A Nanaimo based family physician encourages smokers to use National Non Smoking Week to help reduce their consumption and eventually quit for good. (Pixabay)

By Ian Holmes

kick the habit

Local doctor encourages smokers take small, realistic action to butt out

Jan 17, 2024 | 5:25 AM

NANAIMO — A highly respected smoking cessation specialist says modest, realistic goals often go a long way in quitting for good.

Nanaimo based family physician Dr. Derek Poteryko said National Non Smoking Week hopefully serves as an important time for smokers to reflect.

“It’s strategically placed the third week of January as opposed to the first week of January with all of the new years resolutions, which we know from a behavioural medicine perspective don’t really work or stick.”

Dr. Poteryko suggests smokers start small by not lighting up for a several hour block once a week, then slowly expand to a single day, then multiple days in a week smoke-free.

“The best quitters never quit and that is the truth. It takes the average person four to five good quit attempts before they actually are successful,” Dr. Poteryko told NanaimoNewsNOW.

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A 2021 Statistics Canada survey showed 12 per cent of Canadians aged 15 and up were current smokers.

As for the prevalence of vaping, a 2022 Statistics Canada survey showed 20 per cent of young Canadians between 20 and 24-years-old vaped, up from 15 per cent in 2019.

Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) data showed tobacco is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the country, killing about 48,000 people annually.

Tobacco usage was linked to to about one third of all cancer deaths in Canada, according to the CCS.

Dr. Derek Poteryko said health and financial considerations are strong motivators for people to quit smoking. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Dr. Poteryko stated since 1999 more than one million Canadians have quit smoking.

While less is known about the repercussions surrounding smoking cannabis, Dr. Poteryko said inhaling marijuana can lead to negative health outcomes.

“…It can cause heart disease, cancers and other things,” he said.

Dr. Poteryko said the average smoker lives a decade less than a non-smoker.

More information to quit smoking can be found at www.quitnow.ca, or calling the 24-hour smoker helpline Quit Now at 1-877-455-2333.

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ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes