Male Speaker: Law and Order; a staple of American television; one of the longest running and most popular shows all time. At the center of the crime drama is hardnosed Lieutenant Anita Van Buren played by Amy Award winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson.
S. Epatha Merkerson: The buck really stops with her. It's her precinct. She takes care of her guys, one way or the other, but I think she is an honorable character.
Male Speaker: On screen Merkerson has brought low lives to justice and seen the worst that society has to offer, but off screen she has come face to face with an equally tough Nicotine Addiction.
S. Epatha Merkerson: When I grew up smoking was cool, everybody smoked.
Male Speaker: That included her father and everyone of her four siblings and they all started in their teens.
S. Epatha Merkerson: I was a knucklehead though. I actually didn't start smoking until I was in my 20s because I figured it was time for me to be cool.
Male Speaker: As she got older she tried quitting several times, but nothing worked.
S. Epatha Merkerson: I use to get in trouble because I'd smoke in the dressing room, but this wasn't my dressing room at the time. I was in a dressing room that didn't even have a window, that's how bad it was. My cigarettes stayed on my night stand, before I put my feet on the floor in the morning, I lit a cigarette. The heaviest I smoked was about 3 packs a cigarettes a day.
Male Speaker: Then one day the family got a wake up call. Her second older sister Debby was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, fortunately it was treatable.
S. Epatha Merkerson: She alive, she survived it.
Male Speaker: Yet Epatha continued to smoke until one day she had her own scare.
S. Epatha Merkerson: I woke up and my analogy is that it felt as if an Elephant was sitting on my chest. I couldn't breath and I just kept feeling like and I thought this is so ridiculous.
Male Speaker: That motivated her to try quitting again. She hasn't had a cigarette since and she has taken her battle a step further, using her fame to help get the word out about the risks of smoking like cancer, heart disease and countless other health problems.
S. Epatha Merkerson: Okay if anyone tells you that smoking is a good thing, they are blowing a lot of smoke about 4000 chemicals worth of smoke, no thanks. Celebrity comes with I think responsibility as well and sometimes people listen because they see me on television and they may listen to my personal story and really take it to heart.
Male Speaker: One our messages, if at first you don't succeed in kicking the habit, try again. It takes up to ten attempts for many smokers to quit for good. It's the same sort of determination that Epatha's character shows each week in nailing the bad guys.
S. Epatha Merkerson: Thank you for visiting me on set, I got to get back, bye.
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