Illustration by Chris OBrion/The Olympian

Quitting time

Three South Sound residents kick their fatal attraction to smoking

JIM CARLILE, THE OLYMPIAN

SOUTH SOUND SMOKERS ON QUITTING

"I've smoked for eight years and quit twice. I went cold turkey both times and neither time lasted longer than six months." --Heather Richmond

"I've smoked for six years. I quit once and tried to stay away from smokers ... It lasted two days. I just couldn't resist ... I'll try to quit next year." --Rashed Les

"I've smoked for seven years. I tried to quit once by chewing gum and drinking lots of water," but that method lasted two days. "I eventually want to quit. You have to try and see yourself 30 years from now. People are dying from smoking. I might be dying then." --Sawat Sok

A fresh start -- that's what three Olympian newsroom staffers were looking for when they decided to put their cigarettes down for good.

They will be joining millions of well-meaning smokers who attempt to quit this time of year. Each has chosen a different method and has a different motivation.

Unlike the era when their parents started smoking, there are more ways to quit and people are more aware that smoking is a health hazard than ever before.

According to the American Lung Association, 70 percent of smokers want to quit and 34 percent attempt to quit each year.

Methods such as the patch, nicotine gum, inhalers, hypnotism and prescription drugs helped double the cessation rate between 1965 and 1995, yet only 2.5 percent of those who try to quit each year succeed. As of 1995, 48.6 percent of adults who had ever smoked had quit.

In an effort to explore the effectiveness of all these cessation methods, each staff member has chosen a different path to quitting.

Frieda Bush will be using a combination of group support and the drug Zyban; Amy Uptmor will be using a nicotine patch; and Jim Carlile is using hypnosis.

Other ex-smokers have been down many of these same roads.

"I quit in October last year and I haven't had one since then, but the cravings never go away," said Danya Pallett of Shelton, who smoked for about 17 years. "I never tried the patch or gum or hypnotism. I always went cold turkey."

Like many ex-smokers, she tried to quit four or five times before stopping for a significant period. Pallett said she still wants a cigarette when she's stressed or upset.

"It's a bout that I will fight for the rest of my life. I wish I would have never tried it," she said.

As many smokers will tell you, they knew smoking was bad for them when they started. They also will tell you they didn't know how hard it would be to quit.

"The addiction is even stronger than that of cocaine or heroin or alcohol. It's a very powerful addiction. No wonder people have trouble quitting," said Earlyse Swift, who doesn't smoke but works with smokers through Tobacco Free Thurston County.

According to the American Lung Association, 350,000 Americans die of lung disease each year. Smoking also contributes to the two leading causes of death -- heart disease and cancer. More than 30 million Americans are living with chronic lung disease.

"It seems like everyone I know who has quit, it usually took something strong to make them do it -- like ending up in the hospital," said Marcus Boguslawski. He's a smoker and plans on using nicotine patches to quit again soon.

"I've quit cold turkey and I've quit by using the patch," he said. "Both lasted a couple of months."

Recidivism

The average smoker tries to quit five times before he is successful, according to Patricia Coloma, program director for Tobacco Free Thurston County.

"A successful quit is considered one year," she said. "Some people can quit smoking on their first try. For others, it takes 20."

By day, Mary Wicks, an ex-smoker herself, is a dental hygienist. In her spare time, she's a volunteer facilitator in a smoking cessation program through Providence St. Peter Chemical Dependency Center. Wicks smoked for 10 years and quit 15 years ago through a program at St. Peter.

With regard to recidivism, she said there is almost no end to the reasons people pick the habit back up.

"There are certain time frames that are troublesome for people quitting. At three to four months, there is usually a crisis-type situation," Wicks said. "Then there's six months, 12 months and two years. Those are the time frames I have identified."

People who have stopped smoking for three months feel they are in control and can have just one cigarette, she said.

"They think, 'I haven't had a cigarette in so long I could handle this.' The minute that little guy on your shoulder with a pitchfork says you can handle it, it becomes a problem," she said.

Back doors

Wicks said she refers to many excuses for starting back as "back doors" that people don't shut before trying to quit. They leave open options and loopholes as excuses to start smoking again.

"Some say they are going to start smoking again if they start gaining weight," she said. "Stress is another one."

Other smokers also are a problem. There always are people who are happy to give you a cigarette and share their habit with you. Cigarette singles, the ability to buy one cigarette at a time, are another great downfall for smokers trying to quit, Wicks said. There are countless triggers for the smoker who has recently quit.

"When you have your first cup of coffee, it's 'Where's my cigarettes?' When you get in the car, 'Where's my cigarettes?' When the phone rings, 'Where's my cigarettes?' " Wicks said.

"A lot of people refer to cigarettes as their best friend. They are with you when you're depressed, upset, having a bad day or being yelled at," she said. "When someone dies, you can't bring them back. When you quit smoking and lose your best friend, you can bring that best friend back."

Many of the customers at Olympia's Cigarettes Cheaper, the district manager included, have tried to quit smoking at some point -- whether it's for a few hours or several years. There are almost as many methods of quitting as there are smokers.

Shanika Williams, a customer, has smoked for nine years. She once tried to quit cold turkey. It lasted three hours.

Charles Bennett, the district manager of Cigarettes Cheaper, has smoked for 36 years and quit twice. One attempt lasted a few days and the other about 4 months. The first time, a friend took a curved needle, shoved it through the lobe of his ear and tied a knotted horse hair to the needle. It didn't work.

Solutions

Wicks said she never wanted to be a smoker. Her father died of coronary disease as a result of smoking, and her mother, who didn't even smoke, died of lung disease. Her mother-in-law also died of a smoking-related cancer.

"I'll tell you, that's a real motivator," she said.

The biggest motivation for quitting, she said, is health reasons -- though there are dozens of others.

"A lot of professional people are finding it socially unacceptable. They can't go into a friend's home or public place and smoke now. It's not as appealing to be a smoker anymore," she said. "I had one guy tell me he felt like the scum of the earth when he's smoking in public."

Coloma said the methods for quitting smoking successfully depend on the smoker. There are those who genuinely love to smoke, those who are simply addicted but want to quit, nonhabitual smokers and a wide range of others.

"My wife just started the patch," Boguslawski said hopefully. "I'll start it tomorrow. I've used it before and it works pretty well. Something always seems to throw me off, though."

Jim Carlile writes for The Olympian. He can be reached at 357-0204.

What works

The success rates for various cessation methods for smoking are as follows:

- Nicotine nasal spray: 30 percent success rate.

- Prescription drugs: 28 percent.

- Replacement and behavioral methods (behavioral methods are programs that focus on changing the smoker's behavior, habits and lifestyle, and replacement includes pharmacological methods such as the patch or inhalers): 27.5 percent.

- Nicotine inhalers: 19 percent.

- Behavioral: 15 percent.

- Nicotine gum: 14 percent.

- Nicotine patch: 8 percent.

- Self-help only: 4 percent.

Source: Centers for Disease Control.

By the numbers

- Every day in Washington, 65 young people start smoking. The average age of the smoker is 12.

- In 1998, 8,000 people died in Washington from tobacco and tobacco-related illness. Of those people, 290 of them are from Thurston County.

- Smoking is responsible for an estimated 12 percent of total medical costs in Washington -- that's $1.3 billion in health-care costs.

- Number of tobacco retailers in Thurston County: 253.

- Adults who smoke in Thurston County: 41,000.

Source: the American Lung Association of Washington and the Washington State Department of Health.

About this series

Today's stories are the first installment in a six-week series about quitting smoking. Three Olympian staff members have decided to quit smoking and will share their experiences each week of the process. The series also will cover topics related to successful quitting.

- This week: Quitting isn't the problem, it's staying cigarette-free.

- Next week: Withdrawal symptoms.

- Third week: Teen smoking.

- Fourth week: Lifetime smokers who persist despite health problems.

- Fifth week: The image of smoking in society.

- Sixth week: Free at last: Smokers who have quit for years share how they did it.

Tobacco Quit Line

Since its inception in November, Washington's Tobacco Quit line has received more than 4,000 calls, according to the Department of Health. Individuals who staff the quit line provide tailored messages to callers, give referrals to community or health plan cessation programs and provide customized cessation packets.

Uninsured and Medicaid-covered Quit Line callers will be offered follow-up services with contacts at regular intervals to provide support. Nicotine-replacement therapy will be provided to a limited number of callers who are uninsured or on Medicaid and who enroll in the follow-up programs.

Quit Line services in the first and second year will focus on ages 18 and older. In future years, based on the research, telephone or Web-based Quit Line services are planned for youths. All calls are free.

Washington's Tobacco Quit Line: (877) 270-STOP.

Let us know

If you have suggestions for these topics or want to share your smoking story, call Jim Carlile at 357-0204 or send him an e-mail at jcarlile@olympia.gannett.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2000

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