May 31st is World No Tobacco Day. This day was initiated by the World Health Organization back in 1987. The theme for 2024 is “Protecting children from tobacco industry interference.” I can oblige this task, just by digging in the library a little.
I have “The Story of a Cigarette, coloring book” by Lindsay R. Curtis, M.D. 1971 printed by the American Cancer Society. I used this coloring book to try and get my wife to quit smoking, back in college. It didn’t work then. I tried again with it when our kids were born. She did good during the pregnancies, but a nurse (fellow smoker) showed my wife (after delivery) where she could smoke (in a janitor’s closet). Oh, well.
Back to those college days, I was taking a scuba class in Anderson Hall at NIU. A good friend of my wife and I was taking an advanced anatomy class, also in Anderson Hall. She snuck me in to watch a partial autopsy. Saw the lungs of a dead smoker. Whew.
I also have the book “You can now break The Cigarette Habit” by Arthur King, 1959. It gives a plan for quitting cigarettes. It is an interesting program if you really want to quit. It begins with 21 days before quit day. First thing is to change your cigarette brand. Second thing is to eliminate smoking before breakfast and one hour before bed. For the morning routine, have a glass of water or juice when you wake up. The idea is that your “Will Power’ is more vulnerable then.
Two weeks before quit day, you change brands to one you least like. You are still working on those cravings, but are not enjoying it as much. Seven days before quit day, you change to the mildest cigarette brand. There are many other things the author has you to do and not do for quitting. After all, he had a book to fill. Also, there is the kicker to have doctor give prescription for Dexedrine tablets (5 mg) and Phenobarbarbital pills (1/2 gr.) for the first week.
It turns out that along with routine changes, and affirmation checklists, and smoking substitutes, the author wants you to use some drugs as well. He is trying to cover all bases with his plan to quit smoking. I wonder how many doctors would write prescriptions that easily today.
My grandmother gave up smoking at 93. She, back then, would have a lit cigarette in several rooms at the same time, as she was always on the go around the house. One doctor had her doing a cat scan, going into the tube. She was scared of close quarters, and told the doctor that. He said almost jokingly, that she better get used to it, because if she kept on smoking, she would soon be laying in a casket that is even smaller than this tube. She stopped that day, cold turkey.
“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.” – Mark Twain
“When I get to heaven, gonna smoke a cigarette that’s nine miles long.” – John Prine
Thanks for reading
Librarytomes 