Speaker: Maggie Kirby's smoking days are behind her, but before she overcame her addiction, cigarettes reached into almost every part of her daily life.
Maggie Kirby's: It's easy for me to see now in retrospect that smoking had not just impacted my health, but it had invaded every aspect of my day-to-day life, from my activities, to how I planned my days, to where I went and who I went with. I avoided vacations, nice trips here and there, because I knew I couldn't sit on a plane for 'x' numbers of hours without an opportunity to have the cigarette.
Speaker: Despite provincial smoking bans and other restrictions, the warm summer whether brings smokers outdoors and shows that addiction is still prevalent among Canadians. About 5 million Canadians still smoke, and a recent Léger Marketing Survey shows most don't truly understand how it impacts their work, social life and personal relationships. Dr. Lew Pliamm is not surprised. He specializes in treating tobacco addiction.
Dr. Lew Pliamm: This is why it makes smoking such a difficult addiction to treat, because you are treating both the nicotine addiction, the dependency of nicotine in the brain, but you are also treating the behavioral aspects of the person's lifestyle. They now have to change how they eat, the kinds of friends they have with whom they smoke, their friends at work, their other behaviors like driving a car and pulling out the ashtray.
Speaker: The Survey reveals more than half of people who work with a smoker find it bothersome. Smokers are generally unaware of how much their smoking is taking them away from their work. Smoking also impacts our choice of partner, half of the smokers surveyed who have a partner say that person smokes and as many as 60% of nonsmokers say they have chosen not to date someone because he/she was a smoker.
Maggie Kirby: My advice to anybody who wishes to quit smoking is to never quit trying to quit. In other words go out there, speak to your doctor, your pharmacist, your health unit and get the information that you need. There are plans and tools out there for everybody and for every type of personality.
Speaker: For more information on nicotine addiction and how to bud out for good visit www.itscanadastime.com. If you were thinking about quitting, don't wait book an appointment with your doctor who can help you set a quick plan with the smoking cessation option that is best for you Martin Venderwood reporting.
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