) 2. Smells and tastes like candy and all kinds of things that would make any grade schooler salivate 3) Made it now possible for people to keep consuming tobacco- based nicotine just about anytime and anywhere (no more getting told to go smoke outside in freezing or scorching weather, at least not if the stench was the reason) Only made my dependence on nicotine significantly worse. I was vaping like crazy before I knew it. If I had a nicotine craving while working as a waiter, I didn't have to worry about customers complaining about the cigarette smell. If it was that bad, I could sneak into a bathroom stall and take a quick puff. IT WAS BANANAS. Lol My younger sister (she's 21) would always tell me I had to quit vaping and gave me grief every time I'd see her (and I told her I would never say anything back because I knew she was right). Finally, in April of last year, she managed to corner me into really trying to quit since I'd promised I really would so many times but flaked. I'm currently 33 and it's been a little under a year since I stopped using all nicotine products. The cravings were awful (physical withdrawal really sucked, but the cognitive and mental dependence was what really killed me for a while) but that passed. I did opt to do the Nicorette gum in the beginning, and I was surprised that it really helped. By June I didn't even want to chew on the nicotine gum either (I don't actually like chewing gum anyway, lol.) Anyway, to wrap up my essay: Nicotine addiction IS harmful, it WILL chip away at your health and your wallet, but you absolutely can kick the habit. It's never too late and you're never too old or too dependent to drop it. Even if you slip after a long period of abstaining, it doesn't mean s**t. The only thing worse than slipping up at quitting nicotine and tobacco is completely resigning yourself to being a smoker for the rest of your life. I'm blessed that my sister was there as a support system and as a reminder that it wasn't okay to keep vaping/ smoking, but you don't need a family member, partner, or friend to be the reason you finally get rid of this crappy habit. You're the biggest reason to try and quit since you're the one that has the most to gain from quitting.

This is crazy! One man really made a difference in the world.

sound is all over the place

The sound mixing on this video is a TRIP with headphones

Glad to see this posted on KZfaq. I smoked nonfilter cigarettes for over 20 years. I was a heavy pot smoker for these same 20 plus years. I freebase (smoked) cocaine for over 10 years..before smoking cocaine was called Crack. No drug I took, did ,was more addicting than cigarettes!!! My addiction was BOTH mental and physical! Happy to say I've been clean and sober now for 35 + years.

Mom just died (age 52) cancer Dad died 6 months ago (age 51) alcohol Apparently I shouldn't hold these companies accountable because "they put a label on it"

I hope all those people who said in court nicotine is not addictive is now choking on their words.

I grew up in the 70's with a chain smoking mother. The 90's were watching her die from emphysema/lung cancer. Living in Europe now where sooo many people still smoke is not easy to watch.

After smoking for 30+ years, trying to quit several times and relapsing, I was finally able to quit smoking using a single dose of LSD. That was 3 years ago, and though I still get occasional cravings, the realizations I came to during the LSD trip, have kept me from actually smoking again. If you're wondering - LSD is a non-addictive psychedelic (as opposed to narcotic). When it was still legal, it was used in conjunction with talking therapies to treat alcohol and drug addiction.

I started smoking at the age of 13 to cover up the smell of smoking pot... I remember quite vividly to this day the reaction of my body after smoking my 1st cigarette-I threw up and heaved my guts up for about 15min... Then smoked another one.😓 I ignored what my body was telling me about them!! I continued smoking for about 7 years. I finally decided to quit drugs and drinking via 12 steps. About a year later, I ended up working at a VA clinic in Sacramento and met a very old WWI vet on a break who was a gas victim. After meeting and talking with him for a bit, I decided to quit smoking. I'm comming up on 37yrs now and will say this.. The most difficult thing for me to quit by far were the cigarettes!! It really messed with my mind in a big way!! Now I look back and I was spending 1.00 a pack then and look at what they now cost 10.00+/pack and realize I saved a great deal of money I over the years! I DONT MISS THEM FOR A SECOND!!

28 years later Frontline can't come up with a follow-up episode on this subject come on Frontline

Great reporting, but the audio is quite problematic. The background noise and speech drowns out the narrator in some places. If there's a way to fix that, it should be done. Otherwise, spot on!

My mother chain smoked cigarettes till she died from cancer and heart disease. During the years my siblings and I were growing up we were constantly breathing the smoke because we lived in a small house and there was no way to get away from it. I wonder how much damage that did to us. My father also smoked the first 10 years of my life but he quit and was always angry with my mother for not being able to quit. But second-hand smoke is a real issue too.

This is SO TRUE!Thank God I stopped smoking,but it was a uphill battle!So much so I asked God to help me stop and He did. I regret ever taking a cigarette to smoke when I was 17 out of curiosity.

I haven't had a cig in 4 + years, (Aug 10th will be 5, the reason I know this is because that is the day my now ex had a major heart attack that the heart surgeon said was a direct result of his smoking tabaco. He smoked when I smoked, and would have 1 to my 5) AND I STILL WANT TO SMOKE! Even watching this, watching others smoke and there is a part of me that drools with want! Watching the lies for the company makes me mad enough to never smoke again tho...

The mental gymnastics that the tobacco industry has to put themselves through... Holy cow!.

Babe wake up new Frontline documentary

This is from 1995

They regulate the amount of nicotine in cigarettes and because I'm addicted to a certain amount of nicotine I now smoke more. I need to quit again.

Dammit I'm smoking a cigarette right now watching this .

Can anyone understand the two dialogues going on at the same time at the start? I'm having trouble focusing on the narrator since he's softer than the court procedings

The sound editing on this episode is off or done bad. Narrator is coming for left, while the background sounds and voices are coming from the right. It is creating a very strange effect making it hard to listen to or watch. Edit: I smoke for a long time as well. I will say vaping helped me reduce nicotine and quit.

Cool thanks @PBS

Man I remember when I quit smoking I felt so great I started when I was 14 and it was not a happy time, had to switch to vaping just to kick the habit and I’m proud to say I don’t do both anymore

I would just like to extend my sincerest thanks to this documentary for letting me hear the phrase “health-conscious smokers” said out loud without a hint of irony

The audio needs to fixed on this. On the first part at least, the narration is only coming through the left side, so I guess the editor uploaded the narrator in mono instead of stereo. Just a thought Good doco tho

Im addicted to them. I wish i could quit. 😪 Im sick from them.

Used to smoke two packs of cloves every day, usually menthol cloves. Haven’t touched one in over 15 years. Thank God I quit.

My mama just was diagnosed with COPD. She’s been a small Chris’s 1962 she 74 needs oxygen to breathe . I’m a smoker too, and quit soon after seeing mom in the hospital with a respirator shove down her throat to help her breathe.

Watching this now is just disgusting. How can these lying lawyers escape hell?

I still remember as a small child trying to eat dinner at a restaurant while some idiot smoked nearby

My mother died from the consequences of a lifetime using nicotine/smoking cigarettes. She smoked all the way until the day she died, after chemotherapy and radiation treatments to try prolonging her life, she could not put the cigarettes down even in the face of death. 50 years of smoking, all that money spent on cigarettes, a major stroke that disabled my mother and a peptic ulcer were minor side notes compared to the cancer that took her life. Yes, it was because of the nicotine she was addicted to inside the cigarettes.

The background sound is fighting with the narrators voice.

I quit smoking cigarettes when I quit drinking. Smoking is just so much more enjoyable with alcohol. It seems like they are made for each other. Like a dual addiction.

This seems so mild when compared to the Fentanyl crises facing America, and yet there have been no congressional hearings despite tens of thousands of American deaths since the pandemic started.

And they're still sold, just taxed more. Pitiful.

I've had an injector and made my own cigarettes for about 12 years I was able to make a carton for about $8 I smoked almost 14 packs a week it was ridiculous now down to about 6 or 7 at most a day and I just feel better but it's so so hard to just quit . I've literally can only make 2 days at most if I'm lucky . I literally see a half smoked cigarette on the ground and want to pick it up and smoke it . If that ain't addiction I don't know what is . I don't do it I go buy a loose for 50 cents at the bodega .

I would say of all the drugs nicotine is the hardest to quit. I've detoxed nearly everything yet they sit there and say it isn't addictive. Most smokers started very young and had no real idea just what a beast it is to get away from. Face it, people wouldn't spend. 3-$8000 per year plus the additional insurance cost if it wasn't an addiction.

NICOTINE is extremely addicting, my mom has copd and it took her being in a rehab home after a fall for her to quit smoking even after being diagnosed with copd she continue to smoke for years. Until she fell and broke her hip and she was hospitalized and place in a rehabilitation home were she had no access to smoking and finally quit. She hasn’t smoked in 2 years

I quit smoking 5 months ago but watching people smoke still makes me want one sometimes.

Frontline the best in investigative reporting and documentaries !!!!!!

Thank you for sharing this information with us

41:33 he said this with a straight face. 😂 Incredible!

I've known people who would take their oxygen masks off to smoke, and then just put the mask back on. My dad smokes, and he gets irritable when he goes too long without one. My uncle swapped the cigarettes for nicotine gum. He got addicted to the gum and hasn't kicked that habit yet.

I hope yall working on some 2023 docs 👀

I recall watching this as a kid. After watching this with my grandfather, he thought he would corner the market on collecting matchbooks from all sorts of places, as he really thought cigarettes would be banned. (I still hold out hope).

Everyone says they can quit nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, born and gambling at anytime... Dopamine is one hell of a drug

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms . . . there is just too much money to be made to regulate effectively.

And why on earth are tobacco products STILL ON SALE?? Follow the money! This is a vile, stinking addiction that took me many, many tries to finally quit for good. It was a lot like trying to divorce an abusive spouse. But I got free 13 years ago and it’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done for my body. Praise God I’m FREE!!

It’s so old that cigarets in a convince store is $1.69 per pack.

American Spirits helped me get off cigarettes! Step 1 quit the chemicals switch, get something unfamiliar, Step 2 decrease. and replace with a puff of CBD?! Step 3 switch to CBD orally. I guit 8 years ago, from 2 packs a day. Patches and gum never worked for me.

Basically nothing has changed in the last 30 yrs, this video proves this

The hardest thing I have ever done is to quit smoking. The only way I could do it was by switching to Quest 1 2 3 which made it so much easier to quit. I went a month without smoking and succumbed feeling like bugs were crawling the length of my arms. It took me 3 tries.

Newt Gingrich in this is laughable in the fact that anyone still listens to him in any fashion

thanks for the 30 year old content!

Thankyou for this docu

These docs are better than anything on TV today, I swear

“I gained 12 pounds. I couldn’t get out of my own way.” I feel that sister. I feel that.

This still hits even from 1995-Big Tobacco’s misinformation strategy could be _seamlessly_ overlain with your “Power of Big Oil” Frontline coverage.

I enjoy your uploads. Thanks!

These are same kind of people telling you the food industry (processed food) is safe and sugar is non -addictive.

That’s their argument??? That nicotine is not addictive because some people quit??? That’s absurd 😂

I only smoke weed socially from time to time. I hate cigarettes and alcohol.

watching this while smoking

There’s a special place in hell for all those gentlemen who testified and lied.

How about the other 200 chemicals in cigarettes

Cigarettes has killed a lot of beautiful people, Lord help us,😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

The sound is mixed poorly in this video.

The audio in this doesn't appear to be mixed correctly. The narrations and background levels haven't been balanced... they're running at nearly the same volumes.

I have smoked for 35 years now it is very addictive

When they say it's addictive, they mean it. I put down a series addiction to a drug I'm ashamed to admit, but I still vape because I can't quit nicotine

I just love to hear the end song of every episode

I know just about every person at my mental health clinic, which is either smoking cigarettes or vaping. I wish that wasn't an option because not only does it affect themselves, but it affects non-smokers like myself

Cigarettes took both my parents. Before they died they suffered. When they died I suffered. That's what smoking does but because it takes decades to kill and not minutes or hours people only care about the short lived pleasure they get from smoking.

Thankfully I've never smoked a single cigarette in my life. Unfortunately I know lots of people who do smoke. I'm constantly asked every day for a cigarette by complete strangers (mostly black), who just assume everyone smokes. This is a very good documentary. Thank you.

Whoooaaa fix the volume levels of the background to the voice over, very hard to watch

One word :PBS Frontline are the best. I'm not intelligent but watching these programs i learn a lot.

It’s addictive.. I tried to quit many times,I couldn’t

I quit in 2014, but I'm still addicted to Nicotine. I use "On", 8mgs. About 1 box every 3 days. NICOTINE IS ADDICTIVE!!!

I just have to say, the audio work is impeccable. The hearing coming from one side of my headphones with commentary on the other It was a little freaky at first, but well done

How come potentiating nicotine was never mentioned ? THATs the criminal act of tobacco companies, if it's true, are they adding chemicals to potentiate the nicotine, thus making the cigarettes more apt to get and keep smokers addicted to their product (?)

The government makes a fortune off of smokers and gamblers etc. They haven't come out with a decent drug or anything to help people quit in decades. They probably could if they wanted too.