Back to Old-School Quitting – KillTheCan Podcast, Episode 56

Transcript — KillTheCan Podcast Episode 56

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Kill the Can podcast. I hope this finds you well.

If you’re like me, you’re right in the middle of back-to-school season. My youngest just had his preview day and starts sixth grade soon. My middle son is a senior in high school and started today. My oldest just graduated and is heading off to college. We moved him into his dorm last week and will officially drop him off this Friday.

I’m sharing this not because it’s particularly important to anyone else, but because it’s been the reality of my life lately.

I’ve had people ask me, very kindly, “Hey Chewy, where’s the podcast?” Not from a negative place — just genuine interest. And the answer is simply life. Family. Travel. Stress. Change.

We also took a family vacation to Puerto Rico, and while I posted occasionally, I didn’t do much with KillTheCan during that time.

And here’s the important part.

With all of that going on — stress, travel, emotional moments — I didn’t think about dip once. It never crossed my mind.

That’s a really powerful place to be.

I don’t say that to brag or to get credit. I say it as a reminder to anyone who’s struggling right now.

If you’re newly quit, thinking about quitting, 30 days in, or even 200 days in and dealing with a bad craving or a nasty dip dream — life gets really, really good when nicotine no longer controls your thoughts.

There comes a time when you’re not white-knuckling your way through the next minute or hour. You’re not constantly thinking about where your next dip or pouch is coming from.

I want to share a quick story about nicotine pouches.

A good friend of mine — someone I’ve talked about before — recently quit nicotine pouches. He posted a video about 48 hours into his quit, and he was clearly struggling. Not so much with cravings, but mentally. He was having trouble forming sentences. He looked almost drunk.

He talked about how much nicotine he had been using and even wondered if he had been dealing with nicotine poisoning.

That’s how powerful this drug is.

I reached out to him, checked in, and I’m happy to say he’s still quit and feeling better. And I think he’s now realizing just how strong nicotine really is.

There’s so much content out there right now talking about the “benefits” of nicotine — for focus, ADHD, studying, productivity.

I’m not here to debate the science.

What I am here to say is this:
For a nicotine addict, those benefits don’t apply.

As an addict, I can never again “enjoy” nicotine. Period. End of story. In fact, the more stories I hear from people quitting pouches, the more convinced I am of how dangerous nicotine is for us.

We’re seeing more and more people joining the KillTheCan community to quit nicotine pouches — equal to or even greater than traditional smokeless tobacco.

Cigarette smoking is down, which is a good thing. But I truly believe Big Tobacco is using nicotine pouches as their next hook. These products are designed to be addictive, and they exist to keep you a customer for life.

That’s why I’m eternally grateful to be quit.

I also wanted to highlight something really cool happening in the community. One of our members started a “back to basics” roll call for members who are over a year quit. No spreadsheets. No countdowns. Just accountability and brotherhood.

It started August 18th and will run for 100 days. I put my name on that roll call and I’m excited to be part of it.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has written Hall of Fame and comma speeches. Those stories matter. They matter for the person writing them, for others reading them, and for people who haven’t even started their quit yet.

If you haven’t written yours yet — do it. Submit it. I can’t wait to read it.

I hope your quit is treating you well. I’m honored to be quit with you today.

We’ll talk soon. Have a great day.