With violence at home and abroad dominating the news lately,
the 38th Great American Smokeout on Nov. 20 passed with little notice. That was
too bad, because news on the anti-smoking front is good.
The Smokeout for a time was a date when users were urged to
quit for a single day, hoping that would lead them to stay tobacco-free
thereafter. Lately, more emphasis is given to helping smokers develop a plan for
quitting, drawing on many resources.
It's working. According to the most recent reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, cigarette smoking is continuing to decrease. For middle grade and
high school students, the rate has declined from 28 percent in 2001 to 12.7
percent last year. The rate for adults 18 and older dropped from 23 percent to
about 18 percent. Back in 1965, smoking was very popular and acceptable; about
42 percent of adults smoked. I was one of them.
I smoked for 50 years. My daily consumption of cigarettes
ran between one and two packs. I also
How do I know I'm an addict? In 1963, I made a strong
attempt to end my cigarette habit. I went completely to pipe smoking, and
didn't inhale the fumes. That lasted three years. One evening, after a
stressful day at work, I stopped at a drug store on the way home, bought a pack
of cigarettes and resumed puffing as though I'd never stopped. I wasn't able to kick
the cigarette habit again for 38 years.
Quitting all tobacco use for good was one of the most difficult things
I've ever done. Beautiful wife Sandy and I, after consulting our family doctor,
formed a detailed plan that included an exercise program. We set a firm stop date.
Sandy curtailed
her usual activities and provided strong support for the two weeks it took to
get beyond my most urgent needs to puff. Progress was complicated by the
complete failure of medication intended to help me with stress. It produced a
violent reaction, raising a red rash over most of my body.
One of the surprising things about tobacco addiction is how
differently it affects different people. One of our closest friends was able to
smoke a pack a day for weeks and suddenly stop for days, weeks, or months
without apparent effort. One of my golfing buddies said he didn't believe how
hard it was for me to quit. He had smoked for 20 years. "When I quit, I
just tossed my last pack in the trash and stopped," he said. "What's
the big deal?"
Another pal had been clean for 10 years after 25 years of
puffing. He said in his dreams he still saw himself smoking a cigarette in every
scene he could remember upon waking. Strangely, some of the public service ads
on TV encouraging quitting give me a strong urge to resume smoking. While other
quitters came to dislike the smell of second-hand smoke, I enjoyed it, and I do
to this day.
And I know if a pleasant whiff of smoke led me to light up
just one cigarette, I would be right back into a two-pack a day habit. I hope
the Smokeout sponsors and others promoting quitting succeed in helping us
reach the day when no tobacco products (or e-cigarettes) are around to tempt me
or anyone else to do one of the worst things possible to themselves.
