Article December 27, 2004 Issue

IT'S EASY TO QUIT SMOKING...

By Mario Tosto

"It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times!" So goes a quote often attributed to Mark Twain. Anyone who has been addicted to nicotine can relate.

Take me, for example. I started smoking in my teens, like a lot of kids my age. It's not considered quite as cool today, but then there were plenty of influences saying, "Smoking is cool." There were splashy cigarette ads on television, magazine and billboard ads, not to mention ashtrays everywhere. And almost everyone in the movies, and some on TV, smoked.

While today's attitudes about smoking are decidedly different, many people are still struggling with addiction to nicotine. If my own experience is any measure, there will come a time when most of them will desperately want to quit. I remember one time when I was laid up with a very heavy cold—flat out on my bed coughing and wheezing in pain. To my own surprise, I rolled over to the nightstand and lit up a cigarette. Spluttering uncontrollably, I suddenly saw my addiction as the humiliating thing it was. Even so, I couldn't quit.

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