My Smoking Ban

New Year resolutions are boring - and quitting smoking may be the most hackneyed of them but it is still not quite as bad as the whole giving up drink for the month of January tomfoolery.

Ergo I am happy to say that in 2008 it is the former cliché I have opted for - yes I have decided to kick the filthy weed, once and for all…once again.

I have pretty much been a committed smoker since the age of 17, or 23 if my parents are reading, sure there have been moments of madness before and I have tried to jettison the filter tipped buddies from my life but for the most part my junkie ways have meant me sucking on at least 20 a day, or 30, okay 40 if a night out is thrown into the mix for as long as I can remember.

Now while that’s doing my health (skin, clothes, general aura etc) no good, it’s the dent in my wallet that causes me the most discomfort – let’s face it if the shock tactics and health scares actually had any impact at all, no one would ever spark up. But over the past year I have set alight more than £3,200 worth of Marlboro Menthols, according to the This is Money smoking calculator, yes that was menthols.

But let’s face it - it’s not exactly perceived as a glamorous pastime these days, is it? Cool? Definitely not. In fact lighting up, either indoors or out, doesn’t exactly inspire rounds of applause, in fact in some cases it could make you feel about as welcome as Boy George at a KKK rally.

So last week I decided enough was enough and shelved out another £220 in the name of cigarettes or rather in a bid to knock them on the head to the Allen Carr ‘Easyway’ to quit smoking clinic.

For the uninitiated, Carr’s world-famous ‘Easyway’ asserts that the ‘relief’ smokers feel on lighting a cigarette, the feeling of being ‘back to normal’, is the feeling experienced by non-smokers all the time.

Using a combination of psychotherapy and hypnotherapy (as well as the ‘I’ve just spent £220 so it had better work’ motivation factor), the method works in the opposite way to the ‘willpower method’. It does not concentrate on the reasons the smoker should not smoke: the money, the slavery, the health risks - all that jazz we already know. But instead it focuses on why smokers continue to smoke in spite of the obvious disadvantages.

Sir Richard Branson and Sir Anthony Hopkins are just two of the clinic’s alumni. Sir Anthony gushes: ‘I found it not only easy but unbelievably enjoyable.’

Now did I feel an utter revelation following my five plus hours of rehab on a Saturday afternoon in south west London? Well, no…not exactly but by the same token I haven’t smoked since then (and that’s very good for me) and although I wouldn’t mind a coffee and cheeky Marlboro right now, I am just not going to indulge that ‘little monster’ which I created when I lit up that first cigarette – it would just seem pointless. I think. Maybe.

My friend and co-rehabilitee Francesca, is going through a ‘thank god I never have to smoke again’ phase ever since we left the clinic but then again she can exaggerate…but am I just being sceptical or was I just not listening properly?

I can’t say at this point whether I will never smoke again, but I know I won’t today…does that count? Bets please as to when you think this quitter will cave...

Phil Scott, This is Money

Comments

[Francesca]

You weren't listening!

[David Moorhouse]

Hi Phil,
I hope you manage to succeed.I smoked from age 16 to 55.
I also had two toes amputated due to Buerghers disease
(smokers only) but did not stop until I realised that in
10 years hence, when I retired I would not be able to
afford cigarettes.
So I had a good reason to stop and did.I have not smoked
for the last eight years.
Anyone can stop but will not unless they have a good reason to!

[Joe]

I wish you luck Phil. I quit smoking for six years and then took it up again. However I subsequently gave up drinking for a month (in 1999) and have never gone back to it, finding it a whole lot easier than giving up the weed.

[Sam Jones]

I used the Allen method in that I read enough about it to get the main idea and I am now smokefree after thirty years smoking. It's been three years and so I don't think I'll ever smoke again. One thing that Allen said was that he was angry he had never given it a good try since the received wisdom is that it is difficult. I found that I gave up a LOT more easily than I thought I would. If anyone wants the benefit of how I did it - don't use patches or gum, and try to get over the first three days (I did a lot of sleeping over a weekend) and finally NEVER say just one cigarette (or puff etc).