• Tobacco kills – Half of all smokers are killed by their tobacco use.
• Secondhand smoke kills too – 50,000 Americans die each year from exposure to other people’s tobacco smoke.
• Secondhand smoke hurts children – It is a significant cause of asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, tonsillitis and ear infections in children. Smoke-filled rooms can have up to six times the air pollution as a busy highway.
• Decrease your risk of heart disease – Health benefits start as soon as you quit smoking.
• Don’t teach your children to smoke – Children tend to learn smoking from their parents or other role models.
• Breathe easier – Breathing efficiency increases within two to three weeks of quitting smoking.

The below information is taken from the Surgeon General’s Tips for the First Week. You Can Quit Smoking. March 2001. U.S. Public Health Service. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/1stweek.htm

Nicotine is a powerful addiction. If you have tried to quit, you know how hard it can be. People who are trying to quit smoking go through both physical and psychological withdrawal. Here are some tips for quitting.

Drink a lot of liquids, especially water. Try herbal teas or fruit juices. Limit coffee, soft drinks, or alcohol—they can increase your urge to smoke.

Avoid sugar and fatty food. Try low-calorie foods for snacking – carrots and other vegetables, sugarless gum, air-popped popcorn, or low-fat cottage cheese. Don’t skip meals.

Exercise regularly and moderately. Regular exercise helps. Joining an exercise group provides a healthy activity and a new routine.

Get more sleep. Try to go to sleep earlier and get more rest.

Take deep breaths. Distract yourself. When cravings hit, do something else immediately, such as talking to someone, getting busy with a task, or taking deep breaths.

Change your habits. Use a different route to work, eat breakfast in a different place, or get up from the table right away after eating.

Do something to reduce your stress. Take a hot bath or shower, read a book, or exercise.

Remind yourself every day why you are quitting.

Avoid places you connect with smoking.

Develop a plan for relieving stress.

Listen to relaxing music.

Watch a funny movie.

Take your mind off a problem and come back to it later.

Rely on your friends, family, and support group for help.

Avoid alcohol. It lowers your chances for success.

To get a free copy of other consumer products on quitting smoking, call any of the following toll-free numbers:

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 800-358-9295.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 800-CDC-1311.
• National Cancer Institute, 800-4-CANCER.

You may also get more online information at the Surgeon General’s Web site at www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco

If you want to quit smoking but you don't have insurance that covers the cost of nicotine patches or nicotine gum, call the Minnesota Quit Line toll free at 1-877-270-7867. They can provide you with free patches, gum and counseling to help you kick the habit.

Minnesota Quit Line hours of operation:
Monday – Thursday 8:00 am – 11:00 pm
Friday 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm

Click on the image below to download a poster with this information (pdf) to put up or give to a friend.

CardioVision 2020, with the help of Summer of Service students, is launching a new project to commemorate people who have died from a tobacco-related illness or disease. Far too often, the human impact of tobacco use gets lost behind statistics. The goal of the Memorial Wall project is to help people remember that in addition to costing Minnesotans $1.3 billion each year – tobacco costs 6,400 Minnesotans their lives.

Each of us has probably been touched by the tobacco epidemic. Each of us has a relative or a friend of the family who has died from cancer, emphysema or heart disease, or is living with one of these tobacco-related diseases. Pictures of people made ill by tobacco put a face on the burden caused by tobacco. By understanding how the user’s life and the lives of their families have been affected, people may be more likely to strive for a tobacco-free lifestyle and zero exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

To participate, simply provide us with a picture (photo or laser copy) of a loved one who is living with or who has died from a tobacco-related disease. Each picture should include: the person’s name, relationship to you, and the tobacco related disease they suffer from or died of. We will build the wall as the photos are collected and it will travel around the county. You can fax, mail, or give them to anyone working at a CardioVision 2020 booth in a community event (like the Olmsted County Fair). There is no deadline as this will be an on-going project.

Mailing address:
CardioVision 2020 MR 1-22
200 First Street SW
Rochester MN 55905

Fax: 507-284-1206

Movies claim to portray real life, but when was the last time a smoker in a movie died of lung cancer, emphysema, or throat cancer?

Below is a partial list of very talented famous people killed by their tobacco addiction. The full updated list of Famous Dead Smokers can be downloaded (as a pdf) at www.smokefree.org/FDS.pdf.

• George Harrison of the Beatles died of throat cancer at age 57.
• Bob Marley died of lung cancer at age 36.
• Lon Chaney died of lung cancer and throat cancer at age 47.
• Jacqueline Kenney Onassis, who hid her smoking, died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma at age 64.
• Patrick Kennedy (son of JFK and Jackie) was born prematurely and died after 2 days. His death was attributed to his mom’s smoking during pregnancy.
• Kiel Martin of Hill Street Blues died of lung cancer at age 46.
• The two co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (Bill Wilson and Bob Smith) both died of lung cancer at ages 75 and 71 respectively.
• Lorraine Hansberry, famous black author of “A Raisin in the Sun,” died of lung cancer at age 34.
• Morton Downey Jr. died of lung cancer at age 67.
• Graham Chapman, Monty Python comic, died of throat cancer at age 48.
• Eric Carr (Paul Caravello), the drummer for Kiss, died of lung cancer at age 41.
• William Talman, lawyer on Perry Mason, died of lung cancer at age 51.

What a shame that all this talent had to be cut short. Just think of all of the additional memories the world could have had if these people had been able to live their full lives. The movie industry could play an important role in discouraging tobacco addiction by adopting industry-wide guidelines restricting smoking to only when it is essential to the character being portrayed.

If you would like to send a letter to all major Hollywood movie execs, go to www.smokefree.org/movies.