Lavaca County woman kicks the habit in Great American Smokeout
Crossroads resident kicked habit year ago
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SMOKING STATISTICS
Roughly $853.4 million is spent in Texas each year on marketing efforts by the tobacco industry.
In Texas, 22.9 percent of adults smoke - a choice that kills 24,100 persons every year.
About 56,900 Texas teens under ...
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SMOKING STATISTICS
Roughly $853.4 million is spent in Texas each year on marketing efforts by the tobacco industry.
In Texas, 22.9 percent of adults smoke - a choice that kills 24,100 persons every year.
About 56,900 Texas teens under 18 become new smokers.
Source: Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug AbuseLEARN MORE
For more information on the Smokeout call the American Cancer Society at 361-578-2849.
It was a year ago that Delores Evans decided to kick cigarettes in the butt.
Literally.
The Koerth resident kicked her 30-year habit because she felt it was something she had to beat.
"I tried to quit before two or three times," the 56-year-old said. "This time I made up my mind. It was tough."
Though Evans quit because she felt it was something she had to do, others in the Crossroads and across the nation interested in quitting will attempt to during the Great American Smokeout on Thursday.
"If they can commit to stop smoking for one day, we hope it will spark them to stop smoking all together," said Mary Martinez, the community manager health initiative with the local American Cancer Society.
Messages like those made during the Great American Smokeout can push people to quit, but most often, it's an individual's decision.
"If you haven't made up your mind, you're not going to quit," Evans said.
For Evans, the hardest part was resisting the habit of pulling out that menthol cigarette after each meal.
She used to smoke a pack a day.
She has found herself doing the dishes or trying to do something else to be productive.
The important thing is support, which is what Evans had and which is what the smokeout promotes, Martinez said.
"When you are willing to do it for the one day, you have a better opportunity that those peers continue to help you through it," she said.
Evans was one of the last people in her family to kick the habit, she said.
"To be personally honest, if I walk by and I smell a Marlboro cigarette, I want one," she said.
Though the temptation is always there, the fight gets easier every day, she said.
Quitting has helped her regain her sense of smell, not to mention add some more money in her purse.
A pack a day averages about $4.80, according to a cost of smoking calculator guide.
A pack a day for a month is about $144.
A year, $1,752.
"If you're in support of wanting to quit, go for it," Evans said. "It's worth it in the long run."
The local cancer society chapter hopes to increase awareness about the Great American Smokeout in the future, Martinez said.
"We also have resources available, and we have a quit line that we manage," she said.
If a person who smoked for 30 years can quit, anybody can, Evans said.
But don't expect it to be easy.
"Everyone has a tendency to tell you, you have to quit smoking, but being a smoker has to be a personal decision," she said. "For me, it was my time to quit."
Comments
Congratulations I realize it is a task since I am around a bunch of smokers that keep trying to quit. Hold your head high.
November 18, 2009 at 7:26 p.m.