By CHRISTOPHER TUFFLEY
christopher.tuffley@newssun-com
SEBRING -- For 31 years the American Cancer Society has held the Great American Smoke Out the third Thursday of November. The idea is to encourage, and challenge, smokers to go an entire 24 hours without smoking.
Manage a week without puffing tobacco and a person has something to really be thankful for on the fourth Thursday of November, along with the turkey and stuffing.
But such a feat is far from easy and smokers are warned not to become discouraged or guilt ridden -- quitting tobacco is more difficult than quitting heroin and typically it will take more than one try.
The fact is that tobacco is a deadly product, and one that has been engineered by manufacturers to be highly habit forming, Derek Carlton, the Department of Health's health promotion supervisor said.
Even the anti-smoking brochures put out by the tobacco companies contain subliminal messages and cannot be trusted, he said.
He added that tobacco companies spend almost $14 million dollars in advertising in each Florida county. He compared that to his anti-smoking budget of $100,000, which is funded from the tobacco settlement back in the late 1990s.
Fortunately, the Cancer Society has quality information available in many forms, including pamphlets and Web sites.
Here in Highlands County, the health department also has an active and energized team of individuals who are dead set on helping people cut back on the deadly habit. Mostly they hope to persuade those who don't smoke to never start.
This is one reason Donna Stayton and Andy Centonzio, who work with Carlton, are engaged with the students at Sebring and Avon Park High School and hope to extend their presence to Lake Placid High School as well.
Centonzio heads the youth targeted program SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco). Monday, the Sebring High School members will wear identical T-shirts, carry informational posters and march down to the historic Circle to draw attention to the dangers of smoking and the benefits in quitting.
Thursday, the day of the smoke out itself, Sebring and Avon Park SWAT students will remain silent during the lunch period at school. This is to symbolize all the people who have died of smoking related diseases and can no longer speak for themselves.
In fact, Carlton said, tobacco-related illnesses are the top cause of all deaths, and smoking is the leading cause of preventable death, while second hand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death.
Approximately 28.8 million packs of cigarettes are bought in Florida every year.
An estimated 46 million American adults smoke.
In 2006, 13.3 percent of middle school students claimed use, as did 28.1 percent of high school students.
During an intense anti-smoking advertising campaign from 1998 to 2004, youth smoking dropped by half. A cutback in that funding later saw the numbers rise again, but new money means Carlton, Stayton and Centonzio have re-invigorated the Highlands County anti-smoking campaign.
Among their programs, in addition to SWAT, are quarterly tobacco classes, each lasting six weeks, to help adults quit and an evening class designed for youth.
The two most important factors in quitting successfully, Stayton said, is to be ready to quit and to have a support system in place.
It is also helpful to have a quit plan in place, and alternative actions ready to help when the withdrawal symptoms occur -- for example a breathing or physical exercise plan, or someone to call.
There are a number of helpful Web sites and telephone numbers which follow: tobaccofreeflorida.org; www.tobaccofreehighlands.org; www.FLQuitline.com; and 1-877-U Can Now(1-877-822-6669). Carlton and his team can be reached at 382-7252.
Sunday, November 16, 2008 - www.newssun.com/1116-Smoke-Out