One of T.S. Eliot’s major works, The Waste Land, starts with the words “April is the Cruelest Month,” and while I can’t say that I like his poem, in some ways I do agree. Terrible floods, tornados, the pandemic continues, many states still locked down causing serious damage to people who want to get back to work and school, and on and on. I was thinking about Eliot yesterday when I got in an Uber to take me home from the train station. He seemed a good driver, and a very nice man, but as soon as I closed the door, I knew–April is the cruelest month. Why? Because even through his two masks, the gentleman was smoking like a chimney!! Everything was permeated with acrid smoke which I’ve hated since I was a child😤

Neither of my grandparent, nor my parents smoked. In face, in 1924, when my aunt was six and my father was three, my grandmother decided she was NOT going to have her children smoking and gave them an object lesson. In those days they had a wood burning stove which needed to be taken apart once a week and cleaned. She had them watch as she took down the stove pipe and gave it a sharp whack on a sheaf of yesterday’s newspaper. After a few minutes she picked it up, leaving all the black soot and the vaguely acrid smell. She told them that when you smoke, you breath in all the soot that goes into your lungs and stays there–and you could die from that. Now, as adults we know that she was not technically correct, but she made her point and they never smoked. And as kids, having heard that story many times, none of the cousins smoked either. Unfortunately, extended members of the family did smoke–and every one of them died of lung cancer or COBD.

In 1964, Luther L. Terry, the US Surgeon General, released a report from the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health. In stark terms it explained that tobacco caused lung and laryngeal cancer and chronic bronchitis. (My grandmother believed that she’d been vindicated by no less than the Surgeon General😇) And in 1965 Congress passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act. Four years later they passed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act. Both required health warnings on cigarette packs, banned advertising in the media, and required annual reports on the current consequences of smoking. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Officer on Smoking and Health continues to provide resources to help end the use of tobacco. They support state, local and voluntary ways to reduce smoking. They also continue research on the problems of tobacco use, and expand the anti-smoking message.

Since 1964, more than one half of all American adults either never started, or have stopped smoking. However, 45 million adults still smoke, and eight million adults have serious health issues due to their use of tobacco. 438,000 people in the US die each year due to tobacco-related illnesses.

I was working late last night and had the radio on in the background. At that hour I often listen to Red Eye Radio, and they happened to be discussing the Trucker’s Fund, which helps many long-distance truckers who are having medical issues. As annoyed as I was with the smoking that afternoon, I really started listening to the two men who were talking about the one of the new program–Rigs without Cigs. All semi-truck drivers, their families and friends can join for up to a year. They can receive a new book that can help you quit cold-turkey. The program also offers nicotine replacement therapy, or they can use the free apps to ultimately “revoke” smoking. There are numerous tips and tools to help, and ways to set up accountability partners. Everyone needs to speak to the volunteers once a week and tell them how you’re doing. And prizes for those who maintain their work can also keep people motivated. So far, a number of truckers have been successful. https://truckersfund.org/

When I finally finished up and went to bed, I kept thinking that there’s no right way to quit smoking. Whatever works for you is the right way. Whether you use a scare tactic to keep your kids from starting, or try to quit as an adult like Rigs without Cigs, or any of the numerous other ways, give it a try–and try and try until you succeed. It’s well worth it and I bet your family will thank you!