PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla./EWORLDWIRE/June 29, 2005 --- Giving up tobacco and quitting smoking is hard. Tobacco products are engineered to make them as addictive as possible and to make quitting as hard as possible. "As an ex-smoker, I know quitting isn't easy, but possible with commitment, proper planning and the right tools. Especially when you have the support of the loved ones around you," said Rez Seyedin, founder of Smoke Free Society Corporation. Smoke Free Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping smokers quit smoking and educating kids not to start. As part of its "Save Your Loved One's Life" campaign, Smoke Free Society brings loved ones together to help them quit smoking. Its "Buddy System" allows family, friends and co-workers to work with each other through the entire quitting process - from preparation, to quitting, to follow-up support. The organization finds that support is the key to help a smoker quit and remain smoke free.
Being enslaved to tobacco damages the smoker's health and that of their family. Expensive tobacco products and their related costs -- a Duke University report puts the true lifetime cost of smoking at $40 a pack -- drain family funds that could be used for basic items such as food, education and health care. Smokers need to declare their independence from tobacco addiction, for themselves, their families and their loved ones.
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease, killing over 440,000 people a year in the United States and nearly five million worldwide. Secondhand smoke kills and sickens tens of thousands every year. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), those most affected by secondhand smoke in our homes are children. Exposing children to the hazardous poisons in secondhand smoke can hinder the growth of their lungs and put them in danger of severe respiratory diseases, effects that can last a lifetime.
"Secondhand smoke affects nearly everyone. I can't tell you the countless number of heartbreaking stories I've been told by people losing their loved ones to secondhand smoke, and they never smoked. And people are not the only ones affected by secondhand smoke, dogs in smoking households have a 60 percent greater risk of lung cancer and cats are three times as likely to develop lymphoma, the most common feline cancer," said Seyedin.
For more information, visit smokefreesociety.org.
"Help a loved one take the first step to quit smoking before it's too late. Because You Care."
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