Smoke Free Society

This is NOT original...exerted from Sympatico News, by Daniela Syrovy
It depicts my quitting and outlook on the "quit" smoking movement.

A subsidized quit-smoking policy for all of Canada.

According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, there are approximately 5.5 million adult smokers in Canada. Many countries give unrestricted quit-smoking drug coverage to their entire population. With respect to smoking cessation drugs in Canada, only Quebec subsidizes ALL anti-tobacco products. While the Yukon and PEI both reimburse people for their purchases.

No matter how much smokers are taxed, no matter how hard we try to ostracize them in public, and no matter how many studies are done confirming the ill effects of cigarettes, it is unlikely that we can achieve a 100% non-smoking society. Smokers know the health risks of their habit, and will continue to light up. As a former smoker myself I understand the addiction and its sociological aspects, and I would think that it is safe to say that most smokers have tried to quit, or have wanted to quit, at some point in their smoking career. For me personally quitting was a decision I made one day, cold turkey.

Anyone I know who has quit or tried to quit usually all agree on one thing. ‘Quitting smoking is not easy.' There are a plethora of quit-smoking drugs on the market today and if the government has to foot the bill to help get people to quit smoking, so be it. Of course ‘wanting to quit' is a very important mental aspect, but sometimes a helping hand is what someone really needs to take the next step. A subsidized quit-smoking system is that hand.

It seems blatantly obvious that a country with fewer smokers is a healthier one. The cost of cessation treatments is far, far less than dealing with all the health problems (heart disease, stroke, cancers) that typically occur to the habitual smoker. Economically it is extremely advantageous to a country's health care system in the long run.

I am not one of those self-righteous people who used to smoke and now preaches the evils to any smoker I come across. Nor have I sworn a blood oath to destroy all tobacco companies on the planet. However I do know smoking is not cool. It is a disgusting habit and has no health benefits. Aid in the battle to break their habit should be available to anyone who wants it. As the broken record of non-smoking spins, just remember that when you light up, it is really only ‘BIG Tobacco' who wins.

Walk Good