Today
could change your life. Perhaps even lengthen it.
The Thursday before Thanksgiving is the annual Great
American Smokeout, a day on which the American Cancer
Society, along with other health organizations,
asks smokers to give up cigarettes for 24 hours.
(So don't worry that it's already after midnight
-- it's still not too late to stop.)
The
Cancer Society estimates there are 46 million smokers
in America. It expects that about a third of them
won't light up today. Some of those will start again
Friday. Others may last until Saturday.
But
thousands -- surveys suggest 1 in 10 -- will go
the rest of their lives without a cigarette.
They'll
save money, of course. The average smoker spends
more than $1,800 a year on cigarettes.
But
wait, that's not all. . . . A Duke University study
put the real costs of cigarettes for a long-time
smoker at $40 a pack when lost work time, added
visits to the doctor's office and smoking-related
health problems are considered.
Because
of that study, we're actually going to say something
good about smoking. Sort of.
Smoking
actually saves money -- but not as one might think.
Frank
Sloan, co-author of the Duke study and professor
of economics and director of the Center for Health,
Policy, Law and Management at the university's Terry
Sanford Institute of Public Policy, said the savings
goes to pension funds and Social Security. "Smokers
die at a younger age and don't draw on the funds
they've paid into those systems."
The
study concluded that for young adults "the
decision to smoke is a very costly one -- one of
the most costly decisions they make."
The
Great American Smokeout has made a difference. In
2002, an estimated 45.8 million Americans smoked;
46 million counted themselves as former smokers.
It was the first year that those who quit outnumbered
those who didn't.
For
those who might be persuaded to quit -- even just
for a day -- the Smoke Free Society, a national,
nonprofit group dedicated to helping smokers quit
and educating kids not to start, is offering a free
download of its "Proven Stop Smoking Technique"
(a $40.00 value) the entire month of November, Simply
go to the society's Web site: www.SmokeFreeSociety.org
or email them at CustomerCare@smokefreesociety.org.
Rez
Seyedin, society founder, said he knows the three-step
program works "because I, too, was addicted
to a two-pack-a-day smoking habit. I developed this
technique to help myself, my family, friends and
employees quit smoking back in 1985. Please act
today, tomorrow could be too late."
While
the program is free, Seyedin pointed out in an interview
last year with The Palm Beach Post that a donation
to help support the society's mission would be appreciated:
"The price of a carton of cigarettes seems
about right. A carton of cigarettes costs around
$35. That would be a nice donation."
He
also provided some other engaging statistics. A
pack-a-day smoker, spending five minutes on a cigarette,
consumes 11 waking hours of his or her week smoking.
Seyedin's
program weans smokers over a 17-day period. For
those who want to quit cold turkey another website
(www.whyquit.com/ pr/111605.html) offers 48 tips.
And
don't worry about the tobacco companies. They'll
be fine. While the American Cancer Society points
out that 400,000 smokers become nonsmokers each
year and another 400,000 smokers die, that 800,000
is more than offset by the 1 million youngsters
enticed to start smoking each year.
On
a closing note, Florida receives more than $360
million annually from a settlement with tobacco
companies to help offset the cost of smoking to
the state. But the Legislature has cut a highly
successful smoking-cessation program aimed at young
people from $35 million down to $1 million in this
year's budget.
A
petition is being circulated to place a constitutional
amendment on the ballot that would require the Legislature
to adequately fund a comprehensive, statewide tobacco-education-and-prevention
program each year, using the tobacco settlement.
Two
things to do today:
-
1- Quit smoking for 24 hours.
- 2-
Visit the Web site of Floridians for Youth Tobacco
Education (www.keepkidssmokefree.com),
click on the "sign petition" box to
the right of the screen, and help put the amendment
on the 2006 ballot.
Nothing
else on today's to-do list could be so life changing.
For
more information on quitting techniques and free
download of its "Proven Stop Smoking Technique"
(a $40.00 value) the entire month of November, go
to its website at www.SmokeFreeSociety.org
or email them at CustomerCare@smokefreesociety.org
For information, Click
here
The
Ledger.com
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