QUITTING: Reason No. 73

In this, the month of the annual Great American Smokeout, we’ve been dropping a few subtle hints for our readers (paper and blog) who smoke – or know someone who does. That’s a small group growing smaller. It’s not like we’re some Third World nation where the dumb masses (please don’t say those two words together; they are two separate words: dumb masses) …now where were we? oh, yes, the dumb masses over there don’t even know smoking is dangerous. As we have previously noted below (on “Cyanide Monday,” Nov. 5), in places like the Philippines, India, and Latin America, up to 70 percent of the people smoke; here the figures are only 15 to 20 percent. But why should it even be that high?

Which leads us to Reason No. 73: Yesterday I visited a friend of mine who is a patient at GHSU. She has cancer. She is not going to make it. Her family has reached the point, I think, where they just want it to be over for her sake. She is in excruciating pain and is hooked up to a morphine pump which, frankly, can only do so much. Over this past weekend (at home) she tried to open a jar and in so doing, broke her wrist. A bone just snapped from merely twisting the lid on a jar. She is not old. That’s just what cancer has done to her.

Does this story have any connection with smoking? No. She has never smoked, and for the record, many smokers never develop cancer. What this sad but true tale is about is risk. Smoking greatly increases a person’s risk of getting cancer. I’ve had cancer. Trust me, it’s no fun. I must ask: why would anyone voluntarily do something that significantly increases their chances of getting cancer? And for those who think they’ll be one of those who dodge the cancer bullet, a World Health Organization study found that with or without cancer, male and female smokers lose an average of 13.2 and 14.5 years of life, respectively. That is a lot of life to lose. Is smoking really worth trading more than a decade of your life for?