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By MONTANETTE C. ROCKER; Times Leader Staff Writer
Friday, November 18, 1994 Page: 2A
WILKES-BARRE — As the annual Great American Smokeout took place Thursday,
smokers felt the heat from both the American Cancer Society and tobacco
advertisers.
Smokers were bombarded by ads in businesses and billboards: “You got
taste,” one cigarette ad read; another offered “premium taste” at the “lowest
price;” and “This is pleasure,” said another.
On the other side, the Cancer Society distributed literature and survival
kits to area businesses and schools to educate smokers about the dangers of
smoking. The survival kits include buttons, stickers, and comical gaffes like
headless matches, she said.
Sometimes the tobacco companies win.
“I know I should stop, but I’m too old now,” said a 65-year-old woman who
asked not to be identified. “Maybe if I were 30 or 40.”
The woman said she has been smoking for 40 years.
But for at least one day, 10 million people attempt to quit smoking,
according to Helen Jones, marketing director for the American Cancer Society
in San Francisco.
“We won’t know for a few days how many actually managed to survive today,”
she said.
The Smokeout, which began 18 years ago, encourages smokers to quit smoking
for at least 24 hours.
So far this year in Pennsylvania, about 172,000 new cases of lung cancer
were reported and an estimated 153,000 people will die from the disease, said
Sherry Nolan, field representative for the Wyoming Valley Unit of the American
Cancer Society.
The Smokeout is a light-hearted approach to help people quit smoking, Nolan
said.
“We give them quit tips — different ways to do things,” she said.
People were asked to help smokers resist the temptation through “adoption,”
she said. For example, some area third graders adopted smokers to help them
through the day, she said. In addition, the children learned about the dangers
of smoking.