Top 50 Smoking Health Awareness Blogs
With smoking standing as one of the most prevalent and visible health threats, it comes as no surprise that many individuals have taken to the internet in order to discuss the relevant issues. Be they professionals or merely well-intentioned advocates of smoking cessation, these bloggers have devoted their time and energy to providing information on everything from the risks involved with tobacco use to the healthiest possible routes towards quitting.
1. Quit Smoking: Expert Blog at MayoClinic.com
A relative newcomer to the blogosphere, Mayo Clinic’s Expert Blog is run by Jennifer A. Kern, M.S., C.T.T.S. Drawing from her experience as a counselor who has worked with those desiring to quit smoking, Kern posts clear, concise advice on the roles self-discipline, filial connections, and even spirituality can play into the decision to stop smoking permanently.
2. Smoking Awareness at Wellsphere
A bright, colorful page featuring not only articles, but also communities, videos, further resources, and connections with local cessation organizations as well. It is packed full of handy information and provides a supportive community for anyone with something to say on the subject.
3. Smoking Cessation Blog at About.com
Run by Terry Martin since 2003, the Smoking Cessation blog offers a perspective from a woman entrenched in the habit for 26 years. One of the most interesting features includes a gallery of various printable certificates for those needing encouragement to pass certain milestones.
4. Stop Smoking Hypnosis – Your Resource for Quitting
A well-written, intelligent blog that analyzes whether or not anti-smoking ad campaigns really work, offers advice on strengthening the lungs, promotes hypnosis as a possible route towards quitting, discusses the safety of many so-called “alternatives,” and dispels many common myths associated with both smokers and smoking.
5. Smoke Away: Stop Smoking Resources
An extension of the Smoke Away website, this blog offers similar content to Stop Smoking Hypnosis. Discussions regarding ad campaigns and alarmist lists of famous people who died of smoking-related causes stand as the best example of their approach. It does occasionally veer towards the sensational, but even so it still offers up many provocative talking points worthy of consideration.
6. Y Street
Based out of Virginia, the Y Street campaign targets teenagers with the intention of inspiring them towards initiating positive social change in the community. They concern themselves with a number of different issues, but quelling the spread of underage smoking seems to be their most fervent, organized project.
7. Collection of Anti-Smoking TV Ads
The site has not been updated since 2006, but its intentions nevertheless remain timeless. Prompted by a father struggling with respiratory issues, author “nocigarette” set out to collect anti-smoking advertisements from all over the world. It is a simple concept, and the blog features an interesting mix of videos and posters from eleven nations.
8. The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary
Physician Michael Siegel, a professor at Boston University, has devoted his time to presenting a professional opinion on the presentation of tobacco in the media. He researches and analyzes data pertaining to current events such as the rise of electronic cigarettes and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act as well as press releases from the FDA and other health organizations.
Another blog that has not been updated for a while, Tobacco on Trial provides an eloquently penned glimpse into the legal battles of Philip Morris and other corporations. A widget on the right side of the page still links to headlines from Tobacco.org regarding updates on trials, legislation, and other issues pertaining to tobacco and smoking regulation in the United States.
10. Tobacco Control at the Temas Blog
The Temas Blog, which posts articles in English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese, focuses on the consumer, economic, health, and environmental policies of Latin America and the Caribbean. A large portion of the site is dedicated to tobacco control legislation as well as statistics and discussions of the various ways in which the nations involved are tackling their anti-smoking campaigns.
Source: Wikipedia
With 283 members and 183 watchers, the Quit Smoking Now 2 community blog hosted at LiveJournal offers a free, welcoming, and nonjudgmental forum to discuss the stresses of kicking the habit with others undergoing the same experience. Anyone wishing to participate is advised to download a quit meter in order to track, chart, and display his or her progress.
Straight and to the point, the Quit Smoking Blog takes lighthearted jabs at both tobacco companies and anti-smoking PSAs. Operating under the assumption that most readers already understand the health hazards, the site tends to focus more on media, books, medical news, and advice instead.
Just One Cigarette takes a comparatively more personal stance towards quitting than many other blogs featured thus far. Interspersed between the requisite musings on propaganda from both sides of the debate, health issues, and motivations are intriguing stories from the author’s own life. She connects her own experiences and uses them as a sounding board for discussing societal phenomena as a whole.
Dr. Michael Rabinoff’s blog offers a staggering array of information on tobacco and smoking, providing links and analyses of various media in addition to ebooks and form letters supporting the World Health Organization’s MPOWER guidelines.
Canada-based blog Big Tobacco Takedown is currently tracking the status of legislation regarding flavored tobacco and advertising regulation. With posts in both English and French, this site heavily emphasizes the sociopolitical aspect of smoking rather than the health risks.
16. CiggyFree.com: The Quit Smoking Blog
A project by the HeartCore Corporation, this blog stresses the importance of cutting smoking out of a healthy lifestyle from a holistic perspective. Ignoring drugs in favor of other remedies such as herbal supplements and hypnosis, CiggyFree presents articles that relate mostly to families and individuals coping with quitting.
17. Westchester County Quit Smoking Blog
New York’s Westchester County is approaching smoking cessation in an incredibly creative and engaging manner. Users are encouraged to create their own free blog on the county’s website and openly talk about their experiences and difficulties with others in the area. It is a simple but ingenious approach to simultaneously encourage healthy habits as well as strengthening the community.
18. The “It’s Easy to Quit Smoking” Blog
Confrontational and passionate, Jerry Grinkmeyer approaches many of the myths common to both the habit of smoking as well as the process of quitting. He presents his content with all the compassion and subtlety of a drill sergeant constructed entirely of bricks, but the tactic comes off as provocative enough to get some readers to sit up and pay attention.
19. The Ultimate Quit Smoking Guide: Quit Smoking Blog
Yet another comprehensive source on the benefits of cessation, the Ultimate Quit Smoking Guide offers advice on smoking alternatives, staving off the associated weight gain, and even how to support a friend struggling with nicotine. They also offer their own Quit for Good program and devote a portion of the site to jokes, cartoons, and poems to lighten the emotional load.
Two women, Jessica and Adeline, recount their personal struggles with smoking and attempting to quit. Both of them are attempting to kick the habit cold turkey and without the use of any aids whatsoever. It is a highly personal, intimate blog, recounting a number of relapses and bouts of self-loathing with minimal attention paid to the sociopolitical ramifications.
Source:Wikipedia
21. My Journey to Stop Smoking
For the spiritually-minded, this blog by a Tennessee-based grandmother explores how a combination of religion and medication helped wean her off a 35-year smoking habit. While the religious overtones may not gel with many people, it nevertheless still serves as a legitimate perspective on one possible route towards quitting.
Health.com correspondents Katherine Elmore and Libby Sentz combine outside information and personal narratives into one sturdy blog. They recount their own triumphs and setbacks alongside basic health tips and a number of guides on a wide variety of smoking-related topics.
23. Stop Smoking
With an interface almost recalling newspaper columns, this blog crams itself with every bit of relevant information possible. It covers health. It covers politics. It covers recovery options. It covers psychology. Everything even remotely related to smoking cessation eventually winds up here.
24. Smoking and Me
After 50 years, blogger Mike is sharing his path to recovery with others in the same situation. Highlighting international stories alongside personal experiences, one of the more compelling aspects of the site involves his use of photographs as inspiration. Some are funny, some are frightening, but he uses them with reservations so as not to delve too far into the realm of the overly dramatic.
Seven posters banded together to form a community on Blogspot as a means of forging a tight camaraderie in their time of struggle. Members join by sending the moderator an e-mail and participate in a nurturing environment dedicated to helping others quit smoking. There is the occasional post that does not completely relate to the topic at hand, though they do usually bring up other challenging talking points.
26. Smoking Awareness on Public Health
In spite of the bevy of ads punctuating the articles, this relatively new blog combines discussions of public smoking bans and politics with a bit of pop culture splashed in for good measure.
27. Lung Cancer Blog
Though the Lung Cancer Blog does not focus exclusively on smoking cessation or prevention, it frequently highlights news and information on the undeniable link between tobacco and lung cancer. It also provides resources on emphysema and other respiratory diseases as well.
One of the most exhaustive compilations on the internet, Nonsmoking Nation looks at smoking from a global perspective. The blog also posts news and views on a staggering variety of topics, ranging from public policy to sociological and psychological studies as well as musings on the role pop culture may play in convincing people to smoke.
29. Clear the Air Tobacco Blog
Hong Kong-based charity Clear the Air promotes tobacco control as both a source of health risk prevention and a worldwide environmental concern. While it frequently brings up issues regarding youth smoking and nicotine addiction, the emphasis here lay predominantly with how tobacco contributes to unclean air.
30. American Lung Association in California
Another blog not exclusively dedicated to smoking cessation and prevention, the California chapter of the American Lung Association nevertheless stands as an extremely valuable resource in educating the populace about the social, political, and health issues associated with tobacco use. They frequently organize events – some local, some national – to promote awareness of both clean lungs and clean air.
Source: Wikipedia
31. American Heart Association Journals
Along with the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association has grown to become one of the most visible and vocal advocates of smoking cessation in the United States. The various blogs hosted here provide absolutely integral information regarding the stresses that smoking can wreak on the human body’s strongest and most essential organ. This is an indispensable resource when it comes to understanding every minute detail of heart disease as it relates to tobacco use.
32. Center for Disease Control Health Marketing Musings
Over 1,000 entries at the CDC’s hulking blog are dedicated to smoking, tobacco, and the role that both of them play in cancer and heart and lung diseases. They host some of the most provocative and compelling research on tobacco legislation and current health news available anywhere.
33. Free & Clear
A consumer advocacy group concerned with behavior therapy as it relates to a lifestyle free from smoking, unhealthy eating habits, and other factors that contribute to a high risk of various diseases, Free & Clear offers tips and tricks on what to expect when trying to quit. The blog also posts personal accounts as well as tobacco news and advice on how to find a quitting coach.
34. Become an Ex
Both a forum as well as an open blog, the Become an Ex community offers a few different options for those wanting to participate in an online smoking cessation community. Users can join any number of specialized groups, including one for people quitting to help improve their pets’ health, or post their successes, failures, and findings on the common blog.
Hypnosis advocate Franc Tausch understandably dedicates a generous portion of his blog to this brand of therapy. However, he stretches out the content to include special interest posts – including information on women and smoking and some of the more obscure effects of tobacco use on pets, such as instances of dermatitis in birds following contact with nicotine residue.
The Big Tobacco Blog can easily be considered one of the most hilarious commentaries on the subject of smoking out there. Satirizing lobbyists and tobacco company executives, the site offers up its message with a refreshing dose of creativity and delicious snark that sets it apart from others with the same goal.
37. Fight with Fact
Outspoken, sarcastic, and fiery, the Fight with Fact campaign targets a more youthful demographic, using many of the same techniques as tobacco companies to spread their message. As with many sites intended to attract teenagers and young adults, they focus on pop culture and the media, dissecting ads, photos, songs, and commercials in order to illustrate the tactics utilized to seduce consumers into purchasing cigarettes and other tobacco products.
38. Protect Kids from Big Tobacco Blog
Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, this blog caters to those seeking information on how to discuss tobacco-related issues with children and prevent them from giving into the temptation to smoke. Not surprisingly, they have been following the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and its aftermath rather closely.
Named by Wellsphere as a top health blogger, Nick Wright opens up to the world and converses with the internet about his journey to forge a smoke-free lifestyle for himself. In between keep track of his progress, he offers insight into his experiences with weight gain, nicotine addiction, and heightened stress levels. His personable tone helps readers struggling with their own reservations about quitting realize they aren’t alone.
40. Addiction Inbox
An exhaustive, comprehensive, and stimulating catalogue of information pertaining to “the science of substance abuse,” the Addiction Inbox counts nicotine amongst its list of dangers. Expect to see articles regarding tobacco control alongside psychological studies on the physical, emotional, and mental elements of addiction.
Source: Wikipedia
Though not devoted exclusively to nicotine, tobacco, or smoking, this broad offshoot of the National Institute of Drug Abuse targets teens in an attempt to educate them on broader substance abuse issues. It also serves the purpose of asking questions about identity and health that oftentimes correspond with motivations behind smoking, underage drinking, and drug addiction.
Keeping readers informed on developments in Wisconsin, this blog covers local tobacco- and smoking-related news alongside the requisite list of health concerns and legislative updates. They post pictures from events all over the state and will occasionally cover major stories from other places to serve as inspiration for their own fight.
Like many other states, Virginia also has a highly vocal and localized anti-smoking movement. They are one of the few that keeps a blog in addition to a website, but it seems as if the more current information is relegated to the latter. The former discusses some past events as well as updates on state legislation regarding tobacco and smoking.
“The Movement” began in Ohio, where smoking laws only prohibited students from possessing tobacco products on campus. Starting in Cuyahoga County, this fledgling advocacy group seeks to expand its reach to other locations. The site still remains on the underdeveloped side, but shows a lot of promise in addressing a frequently overlooked issue.
Another blog devoted exclusively to events and legislation in one state, this time Arizona. This organization presents their information clearly and concisely, posting up the occasional survey for readers to weigh in with their thoughts and preferences. Arizona residents are encouraged to send in their own findings to be featured on the blog as well.
46. Nic-the Habit
Run by a registered nurse, this blog compiles a hefty amount of medical news and research. It occasionally delves into issues of drug addiction and abuse, but the majority of articles involve tobacco and smoking.
47. Sian’s Blog
For six weeks, a woman in Northern Ireland commits herself to the No Smoking Day Challenge. She offers sound advice for what to expect every week and the best ways to handle the problems that may arise.
48. Missouri’s Tobacco Control Exchange
Though based out of Missouri, this blog still posts information on tobacco and smoking control from all over the world. They do not mind addressing some of the dissent that arises from smoking bans.
49. Tobacco Control
An online, peer-reviewed academic journal concerned entirely with tobacco’s influence on society, politics, and health and the ways in which authority figures attempt to curb it.
50. No More Tobacco
Dedicated to the promotion of a smoking- and tobacco-free planet, this blog collects information on all aspects of the movement.
Source: Wikipedia
No matter their nation of origin, these blogs provide a valuable service to society. Their dedication to smoking prevention and awareness helps to ensure both clean air and clean bodies for the current generations as well as those to come.
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