680News - Lisa Brandt

Smoking makes me sick. No, really, I’m allergic to cigarette smoke, which is apparently quite common for ex-smokers. It’s a bit of a defence mechanism that kicks in, I guess. I’m empathetic to smokers because I was one of them and a hard-core one at that. This is my 20th anniversary year of quitting. I know it’s not easy.

Cigarettes are making news because as of May 31, retailers will no longer be allowed to have packs on display. Back when I smoked, I knew my brand well so it wouldn’t have been a problem to buy cigarettes sight unseen. Smokers tend to be faithful to one kind of cancer stick.

But the province is hoping that hiding the packages, wrapped as they are in huge health warnings, will make them less enticing to kids. At last word, about half of store owners said they wouldn’t be ready with their camouflage by the deadline. However, Premier McGuinty says they were all warned years ago that this was coming and there’s no reason they can’t be prepared.

Back when I quit, there were few quitting aids. I went cold turkey and chewed sugarless gum until my jaw hurt and ate carrot sticks until my hands turned orange. These days, there are gums, patches, pills and other doodads designed to ease the very real symptoms of withdrawal. And if you look up Toronto Public Health on the Web, you’ll find pages and pages of tips to help you quit and programs that are covered by OHIP. That is, if you want to quit! Whenever you’re ready, it’s there.