By Cam Lee

Cancer Society urges you to quit smoking in 2019

Jan 2, 2019 | 12:53 PM

It’s never too late to quit smoking.

That’s the message from Donna Pasiechnik of the Canadian Cancer Society, as many are ushering in 2019 white-knuckling it without a cigarette for the last few days.

Pasiechnik said quitting is the single-most important thing you can do to improve your health, with tobacco use the single most-preventable cause of death and disease.

She said they have a great option for people who are looking to give up smoking.

“It’s sort of a baby step. We have our Smokers Helpline as you know, and a contest called the First Week Challenge contest, where people can register the month prior to their quit attempt,” Pasiechnik said. “What they need to do is quit smoking for the first seven days of the month, and they get a chance to win $500 as a result.”

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 Pasiechnik said once people quit for a week, quitting for good seems more realistic.

“What we find is once people quit for seven days they see it as ‘This is doable. I can do this. This is reasonable’ and many quit for good,” she said. “I would say try it; it doesn’t seem so daunting when it’s only seven days, but once you quit for seven days, your chances of continuing to stay smoke free are very good.”

She added the Smokers Helpline can help those looking to quit to join a group of like minded individuals with the same goal. It requires a quitter to check in on the website and regularly update on their goal progress.

“We have that monitored by quit specialists, if you want to call the Smokers’ Helpline it’s completely free, pick up the phone, you can call someone who’s (a) non-judgmental, sympathetic, experienced quit specialist who can help you work through your quit plan, and give you tips and advice,” she said.

 Quitting smoking has huge health benefits, and Pasiechnik said butting out also helps the wallet, with cigarettes costing on average between $17 and $20 per pack.