NSW: Quitting smoking like killing a friend: research

AAP General News (Australia)
12-28-2000
NSW: Quitting smoking like killing a friend: research

By Judy Skatssoon

SYDNEY, Dec 28 AAP - Giving up smoking is as difficult as killing a best friend for
some Australian smokers, according to new research.

The emotional bond between Australian smokers and their cigarettes was "more complex
and more deeply personal" than many people realised, preliminary research has found.

The study, being carried out by Sydney University social researcher Stacy Carter, is
based on summaries of previously unpublished reports and material from smokers in focus
groups.

It indicated that many smokers regarded their cigarettes as "a close friend" that helped
them connect socially and assisted the flow of a regular day.

Ms Carter said the bond between smokers and their cigarettes could become a major barrier
to successful quitting.

"For many smokers, cigarettes are an old and trusted companion," Ms Carter said.

"Quitting is like finding the strength to kill your best friend."

Professor Simon Chapman of Sydney University's public health and community medicine
department, who directed Ms Carter's study, said the results had important implications
for public health programs and measures to help smokers quit.

"Stacy's research clearly shows that understanding the deep personal nature of the
relationship between a smoker and their cigarettes is a pre-requisite for being able to
help them quit," he said.

Another expert who oversaw the study, Dr Ron Borland from the VicHealth Centre for
Tobacco Control, said unlike a best friend, cigarettes were deadly, and smokers should
try to break up the relationship for good.

"Helping smokers realise what a false friend smoking is is one of the challenges we
face," he said.

Last year 1.6 million Australian smokers - almost one in every two - listed quitting
as a new year's resolution last year.

Smokers intending to give up smoking this year can contact the Quit line on 131 848.

AAP jjs/mjm

KEYWORD: SMOKING

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