Smoking or non?
“It doesn’t matter how big the warning labels are; you could have a black pack, with a skull and crossbones on the front, called TUMORS, and smokers would be around the block going, ‘I can’t wait to get my hands on these fucking things! I bet ya get a tumor as soon as you light up!’”
- Denis Leary, No Cure for Cancer
Happy Passover/Easter!
This week, I was approached by someone from a stop smoking campaign who asked me a bunch of questions but basically was trying to figure out: “How do we get youth to quit smoking?” And surprisingly, by “youth”, she actually meant “under 18″.
We went through a laundry list of all the things that didn’t work.
- Informing kids on the long-term health risks of smoking doesn’t seem to work… Figure most (all?) smokers are fully aware of what can (and probably will) happen to them.
- Scaring kids by over-blowing the consequences (“Each cigarette will take years off your life!”)… Again, we hear the consequences all the time, and exaggerating them will probably make you less credible.
- Trying to be “hip” and talking to kids “at their level” tends to fall on its face… because there’s nothing sadder than adults trying their hardest to sound like kids.
After that depressing exchange, the only suggestion I could offer her was to encourage kids to at least smoke less, since that would make quitting easier when they eventually got to that point.
So what does work?
Well, something must be working because despite the image of your teens being a time of experimentation, only about half of Canadian youth (grade 12 and under) have even tried a cigarette (source). I’d be super curious to hear why not! (If you’re one of these people, please comment!)
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If you’re looking to quit, try checking out the BC Lung Association’s “Quit Now” web site, which goes over a ton of different ways to quit. If you’re looking to talk to other quitters, they also sponsor a “revolutionary” forum called Quitters Unite. I’m sure Che Guevera would be proud.
