Quitting was never easy. "I had a hard time," I told Dr Holmes, the community health consultant serving in Springville. "I was tense, finding difficulty to sleep and I broke out in sudden cold sweats.

Fortunately, this is temporary and passed in a couple of weeks. But the psychological dependence lasts much longer.

It was a breezy cold Christmas eve when I first met up with Dr Holmes in his little practition located behind the fast food corner. He told me that I left no choices: Lung cancer or stop smoking IMMEDIATELY !

I couldn't. Smoking was the biggest thing in my life, more important to me than food,esteem,career and children adding together. I smoked almost constantly. I would even walk around my house or work place with an ashtray in my hand.

Quitting is no picnic. But once succeeded, it is just delightful and rewarding ! So do it. Do it for yourself, for your self-esteem, for your health, for your children's health. Do it also for the comfort and health of those around you.

Those who have quit know nicotine withdrawal is no easy task. Yet the millions of tobacco-related cases of illness and death every year are powerful incentives to quit. But for the majority of smokers the incentives are not as powerful as the addiction impelling them to continue.

The habitual intake of nicotine, as discovered by medical research, is equivalent to the use of amphetamines, cocaine and heroin. Nicotine "meets the technical criteria of an addictive drug in laboratory studies by affecting brainwave, altering mood and serving as a biological reward that draws out certain behavior from both laboratory animals and human volunteers."

Have you struggled in vain for many years to quit smoking ? And you feel very DISCOURAGED ? Do not give up! Others, many others who have been just addicted to nicotine, have succeeded in quitting.

After each resolution to quit, I would end up scouting around for cigarette butts. Or I would get dressed at night and go out to buy some. Only thereafter finding myself extremely disappointed and upset over yet another losing battle to tobacco.

But things need not necessarily be the same to you if you have the knowledge.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

How do you apply this into your struggle against tobacco ?

Consider the following hard facts:

• LUNG CANCER: Smokers make up 87% of lung cancer deaths

• BREAST CANCER: Women who smoked 40 or more cigarettes daily have a 74% greater chance of dying from breast cancer.

• HEART DISEASE: Smokers have a 70% greater risk of cardiovascular disease.

• LEUKEMIA: Smoking appears to cause myeloid leukemia.

• HEARING IMPAIRMENT: Infants of smoking parents have greater difficulty processing sound.

• DIABETIC HAZARD: Diabetics who smoke or chew tobacco are at higher risk for kidney damage and have more rapidly progressing retinopathy.

• COLON CANCER: Two studies involving more than 150,000 people show a clear link between smoking and colon cancer.

• ASTHMA: Secondhand smoke can worsen asthma in youngsters.

• EXERCISE INJURIES: According to a U.S. Army study, smokers are more likely to suffer injuries while exercising.

• MEMORY: High doses of nicotine may take a toll on mental dexterity while a person is performing complex tasks.

• DEPRESSION: Psychiatrists are investigating evidence of a link between smoking and major depression as well as schizophrenia.