Even when you’re pretty sure something is true, the verification can come as a shock.
It always seemed to me as though smoking was far more common in the Flin Flon area than in Canada at large.
But to learn just how prevalent lighting up here is – a 34.9 per cent regional rate compared to a 19.3 per cent national rate – was as disappointing as it was startling.
Essentially, whereas one in five Canadians is inhaling tar, one in three residents of Flin Flon, Cranberry Portage, Snow Lake and Sherridon is doing the same. That’s a huge difference.
To me it indicates not only that people in our region smoke far more often than Canadians as a whole, but that they are also more accepting of the practice.
I knew a man, a long-time Flin Flonner, who smoked for several decades. I could not reconcile his awful habit with the fact that he was so intelligent, accomplished and conscious of his health.
When the subject of smoking came up, he went all statistical on me. Did I know, he asked, that even if he did stop smoking it would take another 25 years for his cancer risk to match that of someone who never smoked?
(I should point out that I don’t know if this statistic is true. It is certainly well established that smokers who quit enjoy both immediate and longer-term health benefits.)
In practically the same breath, he admitted that he was employing the very human tactic of cherry-picking information that justified what he wanted to do.
In other words, he was smart enough to know better than to smoke, but just hadn’t found a reason to quit.
Not stupid
I think all smokers are like that. Contrary to what the Puritans might tell us, smokers are not stupid people.
No, they’re nicotine addicts. Or at the very least nicotine lovers. Most have a plan, somewhere in the back of their minds, to quit. Some day.
All non-smokers, myself included, have smokers in our lives whom we desperately wish would butt out.
We may feel powerless, even frustrated. But there is one important step we can take.
Earlier this week, I interviewed Deanna Johnson, the smoking reduction coordinator for the Northern Health Region.
Deanna told me how important it is for smokers who want to kick the habit to have someone to support them – a “quit buddy,” if you will. It sounds corny, but it’s really not.
A quit buddy agrees to be there for the smoker in whatever capacity is needed. They are there to talk the smoker through cravings (“It will pass soon!”), initiate alternate activities (“How about a walk?”) and provide emotional backing (“You’ve already made it three weeks!”).
Maybe once in a while a quit buddy has to flush a pack of Players strategically hidden where no one would ever look, like under a sofa or in the DVD case for Blossom: The Complete Series. Who knows, right?
What I’m saying is that if you know one of the many, many smokers in Flin Flon and area – it’s impossible that you don’t – offer to be their quit buddy.
Your smoker may not take you up on the offer right away, or ever. They might also reach out to you when you least expect it.
There is no downside to doing this. You just might help save a life – and loosen, ever so slightly, tobacco’s grip on the amazing people of our region.
Local Angle runs Fridays.
