FRANK'S CORNER Archives - Why It's So Hard To Quit Smoking

The Real Reason It Is So Difficult To Quit Smoking - June 1997

........ It is almost impossible to watch TV, listen to the radio, or read newspapers and magazines these days without coming across an article on the smoking issue. States are suing tobacco companies, restaurants are being forced to make costly renovations, smoking has been banned completely in many places. A recent AP story even indicates that the Governor of Malaysia has proposed legislation to allow for public whipping of children caught smoking in school as a punishment for a first offense. The third offense would result in the child being banned from school for life! Fortunately our wonderful country has not resorted to such extreme measures, although smokers who fly frequently probably feel that a five-hour flight without a cigarette is comparable punishment.
........ Because I was a smoker for seventeen years, I can sympathize with the difficulties faced by those of you who have not yet been able to quit, despite many valiant attempts. I have also been smoke-free for twenty three years now, so I fully understand the non-smoking advocates as well. I firmly believe that the main reason people find it so difficult to quit smoking is directly linked to our obsession with being thin. FAT IS UNHEALTHY! This message has been pounded into our brain by countless TV ads as they extol the virtues (as well as the amazing low price) of all types of exercise devices, some of which look incredibly dangerous to operate! Anyone who has ever attempted to quit smoking certainly knows that weight gain is the inevitable result. It is a gradual and insidious process. Munching replaces smoking; Twinkies replace Marlboros; cheeseburgers replace Twinkies; cheesecake replaces coffee and a Camel after the cheeseburgers; fat eventually replaces nicotine. The alternative is to continue smoking and stay thin! Twisted logic tells us that not all smokers get cancer, but most fat people are considered to be unhealthy, therefore it is less dangerous to smoke than it is to be overweight!
........ I believe the key issue here is "less dangerous" to whom? If we are at lunch together and you choose to order up a hot fudge sundae as a sequel to your chicken-fried steak, while I graze on my assorted greens and low-calorie dressing, that is one thing. If you fill my lungs with second-hand smoke while I am trying to digest my lunch, that is quite another matter! Too much time, effort, and money has been spent debating the issue. Lets keep it simple! I think that the viewpoint of non-smokers can best be stated by condensing all the rhetoric into one easily understood statement......If you blow smoke in my face, it affects me; if you are fat in my face, it only affects you!

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