The Fight Against Big Tobacco Companies
This song was inspired by members of a smoking cessation and reduction group for people living with mental illness, which I run. I am a registered nurse. I wrote the song with the hope that it might cause people to express their stories and look at smoking in new and creative ways, using any kind of art form brought to staff, whether music, writing, visual arts, theater , comedy, dance, etc. I like to think that the process of seeing and telling a story has the potential of human beings lead in new directions. The music video is a collaboration between myself and the group members, with the small budget required by my employer, the Health Authority of Vancouver Island. The song was inspired by the touching story I hear every week of smoking people who are angry with themselves often smoked. Approximately 80% of people with schizophrenia smoke, and people living with mental illness in general, tend to smoke at nearly twice the rate of the general population, so these people are disproportionately affected by the adverse consequences (physical, economic, emotional and social) of smoking. I smoked a lot of ages 12 to 31, so I know good addiction. Quitting smoking is one of the most self-affirming but more difficult things I’ve done, and I hope this song and video will be useful to others.