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- smoke-free, the pre 8 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, Janvary 28, 1986 BUTT OUT! If you're still snitfling tabaccey fumes, maybe it's time you thought about quitting. On this page, a million and one reasons (well, maybe just one) why you should quit. by Cathy Robb For those who puff, there is nothing worse than a reformed smoker. But for those who have given up the nicotine habit, nothing feels bet- ter than waking up every morning with clean teeth that don't have three inches of fuzz growing on them. In Port Perry, many diehard smokers bit the dust this year, for many different reasons. The one thing each ex-smoker had in com- mon was a genuine desire to quit. Without a real reason, smokers (who know their habit isn't a good one) will fiddle-faddle around the issue, quitting haphazardly for a day or two and then starting up again. Quitting smoking is like losing weight. If you start a diet because your doctor says you'll die if you don't, chances are your weight loss plan will be successful. But if you start a diet because your spouse is bellyaching about the size of your belly, or because everyone else is dieting (and you like to follow the crowds), chances are you won't lose very much. : Howard Hall, a local businessman and councillor for Scugog Township, quit smoking 5'2 years ago when he underwent triple bypass heart surgery. Before the operation, his doctor bluntly told him, 'If you're not go- ing to quit smoking, you're really wasting my time and I might as well not do the surgery." Mr. Hall, who is now the chairman of fundraising for the Durham Lung Association, quit cold turkey. He'd been smoking for 30 to 35 years and had started when he was 15 years old, right after the war '""'when everyone else was too. Nobody had heard much of heart disease or cancer then." What's more, in all the years he smoked, Howard was a righteous smoker who once blew smoke in 2 doctor's face when the doctor sug- gested banning smoking in the Com- munity Memorial Hospital. These days he is a driving force to limit or eradicate smoking in the 'same hospital. He quit because he had to quit if he wanted to prolong the effects of his operation and his life. BUTT OUT!!! Ex-smokers reveal all during weedless "Quitting isn't hard. Not when you have a real good reason," he said. "Living longer, is about the best reason I can \think of to quit smoking." Lawyer Mike Fowler gave up the habit on New Year's Day, 1986, and has only snatched a couple of puffs since. He started when he was 18 or 19 years old and has been quitting on and off for various periods of time ever since. During university, when money - was tight, he quit for eight months. But as soon as final exams were over, and Mike found money in his pocket, the first thing he did was run out to buy smokes. Another time, he quit for six months before the lure of tobacco proved too irresistable. He started up again smoking the odd cigar and eventually back to cigarettes. back to cigarettes. "Smoking is just like alcohol as far as I'm concerned," Mr. Fowler said. 'You can't have just one." He found the habit a relaxing one, an excuse to take a break from work and a crutch to help him by various Scugog Library declared official Smoke-Free Space The only thing smoking at Scugog Memorial Library is the space bet- ween reader's ears. Other than that, the library is ct of a joint venture between library policy and the Canadian Heart Foundation. Officially, the program in ques- tion is called"Smoke-Free Spaces For Kids, something that's aimed mainly at schools and wherever children hang out or whoever they hang out with (parents, teachers, youth group leaders; coaches, health professionals, youth peers). The Heart Foundation holds the Scugog Memorial Library was declared a S belief that fewer young people would take up smoking if adolescent role models made their views about smoking more specific. If role models were to be seen to set a non- smoking example, the foundation figures there would be fewer smokers. And if smoking could be seen as unacceptable behaviour, well, there's no telling what might happen. : This is the philosophy behind Smoke-Free Spaces For Kids. The foundation is reaching children through adults who serve as their e-Free Space last Friday with the presentation of an official certificate from the Canadian Heart Foundation. Librarian Judy accepted the gift from heart folks (from left) Fran Sluggett, Scott Brownson and Judy Smith. See story for details. L] role models. It's also reaching to those adults who control the en- vironment in which children work and play. Its objectives are to promote non- smoking as the norm; motivate adults who work with young people to set a non-smoking example in spaces where kids are frequent visitors; create environments where it's okay not to smoke; com- plement and reinforce the prinicples of existing smoking prevention pro- grams; and to ultimately assist in the creation of a generation of non- smokers. "Kids emulate what they see at home. That's why kids smoke -- they pick it up," says Judy Smith, chair- man of the Scugog branch of the foundation. - She made the foundation's official certificate presentation to the library Friday afternoon. As a smoke-free space, the library had to fulfill a whole slew of re- quirements, including: having regulations in places prohibiting people from smoking anywhere on the premises; have regulations pro- - hibiting both staff and visitors from smoking on the premises during normal hours; have regulations pro- hibiting staff from smoking inside the building or on any occasion . when they are involved with patrons, provide evidence of plann- ed or implemented activities design- ed to increase awareness of the health hazards associated with smoking. What it all comes down to is you can't smoke in the library. The Foundation has sent informa- tion about the program to schools throughout the area but hasn't heard a reply so far. For informa- tion about the program, call Judy Smith at 985-8302. non-smoking week times of emotional or intellectual stress. But he also found the habit expen- sive and he figures he'll be $1,000 to $1,500 ahead each year by not smoking. For Bill Barr, owner of Stedman"s Department Store, money was no object when it came to smoking. Bill only smoked the finest cigars, up to six of the aromatic beauties every day, for 10 years. Eighteen weeks ago Bill quit, on the advice of his doctor. He'd been having real problems with a stuffy nose and the cigars were mostly to blame, even though he didn't inhale the smoke. "I wouldn't know how," he admi. ted. "And I never smoked in the house. I hated the smell." So why did he smoke? "It's a pacifier, that's what it is," he said. *'I always enjoyed having a cigar while I was fishing, and I've got to admit, as soon as I get a fishing rod in my hands, I think I'll do it again." At least he's honest. Many people tell all their friends and relatives they've quit and then take to sneaking cigarettes when © they think nobody else is looking. Doctor Tom Millar has quit so many times that it's become a joke amongst staff at the hospital. This time, he swears, it's for keeps. He quit last May, 1985, following the end of the Choral Society's Showboat production, and he's been a strident anti-smoker ever since telling any smoker he runs into what a terrible habit it is. Dr. Millar claims quitting is easy and has two foolproof steps to a cigarette-free life. Number one, he says, is declaring a Stop Smoking Day. He recom- mends picking a date well in ad- vance and telling absolutely everybody about it. "It's like getting married--once "you set the date you can't get out of it," he said. Number two is "buying tons of cigarettes" and smoking like a chimney right up until the Stop Smoking Day. By the time the big day rolls around you'll be so sick of smoking you'll quit with ease. And now that Dr. Millar has of- ficially quit, there are no more smoking physicians at Port Perry's hospital. It's nice to know that the next time you're getting your tonsils removed, you won't be overwhelmed by ashtray breath. A, ¥ k : > > dd | : " B® [J 2 fy od & i 3 © ? . & p i FJ Community Memorial Hospital receptionist Mary MacLennan was just a wee bit peeved when Cecil the Sensible Seal of the Durham Lung Association and Howard Hall, a non-smoker on the hospital board, came to break her cigarettes. But that's Cecil and Howard for ya, nicotine fighters to the end. See story for details. TA PO BA SWF in L101 Ga RE nin